Legra Guitars 7 String Telecaster

Here's the complete guitar specification I arrived on after discussions with Bob (the man behind Legra guitars):

- 7 string guitar with telecaster body shape
- Swamp ash body
- Maple neck with ebony fingerboard and telecaster style headstock
- Jumbo fret wire
- Black and white diagonal striped pattern on body
- Mirrored tele style pickguard
- Kahler 2317 chrome tremolo
- Floyd rose locking nut
- Gotoh chrome machineheads
- Bare knuckle pickups 'Nailbomb' in bridge position
- Bare knuckle pickups 'Cold Sweat in neck position
- Coil tapping for both pickups, switchable with push/pull switch on volume dial
- Zvex 'Super Hard On' booster installed into control cavity, controlled via toggle switch
- 2 volume controls, 1 tone and 1 boost level control for Zvex circuit
- Chome tele barrel knobs
- Control cavity fully shielded for RF interference
- Switchcraft jack
- Chrome schaller locking strap buttons

I'm giving this a 10 because the guitar has all the features I asked for, it couldn't be more perfect. The advantage of getting a fully custom guitar is that you get exactly what you ask for. No compromises.

I had originally had the idea of a 7 string telecaster and found various luthiers on the internet who I thought might be able to undertake such a project. Bob was the only one who responded promptly to my emails, and who showed any enthusiasm at all about the project as a whole. He also offered the cheapest quote by far. Originally I was simply planning to order the body and assemble the guitar myself, but I was so impressed by Bob's website and his previous work that I decided to order the complete guitar, and I'm very glad I made this decision.

The job took about 6 months to complete, although most jobs would not take this long as there were many delays due to christmas, holidays and a few issues at the end with the electronics. However, Bob threw in a free flight case at the end to make amends for this.

Again, this section gets a 10 because it's exactly what I wanted. I play modern rock with an experimental angle (muse are a big influence), and was looking to get a 7 string to try and break the mould of them only being used for 'uber-metal' music in the majority.

The guitar is beautifully constructed and you can hear from playing the benefit of this before you even the plug it in. Bob uses 6 SPAX screws in his guitars to clamp the neck onto the body, which has the effect of acoustically coupling them.

The bare knuckle pickups are fantastic and through coil tapping offer a huge range of sounds. The 'nailbomb' at the bridge provides an excellent high output signal, but avoids sounding too much like a metal pickup. But there's still a real edge to the sound. The 'cold sweat' at the neck was chosen to provide a very clear clean sound that wouldn't trail off around the low string. For this it suceeds admirably, however it also provides a great distorted sound, and a great fuzz sound as well.

The installed Zvex booster was intended for 2 purposes, firstly to add some sparkle to the clean sound of the guitar when the boost level is set to low levels (go watch the super hard on video on www.zvex.com for a demonstration of this effect), and also to give a huge gain boost when set to high levels. With the 3 pickup positions, coil tapping, and booster all affecting the output signal, there are a huge number of tones available.

The control cavity is shielded, and I've not noticed any noise at all whilst playing. Another excellent feature is the Kahler trem bridge. Originally I was planning to get a Floyd Rose style tremolo, but due to a supply issue, Bob suggested the Kahler, and this turned out to be an excellent decision. The Kahler is much more elegant in it's operation than the Floyd Rose, especially as it does not require a large amount of wood to be removed from the guitar for installation. It's also much easier to set up. The Kahler bridge was fitted with a Floyd Rose style locking nut instead of the Kahler nut, as they are known to be superior.
The tuning after using the tremolo remains perfectly stable, and the guitar's tuning is easily adjustable by the fine tuners at the bridge (useful if needing to switch down to drop D).

The action on this guitar is fabulous and had clearly been expertly set up before being shipped. The pickups and Kahler trem had also been well set up and adjusted. There were no flaws at all on the body. Absolutely spotless. I've no complaints at all, so, 10 again.

I haven't gigged it yet, but there's no reason to think there should be any problems with it. I won't be throwing this one around though, the paint job is too nice to ruin! The guitar's finish was done by SIMS customs, as Bob doesn't specialise in this area, and as I've said it looks fantastic, and I'm sure it won't wear off quickly. All the hardware on the guitar is top quality so I don't expect any issues. Because 7 string guitars are rare and I don't have another one (certainly not one like this), it's important that I can depend on the guitar for gigs, and in that respect the guitar is just the job.

Bob is the nicest guy in the world. He responds quickly to emails, gives good advice on choosing the specification and if you want you can easily reach him on the phone at his workshop. Bob says he will sort out any problems with his guitars as long as he is on the planet.

Overall, simply fantastic. I can't see myself ever buying another expensive (over ??1000) guitar off the shelf. Getting exactly what you want is so much better.