Guild vs Alvarez Yari question?

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I currently have a '73 F40 blonde that I dearly love and have just acquired a lte model D40...2016 I think.In the past I have owned several Alvarez guitar that I was happy with.
Does anyone hear have experience with comparable models of Guilds vs Alvarez Yari's???
 

D30Man

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John - Those Alvarez models are the ones made by well known Japanese luthier Kazuo Yairi in Kani, Nagoya, Japan. I think you might confusing brands. The red label is synonymous with early Yamaha Japanese made guitars as they were made in Nippon.

As far as comparisons to Guild go, I have not had enough experience with Yairi as I have only played a few early ones..
 
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D30man, you are correct Red Label is a Yahama logo. Alvarez has the "Alvarez" and the Alvarez Yari are the hand made Japanese models. It has been many years since I have played a Yari and am fairly new to Guild. Happily is have discovered Guild recently. The Yari's are currently good buys so I am wondering if they trend more toward the bright "Taylor" sound or have a deeper voice...more like a Guild or Martin.
 

Cougar

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....The Yari's are currently good buys so I am wondering if they trend more toward the bright "Taylor" sound or have a deeper voice...more like a Guild or Martin.

Don't know the answer to that, but I do know that many of the Alvarez Yairi's have laminate backs, and not arched laminate backs.
 

docfishr

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As a died in the wool Guild lover it feels a bit disloyal to admit that my current favorite guitar is an Alvarez Yairi FYM75.It has a solid Red Cedar top and solid EIR back and sides. The fit and finish of guitars from the Yairi plant is second to none and the hand built quality produces wonderful tone. It is true that many of their guitars have laminate back and sides. I have owned a few of them and they were excellent.
So when I got the chance at an all solid one for under $1500 I took the plunge and am happy to say it is truly one of the best guitars I have owned in my 54 years as a guitarist.
That said, I still own a few exceptional Guild acoustics that always make me smile.
 

Br1ck

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Some early Alvarez and Yamaha guitars, talking 70s here, could hold there own with anything. Some I've played I'd take over some Guilds I've played. The main problem with these is many need neck resets and owners, wrongly in my opinion, don't think they are worth it. Some luthiers will do a bolt on conversion which by many accounts restores these into playable condition.

I bought a Guild F 40 from Gryphon years ago, which developed a poor neck angle. They deemed it not worthwhile for them to reset properly, but they gave me trade in value on it. Frank ford had a method that involved cutting the fingerboard and applying force. He said they would only do it on instruments they owned as it was 50/50 the neck would snap off. In this case it was successful as I later saw it for sale. The fingerboard looked very strange at the body joint, but it saved a guitar.

A friend showed me his early Yamaha in dire need of a neck reset. I would have swapped that Guild for it in a heartbeat. It sounds great even with a poor break angle. So it really depends on the guitar. I had another friend who bought an Alverez of and old vintage that was insane for the $200 he paid for it. The Japanese had it going on in the seventies. Even the Epiphone Texan was built there for a time. Those were far better than what is coming out of China these days. I am only talking their top tier instruments here. They made plywood instruments too, and I think a cheap Yamaha today is better than and old one.
 
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Cougar

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As a died in the wool Guild lover it feels a bit disloyal to admit that my current favorite guitar is an Alvarez Yairi FYM75.

I've gassed over the Alvarez Yairi DY-73 (I think it is) for some time. A somewhat cheaper model 12-string with a small KYairi signature burned into the top on the lower bout. Expecially one where every one of the amber tuning buttons is mixed with red-ish buttons. Looks very cool.
 

richardp69

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I know that Yari's get a lot of love and believe me, I'm not dissing them. I've owned I think 2, or maybe 3 Yari's . I just could not bond with them. Likely me and not the guitar but I'll stick with Guild and Gibson.
 

D30Man

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I have only played a few and they were all solid players. My buddy owned one with lam b/s and he never could bond with it..
 

wileypickett

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The only Alvarezes I love are their cedar-topped models, which don't really sound like anything else, including other brands' cedar-topped guitars.

One is an MD60, one is an MD70 (be careful as they made both spruce topped and cedar topped guitars with these same model numbers!). These sell for cheap -- the first one I found at a yard sale, otherwise I'd never even have thought to check them out.

The third one is a Yairi 12-string, like Cougar describes above -- with "K. Yairi" burned into the top and with red amber tuning buttons. A very impressive sounding 12-string.
 
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