About Lord Guitars

My name is Nate Lord. I build Lord Guitars with a simple mission: making the best guitars, by hand, with unique and responsibly sourced materials.

I have been building and repairing guitars for over 15 years, getting my start at Becker Guitars in 2010. After working in the repair and custom shop at Becker for a few years, I set out to run my own guitar repair service in the Boston area in 2014 while I refined and prototyped my own guitar designs. Lord Guitars was launched in 2019 with LG001, the first Mystic model. These days my shop is located in Amesbury, MA.

I believe a great guitar should equally inspire you and get out of your way – I build guitars that are easy to pick up and hard to put down. Supporting your creative process, helping you play your best AND get the maximum enjoyment from your instrument is what I love to do. If that sounds good to you get in touch!

A few things you can expect from a Lord Guitar:

• Never boring
• Responsibly sourced tonewoods: All of my guitars are made from reclaimed or salvaged lumber.
• Lightweight and resonant: Most guitars are in the 6-7 pound range, with just the right amount of contouring.
• Extensive use of vintage and unique pickups. Whether my own pickups, vintage, or sourced from independent builders like Gemini Pickups, Mojo Pickups, Curtis Novak, etc.
• A few sneaky upgraded appointments like two-way truss rods, 12” radiused fretboards, and tall, stainless steel frets. 
• High attention to detail from tip to tail. You will see, feel, and hear the care and effort that go into every guitar – frets are polished to a mirror shine after leveling and shaping; nuts are spaced and slotted accurately, shaped to a low profile, and polished to a gloss; final fit, finish, and setup are all done to very exacting standards.
• Made in limited quantities: I build by hand and run a one person shop. As a result there are times when my queue is full and I cannot take custom orders. I do however try to include one guitar in each batch to be made available for purchase upon completion.

Tech Tips

Guitar Setup Guide

Standard setup specs for all Lord Guitars are .008-.010” neck relief and a string height of 4/64” on the high E string and 5/64” on the low E string. Intonation is set with a strobe tuner.

All Lord Guitars are equipped with two way truss rods. Using a 4mm Allen key, turn clockwise to add backbow and counterclockwise to add relief.

YOU SHOULD NEVER FEEL LIKE YOU HAVE TO “FORCE IT” when adjusting any guitar – this is the #1 advice I can give if you want to avoid stripped screws, snapped truss rods, broken parts, and tool slips.

If you are not confident in your ability to perform truss rod adjustments and other regular maintenance tasks, I recommend a pro setup at least once a year, ideally twice. I know lots of great luthiers and guitar techs all over if you need a recommendation!

Pickup Install Tips

All current production Lord Guitar Pickups are wound clockwise with south-up polarity, counterclockwise with north-up polarity, or both (ie, humbuckers). Wind direction and polarity can be specific for custom orders, and reversible pickups can be ordered (2 conductor, 4 conductor) if want universal pairing flexibility.

Pickup height is measured by fretting the highest fret and measuring the height between be pickup and the outer E strings. I recommended installing pickups at the following heights and using your ear to fine tune from there:

• Neck position: 4/32” for single coils and humbuckers
• Middle position: 4/32” for single coils, 7/64” for humbuckers
• Bridge Position: 7/64” for single coils, 3/32” for humbuckers

Sustainability

Sustainability is very important to me so I decided early on that I was only interested in working with salvaged lumber. I am excited by the challenge of finding both sustainable alternatives to unsustainable traditional tonewoods (rosewood, ebony, mahogany, etc) and hunting for reclaimable sources of those woods (furniture, beams, floor joists, old woodworker stock, etc). You will see Lord Guitars made from woods you’ve never heard of before, or at least never seen in a guitar. Make no mistake though: these are high performance guitars built to extremely high standards! They just happen to also be built without supporting deforestation.

The vast majority of the lumber I use is salvaged from by local sawyers who get their logs from sources like residential tree removals or fall-downs. This is how I source most of my maple, walnut, butternut, cherry, and ash, as well as some of the softwoods I use (spruce/pine/fir – although I more often use reclaimed lumber for these species because they are so prevalent in old construction).

I also source salvaged lumber from independent sawyers across the US depending on the species. Most of my rosewood is sourced from Florida where it grows as an invasive species. You’ll never guess what state I get the Texas ebony and mesquite from, I’ll tell ya what.

Reclaimed lumber is where I can make the occasional epic score. I’ve sourced a near lifetime supply of reclaimed genuine mahogany from massive solid windowcasings made in the 60s, lots of old growth spruce/pine/fir construction materials, and even have a small stash of old stock Brazilian rosewood fretboard blanks from two different guitar factories that closed down decades ago.

FAQ

Do you use CNC or computer aided design?

No, I design and build by hand, from the first sketches through the finished instrument.

Will you build me a [Tele/Strat/Les Paul/insert favorite guitar] copy?

No! I only build my own designs (the models that are listed on this site). I have spent a lot of time designing them and bringing them to life. Each one is an original design – in 15+ years of luthier work I have never built a copy of another guitar and I don’t plan to start any time soon.

Do artists get free guitars?

I’m very fortunate to work for some amazing players and proud that I have never had to give a guitar away to do so. I much prefer a player/builder relationship that is earned organically and where both parties value each others’ work. If you’re a working pro and enthusiastic about Lord Guitars, I am always willing to get creative to make your dream guitar achievable within your budget. Some examples I have done in the past include gear trades, work trades, payment plans, and special pricing. Let’s talk!

I will invest in you too, whether that means showing up at soundcheck for a setup on the go, modding gear to keep up with your evolving needs, promoting your stuff and putting my network at your disposal.

How does [insert material] affect tone?

I can’t tell you how any one component is going to translate to how you’re going to sound and neither can anyone else! For an electric guitar I select the electronics for their sonic properties and everything else (wood, frets, nuts, saddles) for its physical properties. I am more concerned with the quality and weight of the wood than what species it is or what tonal profile it’s supposed to have. The pickups and wiring harness are the ingredients that are going to have the most considerable effect in an electric instrument – the rest is mostly up to you.

I have some questions about a guitar I own or a build I’m working on. Can I pick your brain?

Yes, I offer online or in person consultations at a fee of $80/hour. Email me to schedule a 30 or 60 minute session. I get a lot of guitar related questions from customers, builders, and players – this is the best way to get your questions answered as I often can’t keep up with your DMs and texts.