Welcome to Legato Lutherie
Legato Lutherie is where the dreams of guitarists become reality. Most will play a lifetime without ever owning a guitar of exacting standards. Legato Lutherie builds fine-grade custom handcrafted guitars to exacting standards. Isn't it time to order yours?

Comments From Proud Owners

"All totaled, I have purchased 8 Legato Guitars. I designed 3 grand auditorium style guitars using different wood types. The design featured a thinner body to help reconcile some shoulder discomfort that I was experiencing. The spruce top has a bright crisp sound which is a contrast to the cedar top guitar which has a tone that is more mellow. The third guitar was done in maple. All of the guitars resonate wonderfully and all have excellent tone quality. They all play very easily."

"Following this intial order I placed a second order for 5 guitars. This second group featured standard dreadnaughts, one with a cutaway. Again I varied the woods used. The tone quality with the dreadnaughts was improved over the grand auditorium style due to the larger body. I personally sold four of these instruments to close personal friends."

"The quality of the Legato instruments is extremely high. Jeremy puts his heart and soul into the construction of the instruments. His investment in the construction process is very personal and he devotes himself completely to the construction process. I highly recommend his instruments to anyone."

~John Piotraschke

"After receiving my Legato, I had to promise Jeremy that I would actually play it, as the beautiful craftsmanship deserves to be put on display. Fortunately, it sounds as good as it looks and I continuously get compliments on the guitar’s sound at the large church in which I play."

~Bob Brusell

"I have been playing guitar for about 30 years and I have owned some nice guitars. A friend of mine recommended I consider purchasing a custom designed and built guitar from Legato Lutherie. There is no question that the guitar that Jeremy built to my specifications is what I have been dreaming of for all these years."

"Imagine this...sitting down at a table with the man who is to build your dream guitar. You are looking at many wood samples for the sides and back. The number of choices is amazing and Jeremy can explain the nuances of the woods and how they will effect the sound of the instrument. Finally, I chose Pau Ferro for its intense lines and variations in color."

"Next we talked about the top wood. Did I prefer the liveliness of spruce or the mellow aspect of cedar? There are other choices as well: redwood, mahogany, koa, various types of spruce, bear-clawed or not. So many choices and I got to choose exactly what I wanted. I went with Sitka spruce with bear-claw. Beautiful wood."

"What binding did I want: Acacia, Boxwood, Snakewood, Madagascar Rosewood, Indian Rosewood, Curly Maple, Ebony, Pernambuco, Cocobolo, Koa, etc. I like ebony so this was the beginning of the ebony on my guitar."

"The purfling I chose was white and black. Think of the Sitka Spruce Top outlined with black/white purfling and then black ebony binding. The backstrip would match this concept: black/white/ebony/white/black. The rosette around the soundhole is: ebony/gold pearl/ebony."

"The neck is 5-piece: mahogany, maple, ebony, maple, mahogany. Now, lay on top of that 5-piece neck an ebony fretboard. The fretboard has a gold pearl vine and no fret markers. The fretboard is also bound in ebony and has simple gold pearl fret markers on the binding (the side of the neck)."

"The bridge and bridge pins are ebony. There are gold pearl dots on the bridge pins."

"The peghead has ebony overlay on both the front and back. Jeremy outlined the fretboard and peghead with very fine maple inlay. The Legato logo is done with maple inlay as well."

"The truss rod cover is ebony and the pickguard is black. The tuners are gold and they are absolutely gorgeous. The fine tuning capability with them is incredible. They are Gotoh 510 Delta Series tuners with a ratio of 21:1. I had Jeremy put an LR Baggs Dual-source pickup system in it."

The last consideration for me was big. What shape guitar? I had already had the pleasure of playing a few of Jeremy's guitars. The fit of my new guitar was very important. Once I passed forty I could no longer play a guitar for more than a few minutes without pain. The Grand Auditorium was the key to playing for hours on end!

"It looks as wonderful as it sounds! Need I say more?"

custom neck sizing, gold frets

If working with stainless seems a little daunting, check out our new Evo gold fretwire. It is a copper alloy that has been used for years in the optical industry. It contains no nickel and therefore meets the”nickel free” European standard. It stands the test of time and can really dress up your guitar. With a Vicker’s hardness of HV5/250, it is harder than our nickel/silver wire (HV5/200), but softer than the stainless (HV5/300). This wire is not plated; it is gold all the way through and retains the gold color once the frets are dressed.

~Mark Banker