In the small town of Kani, nestled in the hills north of Nagoya, Japan, lies the renowned K. Yairi guitar factory. They have been crafting guitars here for over 80 years.
Alvarez and Yairi have enjoyed an uninterrupted 55-year partnership in producing exquisite guitars, made by hand, from naturally seasoned woods with an unwavering commitment to quality and design. Every neck is spoke shaved by hand, braces are carved, and tops are tuned to perfection. The attention to detail and quality of the build are impeccable.
Kazuo Yairi and his loyal team of luthiers created an incredibly efficient and innovative workshop. Being able to work with such a lineage of master builders is very rare. Some of the luthiers have been at Yairi for over 50 years. Their skills and experience are shared with younger luthiers to form a multi-generational team who have chosen guitar building as their livelihood and dedicated their working lives to the craft. Our guitars are the result of the close collaboration between Alvarez & Yairi—a sharing of knowledge and an obsessional approach to excellence.
2024 is an exciting year as we introduce a new voicing and tonal response in our Honduran and Masterworks Series. This voicing is designed to widen the tonal palette, and to bring a more robust, clear bass response and a compelling openness to the guitar.
We call our new bracing system FST6. It is similar in shape and placement to our previous FST2 system, but the braces are lighter in weight. In the quest to strike the perfect balance between strength and vibration, FST6 delivers with a heightened richness we found impossible not to embrace.
Playing an instrument that instantly, almost intuitively reacts to your requests is a result we continually strive to achieve. We feel FST6 increases the connection with the player and responds effortlessly.
2024 also sees us launch new models and bring an array of new wood configurations to certain body shapes we have never made before. To our Honduran Series, we add an all-Mahogany 12th fret Parlor and a stunning non-cutaway Grand Auditorium. Masterworks expands its offering with a majestic mix of tonewoods. Californian Redwood, purchased by Mr. Yairi many decades ago, has been paired with East Indian Rosewood, and Premium Adirondack Spruce is now also available with Rosewood. Both parings help to create rare and inspirational instruments with new tonal horizons.
2024 Masterworks also offers several new Grand Auditorium and OM models with a much-expanded choice of colors and tonewoods.
Laureate Series, Left Handed
Every constituent part considered; each component hand-selected to achieve optimal quality throughout the build.
A bench made approach to the build
The quality of every component is so important in the overall performance of an acoustic guitar. For Laureate Series we hand select every bridge plate, brace, side brace and piece of kerfing from thousands, to make sure they are the best quality possible for structure and appearance. This dedication can be seen, heard and felt and brings a rare level of detailing to the build process.
Hand finished FS6 bracing
FS6 is based on a traditional forward shifted bracing pattern with particular attention paid to the weight and placement of the struts themselves. For Laureate we take a couple of extra steps and hand sand the braces which are cut from quartersawn Sitka spruce and chosen for their straight, finely grained quality to enhance overall response and vibration.
The finest tonewoods
Only our finest, wonderfully quartersawn and silked Sitka, as well as hand selected African Mahogany is used in Laureate Series. The stiffness and quality of the tops allow us to thickness sand them just a tad thinner to help heighten response. Backs and sides are cut from the best East Indian Rosewood and African Mahogany that comes into our possession; bookmatched with perfect coloring.
A flawless finish
The systems required to achieve the quality we aimed for made us once again improve upon our sanding and painting process to deliver a flawless, deep shine with the thinnest clearcoat we have ever achieved in Alvarez. We’ve also introduced a new colour called Daybreak, a super light burst adding an aesthetic depth to the top and creating a vintage style vibe at the same time.
Appointments & Styling
Bridges, fingerboards and headstock plates are cut from the finest African ebony we can find. The ebony components impact articulation, clarity and separation of notes and frequencies and work with other premium comments to deliver a clear and powerful voicing. This quality of ebony works beautifully with rare Blue Abalone inlays to create a very luxurious but understated vibe.
The Laureate Bridge
Aesthetically, Laureate is a traditional guitar series in the sense its body shapes are based on guitars from the late 1800’s to the 1930’s. With this in mind, we made the decision not to use our Bi-Level bridge and to stay closer in keeping with a traditional approach, and a full, single level bridge style. The Laureate bridge has its own unique styling and is cut from the finest black ebony.
