Collection: Legator

Legator Guitars: modern guitars, zero nostalgia.

Founded by Kennon Yi in 2012 out of Sun Valley, California, on a fairly blunt premise: extended-range guitars were either boutique-expensive or badly built, and there was nothing sensible in between. Fourteen years later the spec sheet is still the pitch. Stainless jumbo frets, Richlite boards, Luminlay side dots, brass multiscale bridges and Fishman electronics turn up at prices that make the established names look nervous.

Guitar Freaks is an authorised Legator dealer, a real shop in Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium, run by the team behind Bass Freaks, shipping worldwide. Not the Konami arcade cabinet. The other kind of guitar freaks.

The Legator range

Legator questions we actually get asked

Where are Legator guitars made?

Designed in Sun Valley, California, and built overseas. Legator does not publish its factory locations and we are not going to invent them for you. What we can tell you is exactly what is on the instrument in front of you, because we have it in the room.

Are Legator guitars any good?

For what they cost, yes, and the reason is boring: the spec is genuinely there. Stainless steel jumbo frets at 3 mm, Richlite fingerboards, Luminlay side dots, real Fishman pickups on the upper series and a brass bridge on the multiscale models. Where they sit against a Mayones or a Suhr is in the finishing detail and the consistency, which is exactly what you would expect at a third of the price. Nobody is being cheated here.

Ninja or Ghost?

The Ninja is the headed superstrat, the Ghost is headless. On a 6 or 7 string it is mostly taste. On an 8 or a 9 the Ghost wins on weight and balance, because a headstock carrying nine tuners at the end of a long neck is a real physical problem and not a stylistic one.

What do the Legator model codes mean?

Once you know the key they are readable. The first letter is the family: N for Ninja, G for Ghost, R for Revenant. The digit is the string count. F means fanned, in other words multiscale. FR is a Floyd Rose. LH is left-handed. INK means a graphic finish. So an N7FOD is a 7-string multiscale Ninja from the Overdrive series, and a G8FP is an 8-string multiscale Ghost from the Performance line.

What are the Legator series?

Four that matter. X Series runs Fishman Fluence Rail actives. Overdrive, the OD codes, runs Fishman Fluence Moderns with Pale Moon ebony. Super Shred, the SS codes, runs Legator's own AfterShock actives and is the affordable end. Performance is the carbon fibre line. Note that the Opus is discontinued, and if you see STD, Japan or Slaughter Series used as tier names, those are not Legator terminology.

What scale lengths does Legator use?

25.5 to 26.5 inches on 6 and 7 string, 26.5 to 27.5 on 8 string, and 28.5 to 30 on 9 string multiscale. Legator handles extended range through scale length rather than calling anything a baritone, which is the more honest way round.

Do I actually need multiscale?

If you are playing a 6 string in standard or drop D, no. If you are tuning an 8 string to F sharp, yes, and you will notice within about ten seconds. The fan lets the low string sit at real tension without making the high E feel like a cable. Your fretting hand adapts faster than you expect.

Does Legator make basses?

Yes, the HB5SS and the HB5F, both 5 string. If that is the direction you are heading, our sister shop Bass Freaks handles it.

If you are also looking at

Same category, different budget: Mayones guitars for handbuilt extended range out of Poland, and Infinia guitars for the European small-workshop version, where we are one of only four dealers on the continent. If price is the priority and you do not need eight strings, Chapman Guitars. The rest is on the electric guitars page.

Buying Legator from Guitar Freaks

Authorised dealer, physical boutique in Louvain-la-Neuve, worldwide shipping from Belgium. Extended-range guitars are the single worst category to buy blind, so come and put your hands on one. If you cannot, mail us and we will describe it honestly, including the parts we would change.