Alvarez Yairi CY-117

I have a 1990 Classical with a Cedar top. Probably 650 mm scale. Has a hard shell case. Bought in 1993. Nut width is approx 2 inches

Sound is very good on the first 5 frets. After that, intonation deteriorates a bit; although good quality strings can offset this somewhat.Playability is good although it could be improved by lowering the action at the saddle.

Medium rating on the action as noted above. Well made for a commercially produced guitar - a good value.

Good. No complaints in this category

Not applicable

Been playing classical for 20 years although I am an amateur player with only 3 years of lessons. I am playing alot and want to upgrade several steps from this one. Even if I do I may keep this one because having played many high end guitars this is better or as good in some ways than some of those. Specifically in the arenas of sustain and playability. I would not let this go for under $500 because most $500 dollar guitars these days are not very good and this one is very good for that price.

Made in 1982 as a limited edition model to commemorate the 60th anniversary of St, Louis Music ( 1922-1982). You don't see too many of these but they do occasionally come up on e=Bay. More comon models are the CY116 and CY118. Try a search on GOOGLE and see what you find?? Anyway the guitar plays like a dream. Solid Spruce top, Solid Rosewood back and lam sides. Ebony fingerboard and ebony nut. Wonderful workmanshop throughout. What else--it's a Yairi.

I am not an expert here by any means but for the money, I believe it would be hard to beat the sound of this guitar. It is so easy to finger all the way up the fingerboard the guitar almost plays itself. The trebles are sweet ( the way I like them) and not muffled or too bright and the basses are complementary. Intonation is very good. One caveat=I have never played a really expensive classical say >2000 dollars so my level of comparison is limited but this is a great guitar if you can get hold of one.

This is the area that the Yairi excels. No flaw can be found although some day I am going to replace the tuners with a fancier type to dress it up. The frets were finished wonderfully. For a 25 Yr old guitar it has held up still looks great as does the iriginal case. Wouldn't trade it in on for anything. If I lost it or whatever, It would be hard to replace but I would try.

All aspects of this guitar have held up.

Never needed it.

I have been playing 19 years. This was my second classical guitar. My first was a Yamaha (model C100??) which I don't have now but remember it to be a nice guitar as well, but no comparison to the CY117.