c.1975 Alvarez Yairi DY 57 Dreadnought Guitar

Built like a fancier-looking Martin D-18, this mid-70s (low 16xxx serial number) Japanese-built Alvarez Yairi is a kick-butt dreadnought. It's not as complex as a similar-styled Martin or Gibson from the same time but it does have very strong fundamentals and a good thick bottom end with snappy highs.

My work (for a customer) was simply a fret level/dress, new bone saddle, and setup. It played pretty well (for a completely non-adjusted one-owner guitar) from the get-go which means that despite the evidence of lots of playwear, it's certainly been babied -- which is a good thing. I've seen guitars trashed by poor storage and carelessness far too many times!

This bridge had been amateurishly "string ramped" beforehand, but I cut them out with a bit more definition so they wouldn't wear poorly. The new bone saddle replaced a (broken) synthetic one and the tone is much more responsive. At the same time I compensated the B-string slot area which helped with precise intonation.

As far as materials? Solid spruce top, mahogany back, sides, and neck and rosewood fretboard and bridge.

Check out the nice trim the Yairi workshop put on this guy... real snazzy.

The original frets leveled and dressed nicely.

Who doesn't like a backstrip?

Gold-plated rotomatics with a Martin-style "volute."