Alvarez Yairi DY80 12 string any good?

[58Taylor12]

I see one selling for $1,800 with nice rosewood striping, excellent condition. is this overpriced? 1980's vintage... I saw others for sale same model and similar years and for 1/2 that price, so I'm confused. Thank you!!

[TheGITM]

Can't speak to the value of the specific guitar you are looking at, but the DY-80 Canyon Creek guitars are pretty rare. I'd be surprised if you find more than one or two for sale.

The thing is, someone looking to buy the DY-80 isn't usually someone just looking to buy a 12 string guitar. It's someone looking to buy the DY-80 Canyon Creek 12 string guitar made by Kazuo Yairi. As such, the value is whatever the seller is willing to sell for, and the buyer is willing to pay.

That said, I've never wanted a 12 string so bad I'd pay over $1000 for one. Then again, I rarely play my 12 string so...

[KenL]

I had one, it was a great guitar. I just got tired of the 12 strings.

Seems like I sold it for $800 or so, but that was 15 years ago. Prices are crazy high right now.

That rosewood, btw, is called coral rosewood by the Yairi people. Very pretty.

[edcmat-l1]

1800 for a DY80 is way overpriced that's why that one hasn't sold in nearly a year now. Average selling price for that guitar is 800-1000 depending on condition.

[rmp]

DY's are good guitars

but I think they are not ~$2k good.

[edcmat-l1]

Originally Posted by rmp

DY's are good guitars

but I think they are not ~$2k good.

Definitely not the DY-80s. People ask crazy money for stuff all the time. Doesn't mean that's what they sell for.

[lowrider]

What I'm getting from this thread is that Alvarez Yairi is more Alvarez than Yairi. Who makes them? Are they made in the same factories as Alvarez? Does Alvarez have their own factories?

[Andromeda]

In the late 1960s, St. Louis Music's founder, Gene Kornblum, met Kazuo Yairi, a Master Luthier in Japan who produced handmade concert classical guitars. Together, St. Louis Music and the Yairi factory started to design and develop steel string acoustic guitars and imported them into the United States. The guitars took the brand name of St. Louis Music's Spanish guitar line “Alvarez”.

The Yairi factory lies in the small town of Kani, nestled in the hills north of Nagoya, Japan. Here they have been making guitars for over 80 years.

[TheGITM]

Originally Posted by lowrider

What I'm getting from this thread is that Alvarez Yairi is more Alvarez than Yairi. Who makes them? Are they made in the same factories as Alvarez? Does Alvarez have their own factories?

Oh no. Alvarez Yairi are 100% Yairi. Handcrafted. The tops are tap tuned.
The bracing is hand scalloped. The necks are hand shaved/sculpted. They are just branded/marketed as Alvarez-Yairi in North America. Everywhere else they are sold under the Yairi brand. They are fantastic gutiars.

[58Taylor12]

Thank you, everyone! You are all very helpful! :-)

[johnzias]

Originally Posted by lowrider

What I'm getting from this thread is that Alvarez Yairi is more Alvarez than Yairi. Who makes them? Are they made in the same factories as Alvarez? Does Alvarez have their own factories?

I would put my DYM60 Honduran on the level of any $5000 American guitar as an instrument, and that's conservatively. It makes me ill when the American market only allows for them to be sold for a fraction of that value. Amazing guitars, and the Alvarez relationship is based on distribution. Certainly not construction. And speaking of Alvarez, few make sub $1k guitars that exceed their price point better than Alvarez does.

[TiffanyGuitar]

To me, that is way overpriced and you would need to check it for a neck reset- that neck may not be able to be reset due to epoxy commonly used by Yairi back in the 70s/80s. Yairi does not used epoxy now. Yairi guitars are nice, but you have to be a little careful with the vintage ones due to difficulty or impossibility with repairs.

I still really like my Guild D-1212 - had it almost a year now and still the neck and bridge, neck angle, all haven't budged. I do keep it tuned down a step. I think this one is one of the best Westerly models. I have tried two other Westerly models (6 string models) and I did not think they sounded very good. The D-1212 plays and sounds better than its price would tell you. I have owned many much more expensive 12s, and I think the D-1212 either beats them or at least easily competes. If you are looking for a good 12 string, I don't think you can go wrong with the D-1212.

[jwhelan56]

Here are some "SOLD" listings off of Reverb for that model. Pricing is a bit all over the place, but several have sold in the price range that the OP has mentioned. Gorgeous coral rosewood on these guitars!

Also, here is a link to one that's currently for sale on Reverb:

https://reverb.com/item/54888382-alv...g-2006-natural

[appstaterules]

The DY 80-12 "Canyon Creek" is the same exact model that the DY 52 is in the 6 string model. You have to troll a lot to find any specific guitar either on Reverb, eBay(sucks now that Reverb arrived in 2012), So I trolled and found a Mint DY 80 for, wait for it, wait for it, $699 at Music Go Round. I have bought so many guitars, 74 to date, and many have come from MGR and they are always underpriced.

I just bought a Schecter C-1 Artist and C-1 Artist on Reverb for $400 and $499 respectably. Everything in an AMERICAN Strat but the name and price. And, to boot, at a selling price of $999 back in 2007-09 they were $899. A STEAL for JB and '59 Seymour Duncan pups. I only buy Mint. Excellent. So it takes me a little more time and availability to get THAT one. Take your time, look around and you will find one.

Yes, the price has caught up with the DY 80 and many of the Alvarez DY's, but after you play one kiss M....., G..... and Screwed in Necks Taylor's and many boutique models Goodbye!