NGD Rusti Guitars Lotus #1 headless

[jaxadam]

Look at that pathetic pole piece alignment:

:fistbump:

I absolutely adore this guitar because not only is it cool as shit but it had people spending $20k a decade ago for recreations of what essentially an amalgamation of dumpster pieces cobbled together by Van Halen when he was high out of his mind.

You have issues affording 20 k?

 

[nickgray]

 

[tian]

You have issues affording 20 k?

Course not. That's what, like, not even 1/5th the cost of the lab time at Brookhaven needed to make sure all the details are correct...

 

[M3CHK1LLA]

 

[StevenC]

Being back neg rep

 

[Velokki]

Geez.

I was really curious to order a Rusti some years back when I was looking for the perfect guitar in a vicious circle of GAS. So glad I didn't. Ever since I tried a local luthier's guitar with hemispherical fret ends (that were much less pronounced and obvious than Rusti's) I knew Rusti's frets were most likely going to be trouble. I couldn't do proper vibrato on the top high E string without it slipping, and I was also slipping on the lowest string. When I saw Rusti's unbelievable-looking hemispherical fretwork, I knew that it was very flashy and cool in pictures - but with a 90% probability, super annoying and distracting when playing.

EDIT; I now read page 2. and 3... will not read the rest Anyway, I adore Rusti's work but I'm forever scared off of hemispherical fret ends.

To be honest, I've quite completely lost interest in so called custom shop instruments. Mostly because if I buy a guitar that looks super cool, I don't even think about it in a couple of months - I just want to have an instrument that plays great. And for that, production guitars are the best. "Just buy a used Prestige", or as I would put it "Just buy a used ESP", goes a long way. No stress and you have a very high hit rate of getting a top tier instrument.

If you really need to go custom, try Aristides. I would even label them in a special way - I'd say they're "custom production" guitars, since their QC is pretty much flawless and they only have a certain model palette available. They're not gonna build you a King V or a Razorback with a protruding McDonald's logo and Kiesel bevels, but you can have a really good 060. Or an 070. And you will never have a dead spot or any design-related problems, like the tremolo on the Rusti. I just took delivery of my new 070 Evertune, and it f'in slays. Flawless all around. And I know if I would ever have any problems, they will sort me out so I'll be happy. You might not like the tone of them, you might not dig the aesthetics.... but if you do, you're in for a great time.

 

[Jonathan20022]

Holy shit.

I was really curious to order a Rusti some years back when I was looking for the perfect guitar in a vicious circle of GAS. So glad I didn't. Ever since I tried a local luthier's guitar with hemispherical fret ends (that were much less pronounced and obvious than Rusti's) I knew Rusti was most likely going to be trouble. I couldn't do proper vibrato on the top high E string without it slipping, and I was also slipping on the lowest string. When I saw Rusti's unbelievable-looking hemispherical fretwork, I knew that it was very flashy and cool in pictures - but with a 90% probability, super annoying and distracting when playing!

To be honest, I've quite completely lost interest in so called custom shop instruments. Mostly because if I buy a guitar that looks super cool, I don't even think about it in a couple of months - I just want to have an instrument that plays great. And for that, production guitars are the best. "Just buy a used Prestige", or as I would put it "Just buy a used ESP", goes a long way. No stress and you have a very high hit rate of getting a top tier instrument.

If you really need to go custom, try Aristides. I would even label them in a special way - I'd say they're "custom production" guitars, since their QC is pretty much flawless and they only have a certain model palette available. They're not gonna build you a King V or a Razorback with a protruding McDonald's logo and Kiesel bevels, but you can have a really good 060. Or an 070. And you will never have a dead spot or any design-related problems, like the tremolo on the Rusti. I just took delivery of my new 070 Evertune, and it f'in slays. Flawless all around. And I know if I would ever have any problems, they will sort me out so I'll be happy. You might not like the tone of them, you might not dig the aesthetics.... but if you do, you're in for a great time.

