I happen to like Langcaster instruments because they are unique and of an outstanding quality. So when their European 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 neck is made of AAA maple nearly birds eye quality. The tilt back head stock has the typical Langcaster shape, based on ancient Maori motifs, as well as its carving. The three string trees ensure straight string alignment and these are topped by Paua inlays. The same native shell is used for the company logo and the truss road cover. The truss road is 2 ways adjustable and the neck is further reinforced by two graphite bars. The neck has a comfortable flat D shape; it's finished with a Tung like oil and has a self-lubricating graphite nut. The width at the nut is 33.5 mm 3/16" the radius is 15 degrees and the scale is 650 mm (251/2"). The fret board is made of high quality ebony with a thickness of +/- 6 mm (0.22") with 22 medium jumbo frets and mother of pearl position markers, which are repeated at the side. The fret board is diamond grind and the frets are superbly polished so the fingering is excellent. The neck fits perfectly into the body and is fixed with six screws, of which two underneath the neck plate.

Nothing to complain about the hardware which is made by Schaller. The locking tuners run smoothly and the massive brass milled stringholder/bridge sure augments the natural sustain of this Cobra. It is the 3 D type, so you can adjust the intonation with the spring loaded longitude screws, the individual saddles can be height adjusted by two small screws and the string spacing can be adjusted by the steel roller wheels inside the saddles. The saddles movements are prevented by a sideways lock screw. The two strap locks also take normal straps.

So far the fine cosmetic aspects of the Cobra; we continue with the electronics and here comes the real surprise, because this Cobra is loaded with inventions and innovations.
Now Joh Lang the Langcaster man has something with guitar pickups and through the years he grew through hard experience to a real pickup wizard. Joh started utilising Kinman pickups and whilst analysing these he came to the conclusion he could do better and he launched his own Langcaster pickups. But Joh went further and after painstaking research and experiments he introduced this year his revolutionary Ultimate Lo © pickups. The impendence is low indeed, only 100 Ohms, it has only a few windings of special wire divided in two coils but in a single coil housing and completely noiseless. Because of its extreme output a buffer amp was required and together with this mr. Lang invented his Ultra Drive unit using discrete components to create a natural sounding tube-like overdrive and again without hum, noise or hiss. So there is no more need for a Tube Screamer or similar stomp box, it's al inside the Cobra. The picking LED indicator forms an integrated part of the Ultra Drive. In the overdrive mode it indicates when and how hard a string is picked. The volume control for the clean mode is coupled to a frequency compensation networks which keeps the guitar at same treble at lower volume levels. The power consumption is extremely low, the Alkaline battery last at least 1000 hours continuous playing. The Cobra has a 8 pole pickup at the neck and a 6 pole pickup at the bridge. The 8 pole pickup prevents signal loss when strings are bended heavily.

The controls are simple but effective: a volume control for the clean mode, a passive tone control for the clean mode and a gain 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, screw driver for the Ultra Drive adjustment, spare trim pot for the Ultra Drive adjustment, Langcaster documentation set and a Langcaster T-shirt or strap,Battery tester 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.