Quality of Legator guitars?

[mikah912]

I took the plunge on one of their pricier N6Xs a year or so ago because it had a mind-blowing buckeye burl top to go with the fantastic specs elsewhere and...... I've never been happier with a guitar, honestly.

Great fretwork and super solid overall build quality. I own a USA Ernie Ball Majesty, a USA Washburn custom shop and a Kiesel SCB6, but my N6X is still probably my fave.

 

[josh1]

I've had a Ninja 7 string ms and a 7 string Ghost headless and they were both very good guitars.

 

[CanserDYI]

I have this one. It's a great guitar. Quality is right up there with my Strandys and Ormsby Goliath. Only thing I don't like as much is the hardware, but they upgraded hardware the model year following when I got this one.

Whats funny is that while yes they "upgraded" the hardware, its a PAIN IN THE ASS, and I wish they'd go back to this style, but just make it the quality of the other hardware if that makes sense? I hate restringing their modern bridge. Once done, its fine, but man, these were way easier to use.

 

[Chri]

Whats funny is that while yes they "upgraded" the hardware, its a PAIN IN THE ASS, and I wish they'd go back to this style, but just make it the quality of the other hardware if that makes sense? I hate restringing their modern bridge. Once done, its fine, but man, these were way easier to use.

What did you have trouble with, exactly?
On one or two saddles the string kept coming back out on mine even after properly lining it up. After the first time re-stringing I figured it out, but that was a frustrating experience

 

[CanserDYI]

What did you have trouble with, exactly?
On one or two saddles the string kept coming back out on mine even after properly lining it up. After the first time re-stringing I figured it out, but that was a frustrating experience

I always have trouble with keeping the ball in the saddle when screwing it back, even a hundred times into it, it still pops out ALL THE TIME. The ones in the picture the guy I quoted showed, they are string through the back of the tuning peg, really cool system actually. They stopped using them really early, but wish they'd go back to that type of design, it was just string it through the peg, pull it to the end and lock and tune. Super easy.

 

[magicpad]

Before I got my Solar I borrowed my other guitarist's fanned-fret multi scale Legator 6 because he wanted me to record with a guitar that had Fishmans. Aside from the finish (it was atrocious looking) and the fanned frets (just something I personally don't like) it was probably one of the best playing/sounding guitars I've ever used...... nice and heavy, reminded me of my les paul.

 

[PK317]

I had 8 strings N8 in black, bought it out of curiosity to try 8 strings. Guitar itself was very well made, polished frets, nice finish, low action without fret buzz, thin neck. Pickups were not to my taste, I was thinking of swapping them for Fishmans, but then I just lost an interest in extended range at all, so sold all of my 8 and 7 strings.
Anyway, I was a bit suspicious, as I red a lot of stories about poor quality etc., but this wasn't my case at all. Hope it's helpful.

 

[Dayn]

If anyone knows, how does the Performance model compare to those of other brands? Eg, Ibanez Iron Label, etc?

I'm considering a 9-string, and I can't go Agile again due to shipping, but Legator in Australia is stupidly priced. The N9FP with its stock pickups is $2,250AU, and the one with Fishmans is $2,800AU. I can stomach buying an Ibanez Iron Label for a bit over $2kAU, and I can cop the extra for Fishmans pre-installed, but if the quality is barely similar, I'm not sure I could bother.

 

[Chri]

If anyone knows, how does the Performance model compare to those of other brands? Eg, Ibanez Iron Label, etc?

I'm considering a 9-string, and I can't go Agile again due to shipping, but Legator in Australia is stupidly priced. The N9FP with its stock pickups is $2,250AU, and the one with Fishmans is $2,800AU. I can stomach buying an Ibanez Iron Label for a bit over $2kAU, and I can cop the extra for Fishmans pre-installed, but if the quality is barely similar, I'm not sure I could bother.

Iron Label is pretty much par for the course, as is the performance series from Legator. IME the QC was a bit better on the performance series, where Iron Labels had sharp frets, but playability is about the same. At least if you’re talking newer Iron Labels. The first few waves of them were trash.

