Parlez-vous Tone? Bring Some European Styling to Your Rig with Lâg Guitars

GLE-A66-BLK03There is something in the water in Europe. The past few years have seen guitars from several European makers, new and old alike, showing up in the hands of talented players and making waves in the U.S. guitar market.

One such brand is Lâg Guitars. Lâg took flight in 1978 when Michel Lâg-Chavarria, already an experienced singer and songwriter, opened his own luthiery shop in the south of France. The company experienced good growth for many years until poor economic conditions threatened to shutter the brand for good in 2002. Fortunately, Lâg crossed paths with Gerald Garnier, whose musical passion took him from building folk music instruments to founding Algam, France’s number one musical instrument distributor. Together, Lâg-Chavarria and Garnier devised a strategy to gain better exposure for Lâg’s high-end electrics and eventually expanded the newly energized builder’s product line. In 2009, Korg became the U.S. distributor for Lâg, bringing the maker’s distinctive, Old World artistry to America’s shores.

As the TheToneKing.com has shown you before, Lâg’s acoustic guitars are true stunners in looks and sound. With their distinctive headstocks and soundhole rosettes adorned with the Occitan cross, they stand out visually in an elegant and unique way. And, of course, they sound fantastic. Lâg is the acoustic of choice for monster players like Gus G., Jeff Loomis, Dario Lorina (Black Label Society), and Josh Rand (Stone Sour).

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We here at TheToneKing.com love a great acoustic guitar, and Lâg has certainly won our hearts in that arena, but we also like to crank it. Lâg also has players covered there with it’s slick, sexy electric guitar lines. Modern European builders are bring some distinct styling to the electric guitar market, and Lâg is definitely delivering the goods when it comes to looks.

Motörhead’s Phil Campbell has been using Lâg for over 20 years. According to Campbell, the main part of Motörhead’s sound comes from his Lâg. And it’s a great sound, because Lâg, overwhelmed by demand, introduced the Phil Campbell Signature model in 2009.

Lâg is also the weapon of choice for Dario Lorina, who is blowing minds and eardrums as Zakk Wylde’s six-string partner in crime in Black Society Label. Watch this video  at your own risk; my computer started billowing smoke due to a combination of some amazing chops and the sick quilt on that Arkanator.

One of our favorite topics here at TheToneKing.com is discovering and collecting new instruments. And for many of our North American readers, Lâg is definitely something new and different. As the French say, C’est le ton qui fait la musique*, and with a Lâg in your hands, you’ll be…uhh…faiting la musique, I guess?….with European speed and style.

*It’s the tone that makes the music

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