I wanted to circle back on this, because I have 3 guitars with "ball end" frets, and I've literally never ran into issues with bending. From at least 4 different brands no less.

I don't know if this is common, but how often are you bending "outwardly"? I don't think I ever bend away from the fingerboard when playing the high E/B strings, vice versa with the low E. High strings bend upwards to the bass side, and the low strings bend down toward the treble side.

Even if you take something like the G string and bend it up then down repeatedly, it doesn't conventionally even sound good. Since you have this weird rubber banding effect, meaning no matter what direction you bend, you're raising the pitch so oscillating up and down without bend away from the starting pitch just sounds bad. So that being said shouldn't ball end frets never be an issue with enough clearance? You're never bending towards the waterfall, so you shouldn't slide off ever.

I agree on the CS bit, I've realized recently that most people don't go custom for playability reasons (preferred neck profile/radius/fret size) but more for aesthetics in general.

The guitar market is tenfold more diverse than it was in 2010, we were begging Ibanez for an ebony board on anything and anything but a white/black finish. You can likely compromise on a few specs and get a guitar ready to ship that fits 90% of your needs far easier now than you used to. It's the biggest reason why Carvin/Kiesel was so popular, they hit the price threshold and catalog of options so sweetly than the entry point to get something "semi-custom" was now accessible.

I remember my first custom experience, Ron Thorn literally asked me questions about my neck to be built to my tastes and I couldn't give him a clear answer because I'd never thought about it. I had guitars with thin and thick necks, small/x-jumbo frets.

I will second Aristides, especially with the Euro weakened as close to how it was in 2016. They're still my mainstays and I always have my E Standard 060 on my desk guitar holder, they are super consistent and stunning guitars.

 

[DirtyPuma]

I wanted to circle back on this, because I have 3 guitars with "ball end" frets, and I've literally never ran into issues with bending. From at least 4 different brands no less.

I don't know if this is common, but how often are you bending "outwardly"? I don't think I ever bend away from the fingerboard when playing the high E/B strings, vice versa with the low E. High strings bend upwards to the bass side, and the low strings bend down toward the treble side.

Even if you take something like the G string and bend it up then down repeatedly, it doesn't conventionally even sound good. Since you have this weird rubber banding effect, meaning no matter what direction you bend, you're raising the pitch so oscillating up and down without bend away from the starting pitch just sounds bad. So that being said shouldn't ball end frets never be an issue with enough clearance? You're never bending towards the waterfall, so you shouldn't slide off ever.

I agree on the CS bit, I've realized recently that most people don't go custom for playability reasons (preferred neck profile/radius/fret size) but more for aesthetics in general.

The guitar market is tenfold more diverse than it was in 2010, we were begging Ibanez for an ebony board on anything and anything but a white/black finish. You can likely compromise on a few specs and get a guitar ready to ship that fits 90% of your needs far easier now than you used to. It's the biggest reason why Carvin/Kiesel was so popular, they hit the price threshold and catalog of options so sweetly than the entry point to get something "semi-custom" was now accessible.

I remember my first custom experience, Ron Thorn literally asked me questions about my neck to be built to my tastes and I couldn't give him a clear answer because I'd never thought about it. I had guitars with thin and thick necks, small/x-jumbo frets.

I was facing the same issue on my Rusti, e string was very prone to slipping off the fretboard for vibrato. Never faced this with any other guitar. But I think it is already quite clear that his guitars are a mess when you're looking for a guitar which is not for IG pics but for performance.

Geez.

I was really curious to order a Rusti some years back when I was looking for the perfect guitar in a vicious circle of GAS. So glad I didn't. Ever since I tried a local luthier's guitar with hemispherical fret ends (that were much less pronounced and obvious than Rusti's) I knew Rusti's frets were most likely going to be trouble. I couldn't do proper vibrato on the top high E string without it slipping, and I was also slipping on the lowest string. When I saw Rusti's unbelievable-looking hemispherical fretwork, I knew that it was very flashy and cool in pictures - but with a 90% probability, super annoying and distracting when playing.

