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  #1  
Old 11-22-2015, 11:43 PM
PlottHound PlottHound is offline
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Default Repair advice - Alvarez Yairi DY38

Recently I had a friend offer me a guitar that he bought for his kid years ago, but the kid is long since moved out and the guitar hasn't been played in years. He warned me that it was in bad shape, but was willing to part with it for free, so I thought, why not.

To my surprise, he brought me a 1992 Alvarez Yairi, with a very unfortunate large hole in the top. There's also a crack in the top next to the whole, missing bits of binding, and a break in the bracing where the hole is.

Despite all the damage, it still has a pretty nice sound and great playability.

I'm thinking, if even possible, this repair is way beyond my level, but I thought I'd get your opinions on what needs done with it and the best way to approach the repair. At the very least, is it repairable, and if so what would be the best to ask a professional luthier to do with it?






Last edited by PlottHound; 11-22-2015 at 11:57 PM.
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  #2  
Old 11-23-2015, 12:27 AM
runamuck runamuck is offline
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Yes, it is repairable but I don't think that guitar warrants what it will cost.
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  #3  
Old 11-23-2015, 06:03 AM
Ned Milburn Ned Milburn is offline
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Depending upon the internal damage, this could be cheap to medium cost to repair. I have repaired much worse!!
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Old 11-23-2015, 11:20 AM
Fire&Rain Fire&Rain is offline
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IMO, not worth repairing -- but maybe display as wall art with an interesting story about the part it played in a domestic dispute??
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Last edited by Fire&Rain; 11-23-2015 at 09:50 PM.
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  #5  
Old 11-23-2015, 11:29 AM
Ned Milburn Ned Milburn is offline
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Again, depending upon the internal bracing and its condition, this guitar could be relatively inexpensive to repair. Depends also how much of the chunk of soundboard and binding remains.

I can't remember this model precisely, but it could very well be similar to some ealier Sigma branded guitars - Martin knockoffs and quite fine quality.

Hopefully someone with more specific knowledge in memory can tell you about this specific model.

Whether the model is originally budget or high quality, the repair shouldn't be difficult if the interior bracing is in tact. Even so, it is not a big deal if all the pieces exist.
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Old 11-23-2015, 03:06 PM
redir redir is offline
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Aw that poor thing

If the guitar sounds good now it will sound even better with the fix but price wise it's probably better to take the money for the fix and put it into a new guitar imho.
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Old 11-23-2015, 04:11 PM
Sperry Sperry is offline
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I'd put it in your closet until you come across a novice luthier who wants to practice on it. A kid handy in shop class who plays guitar could probably do a decent job on it.
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  #8  
Old 11-23-2015, 05:00 PM
PhilQ PhilQ is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Ned Milburn View Post
Depending upon the internal damage, this could be cheap to medium cost to repair. I have repaired much worse!!
Not to sidetrack the thread, but out of curiosity, Ned, if the internal bracing was indeed ok, how would you go about patching the top? Would you remove the splinters and try to make the hole more even first?
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Old 11-23-2015, 05:11 PM
Ned Milburn Ned Milburn is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by PhilQ View Post
Not to sidetrack the thread, but out of curiosity, Ned, if the internal bracing was indeed ok, how would you go about patching the top? Would you remove the splinters and try to make the hole more even first?
If the broken piece is not missing, it should be fairly easy to refit it to the existing soundboard. Small splinters may have to be removed, and when re-glued, care should be taken to clamp the soundboard flat/level, and to tighten (clamp,tape,bind) from the sides to close the gap. A small amount of "filler" (be it glue, sawdust/glue mix, spare cut splinter of wood) may be needed.
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  #10  
Old 11-23-2015, 05:31 PM
PhilQ PhilQ is offline
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oh right. i just assumed the piece was missing...
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  #11  
Old 11-23-2015, 09:09 PM
redir redir is offline
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IF the piece was missing then you would want to cut a fresh polygon with nice straight lines and fit a piece in. Any luthier would have a bunch of spare spruce patches laying around. But it's still quite a bit of work if you ask me unless you just want to patch it and go. But to get all the binding right and refinishing would be an expensive job.
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  #12  
Old 11-23-2015, 10:57 PM
chucksurette chucksurette is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Ned Milburn View Post
Depending upon the internal damage, this could be cheap to medium cost to repair. I have repaired much worse!!
+1 on the repair. Not bad for a freebie.

