In the small town of Kani, nestled in the hills north of Nagoya, Japan, lies the renowned K. Yairi guitar factory. They have been crafting guitars here for over 80 years.

Alvarez and Yairi have enjoyed an uninterrupted 55-year partnership in producing exquisite guitars, made by hand, from naturally seasoned woods with an unwavering commitment to quality and design. Every neck is spoke shaved by hand, braces are carved, and tops are tuned to perfection. The attention to detail and quality of the build are impeccable.

Kazuo Yairi and his loyal team of luthiers created an incredibly efficient and innovative workshop. Being able to work with such a lineage of master builders is very rare. Some of the luthiers have been at Yairi for over 50 years. Their skills and experience are shared with younger luthiers to form a multi-generational team who have chosen guitar building as their livelihood and dedicated their working lives to the craft. The guitars are the result of the close collaboration between Alvarez & Yairi—a sharing of knowledge and an obsessional approach to excellence.

A new voicing and tonal response in the Honduran and Masterworks Series has been introduced! This voicing is designed to widen the tonal palette, and to bring a more robust, clear bass response and a compelling openness to the guitar.

The new bracing system is called FST6. It is similar in shape and placement to the previous FST2 system, but the braces are lighter in weight. In the quest to strike the perfect balance between strength and vibration, FST6 delivers with a heightened richness – impossible not to embrace.

Playing an instrument that instantly, almost intuitively reacts to your requests is a result we continually strive to achieve. The FST6 increases the connection with the player and responds effortlessly.