Compare the LP70Le
Some years ago, artist JP Cormier independently made a comparison video between our MD60BG Dreadnought and one of his own high-end dreadnoughts. The video went viral helping to launch and promote the Alvarez Masterworks guitar. JP became a friend of Alvarez, and as a thank you for his support (and the fact that we think he’s an awesome guitar player), we made him a Signature Model Alvarez Yairi. JP revealed his DYMRJP Signature Model on his YouTube channel and immediately generated interest from his followers. They asked and we listened!
In the small town of Kani, nestled in the hills north of Nagoya, Japan, lies the renowned K. Yairi guitar factory. They have been crafting guitars here for over 80 years.
Alvarez and Yairi have enjoyed an uninterrupted 55-year partnership in producing exquisite guitars, made by hand, from naturally seasoned woods with an unwavering commitment to quality and design. Every neck is spoke shaved by hand, braces are carved, and tops are tuned to perfection. The attention to detail and quality of the build are impeccable.
Kazuo Yairi and his loyal team of luthiers created an incredibly efficient and innovative workshop. Being able to work with such a lineage of master builders is very rare. Some of the luthiers have been at Yairi for over 50 years. Their skills and experience are shared with younger luthiers to form a multi-generational team who have chosen guitar building as their livelihood and dedicated their working lives to the craft. Our guitars are the result of the close collaboration between Alvarez & Yairi—a sharing of knowledge and an obsessional approach to excellence.
2024 is an exciting year as we introduce a new voicing and tonal response in our Honduran and Masterworks Series. This voicing is designed to widen the tonal palette, and to bring a more robust, clear bass response and a compelling openness to the guitar.
We call our new bracing system FST6. It is similar in shape and placement to our previous FST2 system, but the braces are lighter in weight. In the quest to strike the perfect balance between strength and vibration, FST6 delivers with a heightened richness we found impossible not to embrace.
Playing an instrument that instantly, almost intuitively reacts to your requests is a result we continually strive to achieve. We feel FST6 increases the connection with the player and responds effortlessly.
2024 also sees us launch new models and bring an array of new wood configurations to certain body shapes we have never made before. To our Honduran Series, we add an all-Mahogany 12th fret Parlor and a stunning non-cutaway Grand Auditorium. Masterworks expands its offering with a majestic mix of tonewoods. Californian Redwood, purchased by Mr. Yairi many decades ago, has been paired with East Indian Rosewood, and AAAA Adirondack is now also available with Rosewood. Both parings help to create rare and inspirational instruments with new tonal horizons.
2024 Masterworks also offers several new Grand Auditorium and OM models with a much-expanded choice of colors and tonewoods.
In Yairi Masterworks, the acoustic-electric versions are fitted with the new Hi-Fi system from LR Baggs. In Yairi Stage and Standard series, we’ve embraced the LR Baggs Stage Pro Bronze, a new low-profile, small footprint, modern EQ with the Element pickup.
Alvarez-Yairi 2024 is without a doubt the most exciting new line-up we have ever offered – a brand new, exquisite voicing for our all-solid models, glorious new tonewood configurations in Masterworks and new EQs and pickups. They are, quite simply, the best guitars we have ever made.
Laureate Series, Left Handed
Every constituent part considered; each component hand-selected to achieve optimal quality throughout the build.
A bench made approach to the build
The quality of every component is so important in the overall performance of an acoustic guitar. For Laureate Series we hand select every bridge plate, brace, side brace and piece of kerfing from thousands, to make sure they are the best quality possible for structure and appearance. This dedication can be seen, heard and felt and brings a rare level of detailing to the build process.
Hand finished FS6 bracing
FS6 is based on a traditional forward shifted bracing pattern with particular attention paid to the weight and placement of the struts themselves. For Laureate we take a couple of extra steps and hand sand the braces which are cut from quartersawn Sitka spruce and chosen for their straight, finely grained quality to enhance overall response and vibration.
The finest tonewoods
Only our finest, wonderfully quartersawn and silked Sitka, as well as hand selected African Mahogany is used in Laureate Series. The stiffness and quality of the tops allow us to thickness sand them just a tad thinner to help heighten response. Backs and sides are cut from the best East Indian Rosewood and African Mahogany that comes into our possession; bookmatched with perfect coloring.
A flawless finish
The systems required to achieve the quality we aimed for made us once again improve upon our sanding and painting process to deliver a flawless, deep shine with the thinnest clearcoat we have ever achieved in Alvarez. We’ve also introduced a new colour called Daybreak, a super light burst adding an aesthetic depth to the top and creating a vintage style vibe at the same time.
