Laguna Beach, CA (October 18, 2007) – A brand-spanking new guitar company is entering the industry with guitars designed “by players for players.”
The people behind Laguna guitars approach the craft of guitar making from the guitarist’s perspective. The company builds instruments based on the philosophy that the best guitar designs flow from a single source: the needs of the player. It is a belief that drove them to set tradition aside, ignore the “but-that’s-how-it’s-always-been-done” approach, and instead listen to guitarists’ voices and watch their hands. Asking a thousand different questions in a thousand different ways helped Laguna forge what they call a new kind of guitar design philosophy—one that is “player-driven.” The result is a comprehensive line of acoustic and electric guitars that guitarists help to create.
For example, guitars player told designers that the thumbscrews on the back of most locking-tuners are easy-to-lose, so Laguna developed lightweight tuners that are self-locking from the front. To restring, the player simply inserts the new string all the way and begins turning the tuning machine knob. The self-locking mechanism clamps the string and it''s in tune about halfway around the post, eliminating the winds from binding (and putting the guitar out of tune) during aggressive tremolo use.
Guitarists also expressed the desire for a tougher graphite nut, so Laguna incorporates nuts that are Teflon-reinforced and self-lubricating. Another example: instrument owners often find themselves frustrated with extreme back bowing that renders a guitar useless and unplayable, so the company spent extra research and development time designing a dual action truss rod to eliminate this problem — at no extra cost.
Frets were chosen for their low-profile, low-mass feel to make the neck almost "fretless" fast and give the neck a nice "woody" tone.
The company strives to provide guitarists with premium quality without premium pricing. It offers swamp ash bodies and thick dark Indian rosewood fretboards on comfortable Canadian hard rock maple necks, as well as strap locks that are inset into the guitar body — all without the usual custom upgrade pricing.
Electric Solidbodies
LE222
- Smoothly contoured basswood body
- Premium hardware
- Custom-wound C4 ceramic humbucking pickups in an SSH configuration... double-potted to reject feedback.
- Estimated street price: $299.99
LE322
- Louisiana swamp ash body
- Premium hardware
- Custom-wound Alnico 5 pickups (SSH) with coil tap gives plenty of mid-range punch to complement the rich low-end and snappy bite of the ash body.
- Estimated street price: $399.99
LE422
- AAA flamed maple veneer
- Premium hardware
- Estimated street price: 499.99
LE524 (photo above)
- Rosewood flat-radius fretboard on North American hard rock maple neck
- 24 jumbo frets
- Premium hardware
- Coil-tapped, custom-wound Alnico 5 humbuckers
- Floyd Rose-licensed locking tremolo system
- Estimated street price: $599.99
Acoustics
LD2 Brat
- 7/8 Dreadnaught
- Solid spruce top
- Mahogany back and sides
- Estimated street price: $299.99
LG4
- Grand Auditorium-style
- Choice of bubinga or quilted ash.
- Fishman preamps
- Estimated street price: $499.99
LG6 (photo above)
- Grand Orchestra –style
- Fishman Prefix Plus electronics
- Choice of Ovangkol back and sides and a solid spruce top, or solid cedar top with rosewood back and sides
- Estimated street price: $699.99
“We designed Laguna guitars with the wants and needs of players in mind” stated Michael Doyle, Vice President of Product Marketing. “We know that guitarists have come to seek out specific enhancements that bring their instruments up to a certain standard of playability, tonal and aesthetic quality – what other manufacturers usually consider to be ‘upgrades’. We strive to give all players these advantages from the start, in a variety of instrument styles and configurations, while providing a professional value that players can really enjoy. From our extensive research and design experience we know that better guitars equal better players, and that is where Laguna Guitars shine.”
The complete range of Laguna Acoustic and Electric Guitars is available immediately. Laguna Ultimate Rock Packs that include a Laguna guitar and a Line6® amp will also be available.
For more information:
PlayLaguna.com (Site set for launch on October 23, with full digital content on November 15)