The ridiculous creation – conceived and brought to life by Chibson USA – found its way into the hands of the Limp Bizkit leader, who asked if it was a “deeply layered attempt at trolling”
(Image credit: Future / Chibson USA/YouTube)
Two years ago, the guitar community’s most prolific memers at Chibson USA unveiled the Durst Burst – a horrific and visionary Les Paul plastered with the face of Limp Bizkit’s Fred Durst.
While initially just a concept posted to Chibson USA’s Instagram account, it quickly caught the attention of the Bizkit main man, who after commenting two broccoli emojis on the post, set the wheels in motion for the guitar to become a reality. And shortly after it did, it inevitably found its way into the hands of Durst himself.
Chibson founder Jason USA explains in a new YouTube video: “On the morning of November 30, 2018, I woke up from a dream I do not remember with the words ‘Durst burst’ in my brain.
“Without hesitation, I began my mission to place Fred Durst’s image in the grains of a maple wood cap of a solidbody guitar. A day later, the Durst Burst [concept] was born.”
Jason USA says that after Durst engaged with Chibson’s original post, he called upon California’s East Bay Guitar Repair, hellbent on bringing the ridiculous schematic to life.
“Once the instrument was completed, I felt the nagging urgency to show the guitar to the one person who would have a pure interest in seeing it up close – the one and only Fred Durst.
“But with no way to get the instrument in front of Fred, it would be nearly impossible for me to carry out my mission. Until, exactly one year [after] the Durst Burst’s inception, my personal assistant Ashton called me to tell me that had won two tickets to see Limp Bizkit perform at an intimate show at Roxy, in the heart of Hollywood, California.”
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Jason and Ashton attended the gig, and after Ashton partook in a spot of moshing, the pair tracked Durst down at a local bar and grill, where the nu metal legend saw the Durst Burst model in the flesh for the first time.
“Taken aback by the iconic instrument, Fred asked me if this was some type of deeply layered attempt at trolling,” Jason continues.
“I did not have the heart to tell him that the whole idea had come to me in a dream and that I believe that the concept was something cosmic and bigger than the both of us.”
Jason explains that the encounter left him compelled to give the guitar to Durst as a gift.
“I remember him staring at the instrument for a moment, and then he confided with me about the image on the Durst Burst, explaining that the baseball cap persona which so many people would both love and hate was simply Fred’s take on an antagonistic Andy Kaufman-esque bad guy wrestler persona, mixed with some Tony Clifton-isms for good measure, a secret that not many would know, let alone understand.
“Now that the Durst Burst was finally with its rightful owner, Ashton and I would continue to honor Fred’s spirit by having the replica of the original Durst Burst made.”
So there are, in fact, two Durst Bursts in existence, doubling our chances of ever laying eyes on one in person – which we we were fortunate enough to do back at NAMM earlier this year. But was this actually the Durst Burst V2? The plot thickens…
Sam was Staff Writer at GuitarWorld.com from 2019 to 2023, and also created content for Total Guitar, Guitarist and Guitar Player. He has well over 15 years of guitar playing under his belt, as well as a degree in Music Technology (Mixing and Mastering). He's a metalhead through and through, but has a thorough appreciation for all genres of music. In his spare time, Sam creates point-of-view guitar lesson videos on YouTube under the name Sightline Guitar.
