History of K Yairi
The K Yairi workshop is situated in Kani, a small community in the mountainside area of Honshu, Japan.
The K Yairi company has a history of guitar making that goes back to 1935. Kazuo Yairi, now 74 years old, took over the company from his father in 1963 after spending three years in the USA learning how the Americans were constructing & voicing their guitars.
Kazuo Yairi now oversees around 30 guitar makers in his workshop and their yearly output is in the region of a modest 4000 guitars. Most of those instruments are sold in Japan or in the USA, marketed under the Alvarez-Yairi brand. This modest output meant that in the past the UK was starved of guitars. Now with UK distribution, British guitarists have the opportunity to sample these Japanese hand made guitars.
Yairi sets very high standards for the timber they use. All woods are naturally seasoned. No timber is kiln dried. Other than the sawmill, no machinery is used in the manufacture of the guitars. No CNC machines or UV spray booths speed up the process.
Many guitars are made by a single craftsman; others are made by a team of 3 or 4 makers.
When luthiers retire at 60 they are welcomed back on a part time basis to help train the younger builders.
There is a plaque in the workshop that reads “There is no other way of surviving except through high quality†This Japanese culture of pride is reflected in the guitars themselves.
Players
Yairi Guitars have been endorsed by or seen in the hands of:
Paul McCartney, U2, Radiohead, Crosby, Stills & Nash, Zakk Wylde, Monte Montgomery, Jerry Garcia & Bob Wier from The Grateful Dead, Ritchie Blackmore, Ani DiFranco and Adrea amongst others.
Phil Dolan plays Eleanor Rigby on his DYM95V
Yairi Factory Tour - True Craftsmen at Work
Monte speaks for Yairi owners the world over!
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