NUGD: Alvarez Yairi DY-39 1989

[Twin Six]

Found the 6-string counterpart to my Twin Six on Ebay, and with Mrs. Twin Six's approval t & encouragement, took the gamble that it would not need extensive set-up to be playable. With more than a little trepidation, I clicked Buy It Now. The gamble certainly paid off.

In preparation for its arrival, a bought two sets of strings, Martin Marquis 80/20 Extra Lights (0.10 - 0.47) & Lights (0.12 -0.54). Good thing I bought two sets. When it arrived, I tuned up the ancient strings on it and strummed a few chords that went thud. Off they came, and the dusty, grimy guitar got a vacuum-out, fret polishing, & fingerboard oiling. During this process, I noticed that the first several frets are dimpled, so the original owner clearly loved this guitar and played a lot. After this clean-up, on went the Extra Lights. While clipping the excess string ends, I accidentally snipped the B string. Then tuning up the remaining strings, the high E string snapped before quite getting in tune, so off came the Extra Lights. The guitar essentially spit them out.

At this point, I noticed that the tuners were loose, so I snugged them up with a 10mm box wrench, and strung it with the Lights. Once tuned, it sang!

And so, for a very reasonable price and a bit of elbow grease, I've got a guitar I love and can hardly put down that is the six-string twin of my Twin Six. Here's a photo of both of them:

Alvarez Yairi Dreadnoughts by Jonathan Barrett Adams, on Flickr

[edcmat-l1]

Congrats on the new used. Love me some A by Y.

[Twin Six]

Originally Posted by edcmat-l1

Congrats on the new used. Love me some A by Y.

Alvarez Yairis are incredible sounding guitars for the money.

You have quite the collection. I'm going to be content with the two I have.

[edcmat-l1]

Bump for a new used that cost less than a bajillion dollars that no one wants to comment on. Congrats I know how it feels to buy a specific vintage you've been hunting.

[Ruppster]

Congrats Twin 6. I have owned several Yairis over the years and loved them for gigging.while they don’t get a ton of overt love on this forum, I think they are quietly well respected.

[bsman]

I've picked up a few - and every one I have has been fantastic - but I've never had that concurrence of money + availability. Perhaps some day I will see one when I have the ducats!

[Andromeda]

I love Alvarez Yairi guitars! Congratulations on two beautiful ones!

[Twin Six]

Originally Posted by edcmat-l1

Bump for a new used that cost less than a bajillion dollars that no one wants to comment on. Congrats I know how it feels to buy a specific vintage you've been hunting.

Thanks. This one somehow spoke to me even through mediocre Ebay photos. Also, '89 was the year I discovered the sitar, which led me to the guitar. Good year.

Originally Posted by Ruppster

Congrats Twin 6. I have owned several Yairis over the years and loved them for gigging.while they don’t get a ton of overt love on this forum, I think they are quietly well respected.

Thanks. That's the impression I got when doing research on the DY-39. Old AGF threads that popped up on Google were usefully informative and also showed plenty of respect for the work of the late Kazuo Yairi.

Originally Posted by bsman

I've picked up a few - and every one I have has been fantastic - but I've never had that concurrence of money + availability. Perhaps some day I will see one when I have the ducats!

AYs are superb guitars and a great value. I raised the ducats by selling off some camera gear on Ebay. Hope you find the one for you when you've got the ducats.

Originally Posted by Andromeda

I love Alvarez Yairi guitars! Congratulations on two beautiful ones!

Thanks. Having a matched set feels pretty special. And that abalone AY logo holds a certain magic for me.