EDIT; I now read page 2. and 3... will not read the rest Anyway, I adore Rusti's work but I'm forever scared off of hemispherical fret ends.

To be honest, I've quite completely lost interest in so called custom shop instruments. Mostly because if I buy a guitar that looks super cool, I don't even think about it in a couple of months - I just want to have an instrument that plays great. And for that, production guitars are the best. "Just buy a used Prestige", or as I would put it "Just buy a used ESP", goes a long way. No stress and you have a very high hit rate of getting a top tier instrument.

If you really need to go custom, try Aristides. I would even label them in a special way - I'd say they're "custom production" guitars, since their QC is pretty much flawless and they only have a certain model palette available. They're not gonna build you a King V or a Razorback with a protruding McDonald's logo and Kiesel bevels, but you can have a really good 060. Or an 070. And you will never have a dead spot or any design-related problems, like the tremolo on the Rusti. I just took delivery of my new 070 Evertune, and it f'in slays. Flawless all around. And I know if I would ever have any problems, they will sort me out so I'll be happy. You might not like the tone of them, you might not dig the aesthetics.... but if you do, you're in for a great time.

You could have been me in a different timeline. You should feel lucky to have looked elsewhere.

 

[Velokki]

I wanted to circle back on this, because I have 3 guitars with "ball end" frets, and I've literally never ran into issues with bending. From at least 4 different brands no less.

I don't know if this is common, but how often are you bending "outwardly"? I don't think I ever bend away from the fingerboard when playing the high E/B strings, vice versa with the low E. High strings bend upwards to the bass side, and the low strings bend down toward the treble side.

Even if you take something like the G string and bend it up then down repeatedly, it doesn't conventionally even sound good. Since you have this weird rubber banding effect, meaning no matter what direction you bend, you're raising the pitch so oscillating up and down without bend away from the starting pitch just sounds bad. So that being said shouldn't ball end frets never be an issue with enough clearance? You're never bending towards the waterfall, so you shouldn't slide off ever.

I agree on the CS bit, I've realized recently that most people don't go custom for playability reasons (preferred neck profile/radius/fret size) but more for aesthetics in general.

The guitar market is tenfold more diverse than it was in 2010, we were begging Ibanez for an ebony board on anything and anything but a white/black finish. You can likely compromise on a few specs and get a guitar ready to ship that fits 90% of your needs far easier now than you used to. It's the biggest reason why Carvin/Kiesel was so popular, they hit the price threshold and catalog of options so sweetly than the entry point to get something "semi-custom" was now accessible.

I remember my first custom experience, Ron Thorn literally asked me questions about my neck to be built to my tastes and I couldn't give him a clear answer because I'd never thought about it. I had guitars with thin and thick necks, small/x-jumbo frets.

I will second Aristides, especially with the Euro weakened as close to how it was in 2016. They're still my mainstays and I always have my E Standard 060 on my desk guitar holder, they are super consistent and stunning guitars.

Hmm, fair enough! This was a small local luthier. So maybe his build just wasn't great. I even have an ESP Horizon that has minor issues with high E string slipping, even my friend noticed it. And I don't notice such issues on any other guitars I own. These experiences have had me really scared of such extreme ball-end frets such as Rusti's. But I guess I'd just have to play a guitar that he's made.

And about the CS - yeah, it's mostly aesthetics now. 7 and 8-strings, multiscales and all, are available with all kinds of tops.

And yeah, Aristides just killed my gas for many other guitars. They just work, and that's what I want from a guitar. Not get a cracked ebony board, not have a dead spot, not fight with changing climate bending the neck, not fight with any design problems.

 

[tian]

I wanted to circle back on this, because I have 3 guitars with "ball end" frets, and I've literally never ran into issues with bending. From at least 4 different brands no less.

