How Did I Do (S Yairi)
 

I like to have birth year guitars of family members. Have multiples of my kids. I know it may seem cheesy but it reminds me of my family when I'm playing. The Taylor on the thread about Taylor setups was made 6 weeks after my son was born. Wanted another acoustic and see this.

https://reverb.com/item/24157843-s-y...t-1975-natural

Wife's birth year. I searched for a few hours and not much on them but the people that know seem to really like them. I know he has the model wrong. Its some type of 7x0 model, but not a 700 as its a dreadnaught. Don't know why some got hand made labels and others got this label. I know they are not Alvarez Yairi so please keep those guitars out of this thread.

$396 shipped to me. Just sent funds last night.

Not a lot of information out there so if anyone has any on specific models I'd love to here it. I've already read his biography, but would love to hear about specific guitars. Unfortunately it appears there was a lady who knew a lot about these around but tragically her son shot her a few years ago.

You did well
 

These were fine guitars. My brother bought an S Yairi new around 76 or so, and I was surprised by its tone and craftsmanship.

I’m not familiar with the history or the model numbers. But this guitar seems a bargain to me.

Very nice find, look forward to hearing what you think about it when you get it. The ad said S. Yairi worked for Alvarez? That's not true, is it? It was his nephew Kazuo who was involved with Alvarez, or did Sadao as well? Sorry, you said not to mention the "A" word, but I just wanted to clarify whether it was only Kazuo who worked with them, or if Sadao actually did too? I did hear he worked for Lowden, I believe he was in Korea at that time? The family history fascinates me.

Anyway, regarding the guitar, I'll bet it will be very nice. The finish on it looks superb in the photos. Let us know how you like it when it arrives.

Your question is fine. I just didn't want a bunch of "i have a alvarez yairi and it's awesome," not the same. the story is s was k's uncle. He did a little work for alverez but when you think alverez yairi it's k. S went bankrupt in 80, which is a big deal in Japan. His family was disgraced and s and k didn't talk to each other. S did do some work for lowden too, when he left Japan because of the bankruptcy.

Gotcha, that whole thing about going bankrupt and then them not talking to each other because of it, that is kind of a foreign cultural thing to anyone here in the US I guess. It's funny how here we see bankruptcy sometimes as the sign of a "go getter" businessman, in this country if you've not been bankrupt a few times, you weren't much of a businessman...Lol.

There are a number of Japanese language 70s and 80s catalogs and adverts on the web for S.Yairi. (oldguitar.jp and brochures.yokochou.com sites). What I don’t know is if these were sold under different model numbers outside of Japan?

300 Series (Dreadnought)
YD-301/YD-302/......../YD308 (D-45 copy?) plus DY-302-12 (12-string)

400 Series (Dreadnought)
YD-400/YD-401/YD-402/YD-404


500 Series (Jumbo)
YD-504/YD-505/YD-507/YD-508


YF-500 not shown
YF-400 not shown

YF-200 nylon strung
YF-201 (000 size ?)

TM38-A (000 size ?)
TM38-S ( slope-shouldered Dreadnought)

SY series (classical)
SY-20/SY-25/SY-30/SY-40/SY-50/SY-80

Not being able to read Japanese severely limits the information I can retrieve from these documents.