Artist Spotlight - Carl Harvey
Carl Harvey is arguably one of the best guitarists to come out of Reggae. For over 40 years Harvey has toured the world many times over and recorded with Reggae’s greatest legends. From the studio to the stadium, Harvey has pushed his guitars to every imaginable limit. Now Harvey has created his ideal instrument - the “Rastacasta” with his wealth of experience as a guiding light. “It has to be good enough to rock stadiums and not miss a beat,” says Harvey.
Search for “Carl Harvey musician” on the Web, and you’ll find a plethora of links that attest to a stellar career. Talk to the man himself about his life and his work, and he’ll tell you that the most important thing about him is: Integrity. Not fame or prowess as a musician, producer and guitar designer – integrity.
He has shared the stage with some of the world's most popular artists including The Rolling Stones, Dave Matthews and Sheryl Crow: headlining stages such as Glastonbury, Bonnaroo, WOMAD, Reggae on the River, Fuji Rock, SummerJam along with hundreds of others worldwide. Read more
About the Rastacasta...
“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.
Here's Quilter Artist Van Gordon Martin playing live on his Rastacasta through his Quilter rig.
