Alvarez Yairi DY-80 Canyon Creek 12-String

see other reviews, mine is the coral rosewood and it is stunning !

Best non jumbo 12 string I have ever heard . If you don't want a jumbo this is the one.

A typical alvarez yairi guitar, build to perfection. Yairi guitars are an incredible buy for sound and quality. action was lowered when I bought it and it plays so easy !!

Bought used, no problems yet, top yairi quality

Tom at St Louis music is great !

Been playing off and on for 25 years and if you want a 12 string the dy 80 is one of the best yairi made and you can get one for far less than a guild or taylor jumbo. If lost I would find another the next day.PS looking for a yairi dy 96 to buy

Made in Japan in 1990, 20 fret (14 to the body) slightly slope-shouldered dreadnaught. Solid spruce top, solid Coral rosewood back & sides, mahogany neck, darkly stained (but not black) rosewood fretboard with rosewood binding, small dot markers at 3, 5, 7, 9, 15, & 17 frets, nice back to back stylized fleur-del-lis at 12th fret. Macassar ebony bridge and pin holder (direct coupled system), bone saddle & bridge passive pickup w/ knobs for tone and volume on bass-side shoulder, black binding, ivoriod purfling, Schaller mini tuners with A-Y logo on back, rosewood headstock overlay w/ abalone A-Y logo

This is a big strummer. The bracing is quite heavy (duh), and it has held the top in place under concert pitch strain for more than 10 years, so it takes a bit of trying to really make the top move. Even so the tone is rich and balanced between jangle and whomp. It's the best sounding 12-string I've ever heard with one exception, a '69 Martin D35-12 (w/ Brazillian rosewood) owned by a professional luthier.

Set-up at the factory was good, not great, and the saddle has always been a hair too thin for the bridge slot. Other than that everything was perfect, and remains nearly so after ten years. (Though it needs a fret job.) The action was amazing right out of the crate, still is.

This thing handled 5 years in the clubs of northern California and could take much more. It's been 100% relaible for more than 10 years.

I've been playing for 21 years. I own a luthier-built 000-12 fret and a '75 Guild G-37 besides the AY DY-80. The DY-80 was better out of the crate than the Guild, and comes close to the hand-built in terms of quality.
If I wanted a 12-string, I'd look for a one these. Yairi doesn't make them anymore, so you'll have to find that rare used model. Get the oldest one possible, the features tended to tail off a bit as the model got older.

1995 Model made in Japan. Dreadnaught body, solid spruce top, coral rosewood sides and back, nato neck with ebony fingerboard, direct coupled bridge, natural gloss finish, 20 frets, Padded Yari hardshell case with combination lock.

Dreadnaught 12 strings all tend to sound a bit "jangly," which can only be totally overcome with a Jumbo body.
Given that, this is the best sounding dreadnaught 12 string I have ever played (including Martin and Taylor). I suspect this is due in part to the rosewood sides and back, but may also be a function of the direct coupled bridge.

I am still amazed at the build quality of this instrument. After four years of playing (for a church folk worship service, for fun at home and my son's occasional use), this instrument still looks like new!
The action is excellent for a 12 string, and I often bar up the neck. This guitar also has a slightly narrower neck than many other 12s, which does add to the "speed" of the neck, but doesn't help at all if you attempt to finger pick a bit.
The only 12 string I've found with better action the Taylor Leo Koetke Signature Model, which is largely due to the fact that it's tuned to a C, greatly loosening the tension on the strings.(I tune my Yari down a half step and use a capo!

In 4 years this has not been an issue. It still looks good as new!

Haven't needed any.

I have been playing for 30 years and have owned about a half-dozen different guitars. I also currently own a rare Ryoji Matsuoka classical (hand made in Japan -serial # 40) which I play 4 to 5 times weekly.
For the money, the Alvarez-Yari may be the best 12 string dreadnaught value avaialable today (the current model is the DY40 - an identical guitar which is only cosmetically different). However, I now find I need the power and bass response of a 12 string Jumbo!
If Alvarez-Yari were to build a Jumbo 12 string with this same build quality, I'd buy one taday. (There is an Alvarez Jumbo 12, and while it's probably a nice guitar at it's price point, it's just not a Yari!) But they don't, so I'm now looking at a Tylor Jumbo 12.