Alvarez Yairi DY-61

Made in 1994, dreadnaught style, solid cedar top, round soundhole, maple/wood body binding, abalone shell rosette, burled mahogany back/sides, mahogany neck, 14/20 fret ebony fingerboard/12th fret pearl diamond/abalone slash inlay, rosewood bridge with black abalone dot pins, burl mahogany veneer on peghead with abalone/wooden strip inlays, abalone logo peghead inlay, 3 per side gold tuners with amber buttons. Scalloped bracing.

Not really fancy but nice.

Beautiful when finger picked, sustains forever. Mellow, yet clearly defined notes when strummed.

Best action on an acoustic guitar that I have ever come across. The neck is quite thin and easy to handle. Fit and finish are top-notch throughout. The woods used in all parts of the guitar are flawless. Bindings and inlays are very well done.

Though not fancy, this guitar just screams quality.

Even the case is of good quality. Has feet on one side and on the end so the case does not sit directly on the floor. Also comes with a combo lock. Nice touch.

Structurally well constructed but probably not the most durable guitar in the world. Has a cedar top which I am told is very easy to scratch/dent. I am very careful with the guitar and always keep it in it's case when it is not being played.

They guitar is very light but I am not sure if that is because of the construction or the cedar top.

I have been playing about 3 years and wanted to move up from a Seagull S6+ Spruce. This guitar is in a completely different class from the Seagull, which was not a bad guitar itself. Overall the guitar sounds as good as it looks. Not a lot of glitz, just great sound and attention to build detail.

A real sleeper in the market. I would have to spend at least two or three times the money to find a guitar which outperforms this one.

1989 Yairi DY-61 Signature Series Acoustic. Handmade in Japan. Solid Cedar Top with laminated Burl mahogany back and sides [high quality laminate]. I installed my own clear pick- guard. Ebony bridge. NOTE that this is the original one-piece bridge, which in my opinion is far superior soundwise vs. the two-piece later bridge ["direct-coupled"] which I think is flawed acoustically. Ebony fretboard with abalone slash at 12th fret. Very high quality tuners. Wood binding, which appears to be ash or something light colored. There is not a more beautiful guitar than this one

I have added a Baggs I-Beam pickup [rave reviews on that one... best ever].

There is nothing that sounds quite like this one.
I play agressive acoustic with flat pick, and gentle ballads with fingers [bare]. Rock, rockabilly, some bluegrass, celtic, melodic, lullabies.
This guitar has a sound all its own. For the first couple of years I thought it was too "stiff" sounding... very bright but a bit shallow on bottom. I noticed that the braces were fairly beefy so I had the best luthier in the southwest "voice" the braces to a standard similar to pre-war Martin braces. The change was Astonishing. It now has a very strong low-end to accompany the rest of its strengths. I like to tune this guitar down a half-step, where it really stands out. Played gently, it is very gracious giving up big tone with little effort. Played hard, it becomes angry and biting, sort of raspy. [have you heard Monty Montgomery really punish his?] It sort of attacks the listener when played hard. Like I said, very unique
I HIGHLY recommend an intonated saddle, cause the B-string tuning can make you crazy due to the huge overtones this instrument produces. It will tune precise, but you will hear EVERY overtone. chimes and rings like crazy

I have never played a guitar with better action than this one. It must make high-end luthiers really angry to see a guitar this inexpensive excel in the action department. Crisp, articulate, easy, fluid, clean. You can easily change bridge saddles to accomodate your particular string type and preferences, but it seems to always come up clean. The geometry is so precise that even if you desire higher action, the saddle is not too "tall". small adjustments can be felt. I cannot overstate how excellent the action is.

Fit and finish are excellent. I wish it had a hard high gloss finish, but I suppose something had to be compromised on a guitar at this price. I give it a 10, but mostly because the action should be rated a 12, and the finish a 7, and everything else a 10.

Live playing is good with this because it is so doggone comfortable to play. however, the intonation of the B-string and the loud overtones will have you checking your tuner a lot. The soft finish leaves the Cedar top susceptible to a lot of dings.. its just unavoidable, so get used to it. The other woods are high-durability.

Only dealt with St. Louis music once in all the years. that was early on. They were marinally helpful. I don't think I would trust sending the instrument to them for anything. Thankfully we have a great luthier nearby.

Overall rating is misleading on this one. Did I say it is a 12 on action? I want to rate it a 9.5, superb in some areas and just "good" in others. I have owned old Yamahas, Guild, Martin D16H [a disaster], Larrivee L09, Larrivee D05. This one and the D05 are the best. I like the sweetness and extreme quality of the Larrivee, but the playability of the Yairi is easily the best of them all, really without even a second thought. Larrivee would do well to humbly seek guidance from Yairi on how they manage to perfect the action.

1996 Yairi DY-61 Signature Series Acoustic. Handmade in Japan. Solid Cedar Top with Kasuo Yairi signature on the cedar top. Clear pick- guard. Ebony bridge. Ebony fretboard with abalone slash at 12th fret. Headstock with inlaid A-V logo. One piece mahogany neck. Burled mahogany back and sides.

The sound on this guitar is refined, crisp and bright. Great for fingerstyle (cedar top) but also excellent sound when strummed. Sound stays clear not muddy.

Action is low and fast. No flaws seen at all on this guitar. This burled mahogany is rare as I have only seen Gibson and Taylor offer it and they were outrageously expensive. The abalone rossette, A-V inlay on headstock and the abalone 12th fret slash are very high quality. Gold tuners are as good as I have seen.

Guitar has no scratches or dings, straight neck, no bellying behind bridge. and appears to be very well made but would not recommend dropping it.

Tom Kruzka the technical person at St. Louis Music usually can answer any question I have about Yairi's and sell specific parts, saddles,nuts etc.

Playing guitar off and on over 30 years. Several Yair's. Two Martins. One Gibson, one Fender Strat. One Ovation acoustic bass. If this guitar were lost or stolen I would try to replace because it has a very lively bright sound different then any other guitar I own or have played. But since this has been out of production, it would not be an easy proposition to replace it. If I couln't get this would probably replace with a Yairi DY-91 Koa model as that also has a nice bright sound, although it is much different sound then the DY-61. Another guitar that is cedar top and similar sounding is the Breedlove mahogany with cedar top.

Made in Japan in 1991. Acoustic no electronics. Cedar top, burled mahogony back and sides with trim. Ebony fretboard. Much inlay work on the head stock including mother of pearl, abalone, and wood. Gold tuners with maroon knobs to match the wood. Mother of pearl in lay at 12th fret with abalone diagonal stripe. No pickguard. Just a stright acoustic made for finger-picking. Steel strings. Could have used more fret markers, but it worked out that it didn't. I had my initials custom inlaid at frets 5, 7, and 9 in abalone. It looks great and adds to the appearance.

Sounds great finger picked with or without nails. That's how I prefer to play the acoustic. The cedar top gives it a little darker tone than spruce. It's really just want you want on a finger picking guitar. If you were to strum it hard it would distort a little, but then it's not made for that.

Great action. No original flaws in satin finish. It had some scratches from store play. No buzzes.

I played it out once. It was a gig where I played classical pieces for an anniversary party and I had it miked up. The satin finish is not durable. The cedar top, while beatiful, is soft and scratches easily. I'm sure these sacrificies were made at the expense of tone. Still the appearance is outstanding.

Been playing for 17 years. I also have a Martin Shenendoha acoustic, but this one beats it eaily for finger picking, appearance, and playability. The Martin is great for strumming though. I love the dark rich tone. I put Martin Marquis on it, which are very bright strings, and it really sounds awesome.