Legator is a company that boasts an impressive roster of metal and prog royalty, from Glass Cloud’s Josh Travis to Reflections to both guitarists of Shadows Fall, Joe Cocchi of Within The Ruins and Greg Tribbett of Hellyeah.
They have several lines of guitars, the Ninja, Helio, and Opus series production models. The Opus series is the one from which our review comes today, specifically the Tradition 300-PRO seven string model. The Opus models are sort of their more classic looking guitars, based mainly on strat and tele shapes.
It’s essentially a telecaster with a 26.5″ 7 string neck, dual Legator humbuckers on a swamp ash body, and a maple neck with rosewood fretboard. It features bolt-on neck construction, a fixed bridge, and a satin finish.
I am a great lover of teles, which to me are the classiest of dad guitar shapes, and the Opus is no exception. It’s definitely a modernized version (I don’t think your dad had a 7 string tele lying around) and with the exception of the LTD SCT 607-B, I don’t think there is another extended scale 7 string tele on the production market (I’m sure you’ll let me know if I’m wrong). I’ve seen several custom shop ones, but this might be one of a short list of widely available production models.
The neck on this guitar is easily the best part – it felt really, really nice to play. It’s just a simple satin finish, but it really hit the spot for me. The action was set up really low at the factory, and had miraculously no buzzing. These are big factors for me, especially on an import, so it seems that QC was on point for this one.
I did find the guitar to be a bit heavy, especially considering it was swamp ash, which is generally among the lighter woods for a guitar. It’s a pretty big guitar, and a decent sized chunk of wood like that will have some weight no matter the material, but something to factor in. It was pretty well built all around, a simple but effective instrument with no frills to be found.
My conclusion about the Opus 300 was that it was a solidly built instrument, with my main concern being the price ($1070 direct). I’ve reviewed a couple 7 strings at around the same price point (Schecter KM-7, Ibanez RGIT27FE) with similar build quality, but they also had better pickups and hardware. I felt the Opus was in need of some locking tuners and upgraded pickups, or it should be priced more accordingly. As I mentioned, however, being that it is sort of unique, it’s possible that you could justify that kind of price based on its rarity more than anything else.
For more info on the Opus and other Legators, visit them at Legatorguitars.com.
Galeus / November 5, 2015 8:10 am
Chapman Guitars do a 7-string Tele with a 26.5 inch scale length. Hell, it’s an Ash body, too, like this. Plus, it’s got an ebony board, locking tuners, and is cheaper. The Opus looks cool, but you’re essentially paying around $300 for a black finish.
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Dave Vincent's Perm / November 5, 2015 12:51 pm
The schecter Chris garza signature?
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