I saw a guitar the other day made in New Zealand. They are called Langcaster. The body was made from a piece of wood 35,000 years old, pretty much petrified wood ... I'm not kidding. It was a beatiful looking guitar. It even has amber ( remember amber in Jurrassic Park ?? ) embedded in the body. He told me it was actually hard to buy due to export restrictions on the ancient wood from New Zealand and had to have it first sent to Australia and he bought it from there. It also has a very unique low impedence pickup system designed by Langcaster. The photos on the website don't do the guitar justice. What you can't see in the photos is that the guitar has an almost glass like finish and the amber patches that you see in the photos are very tranluscent. The grain doesn't really look like regular wood grain but like petrified wood. The body almost looked like stone.

Talk about a very unique guitar. I've never seen anything like it. He even offered to lend it to me for a bar gig we played last night but I was too scared to take a guitar ( worth about $4500 ) and leave it in a stand onstage between sets.

Check out the website anyway at http://www.langcaster.com/


Oh, on a completely different note I bought tickets for Return To Forever yesterday. I can't believe I'm finally gonna see the most awesome band of all time on stage. I'm very excited to see Chick, Al, Stan and Lenny get back together after more than 25 years. A dream come true. That was how I got talking with the owner of the Langcaster guitar in a little Taco Bar round the corner. He is an acomplished guitar player and was also going to the concert though he shelled out the $350 for the premium Return To Forever package where he gets to attend the sound check before the concert and also a meet and greet with the band before the show.
http://return2forever.com/


[This message has been edited by Nigel (edited 04-29-2008).]

Hey, Nigel...that guitar is awsome! I'll check them out more. Not a real fan of Strats or Tele's, but have many, and this is super unique.

Don't know if my friend Zack Broch will be with Return to Forever yet, but he just spent last week at the Blue Note in NY with Stanley Clarke, and did a short tour with him a few months back.


Thanks for the guitar info. The best to you guys,


Russ

That's a very interesting guitar Nigel, particuarly the low impendance p.u.

I did'nt see any weight specs though, so I wonder how heavy/light ? is Kauri wood..

Anyway thks for the link,

Fred

It didn't seem to be particularly heavy. Probably heavier than regular wood maybe but not so heavy it would be a problem.

I see Jan Akkerman is using one and I have the utmost respect for him. I grew up listening to Focus and love his guitar work and tone.

Here is a good video on YouTube about the making of Langcaster guitars and pickups. http://nz.youtube.com/watch?v=FVHInDPly1E&feature=related

Just another thought about the low imp p.u.'s, I wonder if the input of a stompbox survives?
I blew a couple of them to heaven when using a keyboard..

It seems there's an official importer in the netherlands, so I think I'll have a closer look to these guitars as soon as I have some time.

Fred

Thanks for the video Nigel.
Funny to notice by the way that joh Lancaster still has a clear dutch accent
I think he still speaks dutch..

Fred