Alvarez Yairi DY-84

Luthiered in Japan by Kazuo Yairi and his small team of luthiers trained by him.
Take note :The Japanese really take pride in what they create with there hands.

Thin finish ( polyurethane I believe.) Which is exactly what you want in a high end guitar Thin =more Tone!!

Gold Gotoh Tuners "high end and expensive." They stay in tune period...............

Canadian Spruce Top, Grade AAA+++

Direct Coupled Bridge ( Ingenious design )

"Extended" truss rod design to completely eliminate fingerboard irregularities over time.

Beautiful Martin Style fingerboard inlays.

Very nice! Rosewood Laminate back and sides. Laminated the right way!

Yairi uses bone for his nuts and saddles you won't find this on guitars unless they are like 4$$$ and up

<<<<<Limited Life time Guarantee>>>>>>

Excellent sound I have played this against a Taylor 914 in a store once compared nicely to it but, I prefer it over the Taylor definitely. Floors Martins like the HD-28 as well as others with its richness,clarity and overall sound.
Martin only wishes they could build something this nice. Very balanced I think one reviewer nailed it when he said it has a
"comforting, mellow, articulate sound" Projection is overall very good I did end up replacing the bone saddle with a Graphtech Tusq one. Believe me it was an excellent choice!
Replacing that saddle to Tusq really made a tonal improvement by 40% or more not that it needed it I just like to push the bar. There was more projection, and playability seemed softer. I am now ordering Tusq bridge pins and eventually a nut as well.

Overall neck and fingerboard radiuses are very comfortable.
I have heard others say that they find Martins require some "effort" to play but when they pick up a Yairi it is very refreshing to not have to exert yourself you can just focus on your music with out wrestling with the guitar. Playability is there!
Finish is high end, so thin you can feel the tops grain and that is what you want. Less finish means that the top can resonate more freely. So many guitar manufacturers carelessly put thick finishes on there guitars, but you won't find that here. Attention to detail is excellent over all on the guitar.

Its reliable and I think durable as well I have never heard of any problems with Yairi's
I think the Laminate back and sides will add durability also.

I have never heard any issues from people about customer support.
But this does come with a Limited Lifetime Guarantee!!

I would buy another one if lost or stolen. I really like this guitar. I would recommend to anyone who is thinking about buying a Martin or Taylor to check out Yairi Guitars they are ridiculously underpriced compared to Taylor and Martin and yet they feature High end sound, playability,and craftsmanship.

2005 or so DY84. Spruce top. Indian rosewood back & sides. Ebony fretboard & bridge.

I LOVE the response & overall timbre of this guitar. It's very articulate & when you dig in, becomes really full and beautiful sounding. Although a dreadnaught, responds very well to a light attack. Chords ring perfectly balanced & clear. Different strings net very different tones.

Pretty Amazing other than sharp fret ends - this being strictly an environmental issue though. Quality throughout. At $1500 bucks, this is exactly the type of quality one SHOULD expect. Very understated and classy new approach to the dreadnaught.

Absolutely love everything about this guitar. The thinness of the neck somewhat fatigued my fretting hand when I brought it home..... after becoming familiar with the guitar, and adopting a lighter approach to fretting, it responds marvelously (saving wear and tear on the old hands).

Hand made guitar by Yairi luthiers in Japan. They use only aged, premium woods for these guitars. Beautiful spruce top and Indian rosewood back and sides. Nice abalone shell details on the headstock and soundhole. Bone nut and saddle. What makes these guitar special is the attention to detail--such as filing frets to perfection, shaving the braces to balance the sound, etc.

Very balanced sound, not too boomy or bright. I use medium gauge Martin SP, and they sound great. I like the deep bass sound of the Gibson and Guild jumbo bodies, but this guitar actually sounds as good or better when mic recording due to the balance. I can always eq the sound for desired effects. It will sound even better after a few years, as these tight grain spruce tops will open up and resonate better.

As mentioned above, great attention to detail--as only the best guitars will have. Very clean inside, no finish flaws anywhere.

This guitar is built to last. I have had other Alvarez's, and can attest to their durability and reliability.

