2009 James Trussart Steelcaster
This was bought from Alabama USA in February 2010. It had only been made in December 2009, and was clearly based on one that was owned by Billy Gibbons from ZZ Top (see Trussart's web site). Like his, mine has the 'Private Property' finish, the Gator engraved pickguard and a TV Jones SuperTron pickup at the neck position (I don't know what he has at the bridge position).
The interesting thing about my guitar is that it was the first one made with Line 6 Variax electronics in it. The certificate of authenticity that came with it said "...rustomatic, Line 6 Variax system, 2 output, first model made that way!" This is most likely the only one of these in the world, but unfortunately Trussart has not been too good about answering emails, so others may have been made since then.
It has 3 jacks:
- a standard jack for the normal pickups,
- a stereo jack for the Variax electronics,
- a proprietary Line 6 digital jack for the variax digital cable for connection to other Line 6 devices such as PodXT Live. This enables you to connect to your computer and change the programmed sounds and alternate tunings. See the Line 6 web site for more about that.
The toggle switch at the top, and the knob on the horn are for the normal pickups - a Trussart / Arcane humbucker and a TV Jones SuperTron. The other controls (on the pickguard) are for the Variax electronics - a volume, a tone, a model selector and Strat style "pickup" selector.
In the photo above you can see the imprint of the alligator skin that this was wrapped in while being rusted. This is a technique that Trussart uses for his "rustomatic" finishes. The word "rustomatic" was actually coined by Billy Gibbons.
This was really a fantastic guitar, with an amazing feel and spectacular neck, great sound through the normal pickups, and incredible versatility through the Line 6 electronics. I generally used both the Variax digital output as well as the normal pickup output, plugging both into a Pod XT LIve.
I sold it to a guy near Newcastle Australia in September 2011 for a lot less than I paid for it, mainly because I had bought a house and needed the funds.
Specs
- Hollow steel body with Rustomatic Private Property finish and Gator engraved pickguard
- Bolt-on Maple Neck with '62 shape
- Rosewood fingerboard
- 25-1/2" Scale; 1-5/8" Wide Nut; 9" Radius
- Frets #6105 (narrow-tall)
- Kluson Deluxe Vintage Style Tuners
More Info
