Rubato Guitars makes its debut with the carbon-fibre Rubato Lassie
The striking doublecut electric guitar is built-to-order and weighs just 2.5kg

The South African custom guitar company Rubato Guitars has debuted its first model, the Rubato Lassie – an ultra-light doublecut constructed from carbon fibre.
Rubato was founded by Roger and Oliver Lambson, a father-and-son team of engineers whose MO is to create 21st-century high-end electric guitars with 21st-century innovations. In using a single high-performance carbon-fibre monocoque (shell) for neck and body, with a flame maple fretboard, they say the Rubato Lassie is set-up for life.
That means there is no truss rod. The only tweaks needed are tuning and intonation. Rubato says that the carbon-fibre construction means there will be “virtually no bend” in the neck, no warping from changes in temperature and humidity, while the material’s conductive properties help shield the guitars electronics and kill unwanted noise.
It also makes for a very light guitar; the Rubato Lassie weighs just 2.5kg.
The online order form allows you to select which action you prefer – choose from super-low (1.2mm) string height through to high (2.4mm). Alternatively, you can specify your own.
The Rubato Lassie ships with a set of Grover locking tuners and Grover locking strap buttons, with a neat-looking Hipshot bridge and zero-fret string guide to increase tuning stability.
It has 24 stainless steel medium-jumbo frets, a Fender-esque 25.5-inch scale, and a set of Porter mini-humbuckers that are fixed in a rubber-backed mounting for precision height adjustment and to reduce feedback. The controls are volume, tone and a three-way pickup selector. Rubato use Switchcraft switches and jacks, Cornell Dubilier Orange Drop capacitors and Bourns potentiometers.
Get the MusicRadar Newsletter
Want all the hottest music and gear news, reviews, deals, features and more, direct to your inbox? Sign up here.
See Rubato Guitars for more details.
The Rubato Lassie is listed at $3,968.18 (approx £3,245, €4,560).
Jonathan Horsley has been writing about guitars and guitar culture since 2005, playing them since 1990, and regularly contributes to MusicRadar, Total Guitar and Guitar World. He uses Jazz III nylon picks, 10s during the week, 9s at the weekend, and shamefully still struggles with rhythm figure one of Van Halen’s Panama.

“The mini humbucker fits into the same sized pickup cavity as a P-90 and delivers low-noise humbucking pickup performance and a slightly brighter and more open tone”: Gibson remixes the Les Paul Special with mini humbuckers

“Exceptional performance, sound, and style at an incredible value.”: Gretsch unveils trio of limited edition Streamliner electrics that offer Bigsby wobble, semi and hollow-bodied rock ’n’ roll mojo for $699