Alvarez Yairi CY-140 CE

[DJ in FL]

Anybody else have/seen/played one of these nylon beauties? Seems they are scarce and now not made any more.

It is a cut-away, 2" neck, Laminated BRAZILIAN back/sides, western red cedar top, ebony fretboard, 650 scale; LR Baggs factory installed p/u;
List was $2770, w/street price around $1800-2000 in ones I have seen.
Evil-Bay had one listed last week for $2000 used. Not sure if it sold.

It's a great sounding model. I am pretty sure they still make the CY-140, but the CY-140 CE for some reason never did well enough to make it very popular.
I have spoken with ONE person who has one over on the Yahoo ALVAREZ GROUP, but otherwise have never found another owner.

Guess I should just be happy to be one of the select few??

[guildmann]

i notice you have a Mark 11 along with your Yairi classicals. i own a Guild Mark 1V & Mark V. Does the Yairi sound much better than the all solid wood Guilds?
i can't imagine they much could sound better than my Guilds but i've always been intrigued by the Yairis.

Rob

[brucefulton]

Originally Posted by guildmann

i notice you have a Mark 11 along with your Yairi classicals. i own a Guild Mark 1V & Mark V. Does the Yairi sound much better than the all solid wood Guilds?
i can't imagine they much could sound better than my Guilds but i've always been intrigued by the Yairis.

Rob

In general, the Yairi's will have a more traditional classical guitar sound than most of the Guild nylon string guitars from the 60s. Depends on the guitar, of course, but the older Guilds were more geared and voiced toward folk styles, while the Yairi's were patterned more like traditional Spanish style classical guitars. That's a generalization of course; individual guitars will vary. I have a MK III and a couple of Spanish classicals, and have crossed paths with more than a couple of Yairi's.

[Red_Label]

Never had/played a CE, but I had an original CY140 back in the mid-90s when I was strictly playing classical standards and it was a splendid mid-level classical. Mine was amazingly figured (not straight-grained Jacaranda, but swirly and very interesting figures) and perfectly bookmatched. Sounded and played wonderfully. Wish I still had it...

[Cedar.]

Slightly off-topic but I am deeply saddened by the passing of Kazuo Yairi. I have no idea who is going to continue his legacy and build more Yairis but I hope it lives on because they're one of a kind guitars.

[DJ in FL]

Originally Posted by guildmann

i notice you have a Mark 11 along with your Yairi classicals. i own a Guild Mark 1V & Mark V. Does the Yairi sound much better than the all solid wood Guilds?
i can't imagine they much could sound better than my Guilds but i've always been intrigued by the Yairis.

Rob

Rob: As I am sure you know "sound better" is almost too subjective to answer. If I do an A/B comparison playing same song, chords, I can notice a much greater volume of sound from the Yairi. The Mark II sounds good, but considering the wood, bracing and thus the sound, for the price.
As we all know, you gotta have range of tones in your gits family. IMHO there is quite a range between the two.
Play in good health.

[guildmann]

thanks for the comparison DJ.. i know just what you mean