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Author Topic: 1972 Yairi Gakki Classical Guitar  (Read 16617 times)

GenericName

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1972 Yairi Gakki Classical Guitar
« on: 23 Jan 2008, 20:41 »

So, I recently found a beat-up-looking guitar in a thrift store.
It had a nice sound, but needed beaucoup de tuning, and now it resides at my place of residence.
Upon further examination, it is a 1972 Yairi Gakki guitar Clase 8900.
I thought perhaps someone on these fine forums would be able to tell me something about this type of guitar, since a Google search yielded two results, eBay and a forum where they all said "I have no idea whatsoever" about a very similar guitar.

I don't think this should be in The Guitar Thread seeing as I'm not really bragging at all, I'm inquiring.
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Johnny C

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Re: 1972 Yairi Gakki Classical Guitar
« Reply #1 on: 23 Jan 2008, 22:55 »

Why do you need to know? If it plays nicely, then good. You've found a good guitar, I reckon.

I literally don't know the make of my acoustic guitar as it's years old and has no identification on it. Doesn't stop me from playing it, you know?
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pinkpiche

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Re: 1972 Yairi Gakki Classical Guitar
« Reply #2 on: 23 Jan 2008, 23:17 »

Actually I recognize generic's curiosity, mainly because the interest in guitars sometimes goes further than just playing it. Enjoying a nice finish, gold mechanics or something like that. The name sounds Finnish, that's all I can tell you..
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negative creep

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Re: 1972 Yairi Gakki Classical Guitar
« Reply #3 on: 24 Jan 2008, 11:59 »

Google says it's probably japanese.

edit: wikipedia has a page about it, too.
« Last Edit: 24 Jan 2008, 12:06 by negative creep »
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Chad K.

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Re: 1972 Yairi Gakki Classical Guitar
« Reply #4 on: 24 Jan 2008, 13:14 »

So, I recently found a beat-up-looking guitar in a thrift store.
It had a nice sound, but needed beaucoup de tuning, and now it resides at my place of residence.
Upon further examination, it is a 1972 Yairi Gakki guitar Clase 8900.
I thought perhaps someone on these fine forums would be able to tell me something about this type of guitar, since a Google search yielded two results, eBay and a forum where they all said "I have no idea whatsoever" about a very similar guitar.

I don't think this should be in The Guitar Thread seeing as I'm not really bragging at all, I'm inquiring.

I happen to know quite a bit about Yairi guitars.  They are extremely well made and quite expensive guitars.  My friend's father worked for the St. Louis Music Company in the 70's through the 90's, which makes Ampeg and Alvarez products.  In the 70's Alvarez guitars went under the brand name "Electra," and had become somewhat popular with prog-rock and arena rock bands for having onboard "mpc" effects, largely due to an endorsement by Peter Frampton.  As part of their business strategy, Electra partnered with the Matsumoku factory in Japan. 

At that same time, Electra/Alvarez were seeking to capitalize on the surge of acoustic rock acts by finding  an acoustic line to import.  At Matsumoku's suggestion, they invetigated two brothers by the name of Sadao and Kauro Yairi making acoustics in Japan.  Kauro entered into an importation deal with them, while Sadao chose to remain with the Japanese market exclusively. 

Yairi  guitars were made with a new bracing formula that allowed their tops to be very thin, and, consequently, more resonant.  They eventually went a little crazy with this principal, which lead to some significant warping of the tops of Yairis, thus decreasing the number of guitars in the market, but increasing the value of classic models.  Yours may be an Alvarez Yairi (it will have an "A"with a "Y" superimposed over it) or a Yairi (it will have just a "Y").  If its 1972, it could have been one of the first runs of imports that didn't yet have the Alvarez moniker.  In that case, it could have been either by the Yairi import, or purchased by someone from Sadao and brought to America.

Both Yairis still make guitars, and a typical new Yairi acoustic goes in the $1200-$2500 range.  They are all handmade and are pros dirty little secret.  The next time you see an acoustic performance, look at the headstock.  A lot of Yairis get mistaken for Taylors. 

Good find.  Hold onto it.  There are people who pay an arm and a leg for those.
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casull

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Re: 1972 Yairi Gakki Classical Guitar
« Reply #5 on: 25 Jan 2008, 09:15 »

If you just google Yairi Gakki you get this article:

 Sadao or Sada Yairi was a guitar maker and guitar manufacturer from Nagoya, Japan who was active from the 1960s to the 1990s. He sold guitars under a number of labels including Sadao Yairi, Yairi Gakki, S. Yairi, and Sada Guitar. He also manufactured guitars for B&M (distributed in the UK) Lowden, Sherry-Brener and a few guitars for Alvarez of St. Louis Music during the early 1970s. During the early 1990s, he had a line of handmade guitars sold by Samick in S. Korea.

Information on Sadao Yairi is scant and a number of Japanese Sadao Yairi collectors confirm that Sadao Yairi’s guitar making history is shrouded in mystery especially after a 1990s statement by Kazuo Yairi, of Alvarez Yairi fame, that Kazuo and Sadao have no working relationship.

The consensus is that Sadao and Kazuo Yairi are cousins who learned guitar making from Kazuo Yairi‘s dad, also named Sadao Yairi. The older Sadao, had worked as a guitar and violin maker at the Suzuki, Takehuru factory in Nagoya and then later opened his own business, Yairi & Son, which operated until about 1970-71. Nagoya is the major industrial port city in Aichee prefecture and one of Japan's long established guitar making centers.

In the late 1960s Sada and Kazuo went their own way and began making guitars under their own label, with Sada establishing S. Yairi guitars in Nagoya and Kazuo Yairi starting up K. Yairi Guitars in Kani, which is about 30 minutes from Nagoya. Both Sadao and Kazuo made guitars for Alvarez/St. Louis Music Company in the early 1970s, but Kazuo ended up getting an exclusive contract with St. Louis Music. Kazuo's guitars sold by SLM were first known as Alvarez by Kazuo Yairi and then Alvarez Yairi guitars.

In the early 1970s, Sadao had a number of guitar ventures including Yairi Gakki and S Yairi Guitars (gakki is the Japanese word for guitar). S. Yairi made guitars for B&M in the UK and for Lowden in the USA. Sadao also made some Alvarez guitars for SLM in the early 1970s. He went bankrupt in the late 1980s. As a result of the bankruptcy, he went to South Korea in the early 1990s and worked for Samick guitars, developing a short-lived line of handmade guitars labeled "Samick by S. Yairi".

In the 1990s Kazuo Yairi published a statement that there was no working relationship between him and his cousin Sadao (probably because of the bankruptcy). I believe that Sadao Yairi passed away during the 1990s.

Sometime during the late 1990s/early 2000s, a Japanese venture started to manufacture low quality guitars using the S. Yairi name. These guitars are made in China and are not the same quality as S. Yairi guitars made during the 1960s to 1980s.
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