Burton LeGeyt

LeGeyt Guitars

For the past three years I have been building guitars out of my basement shop on a quiet side street in Brookline Village, Massachusetts. After attending art school in New York City and playing music all over the East coast I settled in Boston and began working in several woodshops in the city. That experience gave me the courage to begin to experiment with different instruments, and after a few simple designs I began to work seriously on building steel string guitars. I have found that the craft suits my need for intense focus and the enormity of the nuance of the modern guitar suits my curiosity and creativity.

The part of the process that I enjoy the most is the designing of each instrument. If it is a commissioned guitar, the player and I will talk in detail about their playing style and preferences in the guitars that they own or have enjoyed playing. I have many shapes ready but I am willing to tweak aspects of the design. I am very influenced by “sacred” geometry, or the strict adherence to geometric principles found in Buddhist and Renaissance painting. Most guitars share very similar outlines and these principles help to make the guitar work as a whole by defining the relationships between things like the upper and lower bouts and their subtle curves as they relate to the guitar as a whole. I incorporate these relationships into each guitar and I feel that it does enhance the overall unity and beauty of the designs.

I am also fascinated by the wood used in musical instruments. I have spent considerable time and money in collecting an excellent stock of tonewood and I love the process of choosing the specific pieces that will work tonally and visually to make a one-of-a-kind guitar. While I consider the tone and playability of the guitar to be the most important aspect of its creation, I also feel it is important to make it beautiful to its owner. Whether that means classic woods set against each other in simple seamless construction or detailed mosaic and inlay work, I really enjoy the aesthetic design aspect of building guitars.

Building guitars has become a real passion for me. I love the community of our New England Luthiers Guild and talking to and learning from all of our members. I also love speaking to players and learn a great deal every time I have the chance to get some feedback on my guitars. I welcome visitors to my shop to play and talk about guitars and to look through my wood collection to get a sense of what an instrument could be. I can be contacted by phone at 617-415-1677 or by

Thanks,

Burton LeGeyt