Langcaster 4-string bass

This is my fifth Langcaster and my first bass made by Joh Lang of New Zealand.A absolute stunning bass crafted from 35,000 year old kauri wood with a huge hunk of amber on the front of the bass.It's also the first bass with Langcaster 10 pole Ultimate Lo pickups.These pup's are the same that are in the Langcaster guitars.The only exception is the guitars have 8 pole and the bass has 10.It also has overdrive built in.The neck is maple with ebony fingerboard with 2 graphite rods and 2 way adjustable trussrod,making the neck really rock steady.Hardware is by Schaller.There's also lots of case candy,a battery tester,locking straps,a certicate of authnicity for the kauri wood.Almost forgot this is a 2 pup model,with neck pup and the treble pup being in the middle of the bass.

I once described the sound of Langs Ultimate Lo's on guitar as being hi-definition,and it's really apparent here with the bass.Remember these are the same pup's that are in the Langcaster guitars,lo impedence single coils with the only exception being the 10 pole pieces.Using a Ibanez sw-100 bass amp I was able to get gut twisting low end plus Entwistle treble.It's truly amazing how much variety you can get with these pickups,using the onboard overdrive I was able to get Jack Bruce rumble but with more definition in the notes.It's also noise free making it great for recording even with the overdrive turned on.Not bad for pickups the were really designed for guitar.

As with all of Joh's work the action was exactly as asked,low without fretting out and absolutely flawless.A friend of mine who works in a music store in LA said the fretwork was so good it was scarey.

This bass is so solidly built it would survive a buffalo stampede.Hell the wood survived the ice age.I would most definatly use this bass without a backup.

Joh Lang stands by his work.I have had the opportunity to talk with Joh over the phone and he's a amazing person.I dont think the man sleeps,everytime I've sent a email it's been answered pretty much within the hour.

I've been playing guitar and bass now for 46 years,I have way too much gear to list here,however basswise I own a musicman Stingray,and have owned Rickenbacher basses and a few Fenders over the years.If this was stolen I would hire Godzilla to nuke the perp.

Made in New Zealand by Joh Lang (www.langcaster.com) it just arrived to me a few days ago, 29 AUG 2006. This is another of Langcaster's incredibles made with the 35,000+ year old wood. Features are: the rarest wood in the world, 4-string, 22 frets, 3 pots: vol/front pup/ back pup, AND overdrive (growls and sooo cool), LANGCASTER hand-made Lo-Impedence active pickups, rock hard maple neck with the highest quality ebony fret board I have ever seen (polished so it looks like its a sheet of black oil),incredible wood of body has high gloss diamond-hard epoxy finish that lets you look down forever into the wood, locking tuners (gotoh), beautiful case, bunch of cool case candy courtesy of Joh (included a battery tester), body is Joh's strat shape body, looks like med jumbo frets with oh-so-smooth ends.

Absolutely silent pups really deliver EVERYTHING so you better be an accurate player, and the sustain has to heard to be believed. The overdrive really punches with clean power and an impressively distinct flavor. The sound is going to be really colored by what strings you use of course. It came with some bright Carvins which I will swap out for some D'Addarios as the Carvins are too bright for me. I play heavy metal, psych, hard rock, some jazz and some latin rock so I need a string with all-around type of sound---IMHO that D'Addarios. I'd play this in any setting at all just because you are getting a fantastic quality bass that really IS custom down to the pups. The bass simply DELIVERS and can be really loud thanks to the Langcaster pups which pass up all the rest as far as I am concerned. The sound can be tweaked to anything and with effects really grabs attention. NOTHING is dulll about this most beautiful of bass guitars. I play thru Laney equipment with 4x10 and 4x12 cabs, heads 120w and 300w, Dunlop Bass crybaby, and other effects.

100% perfect. The strings came a bit high (Joh sends you the allen wrench) and so will lower them for my personal taste. The neck is so dang fast. I thought my 1980 SB-40 Washburn (rare) had all other necks beat but even with the strings high as it cam originally I can blaze. Once lowered I better have a fire extinguisher handy. These have to be seen in person to understand the perfection Joh Lang puts into them. I know for a fact he can put in 100-200 hours of just sanding this special wood from the Pleistocene era to get his perfection.

Can't imagine there is anything that can do better out there---nuff said. Would trust it with my life.

Best in the business. Joh's very soul is in these and you probably have not met anyone like him.

Read my Langcaster guitar review for all the details (yes, I also have one of his guitars as well). I have been playing since very early 1970's. I made my living off a bass for almost 10 years. Without a doubt, a Langcaster is truly special among customs. Rarest wood in the world, custom pickups, necks made in heaven, sound and sustain are naturally unique and ohhhhhhhhhhhh sooooooooooo nice! There is not any thing about this that says "factory". It is an absolute steal at Joh's price when you consider Laurie Williams in New Zealand makes her acoustics with this ancient wood (back and sides) and they sell for $25,000.00. Basically,you might as well say you are getting a $40,000 guitar (bass or 6-string) for about 3K. Does NOT get better than that. ANd it sounds, looks and feel like 40K! All the other customs that all use the same woods, the same pups and then sell for a lot less when used simply take a backseat to these gats. Only a very desperate person would dream of getting rid of a Langcaster. Heck, they are already museum pieces (both history and art)! Jeezz, can you tell what I think of'em?