Yairi Guitar Factory Tour

This year we celebrate the Yairi facility, first opened by Kazuo's father, building guitars for 75 years.

If you're looking for a guitar with real soul, an instrument you will treasure, a guitar that will be with you forever, and become one of the family, then you'll need an Alvarez-Yairi -- special guitars for special players.

In the late 1960's a very special relationship began between the then owner of St. Louis Music, and Kazuo Yairi, a Japanese master luthier, renowned for making exquisite classical guitars for Japan's concert musicians.

Together they decided to make the finest acoustic, steel string guitars possible, and that was the start of Alvarez as we know it today.

Nearly 50 years later Mr. Yairi, now 80 years old, and building guitars for 62 years, still goes into his factory everyday to work with his 25 colleagues, still producing beautiful guitars with friends who some have been there for 30, 40 and even over 50 years. However, a new generation of luthiers have been carefully trained and tutored by these great builders and Alvarez-Yairi guitars will continue for generations to come.

As a company St. Louis Music has never been one to rest upon past success and it still works very closely with Mr. Yairi and his team, and new instruments and construction techniques are continually developed in order to keep producing some of the finest guitars in the world.

Alvarez-Yairi instruments are beautiful in every respect, beautiful to look at and beautiful to hold and to listen to. Every note is clear, every guitar intonates perfectly, every neck is hand carved and fits in the palm of your hand as though it was made for you.

The wood Yairi guitars are made from has been naturally seasoned for years, for decades in some cases, and they have a unique, understated appearance different from any other guitar. Although traditional in style, Yairi's have their own vibe and have attracted some of the biggest names music has ever known.

Alvarez Yairi guitars are availble at factory authorized dealers across America and the world.

©2003 Copyright Alvarez Yairi / St. Louis Music, Inc. (The information contained in this audio / video remains the property of the original copyright owner, and is posted here for educational purposes only; it is not intended for resale. "Fair Use" under U.S.C., Title 17, Chapter 1, Section 107, U.S. Copyright Law).