Alvarez Yairi DY-84BR

This is a 2004 model, handmade in Japan, with a solid spruce top and laminated Brazilian rosewood sides and back. Like all Brazilian rosewood, the grain is beautiful and well matched, but since the back and sides are not solid wood, the sound is not quite the same for sure. It has an ebony fretboard with pearl snowflake and cateye inlays, which are very well done. Headstock has an ebony overlay with two diagonal abalone stripe inlays and a pearl A-Y logo, a very beautiful overall headstock design! Tuners are Yairi gold die-cast and hold very well. The body, which has a gloss finish,is bound with ivoriod plastic, as is the fretboard and headstock. Again, very well done and the guitar exudes overall quality. This model has the Yairi-patented direct-coupled bridge design in ebony, a clear integral pick guard, as well as what I believe is a magnesium full-length channel encasing the truss rod. All are very innovative features. The nut appears to be bone, but the saddle and bridge pins appear to be plastic or perhaps Tusq (but I doubt it or they'd promote that feature). Comes with a quality hard archtop case, which has a brown leather-like cover and plush green pile lining. The guitar fits very snug inside this case.

Very well balanced sound, but not as loud or thunderous as guitars with all solid wood soundboxes. While I prefer the famous low-end booming sound of Martin D-28s, this guitar has its own unique sound as do most Yairis. If I have any regrets about this guitar,it is the fact that it does not have solid wood sides and back. (In all fairness to Yairi, since the export ban on Brazilian rosewood decades ago, it would be damn near impossible to produce a solid back and sides in this wood in any quantity, not to mention VERY expensive!) If you don't already know, only the Yairi Masterworks series are all solid wood. Overall, the sound compares favorably to the upper end Taylors. I would recommend discarding the Elixer strings and trying D'Addario EXP phosphor bronze. The overtones and harmonics are much more clear and full, but that's just my taste.

You will be hard-pressed to find another handmade guitar manufacturer that surpasses the quality and workmanship of Yairi! The action needed a bit of tweaking, but now is low (about 3/32" at the 12th fret) and fast without a hint of fret buzz. The neck is thin and fast. The frets are somewhat smallish, but fine. Short scale Taylors and high-end Martins play a bit easier, but this Yairi is still a very easy player! There are NO flaws of any kind on this guitar, short of some exposed glue lines inside, which are quite minor. The finish was flawless, but I'm beginning to notice some slight rippling effect on the back. Not sure how or why that should be appearing now.

Seems to be a very solidly built guitar and with a lifetime warranty, I suspect it will last and last. This guitar gets played on an average of 1-2 hours daily, so we're taklin' hundreds of hours of playing time so far. Absolutely no problems to date!

Don't know, never had to contact them, but Alvarez/Yairi seems to enjoy a good reputation and have a large dealer network.

I've owned other Alvarez guitars and wanted to try their Yairi line. I believe Yairi's offer the best value, bar none! These are quality, hand-crafted instruments, with their own unique, well-balanced sound. I tried Martin and Taylors, and while they make fine instruments too, the value of Yairi's is what sold me. As mentioned above, the only regret I have is the fact that the back and sides are laminated. I'm considering buying another Yairi, but this time a DY-95 or higher. Overall, you can't go wrong with a Yairi, particularly for the dollar!