Alvarez Yairi GYM70CESHB
With zero glide nut
With Alvarez Hardshell Case
With LR Baggs VTC electronics
Yairi Masterworks, Grand Auditorium
The Alvarez partnership with the Yairi family of luthiers in Kani, Japan is a cherished part of our 55-year history. Kazuo Yairi’s influence can be seen and heard in every guitar we make, from his innovations in bracing and instrumental architecture to his knowledge of tonewoods and their specific attributes and characteristics.
Alvarez-Yairi represents our 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 our 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, we optimize the separation between each string and maximize balance and projection.
We take the same deliberate approach to our finishes, which range from shimmering natural satin to breathtaking sunbursts and shadowbursts. Careful preparation and years of experience allow our craftsmen to keep the finish thin, allowing our high-grade tops an excellent rate of vibration and movement.
Grand Auditoriums like the 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 LR Baggs VTC system with Element pick up 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 us. 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 our players a lifetime of musical fulfillment.
Top Wood
Solid AAA Sitka Spruce
Body Finish
Shadowburst/Gloss
Back and Sides Wood
Solid East Indian Rosewood
Bridge Pins
Ebony
Shape
Grand Auditorium
Neck
One piece mahogany, 50/50 Semi gloss finish, Extended neck joint
Bracing
Hand Carved FTS2
Bridge
Ebony Direct Coupled
Inlays
Abalone & Mother of Pearl
Fingerboard
Ebony with 12th AA Fret Inlay
Headstock Plate
Rosewood
Nut and Saddle
Real Bone / Tusq™
Tuner
Gotoh 510's Gold with Ebony Buttons
Binding
Ivoroid
Bridge Pins
Ebony
Strings
D'Addario EXP16
Accessories
Deluxe Wood Case / US Only
Bracing Systems
Handcarved FST2 - Forward Shifted, Asymmetric Tone Bars
Neck Joint
Dovetail, Extended Neck Joint
Neck Meets Body
14th Fret
Number of Frets
20
Pickup / EQ
LR Baggs VTC Element System
DIMENSIONS
Overall Length (mm)
1028
Body Width (mm)
402
Body Depth at Heel (mm)
97
Body Depth at Base (mm)
118
Scale (mm)
648
Scale (inches)
25 1/2
Number of Frets
20
Nut Width (mm)
44
Nut Width (inches)
1 23/32