Alverez by Kazuo Yairi
Michael McCollum
with this women and didn't know she could play at all until fairly recently.
My wanna be drummer son has decided to switch to guitar as well. Obviously
this is prime time for new guitar purchases since they're going to need
their "own".
I was in a pawn shop yesterday to see if they still had a battered Taylor
855 I'd been eyeing on and off for a while. It was finally gone after a year
and a half...figures. Hank Alinger inspired me to go back and get it and
send it to Taylor for rehab as he had done with one. Anyway, after
recovering from my disappointment I noticed a nice little Alverez Yairi
dread hanging there. The label identified it as an '82 DY54 by Kazuo Yairi.
It was a little dinged up, but seemed to play fairly well. Straight neck and
intonation not too bad. The strings were green with corrosion, so the tonal
quality is anyone's guess. They only wanted $179 for it and it seemed like a
fairly good deal to me. Inlay and appointments similar to a Martin D18.
Anyone have any info on this model and/or recommendations? Worth the bucks
to have it set up as a beginner's guitar for my son?
Mike
Stephen Traub
guitars for the money.
According to the Blue Book, the DY54 is nicknamed the Silver Fawn ... . It
is a dreadnought style with solid Canadian spruce top, ebony fingerboard
with snowflake inlay, and oboncol back and sides.
If it were in excellent condition it would be valued at $475 -- in average
condition $325. Sounds like it's worth a second look at $179 and perhaps an
offer.
Steve Traub
Michael McCollum wrote in message ...
Dave H
say it would be an excellent beginners guitar. I have average sized hands
and the neck feels good to me. It sounds great for strumming and
flatpicking, but for fingerpicking I've heard better. Still it has a sweet
sound which has often recieved compliments from other guitar players.
For the fingerstylists, when I play in an altered tuning (with a D or C bass
usually) the bass string often sounds out of tune when fretted. I don't
know the scale length of my guitar off hand, but I think I remember reading
that this might affect it. I was learning some Bill Mize stuff the other
night from a tab book and had this problem. Of course Bill's recordings
sound excellent, but his guitar is better than mine. So with imminent,
unstoppable GAS, what should I look for in a fingerstyle guitar (body shape,
scale length, nut width, fret size, etc. How do these things affect the
sound, playability?)
dave h
Michael McCollum <ead...@visi.net> wrote in message
news:zMTO6.106$p3....@sydney.visi.net...
Peter MacDonald
wrote:
>I've had a couple of Yairi's. They are made in Japan and are very good
>guitars for the money.
>
>According to the Blue Book, the DY54 is nicknamed the Silver Fawn ... . It
>is a dreadnought style with solid Canadian spruce top, ebony fingerboard
>with snowflake inlay, and oboncol back and sides.
>
>If it were in excellent condition it would be valued at $475 -- in average
>condition $325. Sounds like it's worth a second look at $179 and perhaps an
>offer.
>
>Steve Traub
>
I agree with Steve. I bought an Alvarez-Yairi GY-1 (dreadnought with
cutaway) a few years ago while my D-35 was getting a neck
reset/refret. I sold it for $600 and the buyer felt he had made a
good purchase. It had a very pleasing voice and played well. I think
Yairis are overpriced when new, compared to the competition, but they
make excellent used instruments when the price is right. If it's
structurally sound, the price of $179 is very attractice.
I currently own an Alvarez-Yairi baritone, and while it's not a
McAlister, it's a good value.
Here's a suggestion, for what it's worth. Take a set of your
preferred strings in to the pawnshop and restring the guitar, so that
you get a sense of what it sounds like with decent strings. If you
don't like it, you forfeit the cost of the strings, knowing you have
made an informed decision. If you decide to buy it, ask the shop to
take the price of the strings off the guitar's sale price.
Peter
>>Michael McCollum wrote in message ...
Michael McCollum
"Peter MacDonald" <pjm...@home.com> wrote in message
news:653pgtsm463k9p2ra...@4ax.com...
> On Wed, 23 May 2001 15:45:16 -0400, "Stephen Traub" <str...@shore.net>
> wrote:
>
> >I've had a couple of Yairi's. They are made in Japan and are very good
> >guitars for the money.
> preferred strings in to the pawnshop and restring the guitar, so that
> you get a sense of what it sounds like with decent strings. If you
> don't like it, you forfeit the cost of the strings, knowing you have
> made an informed decision. If you decide to buy it, ask the shop to
> take the price of the strings off the guitar's sale price.
Good idea, I may do just that. Thanks to everyone for their responses.
Mike
VintgeGuy
gets played every bit as much as my Martin D-40.
I've had mine since '87, and it'll go to the grave with me. I say go for
it...
Vinny
Jeff Shurts
at the sticker). Great guitar for flatpicking, but I was starting to do
more fingerpicking so I started looking around. Last summer I picked up a
Santa Cruz OMPW, and my poor Yairi gets lonesome these days (except when I
want to plug in - no electronics in the OM).
OM style guitars are great for fingerstyle playing. Most have a wider
(1-3/4 at nut) neck, and the extra bit of separation between the strings
helps tremendously in terms of missing the strings you're supposed to miss.
Besides, it's very comfortable to play (smaller body) and has outstanding
balance.
I played a bunch of OM and 000 models (Martin Clapton model, Collings, and a
KILLER Huss & Dalton that I nearly bought), and loved them all. Had a heck
of a time making a decision.
If these are out of your range (1800-2500 for those mentioned), you might
check out Seagull - they are resonably priced solid wood guitars, and they
have a Folk model that approximates an OM or Grand Concert size.
Cheers, and happy plucking
Jeff
"Dave H" <rud...@flash.net> wrote in message
news:9eh3qu$7c3i$1...@newssvr06-en0.news.prodigy.com...