Appointments & Styling
Bridges, fingerboards and headstock plates are cut from the finest African ebony we can find. The ebony components impact articulation, clarity and separation of notes and frequencies and work with other premium comments to deliver a clear and powerful voicing. This quality of ebony works beautifully with rare Blue Abalone inlays to create a very luxurious but understated vibe.
The Laureate Bridge
Aesthetically, Laureate is a traditional guitar series in the sense its body shapes are based on guitars from the late 1800’s to the 1930’s. With this in mind, we made the decision not to use our Bi-Level bridge and to stay closer in keeping with a traditional approach, and a full, single level bridge style. The Laureate bridge has its own unique styling and is cut from the finest black ebony.
Compare the LD70Le
Laureate Series, Left Handed
Every constituent part considered; each component hand-selected to achieve optimal quality throughout the build.
A bench made approach to the build
The quality of every component is so important in the overall performance of an acoustic guitar. For Laureate Series we hand select every bridge plate, brace, side brace and piece of kerfing from thousands, to make sure they are the best quality possible for structure and appearance. This dedication can be seen, heard and felt and brings a rare level of detailing to the build process.
Hand finished FS6 bracing
FS6 is based on a traditional forward shifted bracing pattern with particular attention paid to the weight and placement of the struts themselves. For Laureate we take a couple of extra steps and hand sand the braces which are cut from quartersawn Sitka spruce and chosen for their straight, finely grained quality to enhance overall response and vibration.
The finest tonewoods
Only our finest, wonderfully quartersawn and silked Sitka, as well as hand selected African Mahogany is used in Laureate Series. The stiffness and quality of the tops allow us to thickness sand them just a tad thinner to help heighten response. Backs and sides are cut from the best East Indian Rosewood and African Mahogany that comes into our possession; bookmatched with perfect coloring.
A flawless finish
The systems required to achieve the quality we aimed for made us once again improve upon our sanding and painting process to deliver a flawless, deep shine with the thinnest clearcoat we have ever achieved in Alvarez. We’ve also introduced a new colour called Daybreak, a super light burst adding an aesthetic depth to the top and creating a vintage style vibe at the same time.
Appointments & Styling
Bridges, fingerboards and headstock plates are cut from the finest African ebony we can find. The ebony components impact articulation, clarity and separation of notes and frequencies and work with other premium comments to deliver a clear and powerful voicing. This quality of ebony works beautifully with rare Blue Abalone inlays to create a very luxurious but understated vibe.
The Laureate Bridge
Aesthetically, Laureate is a traditional guitar series in the sense its body shapes are based on guitars from the late 1800’s to the 1930’s. With this in mind, we made the decision not to use our Bi-Level bridge and to stay closer in keeping with a traditional approach, and a full, single level bridge style. The Laureate bridge has its own unique styling and is cut from the finest black ebony.
Compare the LF70Le
The AG70ce Black is a beautifully responsive Grand Auditorium guitar delivering glistening trebles and a robust, clear bass response that makes this guitar suitable for most styles of music and playing. It has an understated elegance with striking contrast between the natural AA Sitka top and dark Indian rosewood back and sides.
The AEG70ce is fitted with the LR Baggs StagePro Bronze. The StagePro Bronze is a small-footprint side-mounted EQ incorporating the renowned LR Baggs Element under-saddle pickup. This is a low-profile unit with a large backlit tuner, volume, bass and treble controls and phase. The battery box is built into the end pin jack compartment for easy access with a simple push to open and change batteries.
Alvarez Artist Series represents our commitment to quality and care. Our goal is to create an instant bond between you and your guitar through meticulous design in bracing, voicing and overall construction. Every component—from our bi-level bridge to our solid bridge plates and neck blocks—is carefully considered to deliver the best response possible from solid-top construction.
Artist Series guitars are responsive with impressive projection and balance that make them both rewarding and inspiring to play.
With a huge selection of body shapes and wood configurations, Artist Series has a guitar for everyone. For a more focused, woody tone, choose a Mahogany top. For a broader, more open projection, choose Sitka. For a warm response to a lighter, melodic touch, choose Cedar.
All of our solid tops are selected by our team and graded independently of our suppliers. If it isn’t worthy, it isn’t used. Our laminated backs and sides are uniquely constructed with Mahogany as our middle layer, and our inner and outer layers are always matched.
Artist guitars strike the right balance between strength and vibration, crafting a voice to both inspire and give players “tools in the tone.” Alongside this approach to development lies our respect for sourcing, preparation and nurturing the wood we use to make our guitars. No matter how considered design may be, it can only be as good as the wood we use to realize them.
