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Author Topic: Has anyone heard of Legra Guitars?  (Read 5842 times)

AnnunakiMassacr

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Has anyone heard of Legra Guitars?
« on: September 27, 2012, 06:46:32 PM »
Hey all,

Sorry to post ANOTHER post, but I wondered if any has head, if not dealt, with Legra guitars?

After being put off Warmoth by one-piece necks, I've been scrambling around google for guitar builders today, and probably spoken to at least 7. I final came across Legra guitars (I discovered them just over a year ago, but never pursued anything) and gave Bob a phone and discussed things.

He was telling me he had a 50-year-old piece of Mahogany that resonated like a Xylophone when you tap, which could be used for a neck. Out of all the luthiers I have spoken to, not one have spoken the way Bob did. He seems to really know what to look for in terms of wood, as to just sticking together random pieces from a pile.

Can anyone vouch for him? I would really love a resonant guitar with some low-output pickups to have a truley fantastic tone. He really does seem the real deal.
« Last Edit: September 27, 2012, 06:50:19 PM by AnnunakiMassacr »
BKPs: ESP Eclipse I CTM FT w/Riff Raff bridge/Mule neck - ESP Eclipse I CTM w/Rebel Yells - LTD EC-1000 FT w/Aftermaths - Music Man JPIX w/Juggernauts

Philly Q

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Re: Has anyone heard of Legra Guitars?
« Reply #1 on: September 27, 2012, 06:49:04 PM »
Both MDV and Dave Mc have (or have had) Legra guitars, and Bob Johnson of Legra is also a member of the forum.
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AnnunakiMassacr

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Re: Has anyone heard of Legra Guitars?
« Reply #2 on: September 27, 2012, 06:52:16 PM »
Well if they see this post, any input would be really appreciated.
BKPs: ESP Eclipse I CTM FT w/Riff Raff bridge/Mule neck - ESP Eclipse I CTM w/Rebel Yells - LTD EC-1000 FT w/Aftermaths - Music Man JPIX w/Juggernauts

AnnunakiMassacr

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Re: Has anyone heard of Legra Guitars?
« Reply #3 on: September 27, 2012, 07:23:56 PM »
I'm really liking this -

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MDV

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Re: Has anyone heard of Legra Guitars?
« Reply #4 on: September 27, 2012, 08:22:20 PM »
I'll vouch for Bob. Very much so.

I have 2 Legras, and bobs expertise and abilities are superb, as is the quality of the result. We've spoken at great length about guitar design, and went into great detail in setting on the spec of mine (MDV602 and The Aurora), taking into consideration wood characteristics, construction and hardware, and the interaction of all the above on the final result, and Bobs input was invaluable to me, and his advice spot on.

Absolute pleasure to deal with as well, and I'd trust him with anything. Hes not the hyperbole-using, bullshiteeting type at all: he says thats great wood, its great wood. You should get him to make you a neck from it :).

AnnunakiMassacr

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Re: Has anyone heard of Legra Guitars?
« Reply #5 on: September 27, 2012, 08:34:08 PM »
I'm excited now :) I'd love a guitar that is made out of the best wood.

If a company made the exact same guitar, with exact same playability; how would you rate Legra in terms of just wood resonance? I know some luthiers use great wood, but would you say Legra use the "Cream Of The Crop?" (I hate that saying, haha) wood wise? I'm not just talking about wood for certain aspects of the guitar: I mean does Legra use woods that work well together as in body and neck? As in you could easily have 2 fantastic pieces of wood that don't resonate together, but you can have 2 average pieces that work better!

Complicated I know, haha
BKPs: ESP Eclipse I CTM FT w/Riff Raff bridge/Mule neck - ESP Eclipse I CTM w/Rebel Yells - LTD EC-1000 FT w/Aftermaths - Music Man JPIX w/Juggernauts

MDV

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Re: Has anyone heard of Legra Guitars?
« Reply #6 on: September 27, 2012, 09:00:27 PM »
The woods that are in my Legras are about the best quality I've seen, yes. If I recall the spec sheet for my 602 correctly, even the maple binding on the neck is 5A.

Bobs philosophy in that regard is use the best wood you can possibly get, because A: its going to sound better in the end, and B: the most consistent and well cut pieces are easier to machine and work precisely, and therefore its going to sound better in the end.

