The Acoustic Guitar Forum - Kazuo Yairi LO-100

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- - Kazuo Yairi LO-100 (https://www.acousticguitarforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=561163)

Kazuo Yairi LO-100

Recently bought a 1994 Kazuo Yairi LO-100 in need of a little repair. I fixed a few cracks, did a fret job on it and touched up a couple of especially ugly spots. Just got the strings on it, Elixer 80/20 and played it a bit, and I am really enjoying it. This one has all solid wood, rosewood back and sides, mahogany neck, ebony fretboard. It looks like it has been on the road, and has some battle scars, but it is still structurally solid, straight neck and low action. It plays easy and sounds great. The tone is sweet and balanced, and it surprisingly loud, given that it is a smaller box than my other guitars. This guitar has no serial number on the makers label, and it was signed "Kazuo Yairi" on the soundboard. I don't know if this was normal for this model. Any Yairi experts feel free to share your thoughts. Thanks!

Guild D35 1974
Guild D30 1990
Kazuo Yairi LO-100 1994
Yamaha FGX720SCA
Rogue resonator

https://flic.kr/p/2hwJdgq
https://flic.kr/p/2hwMZJh
https://flic.kr/p/2hwN1wQ
https://flic.kr/p/2hwMY8w
https://flic.kr/p/2hwJeR9

Your pics are not showing for me but this is the L0-100 from the Yairi website. Does have the signature on top. Looks like a beautiful guitar. I hope I see your pics. Congrats on a great guitar.

http://www.yairi.co.jp/lsc/lsc-upfil...47/147_1_l.jpg

I've owned nine or ten Yairis, including a couple of rare ones, and like to think I know quite a bit about them. But then a post like yours appears and I realize that I don't know as much as I think I do.

I've never heard of a LO-100. (Also, your photos aren't showing up for me, don't know why.)

But, according to what I do know, a designation of *96* or higher means "solid back and sides" instead of the usual (excellent!) Yairi laminate. But you know that. Not sure what the "LO" designation means, but you say that it's smaller than a dreadnought? I wonder if this one was built for the Asian market, not for export? Those sometimes have different designations.

As for the serial number, it might be on the neck block.

Interesting, though. I hope others chime in here and we get this figured out!

Thanks for the feedback. I followed instructions for posting pics from my Flickr account, but I must have gone wrong somewhere. Apologies to all, and I will try again. Concerning size, this guitar is 15 1/8 inches across the lower bout, compared to 15 3/4 inches for my Guild dreads. The Yairi is also not quite as deep, front to back, and is somewhat shorter scale. I've found a couple of these listed for sale, in Japan, so perhaps this is an Asian market guitar only. It would be interesting to know it's history, but lacking a serial number, I don't know how to proceed on that.

Kazuo Yairi LO-100

Cool old guitar. Glad you got the photos to post.

Did you check the neck block? Anything there?

Kazuo Yairi LO-100

Quote:

Originally Posted by KenL (Post 6192593)

Cool old guitar. Glad you got the photos to post.

Did you check the neck block? Anything there?

Thanks. It is a cool old guitar and I am enjoying it. Tomorrow night I am meeting up with some friends to play a bit and I will pull this guitar out and see what they think.

Good question about the neck block, and there is a story there. Apparently this guitar was originally an acoustic/electric (wonder how many they made) and attached to the neck block was a thin metal bracket, holding a rather substantial circuit board, with a "K. Yairi" medallion on it Wires were cut and the inside the sound hole volume and tone control wheels were missing. A previous owner had installed a Fishman pre-amp and, sadly, hacked a hole in the side to install the Fishman unit. When I got it, the Yairi original circuit board was still in there and some assorted wiring which was cut or unhooked. A Fishman unit was installed, but the separate battery holder was missing. There were cracks in the side where the Fishman and battery box were installed, cracks where the sides meet the end block, and a chunk missing out of the spruce around the soundhole. I suspect that there was a soundhole pick-up there at some point.

When I removed all the non-functioning electronic pieces, I took the four screws out of the metal bracket on the neck block, and the bracket still would not budge, so it is apparently also glued in place. A bit of prying did not move it, and I was afraid of tearing some wood out with the bracket if I forced it. The next time I feel like tinkering, I may heat it a bit and see if it will let go.

There should be a serial number under that bracket, but you know what? At this point it doesn't really matter, and I would just leave that bracket there.

You have yourself a very cool old Yairi, and the serial number doesn't mean that much anyway. You could date the guitar from it, I guess, but that information isn't worth the damage you could do trying to find it.

Too bad that nice old guitar can't talk, bet it could tell some stories!

Kazuo Yairi LO-100

Too bad that nice old guitar can't talk, bet it could tell some stories![/QUOTE]

I've had the same thought. It would be great to know where this guitar has been, and who played it. I'm told that the "100" was the artist series and Paul McCartney and Carlos Santana, among others, owned this model Yairi. This one has definitely been around. I guess I could do a careful refinish on it and make it a museum piece, but the belt buckle rash and random dings don't bother me at all, and in fact, are part of it's history. This guitar is in my car right now, in a good hard case, and it's ready to go.