1990 Alvarez-Yairi DY53 Jumbo Flattop Guitar

This is a customer's guitar and he's the original owner. Check out that top! He played this sucker. Granted, it's a solid cedar top and thus fairly soft, but still -- that's some wear! Suffice to say, it was in for a fret level/dress and setup. The frets matched the wear to the top and had deep gouges up to fret 5 or so, but I was able to coax them back to life.

I have to say that I've never met an Alvarez-Yairi (Japan-made) product that didn't appeal to me. They're well-designed, good-sounding, and great-playing instruments. They don't always hit it out of the park sonically, but they're reliably good and very practical. I've met plenty of owners (like this guy's owner) who've had them for decades and have used them non-stop on tour, at farmer's markets every summer, playing bars, or in studios. They're not flashy but they definitely get the job done and remain stable in use.

Work included: a fret level/dress, cleaning, and setup. Action is spot-on at 3/32" EA and 1/16" DGBE at the 12th fret, the truss works, and it has a fast, slim-C neck shape with ~12" radius to the board.