I don't know if this is common, but how often are you bending "outwardly"? I don't think I ever bend away from the fingerboard when playing the high E/B strings, vice versa with the low E. High strings bend upwards to the bass side, and the low strings bend down toward the treble side.

Even if you take something like the G string and bend it up then down repeatedly, it doesn't conventionally even sound good. Since you have this weird rubber banding effect, meaning no matter what direction you bend, you're raising the pitch so oscillating up and down without bend away from the starting pitch just sounds bad. So that being said shouldn't ball end frets never be an issue with enough clearance? You're never bending towards the waterfall, so you shouldn't slide off ever.

I agree on the CS bit, I've realized recently that most people don't go custom for playability reasons (preferred neck profile/radius/fret size) but more for aesthetics in general.

The guitar market is tenfold more diverse than it was in 2010, we were begging Ibanez for an ebony board on anything and anything but a white/black finish. You can likely compromise on a few specs and get a guitar ready to ship that fits 90% of your needs far easier now than you used to. It's the biggest reason why Carvin/Kiesel was so popular, they hit the price threshold and catalog of options so sweetly than the entry point to get something "semi-custom" was now accessible.

I remember my first custom experience, Ron Thorn literally asked me questions about my neck to be built to my tastes and I couldn't give him a clear answer because I'd never thought about it. I had guitars with thin and thick necks, small/x-jumbo frets.

I will second Aristides, especially with the Euro weakened as close to how it was in 2016. They're still my mainstays and I always have my E Standard 060 on my desk guitar holder, they are super consistent and stunning guitars.

Definitely agree on the "ball end" frets. It used to a general signifier of boutique guitars and had a certain "ohh shiny" aspect to them but in actual playing, never noticed them. And now tons of guitar companies are throwing them on all levels of guitars to make them appear fancy when the frets aren't even necessarily level.

I feel like nicely rounded fret board edges have more of a "feel" impact if that's your kind of thing then fret end finishing.

 

[Jonathan20022]

I was facing the same issue on my Rusti, e string was very prone to slipping off the fretboard for vibrato. Never faced this with any other guitar. But I think it is already quite clear that his guitars are a mess when you're looking for a guitar which is not for IG pics but for performance.

Have you played anything else with ball end frets?

I've had several Blackwater/Viks/Ibanez guitars that feature ball end frets just like Rusti does. If you have a problem on the Rusti it'd likely extend to anything else that features ball end frets.

Unless you make a neck comically wider than the string spacing to account for this it's likely just poor technique on your end making you slide off the fretboard, you shouldn't be bending outwardly in the first place unless it's intentional.

Hmm, fair enough! This was a small local luthier. So maybe his build just wasn't great. I even have an ESP Horizon that has minor issues with high E string slipping, even my friend noticed it. And I don't notice such issues on any other guitars I own. These experiences have had me really scared of such extreme ball-end frets such as Rusti's. But I guess I'd just have to play a guitar that he's made.

And about the CS - yeah, it's mostly aesthetics now. 7 and 8-strings, multiscales and all, are available with all kinds of tops.

And yeah, Aristides just killed my gas for many other guitars. They just work, and that's what I want from a guitar. Not get a cracked ebony board, not have a dead spot, not fight with changing climate bending the neck, not fight with any design problems.

I can totally understand that, to be honest other than being aesthetically pleasing it doesn't do much for you. If a fretboard shrinks you'll still feel the bottom of the fret extend off the fingerboard on any guitar with ball end frets

I've seen complaints about this before on EBMMs way back in the day. This was always a combination of factors though, EBMM neck spacing is super narrow and their slope was very deep so the distance between the string and the edge of the fret "waterfall" was super small on EBMMs.

You got way more distance on the Rusti/Viks/Blackwaters etc. (Ibanez Premium stuff came with ball end for awhile). So long as it's accounted for you shouldn't run into too many issues, but I'm sure any builder would be willing to do fretwork in a more standard clip -> file/polish minimally vs the ball end stuff if you asked for it.