Our all-solid wood tops, backs and sides, as well as the mahogany used for our necks, go through a curing process developed over years to create stability, strength and tonal benefits. Depending on the wood and its use, this process takes many months or even years for some of our models.
After months-long seasoning, we perform an extra drying stage in thermo-kilns to further enhance wood stability and improve resonance. We call this process ATR—Advanced Tonal Response. ATR™ is a form of torrefaction—oxygen controlled, vacuum curing at special temperatures to remove more moisture and volatiles such as saps and sugars from the wood.
This does two things:
Our caring approach to development comes from one unwavering goal: To deliver the best guitars in the market at every price point—instruments of a truly remarkable value that offer an unparalleled player experience.
Thank you for choosing Alvarez.
Yairi Masterworks Limited Edition
“Solid Sitka with Solid Indian Rosewood is a combination that’s hard to beat when it comes to building a powerful, dynamic and charismatic instrument. The wood choice helps us deliver a resonant instrument suitable for a wide range of playing and musical styles.
The DYM70 never seems to run out of punch and its dynamic range is vast. Stroke it and it will whisper as quietly as you want it to; strum it as hard as you can and it will sing as loud as you need it to.
Everything is apparent in this guitar; bass, mids and trebles work together, never fighting each other, leaving the player free to approach the guitar from the song’s requirements rather than compensating for overly lively or underperforming response.
Like all Yairis, the DYM70 has an extended dovetail neck construction that maximizes the energy transfer between the neck and body. It also allows for a wider range of rod adjustment, decreasing the risk of any neck/body irregularities.
Compare the DYM70 Sunburst
Further innovation comes with the Direct Coupled Bridge. This system displays the craftsmanship with which these guitars are made. The DC Bridge means the pins actually go into the top of the guitar, taking the vibration to the heart of the soundboard and simultaneously increasing the break angle from the saddle to the top. This increased down pressure raises string tension, giving the guitar a very responsive feel and adding quality to its volume and sustain.
Like all Yairi Masterworks, this guitar is made from premium tonewood that has been seasoned naturally for 5 to 15 years in the perfect climate of Kani.
Kani is in the prefecture of Gifu in the hills north of Nagoya. This wood preparation and environment for building guitars is very important to the structural integrity of the instrument and helps to ensure decades of stability and performance from your Yairi.
The DYM70 is our line in the sand—from here on in, it’s the guitar that sets the standard for all our future development. From the outset it was this model that we built dozens of samples of, refining the construction and bracing along the way to find the sound we wanted. We believe this is one of the best guitars in the market, an unfailing instrument that delivers player satisfaction note after note."
Laureate Series
Every constituent part considered; each component hand-selected to achieve optimal quality throughout the build.
A bench made approach to the build
The quality of every component is so important in the overall performance of an acoustic guitar. For Laureate Series we hand select every bridge plate, brace, side brace and piece of kerfing from thousands, to make sure they are the best quality possible for structure and appearance. This dedication can be seen, heard and felt and brings a rare level of detailing to the build process.
Hand finished FS6 bracing
FS6 is based on a traditional forward shifted bracing pattern with particular attention paid to the weight and placement of the struts themselves. For Laureate we take a couple of extra steps and hand sand the braces which are cut from quartersawn Sitka spruce and chosen for their straight, finely grained quality to enhance overall response and vibration.
The finest tonewoods
Only our finest, wonderfully quartersawn and silked Sitka, as well as hand selected African Mahogany is used in Laureate Series. The stiffness and quality of the tops allow us to thickness sand them just a tad thinner to help heighten response. Backs and sides are cut from the best East Indian Rosewood and African Mahogany that comes into our possession; bookmatched with perfect coloring.
A flawless finish
The systems required to achieve the quality we aimed for made us once again improve upon our sanding and painting process to deliver a flawless, deep shine with the thinnest clearcoat we have ever achieved in Alvarez. We’ve also introduced a new colour called Daybreak, a super light burst adding an aesthetic depth to the top and creating a vintage style vibe at the same time.
Appointments & Styling
Bridges, fingerboards and headstock plates are cut from the finest African ebony we can find. The ebony components impact articulation, clarity and separation of notes and frequencies and work with other premium comments to deliver a clear and powerful voicing. This quality of ebony works beautifully with rare Blue Abalone inlays to create a very luxurious but understated vibe.
