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S. Yairi started his own
factory back in 1932 (? 1938), after leaving Suzuki Violin along with
Kazuo Yairi's Father, Giichi.. who started the current K. Yairi
business in 1935. Kazuo took it over sometime in the mid 1960's
(the most given year is 1965). Sadao didn't see his first
classical or "gut" guitar until 1940 and had only made steel
string flat top models. It wasn't until the early 1960's that he
finally began producing the "gut" guitars.
Guitars with the logo at the
bottom est. 1938 are not original S. Yairi but some reissue
models based on his old ones.. note Hiroshi name (Sadao's son)..
however, there were some issues with those that were made in
outside Japan, that they were cheaply made and inferior. Only
the high end models were made in Japan. I'm currently trying to
find out if Hiroshi has passed on, as I've heard rumors that he
did and some "business" bought the rights to continue to make
this with the S.Yairi brand. As to the dates 1932, vs 1938 as
years for starting, Obviously if Hiroshi made these, the 1930's
date is not really correct since he would have been 3 years old
at that time. All of the real Sadao (or S.Yairi) models I've
seen have 1932 as the date he began. Also, excerpts from an
actual interview in the mid 1970's with Sadao he states he began
in 1932 after leaving Suzuki. I'm thinking that maybe the 1938
date may be eitiher a typo, or it is possible that he mentioned
that year because early on he had to move his factory and start
over.
You can tell the original S.
Yairi, from the reissues by the shape of the "S". Left is a
photo's of what a 1980 S.Yairi logo (model 810) looks like along
with it's label (below) [Source and photos:
YL , email
4/8/2009]
Dating S Yairi guitars
Models that are
around have the date of manufacture stamped on the sound hole
label (see example below)
S Yairi
resources
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yairi
http://yairiguitars.spaces.live.com/
Alvarez and Alvarez Yairi - Info
Place - Yahoo Group
S Yairi catalogs
various 1970 -
1982
http://www.t-shiga.com/sub7-5-1.htm
Imported
to US by Philadelphia Music Co of Limmerick, Pennsylvania. Early
sales literature called the brand Syairi. [Source: Vintage
Guitar Price Guide]
Reviews
http://reviews.harmony-central.com/reviews/Guitar/brand/S+Yairi
Forum
http://www.delcamp.net/forum/en/viewtopic.php?f=11&t=19419
http://www.delcamp.net/forum/en/viewtopic.php?f=11&t=20554
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