VRS
DESIGN
25.125 inch scale length provides string balance and ease of play. Highs will be a little sweeter, bends will fight less, and reaches easier than the vintage 25.5 inch length.
VRS guitars are super light in weight with the Paulownia body selection at about 6.5 pounds. This wood is super resonate with a percussive, sparkly well rounded influence on the tone. Alder and other body woods are also available.
Roasted maple necks not only sound awesome, they are less prone to movement with climate changes. Flame and birdseye maple can be used without fear of twisting, adding character and beauty to the instrument. The standard neck finish is vintage oil and wax which enhances the wood figuring and provides an amazing feel.
Wheel spoke finished truss rods are easily accessible at the heel of the neck.
Pickups are made on the premises with vintage spec wire and magnets. Pickups are designed to complement each instrument. There are several aspects of our pickups that are unique and the resulting tone will not disappoint. Seymour Duncan, Dimarizo and Tom Holmes pickups are also available.
A fully bypassable active midboost is an option providing added versatility. These are especially nice on SSS configurations.
Hipshot locking tuners and Japanese made Gotoh tuners are used for machine heads. The Hipshots have staggered heights. The Gotoh provide a vintage look (https://g-gotoh.com/product/sd91/ ).
Highwood guitar saddles are used on the bridges (https://www.highwood-guitarparts.com). These, too, provide a vintage look while keeping the height adjustment screws completely out of the way for a pain-free right hand muting experience. Brass plates, brass saddles and brass blocks are available in addition to more modern Hipshot saddles.
Side or face fingerboard dots can be made of Luminlay material for high visibility in dark playing environments. https://luminlay.com/productsen.html
A contoured easy access neck joint is an option for this model.
EXECUTION
Fretboards are cut on a CNC with incredible precision. Fret slots follow the radius of the fingerboard to avoid a gap under the frets in the middle like would occur when a table saw jig is used.
A 10 inch radius or a compound 10inch to 12inch radius is available.
Like vintage instruments, the fret tang ends are not snipped. More to hold them in place. Fret ends are meticulously shaped for comfort and playability. Frets and fret ends are polished to a high shine with a buffing wheel.
Traditional bone or Graphtech TUSQ XL nuts are shaped by hand. String spacing is accomplished on each instrument and slots are cut as low as possible for ease of play and low action from the first fret. Bone nuts are polished to a high shine.
Strings height at the 22nd fret is typically .05 inches.
AESTHETIC
Nitrocellulose lacquer and incredibly thin modern finishes are standard.
Relic finishes are an option for nitro finished guitars.
Hand applied gold, silver, copper, metallic black or red leaf over a base color which is sealed with a thin satin or high gloss clear. The base coat is intentionally left visible for a natural relic appearance.
The R inlay can be made of mother of pearl, abalone , lumilnlay (glows in the dark to match side dots) or any color using an acrylic plastic or resin.
The neck and fretboard woods are chosen for tone, feel and beauty. The edges of the fretboard are hand shaped to provide a broken-in, supremely comfortable playing experience.
Custom acrylic tortoise pickguards are an option and made on the premises.
VRS GALLERY
Aged white gloss finish, lightweight Alder body, tortoise acrylic pickguard - Currently with an artist for evaluation
Black with high gloss clear finish, mastergrade birdseye neck, tortoise acrylic pickguard - Sold
Black metallic leaf over sonic blue with high gloss clear finish, 5A Maple neck and fingerboard with oil and wax finish, Demeter midboost - Currently with an artist for evaluation.
INTRODUCTORY PRICING and OPTIONS
$2000 base price
Includes choice of R vintage single coils and a standard model Seymour Duncan bridge pickup (single or full size humbucker), roasted maple neck, choice of solid color gloss or leaf with matte finish, TUSQ xl or bone nut, Hipshot or Gotoh tuners, choice of standard Jescar fretwire ( https://jescarmusic.com/collections/fret-wire )
Options
Roasted Flame or Birdseye Neck
$200 master grade
$150 5A
$100 4A
Fingerboard
$100 Pale Moon Ebony
$50 Cocobolo, 5A Flame or Birdseye Maple, mottled Pau Ferro, figured Ovangkol
Finish
$100 metallic leaf with high gloss clear
$100 nitrocellulose lacquer
$200 nitrocellulose lacquer with light aging
$300 nitrocellulose lacquer with extreme aging
$100 gloss clear finish on neck and headstock
$50 gloss clear on headstock
Body
$150 Lightweight Alder or Swamp Ash (guitar will weigh under 7.5 pounds)
$225 Lightweight roasted Alder or Swamp Ash
$50 hand carved easy access neck joint
Electronics
$200 Demeter Midboost with true bypass potentiometer
$75 for each additional Duncan pickup
Plastic
3 ply, 4 ply and single ply pickguards traditional pickguards are standard
Case
$125 highly padded semi-hard gig bag
$150 molded plastic hard case
$250 G&G vintage black tolex case with crushed red velvet interior
AVAILABLE GUITARS
Black leaf over seaf foam green with a high gloss finish, master grade flame Maple neck with high gloss clear finish, Pau Ferro fingerboard, thin hard D profile (.81 first fret, .89 12th fret), lightweight Paulownia body, Lil 59 Seymour Duncan bridge pickup, 6.4 pounds - $2400
Copper leaf over turquoise with a high gloss clear, lightweight Pau Ferro body, Demeter midboost - $2400.
Red metallic leaf over graphite grey with a high gloss finish, 5A flame Maple neck with oil and wax finish, clear gloss on headstock, full C profile (.93 first fret, .98 12th fret), figured Ovangkol fingerboard, Demeter midboost, single coil sized twin blade R humbucker in the bridge position, tremolo arm tension adjustment, brass tremolo block, Alder body, 8.5 pounds - $2600
Copper leaf over pale green with a high gloss finish, 4A flame Maple neck with oil and wax finish, medium hard D profile (.86 1st fret, .95 12th fret) , Paulownia body, Lil 59 Seymour Duncan bridge pickup, 7 pounds - $2200
Silver leaf over sea foam green with a high gloss clear finish, Demeter midboost, 4A flame roasted Maple neck with oil and wax finish, gloss clear on headstock, thin hard D neck profile (.81 first fret, .89 12th fret), acylic pearl tuning buttons, lightweight Paulownia body, 6.6 pounds - $2450
Black with high gloss clear, AAA figured roasted Maple with oil and wax finish, thin modern C profile (.82 first fret, .86 12th fret), Alder body, 5A roasted Maple fingerboard, Demeter midboost, 8.25 pounds - $2300
Silver leaf over sonic blue with a matte clear finish, 4A roasted flame Maple neck, Alder body, Rizzuto vintage single coils and humbucker, fat C neck, 7.6 pounds - $2100
Guitar can be listed on Reverb by request (+5% charge) or purchased directly from Rizzuto Guitars.