Hollow Steel guitar. A "poor" man's Trussart

guitarz.blogspot.com:

Hello all!

I'm R.W. Haller, and I'm going to be helping out Mr. Wilson with my favourite blog. I usually get my guitar fix from this site so I'll be digging deep to find weird and wonderful guitars to bring to your attention.

So yes. I'm starting with a familiar shape. Admittedly, I am not a Les Paul player ( I play a Burns Steer, a Tele, and a Peavey T-60, but more on those another time ), but there is something about the look of this metal, dragon tattooed beast that speaks to me on a deeper level, and the  droopy cutaway reminds me a bit of this awesome Devo axe.

It's great when I can love a guitar despite hating the basic ingredients

It can be yours for the poor man price $789 ( Canadian dollars, that is )

R.W. Haller


© 2015, Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - the blog that goes all the way to 11!
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James Trussart Steel-O-Matic leftie - steel-top Strat in Satin Black finish

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Here's one for the left-handed player with a bit of cash to splash, and preferably someone who's in the market for a boutique S-type guitar.

This James Trussart Steel-O-Matic is the first time I've seen a Strat-style guitar from Trussart, who normally favours the Telecaster design, although he has dabbled with LP and Jazzmaster-derived guitars too. This Strat-styled Steel-O-Matic could be the companion model to Trussart's Jazzmaster-styled Steelmaster, both featuring steel-topped wooden bodies and being somewhat reminiscent of guitars made by legendary British luither Tony Zemaitis.

Personally, I think that Trussart's all-steel bodies have more of the cool factor about them, but can understand they might not be to everyone's tastes. (I realise that the slab-bodied Telecaster design lends itself to production in steel, whereas more contoured designs such as the Strat and Jazzmaster are more easily replicated in wood).

Currently listed on eBay by leftyguitarsonly.com with a Buy It Now price of $4,740. I wonder what the Fender Custom Shop would charge for a steel-top Strat?

G L Wilson

© 2013, Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - the blog that goes all the way to 11!
Please read our photo and content policy.

Trussart SteelTop Antique Silver Dragon Engraved, rare southpaw version

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Here's another one for the lefties... Or maybe I should say the loaded lefties. It's a left-handed 2008 James Trussart SteelTop Antique Silver Dragon Engraved model originally made as a one-off for a Nashville-based artist, and now being made available for sale on eBay. To borrow from the eBay listing (which in turn borrowed from the Trussart website):

The SteelTop has the look and feel of a vintage instrument while also featuring another James Trussart original invention: the recessed steel top plate. The metal plate sits in a recessed area on the face of the instrument, which keeps the edge of the metal plate covered, adding comfort as well as styling.

In addition to the recessed steel top plate, our exclusive chambered wood body and custom metal appointments are beautiful to look at as well as being functional. For instance, the recessed steel head cap adds mass to the headstock and increases sustain. The steel, while also being the perfect medium to display the beautiful Trussart custom finishes and engraving, also has tonal advantages. The SteelTop tone is a uniquely classic sound that, combined with the resonant qualities of the chambered body and steel top, can range from sweet thick classic tones to the heaviest lead tones.

Equally at home being played on stage or on display as a piece of art, you will know you have something special the moment you lay your hands on this instrument, as every Trussart is loaded with unique custom details. The construction of these instruments is only half of the story; the other half is the finish. SteelTops are available with distressed finishes that come with a history and a slight element of neglect-of decay-so it has a personality all its own.

This Trussart has found its way into the hands of many guitarists including Rich Robinson of the Black Crowes, Pete Stroud of the Sheryl Crow Band, Kirk Douglas of The Roots, and Brian Ray of the Paul McCartney Band, to name just a few.

Currently listed on eBay with a Buy It Now price of $4,299.99.

G L Wilson

© 2013, Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - the blog that goes all the way to 11!
Please read our photo and content policy.

James Trussart Steel Top (with alligator finish)

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Everybody loves a James Trussart guitar, and this Steel Top is one of his finest models! Everything in it is the most pleasant combination of classicism and innovation, and though it almost looks like a jewel, it still feels that it can be played for real on stage.

I think that metal front thinline guitars have a really interesting sound, I wonder why nobod builds  some on a big scale - and with an affordable price (the Trussart is handmade and quite complex, therefore pricy). 

Bertram D

© 2013, Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - the blog that goes all the way to 11!
Please read our photo and content policy.

