Langcaster Lo-Impedance pickups & overdrive

No loss in sound with Long cables, build in gain adjustable overdrive a frequency range greater than any pickup on the market, louder and cleaner sound. A great guitar to use with a transmitter and keeping the overdrive sound!

The best sounding solid body guitars in the world! Prove me wrong and I eat my head.

Great sounds and movies , played by Graig Humphries.

The overdrive is pushed in halve way in the song from the knob on the switch panel,

A MUST ! to listen to , or see the movie please.

Mp3 Sound file 350K Movie Big 3.3 Mb

The sound samples are recorded on a Jansen Amp and Korg pedal and with the build in Overdrive on 70% in the neck pickup position.

We wanted to record on average gear, the Cobra has a 2nd jack clean output for recording direct in to the desk or use with an other Amp, we did not used this now.

   

Mp3 sound 525K QuickTime Movie 3.3 Mb

The Cobra is made from New Zealand swamp Kauri and is also available in

Metallic Black with the LED in the eye of the Cobra.

Hard rock Maple and tilt-back head stock. * Double action truss rod and 2 Graphite reinforcement rods. * Exclusive diamond ground precision Ebony fingerboard.
* 22 Medium jumbo frets 25 1/2" scale & 15" radius. * Paua shell inlay string trees. * Paua shell logo. *Schaller Machine heads with 1:16 gear ratio.
* Schaller 3D Bridge. * Security Strap Locks. * Brass Knobs. * Copper shielded cavity. * 2 Jack outputs for sound with tone and overdrive and one for a clean sound.

Noiseless single coil Langcaster pickups with integrated PC board base in a 6 and 8 pole configuration. The 8 pole pickup design eliminated signal loss with string bending.
The Cobra has two Ultimate Lo hum no hum pickups, a volume control and push/push switch for the overdrive, a tone control for both modes, a volume control for the
overdrive gain amount and a three way pickup selector. The volume control has a filter so that as the volume is reduced the sound does not lose its treble. The Cobra has two output jacks; one for the clean sound only and one for both the overdrive and clean sound,
so you can play in stereo or send the clean signal to a mixer and send the overdrive output to an amplifier for stage amplification. This Langcaster Cobra is a real giant in
the guitar world. In the clean mode it outclasses all other guitars in volume, frequency range and clarity by far and with a flick of the switch you have a magnificent
overdrive, eliminating the need for a Tube Screamer or similar effect. Because of its many outstanding features the Cobra can be used for any playing style.
The Cobra is not only a beautiful piece of art, it delivers more than anyone could wish for, THE ULTIMATE SOUND!

Paua shell inlay on the string trees & rod cover
Carved in Cobra and Paua shell 3-d Bridge

We have some Kauri bodies in stock in metallic Black & a LED in the eye of the cobra .

And one that NO! cobra but has a paint that is changing in the light to 5 colors .

 

THE COBRA, A TRUE SENSATION
By Cees Bakker Gitaarplus magazine journalist.

I happen to like Langcaster instruments because they are unique and of an outstanding quality. So when their distributor R.S.L. b.v. from Holland asked me to test the new Langcaster Cobra I was curious what Joh Lang had created this time. When I opened the case I was looking in the eye of a cobra. And that's serious folks because the eye catcher of this guitar is a beautiful sculptured cobra. It's surrounded by pieces of Paua shell and the eye is glistering clear jewel. The cobra sculpture is filled with clear epoxy which results in a spectacular 3D visual sight especially when the guitar is moved in various directions. This sculpture forms a part of the Tele shaped body with a thickness of 43 mm which is made out of one single piece of 1000 years old Kauri, a native high density hardwood with excellent tone qualities. This wood has a honey colour and the very lively grain is accentuated by the clear 2 components hardener lacquer, which is polished to mirror-like lustre.

The controls are simple but effective: a volume control for the clean mode, a passive tone control for the clean mode and a volume control for the overdrive mode in which the tone control acts as a intensity control for the overdrive. A separate plate houses the push button for the overdrive, the picking indicator LED and the 3 way pickup selector.

The Cobra has two outputs; the upper one is for the clean+overdrive mode and the lower one for the clean mode. The clean+overdrive output acts as battery check; in overdrive mode the picking indicator LED flashes when a jack is plugged in.