The Laureate Bridge
Aesthetically, Laureate is a traditional guitar series in the sense its body shapes are based on guitars from the late 1800’s to the 1930’s. With this in mind, we made the decision not to use our Bi-Level bridge and to stay closer in keeping with a traditional approach, and a full, single level bridge style. The Laureate bridge has its own unique styling and is cut from the finest black ebony.
Compare the LP70e Daybreak
Laureate Series
Every constituent part considered; each component hand-selected to achieve optimal quality throughout the build.
A bench made approach to the build
The quality of every component is so important in the overall performance of an acoustic guitar. For Laureate Series we hand select every bridge plate, brace, side brace and piece of kerfing from thousands, to make sure they are the best quality possible for structure and appearance. This dedication can be seen, heard and felt and brings a rare level of detailing to the build process.
Hand finished FS6 bracing
FS6 is based on a traditional forward shifted bracing pattern with particular attention paid to the weight and placement of the struts themselves. For Laureate we take a couple of extra steps and hand sand the braces which are cut from quartersawn Sitka spruce and chosen for their straight, finely grained quality to enhance overall response and vibration.
The finest tonewoods
Only our finest, wonderfully quartersawn and silked Sitka, as well as hand selected African Mahogany is used in Laureate Series. The stiffness and quality of the tops allow us to thickness sand them just a tad thinner to help heighten response. Backs and sides are cut from the best East Indian Rosewood and African Mahogany that comes into our possession; bookmatched with perfect coloring.
A flawless finish
The systems required to achieve the quality we aimed for made us once again improve upon our sanding and painting process to deliver a flawless, deep shine with the thinnest clearcoat we have ever achieved in Alvarez. We’ve also introduced a new colour called Daybreak, a super light burst adding an aesthetic depth to the top and creating a vintage style vibe at the same time.
Appointments & Styling
Bridges, fingerboards and headstock plates are cut from the finest African ebony we can find. The ebony components impact articulation, clarity and separation of notes and frequencies and work with other premium comments to deliver a clear and powerful voicing. This quality of ebony works beautifully with rare Blue Abalone inlays to create a very luxurious but understated vibe.
The Laureate Bridge
Aesthetically, Laureate is a traditional guitar series in the sense its body shapes are based on guitars from the late 1800’s to the 1930’s. With this in mind, we made the decision not to use our Bi-Level bridge and to stay closer in keeping with a traditional approach, and a full, single level bridge style. The Laureate bridge has its own unique styling and is cut from the finest black ebony.
Compare the LD60e Sunset
Laureate Series
Every constituent part considered; each component hand-selected to achieve optimal quality throughout the build.
A bench made approach to the build
The quality of every component is so important in the overall performance of an acoustic guitar. For Laureate Series we hand select every bridge plate, brace, side brace and piece of kerfing from thousands, to make sure they are the best quality possible for structure and appearance. This dedication can be seen, heard and felt and brings a rare level of detailing to the build process.
Hand finished FS6 bracing
FS6 is based on a traditional forward shifted bracing pattern with particular attention paid to the weight and placement of the struts themselves. For Laureate we take a couple of extra steps and hand sand the braces which are cut from quartersawn Sitka spruce and chosen for their straight, finely grained quality to enhance overall response and vibration.
The finest tonewoods
Only our finest, wonderfully quartersawn and silked Sitka, as well as hand selected African Mahogany is used in Laureate Series. The stiffness and quality of the tops allow us to thickness sand them just a tad thinner to help heighten response. Backs and sides are cut from the best East Indian Rosewood and African Mahogany that comes into our possession; bookmatched with perfect coloring.
A flawless finish
The systems required to achieve the quality we aimed for made us once again improve upon our sanding and painting process to deliver a flawless, deep shine with the thinnest clearcoat we have ever achieved in Alvarez. We’ve also introduced a new colour called Daybreak, a super light burst adding an aesthetic depth to the top and creating a vintage style vibe at the same time.
Appointments & Styling
Bridges, fingerboards and headstock plates are cut from the finest African ebony we can find. The ebony components impact articulation, clarity and separation of notes and frequencies and work with other premium comments to deliver a clear and powerful voicing. This quality of ebony works beautifully with rare Blue Abalone inlays to create a very luxurious but understated vibe.
The Laureate Bridge
Aesthetically, Laureate is a traditional guitar series in the sense its body shapes are based on guitars from the late 1800’s to the 1930’s. With this in mind, we made the decision not to use our Bi-Level bridge and to stay closer in keeping with a traditional approach, and a full, single level bridge style. The Laureate bridge has its own unique styling and is cut from the finest black ebony.
Compare the LD60e Sunset
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