1986 James Trussart super-telecaster

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OK so we acknowledge that the 1980s produced angular and geometrical guitars, but it also saw the birth of the superstrat - and of the more anecdotical super-telecaster such as this very yellow one-off by James Trussart, who was not by then the renowned creator of rusted steel bodied guitars he became later.

Like a superstrat it has EMG pickups, no tone knob, a Floyd Rose trem and a reverse banana headstock - and its flashy color must have been perfect to play Tennis-Wristband Metal - the latest and worst avatar of Glam Metal .

Bertram D

© 2012, Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - 10 years and counting!

Trussart Steel Deville with shiny nickel body, perforated front and back

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Maybe I'm in a minority here, but I really think this shiny nickel finish on this Trussart Steel Deville looks 100 times better than the rusty finishes that Trussart's guitars very often feature. The difference is subtle but don't you think that nickel is so much classier than chrome?

Specs:

• Hollow, shiny nickel steel body with perforated front and back
• Bolt-on Koa neck, '60s shape, with a recessed steel head cap
• High end 24-fret Ebony fingerboard with Aluminium binding and dots
• 24-3/4" Scale; 1-5/8" Wide Nut; 10" Radius 
• Frets #6130 (Medium Jumbo) 
• Controls - 2 Volume, 2 Tone and a 3-Way Toggle switch 
• Weight 9.0lbs / 4kg 
• Front and rear pickups are Trussart / Arcane Inc.® Humbucker Standards, which are hand-wound and built specially for Trussart guitars

This is example is currently listed on eBay Australia with a Buy It Now price of AU$3,200 (Australian Dollars). That's approx US $3,354 at the time of writing - compare that with the retail price from Trussart in the region os US$5,500.

Thanks to Andrew K for bringing this guitar to my attention.

G L Wilson

© 2012, Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - now in its 10th year!

Vintage & Rare guitar of the week: James Trussart Steelmaster

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Unlike other James Trussart guitars this 2011 Trussart Steelmaster does not feature the hollow steel body for which his guitars are known. Instead, the body is of chambered pine with a steel cap recessed into the top. Seen front-on it has the appearance of a Trussart steel body guitar, while the distressed pine of the body is of a colour that compliments the metal. It makes for a very industrial-looking version of the Jazzmaster.

This guitar is currently for sale via Vintage & Rare, priced at €3185.

G L Wilson

© 2012, Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - now in its 10th year!

Baritone Telecasters

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Yesterday I was surfing the Web tracking exciting guitars (I don't only do that to feed this blog but I fished also a couple of good ideas for my metal front guitar projects) and I found the Trussart Steelcaster Baritone above, that made me aware of something I never suspected before: there are baritone telecasters out there! At first it felt like a contradiction, since for me who love big semi-hollow bodies, the telecaster is such a small guitar!

So I checked around a little bit more and found out that though there are none produced in series, Warmoth and some other guitar parts companies sell baritone conversion tele necks, and that many guitar lovers make and play their own bari-teles like some call them (BTW it's so refreshing to be around guitar fans who don't care about schredding!)

The Trussart is without doubts a limited edition like all Trussart products, and the only other model that is not a conversion is the Don Grosh Electratone Baritone (on the right) that is actually just a prototype - I don't know how many were issued since I just found one, but the blending of a telecaster and a Danelectro feels right and I love lipstick pickups...

Anyway I'm thrilled by the idea of a baritone telecaster and that would be a cool project, I'm tempted...

bertram

edit: I'm told that the Fender Custom Shop actually issued baritone telecasters under the name Bajo Sexto... A quick Internet search shows no more info (but that there are also some called Subsonics) but I'll do a post about this as soon as I know more.

  Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - now in its 9th year!

Tin Telecasters

(Not really!) I know that GL has posted about Trussart guitars before, and he left me this Ganja Telecaster to watch while he's away. I'm not sure if you need to be high to play it or if playing it will get you high, but it is a very nice guitar.

My friend Bad Bob Bates of local beat combo The Bandits has many nice guitars (he builds some himself) one of which is this Trussart Steelcaster.


The Bandits mainly play in pubs and Bob is a little worried about taking his expensive guitar out and about. We're sharing the bill at a charity gig later this month and he is seriously considering bringing the Trussart out to play. I hope he does!

Here's Bob's collection.

Check out these beautiful steel-bodied guitars from James Trussart Custom Guitars. Now, if only I had a few thousand pounds lying around doing nothing...