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Alvarez is one of the leading guitar manufacturer companies in the USA. It is based in St. Louis, Missouri and was founded in 1965 by St. Louis Music. They are known for their innovative designs and development of several acoustic and classical guitars, as well as instrument accessories such as guitar cases and straps.

St. Louis Music
St. Louis Music/U.S. Band & Orchestra Supplies is a well-known distributor of musical instruments in North America. It was established by Bernard Kornblum in the year 1922 and then was passed on to Bernard's son Gene Kornblum. It was initially based in the violin business and was an importer of instruments from Europe to America. However, in the late 1960's Gene collaborated with Kazuo Yairi in Japan, a creator of handmade classical guitars. Through this collaboration, the development and importation of several acoustic guitars began, under the name of "Alvarez". The collaboration between Saint Louis Music and Yairi proved to be a great success, and the guitars are still being handmade in the Yairi Factory located in Kani, Japan. In 2005, due to Saint Louis Music's great success, the company was bought by LOUD Technologies Inc., which is an American professional audio company and the original founder of the company, Gene Kornblum retired. However, certain divisions of Saint Louis Music's accessory business were soon sold by LOUD Technologies to the St. Louis distributor, U.S. Band & Orchestra Supplies Inc. In 2011, Alvarez Guitars also once again became a part of St. Louis Music.

Kazuo Yairi
Kazuo Yairi is the owner and president of the Yairi Guitar Company, which was one of the first companies involved in the exporting of guitars to North America. Through his collaboration with the former owner of St. Louis Music, his company evolved into Alvarez-Yairi guitars.

Yairi was born in 1932, and had created the Yairi Guitar Factory in the late 1960's with the hopes of exporting his handmade acoustic and classical guitars. Kazuo Yairi was highly innovative in his original guitar designs. The features of his guitars included things such as a direct-coupled bridge system, and an extended dovetail neck joint.

After years of contributing to the company’s creations, Yairi passed away on March 10th, 2014 at the age of 81.

Alvarez Artists
The popularity of Alvarez Guitars grew as a result of several famous musicians such as Roy Clark and Waylon Jennings endorsing Alvarez Guitars. Since then, Alvarez Guitars has become popular with several artists such as Johnny Cash, Paul McCartney, and Bob Weir.

Alvarez Guitars also offers an Artist Relations Program that anyone can apply to be a member of by filling in a questionnaire. Being a part of this program makes one a Alvarez Endorsee, offering an aspiring artist the opportunity to be marketed through social media feeds, great discounts on guitars, as well as access to fully sponsored instruments.

Artists who use Alvarez Guitars

 * Paul McCartney
 * Roy Clark
 * Waylon Jennings
 * Bob Weir
 * Carlos Santana
 * Harry Chapin
 * Glen Hansard
 * Ani DiFranco
 * David Crosby
 * Graham Nash
 * Jon Anderson
 * Pete Yorn
 * Joe Bonamassa
 * Shaun Morgan
 * Josh Turner
 * Roy Muniz
 * Tricia S. David
 * Monte Montgomery

Models

 * Alvarez Traditional
 * Alvarez Regent
 * Alvarez Artist
 * Alvarez Professional Series
 * Alvarez 12-String Professional
 * Alvarez Fusion
 * Alvarez Master Works


 * Yairi Classical
 * Yairi Signature Series
 * Yairi Acoustic/Electric
 * Yairi Standard Steel Strings
 * Yairi Masterwork Steel Strings

International Distributors

 * D'Addario Australia
 * Ivan Music Ltd
 * D’Addario Canada
 * CMI ApS
 * Music Leader International
 * Sound Service GmbH
 * Wild Guitars / Orna Liber Center of Music
 * Gold Music Srl
 * Voerman Amersfoort B.V.
 * South Pacific Music Distributors
 * Lyric Piano & Organ Corp
 * Music Info SP z o.o.
 * Grand Mystery Co., Ltd
 * Luther Music PTE Ltd
 * SUPROVOX S.L.
 * Schoolmusic Co Ltd
 * Go To Guitars Ltd