Year: 1976
Model: YD302
Serial Number: 6101.1
Made in Japan
Type: 6-string acoustic guitar (steel string)
Body type: dreadnought
- Solid spruce
top
- Mahogany neck
- Rosewood side and back
- Ebony
fretboard
- Scale: 645mm
- Nut width: 45mm
Hiromi Ishii's S. Yairi Page (in Japanese)
Alex's Yairi Page (in Japanese)
Cool's S. Yairi Page (in Japanese)
S. Yairi, unsolved mystery
Among guitar enthusiasts in Japan and around the world, S. Yairi is known as one of the best guitars built back in the 70's. S. Yairi ceased to exist in the 80's. A similar brand name, K. Yairi, still exists, but the company claims that there is no relation to S. Yairi. Unfortunately in recent years, a new company with the same brand name of S. Yairi began selling guitars made in China and by contractors in Japan, creating some confusions among new buyers.
The truth about S. Yairi is not well known. What happened to the master luthier, Sadao Yairi (a.k.a. Sada Yairi)? Why does Kazuo Yairi (K. Yairi, Alvarez-Yairi) remain silent about the history and his relation to his uncle, Sadao? What is the secret behind the lifetime-guaranteed neck? Only in the past several years some clues have been put together by enthusiasts (see links above). Still, there are more questions than answers.
My guitar, YD302, is the low-end model of S. Yairi, built in 1976. We may not know much about the guitar maker, but if we listen, the guitar itself tells us a story, something wonderful about the people who built it. Just hold this guitar and play it, and you'll know why some of us think that S. Yairi could be the best guitars ever built.
Brother Yuichi
This S. Yairi is the first guitar I purchased. Before this, I was playing my brother's left-handed electric guitar. In order to play right-handed, I peeled off and flip the nut and reverse the strings. When my brother plays it, I reverse the operation. I repeated this operation for a few years until my brother's great patience finally ran out.
One day, Yuichi asked me if I wanted a guitar of my own. I said yes but I got no money to buy one. I was in the middle school back then.
A little over a year passed and he asked me again if I wanted a guitar of my own. I said yes but I still got no money. I was in the high school, and I had a part-time job at a burger joint, but all my money went to buy gears for my Kendo (Japanese fencing) training. I actually wanted to quit the Kendo team to play in a rock band but my coach didn't let me quit.
My brother smiled and slowly pulled out a stack of money from his pocket. He was holding 60,000 Japanese yen, about $600 in today's currency exchange rate. But it was 30 years ago. The value easily exceeds $1,000 in today's money.
He said, "go get a guitar you like with this money, but don't buy a cheapy crap. First you need to find a good one you like. You then tell me what you find. If I approve your choice, you can use this money to buy it."
It turned out that he'd been saving his money from the moment he asked me the question a year before. He was still in college back then, and I recall he had a part-time job at a noodle shop, not really a well-paying job. It took him a year to save that much money.
I went out to music shops in Tokyo, did some research, and came up with S. Yairi. My decision came fairly easily even though there were many choices from many guitar makers. S. Yairi, even the low-end model, sounded much better than any guitars I played, including high-end models from competing brands. My brother approved my choice, and the S. Yairi YD302 became the first guitar of my own.
A year later, I ran away from home. I was found and dragged back home 4 days later. My possession: a school bag and S. Yairi.
The following year, I left Japan.
20 years later, I was in Granada, Nicaragua, backpacking with my wife. One afternoon, I spotted an Internet cafe. I didn't have a chance to read my emails for weeks. Good timing, I thought.
That's when I learned that my brother Yuichi passed away. It was the day of his funeral. He was 45. He left his wife and three young children. I called and spoke with my father on the phone. I never forget that day.
I still own and play this guitar. Her familiar sound always brings me back the love of my brother Yuichi.
This is a rare and valuable guitar for collectors.
For me, this guitar is priceless.