Hi Folks,

This one is for the Maiden fans around here;

I was talking to Joe Lado (real last name is Kovacic, and is the founder of Lado Guitars) in the middle of the week while placing my order (more on that further down in my post). I told him how much I liked Adrian Smith’s tone when he used Lado guitars back in 1984-1988, and that I would like to steer in that direction. Anyways Joe confirmed to me that Adrian still has all 3 of the Lados he used back in the 80’s;

1) Black Earth-used in 84/85,
2) Grey Earth-used in 84/85,
3) Blue Laser with Midi Control in 88 (as seen on the Clairvoyant promo video)

A few other facts he revealed during our conversation:

- Joe wouldn’t tell me what the specs (e.g. output in millivolts, DC Resistance, and Eq voicing) on his own factory pickups. It’s his trade secret I gather.
- Adrian had Dimarzio Super Distortion’s in the bridges of his Lados instead of stock ones
- Joe told me that Adrian switched to Seymour’s in the 90’s because Adrian thought the Dimarzio’s were too muddy
- Joe is still very well aware of what Maiden is doing in terms of what equipment they are using. I got the sense that he missed the business relationship he had with the band (well duh…)
- Before you ask, I didn’t ask Joe about what happened with Dave’s and Steve’s Lados… I didn’t want to push my luck by asking him too many Maiden-related questions. And no, I won’t be placing any orders for a Strat like Dave’s in order to obtain inside information on the ones that Dave had (or maybe still has)…Ha!


And now on to the guitar that I bought from Joe:






Joe placed a bunch his guitars on sale because it is his company’s 35th anniversary (check their website). This Lado Earth-2003 model originally costs $2,995USD and was on sale for $1595CAD (which works out to about $1355USD at the current exchange rates). Plus, it came with a pair Seymour Duncan JB pickups (cost including installation in Toronto is normally about $250USD) for free. In other words I got this guitar that’s normally worth $3,245USD at %58 off. Since this was a once in-a-many-lifetimes deal, I had to buy it; I’m going to have to sell off some of my other gear though.

The tone the guitar is totally unique due to its construction and wood materials (bird’s eye maple body, ebony fretboard). The pickups are great (clear, fairly trebly, plenty of punch), but not as hot as my Dimarzio Super Distortion equipped RG320FM. It’s a set-neck design and the back of the neck is lacquered (therefore not as quick as an Ibanez RG neck), but the entire design still allows for quick playing. This guitar is a dream, and will be buried with me (not for a long time I hope).


Cheers

Nice guitar, congrats. How does the neck feel as compared to the prestige neck?

\00/\00/

Metal!!!!! Maiden rules, nice axe, original shape.

I'm also curious about the neck. Good score.

coool guitar .. i like that colour..

Looks cool! Congratz

i swear i saw a concert vid years ago where H's lado was changing color depending on the angle you looked at it. later, i realize they might have flimed 2 concerts where he used 2 different lados, and then edited the footage together. which one was it?

Love the shape, and love the colour too, nice axe!

Congrats.

Me likey!

Man, brings me back to Powerslave...

Thanks everyone. If the neck on a Prestige RG is rated a 10 (like my RGA121), then the neck on this Lado can be rated as a 9. It's a bit thicker. Is it pretty much equal to a non-Prestige RG like my 320FM (which has a better neck than %90 of anything else on the market IMHO). The other thing that caught my attention is how well the entire guitar is constructed (remember, this is a $3,000 guitar); it makes a Prestige look like a Korean-built guitar. No offense (I still love my RGA121).

My only complaint about the neck is that the back of it is heavily finished, so it creates a little more friction. But hey, I didn't buy this machine to shred on (not that I can shred anyway) since I will be using it to play Maiden on (well duh...).

In response to Smegolas, the Lado that Adrian used on the Live After Death concert video (Powerslave Tour), is grey. It was the blue stage lighting that made it look slightly green at certain angles


Like I mentioned in my original post, the tone of it is awesome, and I can pretty much nail the Powerslave tone with the Pod XT (JCM800 setting + Tubescreamer). Well, I'm off to practice The Duellists.


Cheers

the neck looks like a baseball bat.... how thick is that ****er?

I took several measurements in order for you (and anyone else who wants to) to compare them the following Ibanez specs: http://www.jemsite.com/jem/necks.htm


The Lado Specs:

Thickness @ 1st Fret: 20mm
Thickness @ 22nd Fret: 23mm
Width @ Nut: 44mm
Width @ 22nd Fret: 60mm


Cheers

right on.... similar to a satriani... thanks man.... cool guitar by the way!!!!
Jared

Yeah I wanted a GK amp when I was a big Iron Maiden fan. Iron Maiden can't be fought. Iron Maiden can't be sought. Who wrote that line lol.

Thanks. Even though I have small hands (no jokes please..lol), the big neck still feels great due to the string spacing. I have only been playing for a year and a half now, so when I play my Dean Z and RG320FM, the very different string spacing on those causes me to screw-up my picking hand for the first 15 minutes or so until I "re-adjust". However, I can jump back and forth from my RGA121 to the Lado every other song with no problem. I guess I'm keeping these two.


Cheers

There is a guitarist on the Maiden homesite forum who has the GK 2000CPL head that Maiden used on 7th Son. He says that it is very easy to dial-in that particular tone.

However, there is someone else on that same forum who has the GK 250ML combo that Maiden used for Somewhere In Time, but could not come even close to dialing in that particular guitar tone. Which strengthens my belief that Maiden had a boat-load of equipment for that album, as oppose to what other people have been saying (e.g. they gave all the credit to that little GK amp).


Cheers