I hear you on that, the fact that I was able to just scope Reverb for a multiscale 8 string with something longer than 27" on the low end and buy it for just over 1k is a testament to the times

 

[NoodleFace]

You have issues affording 5 k?

Not all of us are dumb enough to spend $5k on a guitar, although clearly several people on SSO are.

 

[narad]

Not all of us are dumb enough to spend $5k on a guitar, although clearly several people on SSO are.

Have fun with your ample 401k, nerd.

 

[odibrom]

Look at that pathetic pole piece alignment:

... you know what perspective is, right?... But in the light of this thread, I dig your post, thumbs up!

 

[MaxOfMetal]

The fuck did I just read?

 

[High Plains Drifter]

Man, I would love to have these kinds of problems. SO glad I'm a lackluster guitarist without money to burn. I'd hate to actually have this kind of thing to deal with on top of covid, mortgage payments, spending time with my wife, enjoying other hobbies, etc. Not a dig on anyone, but sincerely bewildered how people spend so much money, time, stress, etc waiting months or years on a $5000 guitar that might suck ass. Can't wait to play my $750 SE later... such a good time and such a wonderful guitar. Anyway... enjoy the rush or whatever. I'm out.

 

[Crash Dandicoot]

This thread is utterly phenomenal and every single one of you played your roles exactly like I hoped. There was emotional intrigue, gripping character arcs, sudden but not unexpected betrayals and all sorts of narrative twists and turns. I couldn't be more proud of you all. Thread of the Year, at least until DP posts again.

These sort of natural occurrences of befuddling logic are so rare - like a movie so beyond terrible it's impossible not to enjoy it on some level. You can't fake the sincerity involved with fundamentally believing what you're doing is right and achieve the same sort of genuine hilarity.

I formally propose a motion to enshrine this thread/absolute muppet in the SSO Hall of Fame™.

 

[DirtyPuma]

Man, I would love to have these kinds of problems. SO glad I'm a lackluster guitarist without money to burn. I'd hate to actually have this kind of thing to deal with on top of covid, mortgage payments, spending time with my wife, enjoying other hobbies, etc. Not a dig on anyone, but sincerely bewildered how people spend so much money, time, stress, etc waiting months or years on a $5000 guitar that might suck ass. Can't wait to play my $750 SE later... such a good time and such a wonderful guitar. Anyway... enjoy the rush or whatever. I'm out.

There is always a certain quality money can buy you, after that there is not much to gain. In general I would rate guitars in the 3 to 5 k range as "as good as it technically gets".
Also, just to make this clear: a Suhr is a definite step up in quality from e.g. a 2 k Prestige (owned an RG4570 before, was a good guitar but heavy, and cheaper non-Prestige before). But of course, even a 200 $ guitar produces sound. Matter of choice in the end.

 

[ShredmasterD]

Man, I would love to have these kinds of problems. SO glad I'm a lackluster guitarist without money to burn. I'd hate to actually have this kind of thing to deal with on top of covid, mortgage payments, spending time with my wife, enjoying other hobbies, etc. Not a dig on anyone, but sincerely bewildered how people spend so much money, time, stress, etc waiting months or years on a $5000 guitar that might suck ass. Can't wait to play my $750 SE later... such a good time and such a wonderful guitar. Anyway... enjoy the rush or whatever. I'm out.

i have to say my Korean PRS SE Custom Seven string is probably one the the best fit and finish guitars i have, and that is out of some that are US made 3K instruments, before the insane price increases. sometimes is embarrassing when a $750 guitar is nicer than one 4 times its cost. And in the end, the instrument does not make the player. his skill and musicianship does. i have to keep telling myself that because i get GAS bad

 

[VigilSerus]

What a wonderful thread to read after not hopping on SSO for a good long while. Really brings back fond memories. Definitely one for the ages.