IZZY LUGO

Izzy Lugo

ABOUT

Izzy Lugo is an American-born guitar builder and restoration specialist.

BUILDER HISTORY

As a co-owner and the lead builder of Ronin Guitars since 2008, Izzy has produced 11 models and around 1200 handmade instruments (and counting). With Ronin Guitars, he fine-tuned the concept of David Torn’s complex Tornipulator™, devised the MagicButton™, co-designed the Ronin Foilbucker, Ronin Single Foil, Ronin Morning Star, Ronin Storm Crow, and Ronin Coyote pickups that are hand-wound and produced in small batches in the U.S.A.

Previously, as a repair tech at Rudy’s Music in New York City, he mastered the art of restoring high-end vintage instruments and built life-long friendships with his fellow builders and Manhattan’s global community of musicians. Eventually, he started his own repair shop out of One East Recording Studio (formerly Tin Pan Alley) before transforming his Mid-town apartment into an elaborate workshop to accommodate repairs and new builds.

A hand-builder of vintage-quality electric guitars made of superior tonewoods complete with dynamic wiring and custom pickups, Izzy is also a restoration specialist of both high-end and vintage-era instruments. Guitar-playing friends affectionately refer to Izzy as “The Wizard of Iz.”

Izzy’s custom builds, setup, repair, and restoration work have included guitars played by members of The Rolling Stones, The Beatles, Bon Jovi, The Low Rollers, The Experience Hendrix Tour, Suzan Vega, David Torn, Dweezil Zappa, Keith Urban, Flight of Concords, and David Lee Roth. The vast array of models includes Ronin and Fiam Guitars, American Revolutionary War-era stringed instruments, 1800s Gibson’s, 1950’s steel Nationals, 1959 Les Paul’s, 1970’s Les Paul Specials, vintage basses, antique mandolins, or more simply put, basically anything and everything with strings.

Along with Vinnie Saccoccio, a mentor from Rudy’s Music, the two have collectively launched Fiam Guitars in upstate New York. The Fiam shop is complete with vintage machinery for building world-class guitars. In addition to building, the team operates a busy repair business for guitar setups, repairs, vintage restorations, and mods out of their industrial shop space.

In February 2024 Izzy set up repair space in the Cobble Hill neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York. Learn more about that at IZZYGUITARS.COM