The supply of the Cobra is very comprehensive and includes: heavy-duty hard shell case, 2 counter parts for the Schaller strap locks, spare 0.010 E1st string, cleaning cloth, adjustment keys for bridge, Langcaster documentation set and a Langcaster T-shirt or strap, battry testrer and more!.

Playing the Cobra
I'm a bass player; the saying goes that every bass player is a frustrated guitarist and for me this true too. But this dream machine brings out the best in my guitar mind. Despite it's slab body the Cobra is very comfortable, it hangs well balanced around the shoulder and also in sitting position playing the guitar goes easy. The factory set-up is impeccable; straight from the case and all the way from New-Zealand. A low action- 1 mm ( 0.04") at the nut and 2 mm (0.08") at the 22nd fret without any rattle. The ebony fret board feels good and thanks to the well polished medium jumbo frets string bending is so easy.
The first sound test takes place in the huge P.A. demonstration room of R.S.L. b.v. so more or less stage conditions. I use a Peavey Van Halen 5150 tube amp for this, but the normal input cannot handle the Cobra, the amp goes in overload. So I use the less sensitive input and I cannot believe my ears, even in the clean mode this guitar is bloody f. loud! The characteristic Telecaster sound is there but with much more power and sustain, full and even over the total frequency spectrum without any peaks and like Chuck Berry sang "ringing like a bell".
Then I push the overdrive button and I'm stunned, this is a total different guitar. Full of guts, juicy overdrive, heavy crunch, screaming lead; it's all there and just like the clean mode without a trace of hum or hiss, this is sensational. Then I take for comparisation a handmade American Melancon Custom Tele model, which I used to like very much because of its sound qualities. But compared to the Cobra the Melancon sounds like a cheap Korean guitar.
For me this is the ultimate super axe, but to be sure I asked Tim an accomplish guitarist form the R.S.L. staff to have a go and in the hands of a real guitar player you can hear what this Cobra is capable of. Tim was so enthusiast that he wants to sell his guitars to buy a Cobra.
Then I took the Cobra home for further testing. I connected the clean output to a 1973 Fender Champ tube amp to the left and the clean+ overdrive output to a modern Fender Frontman 15 transistor amp to the right. So you become a stereo image having a clean sound on the left and a clean/overdrive sound at the right and with the various controls and switches you can get a wide range of interesting and useful sounds.
The Ultimate Lo © pickups are really something else, its mighty sounds cut through. For a further comparisation a I took three of my highest output guitars, a Gretsch BST 1500 with DiMarzio Super Distortion humbuckers of 12,5 Kohm, a Burns Vibra-Artist with original Tri-Sonic single coils of 12 Kohm and a Music Man Sabre I with 12 Kohm. Compared to the Cobra it's a difference between day and night. With the neck pickup you get that bluesy feeling and with the tone control turned down you have jazz sound. The neck pickup gives a biting lead sound, whilst with tone down it sounds like the middle pickup of a Stratocaster. With both pickups on you have a crisp and tight sound with a twang which reminds me of a vintage Jazzmaster. Very impressive.
But with a push of the overdrive switch the Ultra Drive © is activated and you're in the power house. From the sweet mellow Garry Moore tone to the penetrating Santana sound it's all there any much more; it's all up to your imagination and the use of the various controls of the Cobra.
An exiting ability of the Cobra is that when you are in the overdrive mode and bend a note it clips easily into a natural overtone for which you normally need a full stack and not a small amp like the Champ.
I also found another interesting application, which is perfectly suited for recording purposes. The clean + overdrive output is connected to an amp and the clean output is fed into a mixing console allowing the engineer to add outboard effects. Of course you can also connect the Cobra to two different channels of the mixer. I tried it out with a Behringer Eurorack mixer and it sounded great. And because of the low impendence of the Ultimate Lo © pickups there is no need for a D.I. box. You can also connect the Cobra to your computer, provided that you possess the required programs.
Most people underestimate the importance of low impendence pickups. You can apply 25 K pots instead of 250 K so less resistance in the signal path and it is a well known fact that with high impendence signals lose tone and power with long cables. The Ultimate Lo pickups resolve this problem.

The Cobra is in every way an outstanding and innovative guitar, comparing it with any conventional guitar is like having a Volkswagen racing against a Ferrari.

Reed the full story on the next page.

Soon we have the Cobra with a metallic black finish and the LED in the eye of the Cobra!

for all you head bangers out there!