Art & Lutherie Legacy Concert Hall Denim Limited
Ben Morgan-Brown tries a very affordable guitar with a distinctly urban vibe
Art & Lutherie is one of the Godin family of Canadian made guitars which, as well as Godin in its own right, also includes Seagull and Simon & Patrick. The company makes its largely hand crafted guitars in Quebec, Canada and proudly uses as much Canadian wood as possible. In recent years it has begun to build a tremendous reputation among players looking for good value instruments which, though built to a very high standard and made from good quality tonewoods, don’t cost the sort of money being asked by the major US makers.
One of the hallmarks of Art & Lutherie is doing things differently and this Legacy Concert Hall model certainly does that on looks alone! Our sample came in a fetching denim blue which looks a lot better than the name suggests. This isn’t a wooden guitar covered in some horrible sticky-backed plastic, it’s just stained a denim blue and Ben was clearly impressed with both the colour as well as the build quality. If you happened not to agree with him about the colour, then a;alternatives are available, including what A & L calls Tennessee Red, Bourbon Burst and Faded Black.
The look is deliberately urban chic and the guitar very much follows that theme by being a stripped-down Blues/Folk instrument with all the good things that suggests in terms of its tone. The Legacy features a Canadian wild cherry (laminated) back and sides, a solid spruce top, a silver leaf maple neck and a rosewood fingerboard. It also features nice touches like a pearloid scratchplate and the well regarded Graphtech Tusq nut and saddles.
Suiting a pretty straight-ahead playing style, Ben found the Legacy didn’t offer a lot of rich overtones and had an honesty about its sound that really suits Blues playing and, he felt, would work well with a singer’s voice too. It’s easy to play and there’s a good depth, fullness and character to the tone, too. As an aside, Ben feels it would work really well for slide guitar.
In fact the only criticism Ben had was the action on our sample, which he felt could have come down a little. That is easily negotiated with the retailer and as it’s a matter of personal taste, we can’t really fault the guitar for that.
Overall, this was another very impressive instrument from the Godin stable and sells at a very attractive price. It’s a well made, honest guitar that has a lot to offer. We recommend you try one. Check out the video and hear it for yourself.
Art & Lutherie Legacy Concert Hall Denim Limited £409
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Wild Cherry Back & Sides (3-layer solid lamination)
Select Pressure Tested Solid Spruce Top
Silver Leaf Maple Neck
Rosewood Fingerboard & Bridge
1.72″ Nut Width
24.84” Scale
16” fingerboard radius
Graphtech Tusq Nut & Saddle
Double-action Truss Rod
Open-gear 18:1 antique brass tuning machines
Hand-crafted in Quebec, Canada
95% Canadian Wood
Godin Q1T built-in electronics (optional)
Colours Semi-Gloss Patina Finish:
Bourbon Burst
Faded Black
Tennessee Red
