The Alvarez partnership with the Yairi family of luthiers in Kani, Japan is a cherished part of their 55-year history. Kazuo Yairi’s influence can be seen and heard in every guitar Alvarez makes, from his innovations in bracing and instrumental architecture to his knowledge of tonewoods and their specific attributes and characteristics.

Alvarez-Yairi represents their flagship guitars, where each instrument is treated and prepared as a handmade work of art. Each brace is carved by hand, each neck is spokeshaved to perfection. Tonewoods of the highest grade are naturally seasoned for years to decades before being used in the production process.

The GYM70CESHB features Alvarez's FST2 bracing system, a very forward-shifted X-brace design which was the result of years of research and development. FST2 features center scooped scalloping to the main braces and asymmetric scalloping to the two tone bars. In this way, they optimize the separation between each string and maximize balance and projection.

Alvarez takes the same deliberate approach to finishes, which range from shimmering natural satin to breathtaking sunbursts and shadowbursts. Careful preparation and years of experience allow their craftsmen to keep the finish thin, allowing their high-grade tops an excellent rate of vibration and movement.

Grand Auditoriums, like this GYM70CESHB, are perfect all-round instruments, adept at both strumming and fingerpicking and ideal for a guitarist needing a guitar that can do it all. The GYM70CESHB has been carefully designed to take advantage of the Grand Auditorium’s best properties and is fitted with the L.R. Baggs VTC system with Element pickup and soundhole console.

Further innovation comes with the Direct Coupled Bridge. This system displays the craftsmanship with which these guitars are made. The DC Bridge means the pins actually go into the top of the guitar, taking the vibration to the heart of the soundboard and simultaneously increasing the break angle from the saddle to the top. This increased down pressure raises string tension, giving the guitar a very responsive feel and adding quality to its volume and sustain. Other presentments include hand cut and assembled pearl and abalone inlays, ivoroid binding, ebony fingerboard, ebony bridge and ebony bridge pins.

Like all Yairi Masterworks, this guitar is made from premium tonewood that has been seasoned naturally for 5 to 15 years in the perfect climate of Kani.

Kani is in the prefecture of Gifu in the hills north of Nagoya. This wood preparation and environment for building guitars is very important to the structural integrity of the instrument and helps to ensure decades of stability and performance from your Yairi.

Experiencing an Alvarez-Yairi is to experience the very passion that drives the company. These are truly marquis instruments and represent what’s at the heart of the Alvarez culture: Continual improvement and attention to detail that will give players a lifetime of musical fulfillment.