Alvarez Yairi DY-85

1982 Alvarez Yairi DY-85A, Serial #47128, Bought it new in 1983 from Joe's Music Center, Norcross, GA (now out of business). Hand made by Kazuo Yairi in Japan. Adjusted at SLM by R. Lopez 3-83. Dreadnought body, 20 frets rosewood or ebony F/B, satin finish. Solid spruce top with rosewood back (matched) and sides, extensive binding/purfling on headstock, neck & body, abalone inlays on the following: body (front/back), fingerboard (large diamond design), bridge pins & bottom strap button area. Solid rosewood or ebony bridge (split saddle w/ Martin Thinline P/U I added. Gold Grover roto-matic tuners. Original hardshell/plastic brown Alvarez road case(similar to Ovation's). A beautiful looking/playing/sounding guitar. I have been playing for 36 years both professionally (bands/sessions) and for fun and wouldn't let go of this guitar for anything.

Great warm sounding guitar for fingerpicking. Even bass/middle a little trebly on the high end when flatpicking/strumming. Play & write country/rock etc. Play most musical styles. Play it plugged straight into board when recording/stage. Occasionally will use a Sans-Amp. I have played and owned many guitars over the years and this instrument rivals the best from Taylor, Martin, Gibson, Santa Cruz, Collings etc. A very versatile guitar for all styles of playing.

Set up has been adjusted since factory settings. I installed a Martin Thinline acoustic P/U and split and filed down the original saddle. Bookmatched top & back. A beautifully aged guitar. No nicks or cracks. Excellent finish. A real workhorse of a guitar. No problems to speak of.

Ditto to the comments above plus the guitar still looks brand new with a real warm aged color (I'm almost "anal" when it comes to taking care of instruments). Everything on this guitar is in great shape and solid. Very dependable and have used it without a backup.

I have never dealt with St. Louis Music re: warranty work, I have not had to and hope I don't but assume they are as good as Gibson, Martin, Fender etc. I understand the guitar has a limited lifetime warranty for the original owner, which I am.

I have been playing for 36 years (since age 6). I have owned and still own some of the following: Acoustics- Recca, Epiphone, Gibson J-50 (1968), J-200 (1967), Martin D-45 (1970), Alvarez Yairi Cy-116, Silvetta Classical, Washburn, Takamine, Taylor. Electrics: Sivertone, Electra Omega MPC, Aria, Tokai Strat, Ibanez Roadstar RS-335, Ovation Viper, Gretsch Country Gentleman (1964), Fender Telecaster Custom (1976), Reissue 1952, Stratocaster Reissue 1962,1976 Amps: Silvertone 20w, National 100w piggyback, Stage 60w, Gibson 50w, Roland 10", Fender Sidekick 10, Fender Deluxe Reverb 1974, Fender Twin 1976. I wish I had saved some of the above guitars however, I will always keep the Alvarwz Yairi DY 85A. It's a great, dependable guitar.

This is a DY-85A made in 1985. Solid Spruce top with rosewood back and sides. Mahogany neck, ebony fretboard with abalone box fret markers. Gold tuners and abalone around the top and back of the body. Really a beautiful looking guitar. It also came with an after production active pick-up that sounds excellent. Brand new SKB case was included in the deal.

Lets put it this way, I take acoustic guitar sound very seriously. I have honestly played and owned some of the best acoustics in the world from Martin to Larrivee. The DY-85A is equal to many of the top shelf acoustics from these other companies. Better than the D-28 and at least equal to Larrivee's D-10. It is even as good as Yairi's best solid rosewood guitar, the DY 200. Very, very, very bright sounding with a very even bassy bottom. Not boomy like Martin dreads and not tinty like Ovation's crappy high end guitars. Guitar sound is so personal to an individual, but this one is impressive. And it is not a completely solid wood guitar!

Yairi necks are hands down the easiest to play on the market. They are thinner than most of the big companies and the action is very low without the buzz of imperfection. It doesn't weigh 50 pounds like a Gibson, nor does it put out Gibson's muffled sounding messy tone. It has a very tight grained spruce top and the finish has some small flaws through no fault of Alvarez-Yairi. I bought the guitar used and the previous owner did not take care of the instrument properly.

This guitar withstood some moron not putting it in a case and storing it on the bottom of a closet full of junk for years. It has already been through enough crap to permanently damage many of the other guitars I already mentioned to this point. No way this guitar will crap out. It is the real deal.

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I have been playing for about 13 years and own or have owned a Larrivee D-10, Gibson Sheryl Crow, Martin D-28, Martin D-15, Martin OOO-28, Yairi DY-62C, Yairi DY-200, Ovation Adamas 12 String and others. I payed some large prices for most of these guitars and never really had exactly what I was looking for. And $410 later, I find this jewel in someone's front yard for sale. I almost fell over when I strummed the 3 year old strings. I handed him the cash and ran figuring he would reconsider. In my mind, nothing can replace this guitar. If you see one, buy it. You won't believe the price tag.

