Alvarez Yairi DY-51

In my 40 years of playing, most of them as a professional, I have owned probably around 30 guitars. In addition I've played at least a thousand uitars in music stores from Sam Ash in Manhattan to Guitar Center in Oklahoma City; a lot of high end guitars. I have never played an acoustic guitar that had more soul or better tone than my 1982 DY51.

I paid $400 and feel like I stole it. Excellent action; beautiful wood; nice inlays, perfect intonation at the 12th fret of its dead on straight neck, and stays in tune lke no other I've had. I play the hell out of my guitars and tis one is tough.

Thanks!

1985 model-solid cedar top,burled mahogany back and sides.The finish has aged very well,it looks like a 60 year old guitar on stage.

This is quite possibly the loudest guitar I have ever played!One of my buddies has a 1966 d-21 martin,the other a 1953 d-28-it cuts them in two.Very good bass response,midrange is also good-highs aren't as good-I primarily use this as a rythm guitar-I use my 1983 dy-85a for lead.My brother and myself play semi-proffesional bluegrass-around 130 dates a year.

This guitar,as all yairis,is very well built.I bought it used around 6 years ago and the top had two small repaired cracks on the lower bout and the frets were trashed(this guitar had been played alot obviously)I replaced the nut and saddle with bone and had the frets crowned,I will soon have to replace the top 7 frets soon.

I have never had any issues with the guitar except for replacing one tuner-I don't use this guitar all the time,but I have dragged it through many shows and fiddler's conventions with no issues(my teenage son also used this guitar for his alternative rock band for a year!)

bought the guitar used-no warranty.

This is a great guitar,not only for bluegrass,but also for any type of music.I foolishly trade this guitar a year ago and after it hung in that guys shop I traded back for it.He couldn't sell it-he told me he would gladly trade back-it's here to stay now!

Bought new in 1987. Handmade in Japan by Kazuo Yairi and marketed by Alvarez.

The guitar features a solid spruce or cedar top and beautifully figured mahogany back and sides. Ebony fingerboard with MOP dots and peghead inlay. The tuners are non-descript. Beautiful purfling around the soundhole. The bridge appears to be ebony as well. There is a small, unbound plastic pickguard and no binding on the neck or peghead.

The size is somewhat smaller than a dreadnaught, maybe it's what is called concert size - I don't really know.

The guitar is noticeably lightweight and so when I bought it didn't have a huge sound at all, though a sweet one. I think that was in part because of the lightweight strings it had then. I played some Martins and other fancy makes at the same time and although they sounded fuller, they seemed harder to play and moreover, I couldn't afford them. The Yairi was affordable and was easy to play and that dictated my choice. Nonetheless, I always had the feeling back then that I was settling for less than what I really wanted.

But now after about 16 years of aging the thing is a huger boomer, with deep lows and bright highs and mids. Considering that I let it sit in a case under my bed for over a decade, I find this astonishing. I've heard the remarkable sound of custom-made flattops (Olsen, C Fox, Greenfield come to mind)as well as very high-end off-the-shelf models like Taylors and such, and of course they're a notch or two or three better. Considering what little I had to shell out for the Yairi, I give it a 9 in this category.

As I mentioned above, despite my frame of mind when I bought it, I played it very little throughout the 90's and there must have been a 10 year period where I just stuck it away. I took up electric guitar playing instead. I took the Yairi out again and played it a couple of years ago and it was still in tune! Plus, the finish on the top had mellowed into a gorgeous nut-brown color. Having accustomed myself to very low action on my electrics, I took it to a local luthier simply to get it checked out and he didn't have to do a thing to it. He assured me it was still perfect.

Other than a couple of small scratches I managed to put into the finish, the guitar has otherwise held up extremely well. The neck is rock solid and the frets show no wear. I've occasionally played out with it and I don't worry about it disintegrating or snapping on me during a set.

I have no idea.

Overall I've been playing for about 45 years. I started out with fingerpicks and folk music and acoustic blues, went through my rock period in the 60's and 70's (mostly playing bass), and after laying out for quite awhile I've taken up serious jazz study in the last couple of years. I have a regular full-time job so I have to admit that now I'm merely a hobbyist. I own a Hofner Jazzica Custom, a Hofner Vice President, and a Godin Multiac Jazz SA. These are played through a Polytone Mini Brute II.

If the Yairi were stolen or lost, I'm not sure I would run out and replace it with anything at all. This is mainly because I mostly play my other guitars. On the other hand, I have no intention of losing it or getting it stolen, or trading it in or selling it.

Occasionally I check on Ebay to see what Yairi's are going for and I'm always bewildered and a bit dismayed that they haven't appreciated in value. While I've never seen another of this exact model, similar Yairi's go for about what I paid for this one originally. If more players only knew how well-crafted these guitars were, I think the story would be different. If there were a list of undervalued items in the world, these would be near the top.

Solid cedar top, dot inlayed fretboard except 12th has fleur-de-lis by Yairi. Board is ebony on a nato neck. Back and sides are beatiful burled mahagony.Headstock is burled mahagony veneered w/ MOP AY inlay. 3 per side silver Yairi tuners. I bought this one new in 1983 even though most books say they stoped making them in the mid 70's. Came with hard case that is still in great comndition as is this guitar. Only reason I give it a nine is that the fret board and headstock are not bound.

Sound is rich and much like a modern cedar topped Taylor with not as much brightness on the high end. The guitar has been changed a bit from original, I put gold Grovers on it a while back and added a bone nut and saddle and put in a under saddle pickup in as well. It has an amazing sound plugged in with no pre amp or EQ system.

Yairis are amazing guitars. I have a few but this was my first so it's my favorite. I do have Martins and a couple Taylors and when I go to write a song or need to really dig down on an acoustic I always grab this one.
The new Yairis are nice as well, but I think the older Yairis are highly under rated guitars. If you find one made in the 70's or 80's and is in good shape you can still get them at reasonable prices and you will have a gem! Everytime anyone plays this one or sometimes when they just see it they want to buy it. The guitar has aged to a very beautiful finish and color. The back and sides are very unusual and amazingly pretty.

20 years old and I play it almost every day! Never had any problems with the stock guitar, I changed things cause I thought they would make it look or sound even better. Played it live, would gig with it alone no problem.

Never had to use em but they offered to replace a tuner for me when it started getting a bit of slipage in it after 15 years so I'd say that's pretty damn good. I choose to put the Grovers on but the fact that they offered is cool. I have called them about other Yairi's I have purchased or been interested in and they are extremly helpful and nice folks!

Think I've said it all. Been playing for 30 years. Review guitars for GRITZ magazine www.gritz.net. If you find a nice one jump on it if the price is right. They seem to be getting a bit more popular lately...