http://www.acousticguitarforum.com/f...d.php?t=242305
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  #13  
Old 11-24-2015, 08:22 AM
jman60 jman60 is offline
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What a shame... I own a 1989 DY-39 which is just a B/S wood upgrade from hog to matching rosewood back and sides.

The DY-38 is Yairi's entry level guitar and when it was new (1991) it sold for around $700 (list price) with a H.S. case. Nowadays used this guitar I've seen go for around +/- $500 used. I researched the net months ago when I bought mine and found used prices all over the place between what I paid for mine used up as high as $1,500 (which is crazy). I was told the current Blue Book value was around $400 used (don't know for sure though).

Here's a few currently for sale to give you an idea...
http://www.ebay.com/itm/ALVAREZ-YAIR...YAAOSwLzdWS3WJ

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-1990...oAAOSwBLlVSoOa

https://reverb.com/item/1183717-alva...8-1987-natural

As you can see, the prices are all over the place for this model.

My DY-39 sounds beautiful and plays just as nice as it sounds. I bought it earlier this year for $300 w/the original H.S. case which is pretty cheap IMHO. The music store I bought it from didn't know anything about Yairi's.

Being a Yairi fan since the 70's I've always been drawn to Yairi acoustics since an old friend of mine bought a 1976 DY-68 12 string which sounded incredible. I've never played a bad Alvarez Yairi.

If you want my 2 cents worth at the least it's worth looking into to getting it repaired. You should ask your friend if he still has the piece of wood that broke off the top.
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Last edited by jman60; 11-24-2015 at 09:59 AM. Reason: Correction
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  #14  
Old 11-24-2015, 09:01 AM
Greg Rappleye Greg Rappleye is offline
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I have this same model (Alvarez Yairi DY-38) with laminate flamed maple back and sides. Spotless, though I bought it used. If this had happened to my Yairi (after I finished crying) I would definitely check into the cost of repair. If the cost was reasonable, I would have the repair done. If not, I would replace the injured guitar with another Yairi.

I love my Yairi. I like it so much, I have another one (a used DY-91--a much fancier model that is no longer in production) on the way via Reverb.

With the unfortunate death of K. Yairi, an era has ended among the makers of quality Japanese guitars. Once this loss is fully realized in the marketplace, my (albeit, unqualified) opinion is that the value of used K. Yairi-era guitars will hold firm in the short term, and probably appreciate over the long-run.

Not that market considerations are a compelling reason to buy a guitar.



Greg Rappleye
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  #15  
Old 11-24-2015, 09:53 AM
jman60 jman60 is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Greg Rappleye View Post
I have this same model (Alvarez Yairi DY-38) with laminate flamed maple back and sides.
You must have a newer version of the DY-38. Check out this link for Alvarez Yairi catalogs (jpg's). According to this information the earliest listed spruce/maple version of your guitar was 2002. There are no catalogs listed between 1996 thru 2000 and in 2001 this model wasn't listed.

http://alvarezyairi.web.fc2.com/catalog/price_list.html

The first mention of the DY38 & DY39 was in Jan. 1987
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15 Gibson LG-2 American Eagle
03 Yairi DY62C
89 Yairi DY39
16 Alvarez AD610CESB
Mid 80's Alvarez 5009 classical
63 Yamaha No100 classical
89 Gibson Les Paul Standard
04 Gibson Les Paul Supreme
84 Ibanez AS200AV
75 Gibson L6S
05 Gibson SG Special Peter Townsend
95 G&L Legacy
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