Needed a new bone saddle for another Yairi I had. Contacted St. Louis Music, the Yairi repair shop, and they sent another one out right away at no charge!! A class act.

Superb instrument. Action is as sweet as the Taylor's I have played, and the value can't be beat.

Latest version of the DY84 dreadnought made by Alvarez-Yairi, which is part of their Tonewood series. It has a solid spruce top (extremely tight grain), rosewood back and sides, and a mahogony neck. Ebony bound fingerboard and bridge, which is the Direct-Coupled design created by Alvarez-Yairi. No fret markers on the fingerboard (very cool) other than an elegant pearl and abalone cats-eye/snowflake at the twelfth fret. Abalone and wood rosette, and a clear pickgaurd finish off the top. This is a beautiful handmade instrument (crafted by Kazuo Yairi in Gifu, Japan), and I could find no manufacturing flaws of any kind. It feels very solid and is stunning to view and play.

I have wanted an Alvarez-Yairi for several years, based on all the positive input I have heard from friends, and my own experiences auditioning them in different music shops around town. I almost purchased the DY84M (Maple back and sides) about a year ago, which I really liked, but I have always preferred rosewood for dreadnoughts so I decided to wait. Recently, at a friends house I was watching the HBO show Reverb whose featured artist was Staind. Aaron Lewis did several acoustic sets during which he played the DY84, which needless to say sounded fantastic. It sparked me to go to back to my local Alvarez-Yairi distributor and see if I could get luck. Needless to say, there on the wall was a beautiful new DY84. I played it for about 20 minutes and was totally sold, and walked out of the store with it on the spot.

I own several Gibsons, a couple of Martins, and a Taylor. They all do their own thing very well, and none is a good substitue for any of the others. Gibsons have that ringing tone to die for, and no one else can match the sounds produced by an SJ-200 or an Advance Jumbo. Martins are articulate and balanced, and for that Holy Grail of tone an OM-28VR is very hard to top. Taylors are stars in terms of playability across their entire line. But the Alvarez=Yairi DY84 has its own very special niche.

This guitar has a mellow and echoy tone that I have never experienced in a dreadnought. Not ringing, shrill, edgy, bottom heavy, or bright. I would describe it as mellow articulation. The sound is strong, but not overpowering; articulate, but not analytical; echoy, but not sloppy. The sound is, well, comforting! I am sure that I will find this guitar in my hands more than any other that I own, because it sounds beautiful and is a pleasure to play.

The action was perfect right out of the box. This guitar exhibits great playability, and the satin finished mahogony neck is first rate. Not too large and not too small, well it is just right. As stated before the wood is absolutely beautiful and the craftsmanship is top notch (which is what would be expected from a handmade instrument). The top also has a very nice golden hue to it which doesn't look like the artificial toner jobs so often found in so called vintage instruments.

I don't expect any problems with this guitar. I had a 1985 Alvarez-Yairi DY90 for a short time last year and that guitar was in beautiful shape for a 16 year old instrument. It exhibited no manufacturing problems, had wonderful tone, and even the ornate abalone details were still in like-new condition. This is an area where Alvarez-Yairi has a long and respected tradition, and I expect no problems with this new instrument.

Additionally, the new direct-coupled bridge design should eliminate any of the potential problems that can be encountered with bridges as instruments age.

No experience here yet, but previous inquires to St. Louis Music (the US distributor and mother company) have been very good. I'll still give them a 10 for offering a limited lifetime warranty (shame on any manufacturer of fine instruments that doesn't).

I have been playing and collecting for over 15 years. I own several Gibsons (SJ200, Advance Jumbo, J60, and L20), a couple of Martins (D-15 and OM28VR), and a Taylor 422R. I am familiar and have played every Gibson, Martin, Taylor currently made (I spend lots of time in music stores). I am also very familiar with many of the small boutique companies and have auditioned many of these. Even though, an Alvarez-Yairi has been the jewel I have searched for over the last several years, and I have found the perfect one in the DY84. It will definitely hold a very respected place in my collection, and maybe someday I will add a DY100 or DY200 to go along with it.