The guitars bare this out. My legras are consistently more acoustically resonant and responsive than other guitars, including other customs I've compared them to.

Wood combinations and wood combinations in the context of a given construction are things that bob pays a lot of attention to. You would be much better talking with him about that than me :)

My own answer (as in, what I think, which informed in part by things I've learned from Bob, but may or may not be Bobs answer; if bob disagrees, you should listen to bob):

I'm much more inclined to think that if woods arent resonating together, thats a mechanical issue in vibration transmission, rather than one piece of wood somehow not 'playing well with' another. If two 'average' pieces of wood come together in to make a very good guitar, its probably because that guitar was very well assembled, and the same assembly standard with higher quality woods would yield a better guitar.

I hear of some people trying to choose woods that resonate in 'harmony' with each other, if thats what you're talking about (as in they will try and assemble a guitar where the tap tone of the neck and the body wood are a third or fifth or whatever apart) but I dont put much stock in that, as geometry affects resonance very strongly (so as soon as you machine the neck and body, the resonance will change) as well as material properties, and clear efficient vibration transmission from the nut to the bridge is the most important factor. Thats affected by wood quality in terms of grain consistency, oil and moisture content, total mass, pore size and probably other stuff I've forgotten, but well assembled pieces of resonant wood should always outperform well assembled pieces of mediocre or poor wood. Imo.
« Last Edit: September 27, 2012, 09:02:58 PM by MDV »

AnnunakiMassacr

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Re: Has anyone heard of Legra Guitars?
« Reply #7 on: September 27, 2012, 09:40:34 PM »
Well I'm sold :)
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MDV

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Re: Has anyone heard of Legra Guitars?
« Reply #8 on: September 27, 2012, 10:10:28 PM »
You do right.

MrBump

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Re: Has anyone heard of Legra Guitars?
« Reply #9 on: September 27, 2012, 11:12:12 PM »
Bob is great.  He lives about 10 minutes from me, and did an awesome job setting up my tele - played like a dream afterwards.

Mark knows far more about the build quality of his guitars, but if it's anything like the quality of his setups you'll be well happy.
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AnnunakiMassacr

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Re: Has anyone heard of Legra Guitars?
« Reply #10 on: September 28, 2012, 11:07:33 AM »
If I was to get a guitar from Bob, would you say investing in a great set of low-output, open sounding PAF flavour, pickups would really bring out the tonality of the woods with absolute beauty?
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MDV

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Re: Has anyone heard of Legra Guitars?
« Reply #11 on: September 28, 2012, 01:47:37 PM »
I've had a LOT of pickups in my legras, all high output, and amped up they all still have very strong characteristics of the acoustic sound of the guitar. Even with EMGs (which I dont buy as being as homogenising as many claim, but they certainly impose their own sound more than most). The guitars sound is of such quality, with no tonal/spectral holes or weak points that they shine with their own character with any pickup.

AnnunakiMassacr

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Re: Has anyone heard of Legra Guitars?
« Reply #12 on: September 28, 2012, 03:25:28 PM »
Well I'm really interest in a guitar in the style of that red one above with an 11-ply Mahogany-Maple-Wenge. Ithink the colours are beautiful :)

BKPs: ESP Eclipse I CTM FT w/Riff Raff bridge/Mule neck - ESP Eclipse I CTM w/Rebel Yells - LTD EC-1000 FT w/Aftermaths - Music Man JPIX w/Juggernauts

dave_mc

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Re: Has anyone heard of Legra Guitars?
« Reply #13 on: September 28, 2012, 05:55:47 PM »
Mine is really, really nice, too. The only (off-the-shelf) guitars I've tried which are as nice are the really super-boutique things which cost about twice as much as mine did (and which probably had a lesser spec than mine did- at the time i got mine, a legra with that spec would have cost about a third as much). He's really great to deal with and is willing to talk for ever about specs etc. and how different things will (most likely) affect the tone etc. of the guitar.

AnnunakiMassacr

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Re: Has anyone heard of Legra Guitars?
« Reply #14 on: September 30, 2012, 12:09:06 PM »
Well I'm definitely set on Legra. Probably be a year in development, but I'll keep updating.
BKPs: ESP Eclipse I CTM FT w/Riff Raff bridge/Mule neck - ESP Eclipse I CTM w/Rebel Yells - LTD EC-1000 FT w/Aftermaths - Music Man JPIX w/Juggernauts