Product: Langcaster Light Kauri Tele
Price Paid: Lots (worth every penny)
Submitted
07/07/2004
at
12:00am
by
Jake Catterson
Features
:
10
This guitar smokes! 2003, Made in New Zealand by Joh Lang, www.langcaster.com. Made from 35,000 year old swamp wood, with a double truss rod and graphite rod reinforced neck and an ebony fretboard. This baby is one of a kind (he'll custom make it the way you like it) but has two Joe Bardon pick-ups and a phase switch. He now makes his own pickups. This has a painted neck and transparent finish over the body. The body looks awesome. Locking tuners, unique headstock that eliminates the need for string trees. Came with an Australian made case.
Sound
:
10
The sound of this guitar is unbelievable. The sustain is incredible and there is not a buzz to be found. The sound is full and bright. It has two quarter inch outs so you can run two amps simultaneously and achieve and unbelievable sound. Clean, you can make it sound like a high end electric accoustic. With a little gain added, it's a tone monster that sounds great with the rock blues style I play. It sounds so good I don't want to put it down!
Action, Fit, & Finish
:
10
You'll need to try it to believe it. I have never, ever, picked up a guitar with such a true neck. This should be called the "fretless wonder" because there is no fret buzz anywhere and your hands glide over this baby. It's like a sheet of glass. You need to try one of these guitars. You will not find a better combination of sustain, action, and tone. I'm tempted to seal this baby up in storage because I know it will be worth a mint some day. Joh Lang will soon be known here in the states just like PRS. He's already gaining acclaim in Europe. I would buy one of these babies now before they shoot up to $10,000 - beacuse trust me, once you've played one, you'll want one.
Reliability/Durability
:
8
Came with strap locks. Built very solidly. The finish on mine is good, but not great, as it was a proto-type (first one built with his revolutionary new neck design). But, it's like having a mint GTO with a little nick in it - you are still the envy of the group. Looks like she's built to last. The other ones I tried out at the store (American Guitar Boutique in Minneapolis) were not prototypes and had excellent fit/finish.
Customer Support
:
10
Joh is great! He gets right back to you via e-mail and he has taken back guitars and altered/fine tuned them to better meet individual customer desires. His website is pretty good too, check it out.
Overall Rating
:
10
I've been playing for 20 years, and this is the finest instrument to lay in my hands. Try one out at peril, because your wallet will end up lighter when you walk out the door with a new axe.
