Guitars

“The Rastacasta was born out of 40 years of tweaking my favourite guitar, a 1972 CBS Stratocaster. In my opinion, Leo Fender created the best guitar of its time, inspired by the perfection of Stradivarius, as the name implies. Since 1972 there have been numerous improvements in technology that have made their way into the modern Strat as well as numerous iterations of the original design. The Rastacasta is one of the original Strat’s finest progeny.

I originally started with a Strat clone with stacked humbuckers which gradually evolved into the first Rastacasta made for me by ESP Guitars as an artist’s custom model. That guitar came very close to my vision, but still had some of the inherent shortcomings I found in the Strat. I loved the red, gold, and green paint scheme designed by Jesse Hiatt for my original Rastacasta. It is now available on all models as are solid color versions in white, black, and red. Rosewood fingerboards are also an option for all models.

When the opportunity arose to build my own version of the Rastacasta I decided to start with a clean slate. The original concept evolved out of conversations between myself and Canadian designer Bill Compeau. Our ideas were further refined by Glenn Sweetwood of Sweetwood Guitars. The neck joint is improved and far more comfortable than the standard four bolt traditional style. The cutaway is also slightly deeper and gives full access to the upper range of the finger board. The Deluxe and Elite models feature carbon fibre reinforced necks and 3D coupling.

Zexcoil pickups by Dr. Scott Lawing play a large role in the Rastacasta’s sound. Utilizing six individual coils, Zexcoil takes it a step further than the typical stacked humbuckers and are dead quiet while retaining the tone of a traditional single coil pickup. Add to that blender wiring, which allows for bridge and neck combinations as well as all three pickups, and a plethora of tonal possibilities are created that are simply not available with the standard 5-way pickup selector.

Our choice of bridge, nut and locking tuners make for a guitar that stays in tune without the need for a locking nut and bridge. The necks are satin smooth and play like silk. Evo fret wire is featured on Deluxe and Elite models, and all guitars arrive gig ready and strung with DR Strings 9.5 to 44 unless otherwise specified.

The Rastacasta is the manifestation of decades of combined experience and a shared passion for the electric guitar. It also pays homage to Reggae, a very influential genre of music that has been largely ignored by mainstream manufactures. That said, whether your style is Reggae, Rock, Blues, Country or Jazz, we are confident that you will find some very satisfying tones on one of the most comfortable playing guitars ever made.”

— Founder, Carl Harvey

9 products