In this GAS Guitarworks Trus-T review, we are looking at one of the most unusual guitars I have ever tried.
On paper, the headline feature is obvious. This guitar is made from roughly 2000-year-old sinker pine that spent a very long time at the bottom of a Finnish lake. That alone is enough to make most guitar players stop for a second and ask what on earth is going on here.
But the real question is not whether the story is interesting.
The real question is whether this guitar is actually good.
That is what I wanted to find out.
Disclaimer: GAS Guitarworks let me spend time with this guitar for review purposes. All opinions in this post are based on my own experience using the instrument.
By the way, if unusual T-style guitars are your thing, you may also want to read my Harley Benton Fusion-T HH Roasted SP review.
What Is the GAS Guitarworks Trus-T?
The GAS Guitarworks Trus-T is a custom-built T-style guitar made by Finnish builder GAS Guitarworks.
What makes this particular instrument special is the choice of materials. The body is made from roughly 2000-year-old sinker pine. The neck is also made from sinker pine, although from a much younger piece of wood. The fretboard is old Brazilian Jacaranda that originally came from an old table.
So yes, this is one of those guitars where the materials alone already make it memorable.
At the same time, the Trus-T clearly is not meant to be just a wall-hanger with a cool backstory. The whole instrument feels like it was designed to be played properly.
And that is the part that matters most.
What Is Sinker Pine?
Sinker pine is wood that has spent a very long time underwater.
In this case, the body wood comes from Lake Hietejärvi here in Finland. What I learned from Pekka at GAS Guitarworks is that over time the water cleans the pores of the wood, and the wood also becomes denser.
I am not going to pretend to be an expert on what centuries underwater do to wood in scientific terms.
What I can say is that this guitar feels and sounds different enough that the wood does not come across as just a marketing gimmick.
There is a real character to it.
GAS Guitarworks Trus-T Specs and Features
Even without the whole sinker pine story, the specs on this guitar are very serious.
The body is made from 2000-year-old sinker pine and finished in a beautiful brown burst with nitrocellulose lacquer. One thing I really like is that the builder did not try to hide every little imperfection in the wood. Instead, the character of the material has been left visible.
That makes the whole instrument feel even more unique.
The neck is also sinker pine, this time roughly 500 years old, and it has a satin finish that feels great in the hand. The neck profile is described as a fat C, and I would say that is accurate. This is not a thin modern neck. It feels properly substantial.
The fretboard is old Brazilian Jacaranda, and the guitar comes with 22 stainless steel frets. As you would expect at this level, the fretwork is excellent.
Hardware-wise, you get TonePros Kluson-style tuners, strap locks, and an overall parts selection that feels like it was chosen by someone who actually wants the guitar to survive being played.
Pickup-wise, this is where things get even more interesting.
Even though the GAS Guitarworks Trus-T is a T-style guitar, it comes with three single coils instead of the usual two-pickup setup. The controls are fairly traditional, with volume and tone, but the guitar also uses a 10-way Free-Way switch.
That massively expands the pickup options.
It is also a big part of why this guitar does not really sound like a normal Telecaster.
First Impressions
The first thing that struck me was that this guitar feels special immediately.
Not in a fragile museum-piece kind of way. More in a way that makes you want to keep looking at the details and then actually play the thing for hours.
The second thing I noticed was the smell.
This might sound silly, but when you open the case, the guitar smells like pine. Being Finnish, that smell instantly feels familiar in a very specific way.
It gives the instrument an even stranger sense of identity. The guitar does not just look unique. It also feels unique in a way that is hard to explain until you are actually holding it.
The third thing I noticed was how loud it is acoustically.
I am not claiming my quick unplugged comparison was scientific, because it absolutely was not. Still, it was obvious straight away that this guitar has a very different acoustic response compared to my own Tele-style build.
How Does the GAS Guitarworks Trus-T Sound?
This is where things got really interesting.
The GAS Guitarworks Trus-T does not sound like a Telecaster to me. It does not sound like a Strat either. It sits somewhere between those worlds, but it also has its own thing going on.