Made 11/6/74, s/n 5836, purchased summer of 1975 from Americana Music (Now Ace Music) in Dayton, Ohio. Dreadnaught body. Twenty frets, eight inlaid with abalone. Abalone inlays around sound hole as well as front and back bindings. More abalone on zipper joint of back of (bookmatched) back. Gold Grover machine heads. Medium width neck. Excellent interior bracing. Adjustable neck with internal rod. Quality woods (spruce top and rosewood back and sides?). I think the F/B and bridge are ebony. Yairi logo inlaid in headstock.

This is a great guitar for flat-picking, finger-picking, general strumming. It has a great bass voice and a very pleasant, bell-like high end. Mid-range is good, but leaves something to be desired, compared to low-end and high-end voices.

The action had been lowered at the nut when I purchased it, so it was very nice in the first 4 or 5 frets. The action in the remaining frets has always seemed a bit too high in comparison, but still acceptable. I plan to have the guitar worked on to elimimate the disparity sometime soon. The finish on the guitar is superior and has withstood over 25 years of use/abuse/travel with very little sign of age. It has never been in a guitar shop since purchase.

Very reliable and durable. See comments above. I don't play professionally, so can't comment on that aspect, but I wouldn't hesitate to use it on stage, should that day arrive.

Have never had to have it repaired but will soon have my first experience with that. The bridge is beginning to become detached from the top such that you can slip a business card under one corner of the bridge to a depth of about 1/4-1/2 inch. It now needs to be re-glued. It has a lifetime guarantee to the original owner, so I guess I can get it repaired free.

I've been playing since about 1971. I have one other cheap Yamaha gut-string guitar that I owned before my Alvarez. I went looking for a Martin D-28 or something similar, found this Alvarez and thought it had such great tone and voice, that I forgot about a Martin, particularly considering the price differential. This guitar sounded better and better with each passing year. I love this guitar and hope to pass it on to my son who started playing about 4 years ago.

December '77 model bought new in Spring of '78 ( YES, '78). Dreadnaught body highly inlaid with abalone. 20 frets solid spruce top, solid rosewood or mahogany body, can't remember which. Rosewood F/B and bridge. Gold plated Grovers. Neck is not skinny but not too fat either. Kind of Gibsonish with a little more room for your fingers.

Super finger-picking guitar. Rich, full, bright where it should be. I play only at home for myself, sometimes with a mike to a tape on a home stereo (guitar only, I'm smart enough not to sing). The only thing I don't like about the guitar is that I can't seem to play bar chords very well on it. I have short (weak?) fingers and the finger board is pretty flat so it takes a good deal of pressure to play a good bar chord.

No problem at all. Only string changes have been done on this guitar. Guitar has not been touched by anyone but me in 21 years.

21 YEARS. The guitar seems very well made. Finish is not as smooth as it was when new. If I were to acually play in front of people, I would bring along the Hummingbird for bar chords.

Lifetime warranty. Haven't had to deal with St.Louis Music, but they did send me a brass nut and bridge (still in case).

I have been playing guitar for close to 38 years. This guitar has tone out it's butt. I have owned five other acoustic guitars (before this one) and a WIDE variety of electrics and basses. I have never come across another guitar that fit me as well as does this one. If it got stolen, I would replace it with another Yairi dreadnaught, probably a DY 91.

This guitar was hand made by Kazua Yairi 10/76 at Kani Gifu Japan. It is a 22 fret soild top with mother of pearl inlays on bindings (top back & sides) has ebony fretboard and saddle also inlay Yairi logo on headstock. Top is sitka spruce back and sides are sycamore with a tortise shell pickguard and factory grovers. Guitar is signed by builder.

This guitar has the most solid sound. Bass, Treble, and Midrange. The tone is unbelieveable, I love this guitar. Sounds good in church, and at bluegrass festivals.

The action is still factory, and very smooth. Fit and Finish perfect. I bought it used from the original owner, and it was in mint condition, but, I have added a few scratches and a few dings. No cracks.

I hate to keep bragging, but this guitar stays in tune from one set of strings to the next. I take it everywhere, camping, jam sessions, and the action stays the same.

I have never dealt with them. Never had any reason to. Only guitar I have eer bought that came with a title.

I've had a Gibson Gospell, Yamaha FG-470S, Washburn D-12, Sold them all, I only play this Yairi now. I love this guitar, wouldn't sell it for any price. If anyone can find one of these, I strongly suggest getting it.