J. K. LADO WENGE STRAT 2002 WENGE. ONLY ONE BUILT. A MAJESTIC GUITAR. GREAT SOUND AND HIGH QUALITY.

LADO

J.K. LADO

“STRAT”

CUSTOM GUITAR

HAND BUILT BY

Joseph Kovacic

THE ONLY ONE.

A MAJESTIC GUITAR.

THE ULTIMATE ELECTRIC GUITAR.

FROM MY PERSONAL COLLECTION.

I have a lot of guitars in my collection.  Many are “mass brands” but my favorites are “personal brands”. 

Personal brands are those unique guitars that have been built by the hands of an independent builder, many times working alone, who is building with his/her hands what his/her mind has already created. And as it is being built, the guitar becomes a “personal brand” because it is the person who is building it.  And for me, I just hear more depth in the sound and tone these guitars produce.  They are special.

THIS PERSONAL BRAND.

JK LADO GUITARS.

As many of you know already I collect vintage and custom guitars.  And I am an avid advocate and supporter of individual builders-many of whom have been “overlooked” by guitar buyers and players.  That is sad.

Joe Kovacic is one of those builders.

You can read about him below and you can visit his website.

I own a lot of LADO guitars (regular and bass).  When I bought my first LADO, a “FALCON” bass, I was amazed when I opened its case.  It was incredible.  Solid and majestic.  Joe is a “woodworker extraordinaire”.  He uses woods that are beautiful, exotic, and tone full. 

Yes, this is a finely crafted professional musical instrument that is rarely seen these days and I fully believe that all LADO guitars of this era are destined to become highly valued collection pieces and with Joe’s anticipated retirement, the era of these superb guitars built by his hands will come to an end. 

His guitars are superb musical instruments and a compelling choice for professional

THIS GUITAR.

Joe has told me that the guitar offered here, “WENGE STRAT” is the ONLY ONE HE HAS BUILT LIKE IT.

For me, this is the perfect mix of woods for incredible beauty and sound.

The top is WENGE while the body is the most beautiful RED MAHOGANY that I have ever seen. Neck is MAPLE with an EBONY fingerboard.  Tuners are GOTOH and pickups are (2) Dimarzio DP-401’s and (1) Dimarzio DP-404.

I’m having a hard time describing the tonality/sound of this guitar.

The WENGE top bounces sound due to its vitreousness.  But then the thick mahogany body seems to grab the bounced note and hold it giving it simultaneous qualities of brightness and warmth as well as incredible sustain.  It is a remarkable and unique sound.

To me this seems to be the perfect collector STRAT but also a music innovation generator.  Pedals nor amps can replace the vibration of a string hitting the guitar body wood.  This guitar has that unique and pure sound unlike other guitars.  That gives it an edge over other Strats in the studio.  And it plays great.

Be different.  Buy and play this guitar.

Here is information about WENGE wood from a recent luthier article in PREMIER GUITAR:

There are live woods that look rather plain, while there are “dead” woods that look like Raquel Welch in 3-D. Fine for making furniture, the flash and beauty of the latter have an obvious appeal, and many guitars get made simply because their visual gorgeousness will be a strong selling point. Fully as much to the point, when considerations of tone and appearance vie for customers, heated discussions about the benefits of this or that combination of materials will occur, and a variety of woods will be presented as being “as good as,” “acoustically responsive,” “high quality,” “surprisingly good,” “improved by patented methods of treatment,” “a comparable alternative,” “now used by the so-and-so factory for their higher-end guitars,” and so on.

My own searches have brought me to wenge (pronounced WHEN-gay). It’s a dark, purplish-brown-colored African hardwood that has long been used by bowl turners and cabinet/furniture makers. For some reason, not too many builders have thought about using it for guitars yet, so it’s still relatively cheap. The thing that appeals to me about wenge is that it is very live. When you hold a piece of it up and tap on it without damping any of its vibrational modes, it’ll ring like a piece of glass, plate of steel, or a crystal brandy snifter. This quality is known as vitreousness, which literally means glasslike-ness. Wenge’s vitreousness is a function of the wood being brittle on the cellular-structure level. It’s that very brittleness that makes the vibrational action and the sound that it produces possible. (All rights reserved-PREMIER GUITAR).

Here’s more information on Joe and his company, LADO.

JK Lado & Company

"A legacy of innovative craftsmanship"

Joseph Kovacic, the founder and CEO of J.K. Lado & Company, was born in Croatia in 1945. After serving in the Yugoslavian army, he began training as a professional luthier at the Zagreb School of Guitar Making in Zagreb, Croatia. Following his studies in Zagreb, Joe completed two years of additional training at Crossman Guitar Works in Vienna, Austria.  In 1968 Joe emigrated to Canada and accepted a position with Turner Musical Instruments, a division of Gibson Guitars. Following two years with Turner Musical, Joe relocated to Hagstrom Guitars as product inspector for one year. After developing a strong skillset in English, Mr. Kovacic launched Joe's Strings in 1971 from a Toronto basement shop on Gerrard Street. In 1973, Joe incorporated Lado Musical and opened a retail shop located on Kingston Road, in Toronto. In addition to building custom guitars under the Lado name, Joe had an exclusive repair contract with C.F. Martin Guitars for all Canada based customers. During 1976, the international demand for Lado Guitars prompted a relocation and Lado moved to a larger production facility in Scarborough, ON.
By 1981, Lado had again expanded into a new, larger facility on R.R. #1 in Uxbridge, ON. Increasing support of the Lado brand called for a production and administration staff of 13 employees.
Lado entered the Guinness Book of World Records in 1987 for building a 14’ 3” tall, 309 lb “Earth” model guitar. After producing the “largest built and presumably loudest playable electric guitar" , Lado maintained status as a record-holder from 1987-1991.  The 1988 Lado catalogue shows Lado Guitars again moved into a larger and better equipped operating facility on Warden Avenue in Scarborough, ON. 
During 2003, Mr. Kovacic launched the Lado School of Lutherie. Approaching retirement, Joe wished to pass on his passion for guitar making, unique craftsmanship, and trade secrets to younger generations of luthiers. The Lado School of Lutherie will continue to pass on it's legacy of craftsmanship until Joe's final retirement. Today, Lado Musical Inc. produces selected models of Lado guitars and basses on a limited basis from a private production facility in Ontario, CA.

Steve Harris of IRON MAIDEN has long been a LADO player.

CONDITION.

Overall, this guitar is in EXCELLENT condition.  It has been held as a collection piece and not played much at all.

TERMS OF THE SALE:

1.     As always, all ebay and PayPal rules apply.

2.     Right of inspection allowed.  Once buyer receives this guitar, she/he, has 48 hours to inspect it and report any problems or concerns to us.  If I cannot resolve these problems or concerns to the satisfaction of the buyer, the guitar can be returned to me for a full refund (again in accordance with ebay and PayPal rules and regulations).

3.     Shipping is free in the continental USA.  For shipping outside the USA, please contact me for an estimate prior to buying.

Please look at my other listings for more guitars from my private collection of over 1,500 custom and vintage guitars.  I only bought the best so I only sell the best.  I am always interested in obtaining more guitars so if you have something you would like to offer in exchange for this guitar, please let me know.

I have been a member of the Ebay community since 1999 and currently have 4300+ positive feedbacks. 

I am also on FACEBOOK with a Page titled:  TUNE YOUR SOUND VINTAGE GUITARS AND AMPS.

ALL TRADES CONSIDERED.