The overall sound is thick, punchy, and very midrange-forward. There is plenty of clarity, but it is not the thin or spiky kind. Instead, the guitar feels balanced and substantial.
There is also a chewy, rich character that makes even clean sounds feel satisfying.
And that is probably the biggest compliment I can give it.
This is one of those guitars where I did not feel a huge need to jump to gain sounds right away. I was perfectly happy to stay on a clean channel with a little reverb and keep playing.
There are not that many guitars that make me feel like that.
Clean Sounds
The clean sounds are where this guitar really won me over.
Because of the pickup design and the wide range of switching options, there is a lot you can do here. But more importantly, the underlying voice of the guitar is just beautiful.
It sounds full, detailed, and alive.
This is not one of those guitars where clean sounds feel like something you have to get through before the fun begins. On the contrary, the clean sounds are the fun.
That was one of the strongest impressions I had during my time with the instrument.
Gain Sounds
Yes, the GAS Guitarworks Trus-T also sounds great with gain.
We tried higher-gain sounds as well, and the guitar handled those without any problem. Still, if I am being honest, the gain tones were not the thing that made this guitar stand out to me the most.
The real magic was in the cleaner and lower-gain territory.
That is where the personality of the guitar came through most clearly.
With gain, the guitar still sounds thick, punchy, and articulate. However, I think its strongest case is how inspiring it feels when you are not burying everything under distortion.
GAS Guitarworks Trus-T vs a More Traditional Tele
For fun, I also compared the Trus-T to my own Tele-style build.
My own guitar has an alder body, maple neck, rosewood board, and Tele-style pickups. It is a good guitar. But after spending time with the Trus-T, my own Tele felt simpler and a bit weaker in comparison.
That is not meant as an insult to my guitar.
It is more of a compliment to what GAS Guitarworks managed to do here.
The GAS Guitarworks Trus-T has a much thicker and more complex voice. It also does not sit neatly inside the usual Telecaster expectations.
To me, it feels like its own instrument rather than just another variation of a familiar recipe.
What I Liked
The biggest thing I liked was the sound.
This guitar has a unique voice, and that is something I always appreciate. There are many companies that do the traditional familiar thing very well. But I also really like it when a builder manages to create something that feels recognisable as its own thing.
The build quality is also excellent.
The fretwork, finish work, balance, neck feel, case, and hardware choices all feel properly thought through. Nothing about this guitar feels random.
Perhaps most importantly, the guitar feels like it is meant to be played.
Yes, it is made from rare and unusual woods. Yes, it has a great story behind it. But it does not feel like a delicate collector’s item that you should be afraid to touch.
It feels like a proper player’s guitar.
That matters a lot.
What I Was Skeptical About
If I am completely honest, the whole 2000-year-old wood thing sounded a little gimmicky to me at first.
It is exactly the kind of headline feature that makes you wonder whether the story is doing more work than the instrument itself.
But the moment I actually spent time with the guitar, that skepticism faded pretty quickly.
This is not a case where the story is carrying a mediocre instrument.
The guitar itself is genuinely impressive.
Final Thoughts on the GAS Guitarworks Trus-T Review
This GAS Guitarworks Trus-T review left me very impressed.
Yes, the old sinker pine story is cool. The materials are unusual, and it does feel like you are holding a small piece of history in your hands.
But the reason this guitar works is not just the story.
It works because it is an exceptionally well-crafted instrument with a voice of its own.
The guitar sounds thick, punchy, and expressive. It feels beautifully made. It looks unique without feeling pretentious. Most importantly, it inspires you to play.
That is always the real test.
So no, I do not think you need to get stuck in endless debates about whether 2000-year-old wood is better than 100-year-old wood or anything like that.
If you are looking at a guitar like this, you are buying something unique. You are buying a piece of history, yes, but you are also buying a serious instrument that feels like it was built to be used.
And that is what I like most about the GAS Guitarworks Trus-T.
It feels special, but it also feels alive.
Find out more about GAS Guitarworks here: https://gasguitarworks.fi/en/