Thorell Legato

I purchased a Thorell guitar made my master luthier and builder Ryan Thorell out of Logan, Utah. This is my 4th guitar made by Ryan. This guitar is made out of a carved archtop red cedar with walnut back and sides and a mahogany neck. Lindy Fralin pickup with thumbwheel controls under pickguard for volume and tone controls. Ryan and I designed this guitar together and it has the most woody and amazing sound I've ever heard. Built in 2007. Neck is 1 3/4"plus a little with a 25 1/2" scale. Ebony fingerboard with a very nice leaf inlaid at the twelve fret. Lower bout measures 16 3/8" with a cutaway for the high notes.

It sounds so unique, you can hear the wood, especially the cedar top, and the back will vibrate you out of your chair. I have it strung with Elixir nanoweb .012 and the sound acoustically is amazing, extremely loud. Plugged in it still holds that woody tone we all look for in an archtop and just a pleasure to hear with a mike setup. Very mellow woody tone, from the open E all the way up the 22 frets to the high E is chilling. Every note sustains well and is extremely balanced throughout the fingerboard. From a mellow jazz standard to some Gypsy Jazz it pulls it's weight and more. I can't seem to put it down, every note rings like musical chimes and is such a joy to play. Perfect for solo jazz guitar and in an ensemble it just has a voice of it's own, absolutely spectacular.

The action was perfect when I pulled her out of the box. Since I own a few Thorell guitars I can say that like most new guitars you need to wait a while for it to really open up. After a day of playing it was just awesome. I've had the guitar about a year now it just gets better and it was GREAT when I fist played it. I've had Frank Vignola and Howard Alden give her a run and they were extremely impressed with the woody tone it has and the playability is spectacular. The bookmatched back of walnut is like looking at the finest piece of furniture, figured maple binding, ebony fretboard with maple and ebony binding. Ebony custom adjustable saddle and tailpiece. Custom ebony pickguard with a bloodwood binding which is also on the fretboard. Brass side markers and brass custom tuners finish off this wonderful instrument.

I've had her on a few gigs and wow. It lays nice against your body when standing with a strap, very well balanced. Finish is top notch, with just a slight gloss. I took this from Colorado on a plane out to NY to visit Howard and Frank then to NJ and back to Colorado which is very dry. She loved every minute and I had her in a Body Glove soft case strapped on my back. Very solid instrument, would take her anywhere.

Ryan wanted the guitar back to reinforce the neck, he added a lamination to the back of the headstock of about an 1/8", he thought it would help the guitar in case of a drop. I thought it was fine but you never argue with the builder, since it was a prototype he wanted it to be perfect. I paid for shipping and there was no cost to me and had it back in 2 weeks. I didn't even notice the difference except for this really cool lamination on the back of the headstock. You can see this guitar on his website at www.thorellguitars.com sorry, I will never sell mine. The true joy was the experience I had with Ryan, all his instruments are made with love and it shows. Ryan and I have become great friends and every time he builds a new guitar I have to have it. There is nothing more rewarding than playing an instrument that was touched with so much joy and happiness.

I have been playing for over 30 years, teach at a local college and perform solo jazz guitar in Aspen, Colorado. If it was ever stolen I would be on the phone begging Ryan to make me a new one. I've compared it to Buscarino's, Benedetto's, High end Guild's, Custom Eastman's like the Pasano models and many others, it's the tone that sets this apart from all others. I play it all the time and it has made me want to play for the shear joy of wanting to hear it.