Del Langejans is known for having built so many guitars, and so many kinds of guitars, so we’re always interested to see what the next one’s going to be! Here’s a powerhouse Grand Concert Cutaway from 1998 that’s open—wide open—and decked out with gorgeous woods and a distinctive orange finish on top. Dramatic Brazilian Rosewood back and sides pair up with Engelmann Spruce and Maple bindings, and Del further decked this one out with a Brazilian Rosewood neck and bridge. The voice is crisp and potent and holds up well under a flatpick. Deep-cut Florentine Cutaway for maximum fretboard access.
The neck has a wide string spacing (1 7/8” nut) that feels oh. so. comfortable for those cramped chord shapes. The body is almost five inches deep at the tail, but the lower bout is only 15 1/2” across, giving this Grand Concert an added bass push that doesn’t come at the cost of the other registers. Lastly, this beauty comes with an L.R. Baggs Ribbon Transducer pickup system.

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Fine instruments must love company: this 2011 Langejans KR-6 fits in perfectly next to our Circas and our Collings. With gorgeous Koa back and sides and a Port Orford Cedar top, this Slope Shoulder Dreadnaught can offer you crisp articulation and absorbing warmth at the same time. The neck has a sleek, low profile, but the string spacing is such that fingerstylists can play for hours without stumbling over their fingertips–all the while coaxing rich, resounding notes out of the bass strings and trebles.

Excellently balanced, this KR-6 exhibits a strong strum sound, but is responsive to a delicate approach as well. With an East Indian Rosewood neck for added sustain, and a Venetian Cutaway for easy access to the upper frets, this KR-6 is the perfect companion to the fingerstylist who likes to mix it up with flatpicking and full-chord strumming.

For the fingerstylist-cum-flatpicker, this is just the ticket: responsive to both a deilcate touch and an aggressive attack, with knockout string-to-string articulation and cannonading projection. With an alluring blackburst finish across the instrument, this Langejans W-6 looks as striking as it sounds. When Del paired this Spruce top with Walnut back and sides, he hit the nail on the head: heaps of bass are complemented by a very present middle register and sparkling trebles. Add to that classic combination a Florentine Cutaway and slim neck profile, and you’ve got the perfect storm of tone and playability in your hands. This may be an instrument from 1999, but you’d hardly believe it, considering the shape it’s in. We’ve seen two-month-old guitars that sounded half as impressive and had twice as much wear and tear–this Langejans W-6 is a black diamond of a gem.

A gorgeous OM-10 from Jean Larrivée’s custom shop that’s been very well cared-for—yes, please! This beauty comes to us from 2000 but is looking like a new guitar in spite of the 20 years’ worth of music passing through. Indian Rosewood back and sides with Spruce on top and upgraded with an intricate MOP-and-Abalone tree of life vine inlaid along the fretboard, dark Abalone top trim and rosette, and Rosewood bindings.

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Gorgeous from tuner to tailblock, lively at a touch and velvet beneath your fingers—this handsome 1994 Larrivee LCJ-10 Custom is a winner. Indian Rosewood back and sides paired with a Sitka Spruce top and Honduran Mahogany neck. The top is trimmed out in Mother-Of-Pearl and the fretboard position markers as well, but the real gem here is the “Rose Lady” inlay treatment across the headstock. Built in 1994, this Larrivee has had several decades to wake up, and it responds with a wide open voice that soaks up fingerpicking just as well as flatpicking.

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