 

[bzhang9]

Im an ibanez guy but at the 1k price point legator beats ibanez, most importantly the super fast, thin, flat neck with stupid low action. I bought 5 legators in the past few months and they all had excellent fret work

 

[mlp187]

Just got home from GC where they have 2 NF8Ps and an NF7P.
They are fantastic. I’m sure some will dislike the pickups but my god the guitars were fantastic, despite needing some minor action adjustments. I don’t own or have any relationship with the brand, just thought they were beautiful and worth trying out.
Strongly considering the 8 stringer, among the 8000 other guitars I am gassing for.

 

[stinkoman]

I played 4 new Legators this past weekend, and I was about to walkout the door with an NF8P in pink, if it wasn''t for a schecter Silver mountain 8 mark down for scracth and dent pricing that put it close to the same price. All 4 had played great, no sharp frets or any QC issues I could see. I'm still not sure if I made the right choice because the Legator has an 28 scale for the F# that really punched and really great neck profile. The only reason I went with the schecter is the pickups was much better, and the SS frets.

 

[Hollowway]

Unfortunately their prices have risen quite a bit, and there's a lot of options at the different price point. I suppose if you see something that has what you want, and you can't find it from others, then grab it. Or do used. But, apples to apples, I'd lean more toward other brands for the money, just because of the hit or miss quality that they have. (Though, I'd steer clear of Solar now, too.) I DO love the PME boards they're using now, but I feel like everyone and their sister is doing PME, so it's quickly losing my interest.

 

[danbox]

Where are you seeing PME? I want to see too much of it too so it hopefully removes some of my GAS for it…

 

[Chri]

Where are you seeing PME? I want to see too much of it too so it hopefully removes some of my GAS for it…

The FX line from them. It would be cool if it wasn’t coupled with an already over the top burl for the body. It clashes in a super obnoxious way.

 

[CanserDYI]

I

The FX line from them. It would be cool if it wasn’t coupled with an already over the top burl for the body. It clashes in a super obnoxious way.

I actually agree, PME needs to be paired with something subdued or a solid color imho or it looks like a shark with laser beams and jets on its back, if you understand the analogy.

 

[somethingsomething]

Unfortunately their prices have risen quite a bit, and there's a lot of options at the different price point. I suppose if you see something that has what you want, and you can't find it from others, then grab it. Or do used. But, apples to apples, I'd lean more toward other brands for the money, just because of the hit or miss quality that they have. (Though, I'd steer clear of Solar now, too.) I DO love the PME boards they're using now, but I feel like everyone and their sister is doing PME, so it's quickly losing my interest.

I'm curious where else you're seeing pale moon ebony. I can't think of any production guitars aside from the new FX Legators that have that kind of board. Sure I see them on Kiesel or Mayones guitars occasionally, but that's a pretty expensive custom option.

 

[Hollowway]

I'm curious where else you're seeing pale moon ebony. I can't think of any production guitars aside from the new FX Legators that have that kind of board. Sure I see them on Kiesel or Mayones guitars occasionally, but that's a pretty expensive custom option.

Balaguer has them, too. And GOC has been using PME for a couple of years. Even Fender has a PME strat. But, also more expensive brands, like Barlow, Mayones, Sully, etc. are doing it. It might just be because it was unobtanium for a while, and I REALLY wanted it, and now I feel like I see it everywhere.

I agree, though, that the PME for Kiesel is priced crazy. It's an expensive option, and you can ONLY get it if the rest of the guitar is also super expensive. Which is weird, because I personally thing PME looks best with a guitar that is otherwise quite plain. I like raw black and PME, but I think stuff like buckeye and PME is too busy looking.

 

[CanserDYI]

This is the one they are talking about, which imo, clashes pretty hard. I love burl tops, I love PME, but they have to be the highlight. They don't look good in wood salad if you ask me.

 

[somethingsomething]

Balaguer has them, too. And GOC has been using PME for a couple of years. Even Fender has a PME strat. But, also more expensive brands, like Barlow, Mayones, Sully, etc. are doing it. It might just be because it was unobtanium for a while, and I REALLY wanted it, and now I feel like I see it everywhere.

I agree, though, that the PME for Kiesel is priced crazy. It's an expensive option, and you can ONLY get it if the rest of the guitar is also super expensive. Which is weird, because I personally thing PME looks best with a guitar that is otherwise quite plain. I like raw black and PME, but I think stuff like buckeye and PME is too busy looking.

A PME strat?! Whoa. I had to look that up. Pretty wild.

I totally agree: PME is loud, so I wish they offered it with simpler appointments (same for Kiesel).