Advantage Neck Profile

Pop Art Skele Pair

PHOTOS: International Orange Pop Art Skele™ 6-string guitar.
PHOTO: Advantage™ neck profile.
IMAGES: Pop Art Pair — vibrant surfaces conceal. Aircraft grade baltic birch ply, torrefied flame maple, Richlite, carbon fiber, anodized aircraft aluminum. RICK TOONE™ patented tremolo system. 10-way switching. Custom DiMarzio™ pickups designed by Steve Blucher.

With this pair of Skeles™ we are blending Modern Art with Monochrome ultra-vibrant Minimalism. Artist grade acrylic paint is heavily layered and brush strokes bring texture to the flat exterior surfaces, inscrutable in its compelling necessity.

From the front, the unrelieved black fretboard and headstock extend the black component theme, forcing the eye to return to unrelenting color.

Inside, the guitar is deconstructed acoustic structuralism, organic wood tones of baltic birch ply and torrefied flame maple. Stunning beauty of the intensely figured quartersawn maple neck is for the player alone — audience faces blank surface consumerism.

PHOTOS: Hot Pink Pop Art Skele™ 6-string guitar.

“Guitar is here, and I am speechless. Mind blown, it’s exactly what I wanted! I am still in awe with how it looks – it is exactly how I wanted this guitar to look. Bright, almost flouroscent and striking. I can’t stop looking at it. The headstock design is also so sleek and classy. The pickups sound INCREDIBLE. All the positions sound great with no compromise, but I truly love the full humbucker and split coil modes. This is a joy to play. More thoughts to come later!” (Tejasvin)

Birdseye Blonde ’67

PHOTOS: Polished stainless steel frets. Ultra rare ’67 guitar with my Advantage Neck Profile™ for ultimate comfort.

Playing through Tweedle this last month has been inspiring. The mids are just perfect, radio friendly. As you know, Tweed lows are infamously wild and wooly. But, as it turns out, those lows are tamed when matched with era-correct single coil pickups.

Leo was iterating his amps and guitars in parallel.

When you hear them together, the world comes into focus. Man, what tone.

PHOTO: Birdseye Blonde ’67 sounds as sweet as it looks. Light relic olympic white nitro over alder, combined with highly figured birdseye maple neck just invites touch. Seymour Duncan California ’50’s (rw/rp) set. Details like the anodized black RICK TOONE™ components bring the vibe. And of course, the awesome patented tremolo.

USM Earthshine

PHOTOS: USM Earthshine™ 6-string guitar. Quartersawn redwood body with birch surfacing. Quartersawn flame maple neck. Carbon fiber, aircraft aluminum. Patented and patents-pending Pisces™ tremolo system. 3D™ control system with 10-way switching. Bare Knuckle custom pickups.

Center city Philadelphia skyline, visible on the horizon, is not lit green this year. Eagles distracted themselves with internal politics, spiraling into the Delaware River, forgetting to come up for air.

The dog and I outside in the January evening darkness just now. Her senses alert to the movement of large animals, green eyes of deer bobbing in the field at the limit of my flashlight’s quick glance. I wonder what she thinks of the human hand’s ability to conjure light at will.

My attention is heavenward. Orion is our companion, now and for some months ahead. Jupiter too, alone this year for the most part, playing a solo in contrast to last winter when Mars and Saturn were constant accompanists.

Too much light at the moment, maybe Bortle 8. When we repeat our steps in the hour or two before sunrise, mankind will be asleep, skies maybe Bortle 6 here in the northeast. Perhaps visible a string of 19 space jewels moving south to north, a wink from Elon.

VIDEO: USM Earthshine. Fractal FM9.

Reworked Sunburst Strat

PHOTOS: Nitro sunburst Fender Strat™ (based on ’54) upgraded with patented & patent pending Rick Toone™ premium components, including: tremolo, output jack, neck plate. Nickel plated aircraft aluminum and stainless steel. The quartersawn factory maple neck has been reshaped to Advantage™ neck profile. Pickups are Lindy Fralin Vintage Hot Strat™ for that familiar authentic tone.

“I bought this lovely nitro sunburst Fender Strat™ then gave it a complete reworking. The goal was to take an already fine USA built instrument and elevate it to a premium studio/stage guitar for the player who is seeking traditional Fender vibe but wants my latest technology.” (Rick Toone)

VIDEO: Chris Buono channels Jeff Beck on the reworked nitro sunburst Fender Strat™ equipped with patented Rick Toone™ tremolo system. Sunburst Alder body. Quartersawn maple neck with Advantage™ neck profile.
VIDEO: Joe Cirotti blues riffs the reworked nitro sunburst Fender Strat™ equipped with patented Rick Toone™ tremolo system. Sounds so sweet in his hands. Deluxe w/SM57.

7-String Single Cut | Eclipse

PHOTO: Inviting contours. Light weight, balanced, minimalist.

I fell completely in love with this guitar. Something about the simplicity feels familiar. Sleight-of-hand simplicity, however. Unusual multi-scale plus the Advantage™ neck profile plus the ingredients adds up to a delightful playing experience.

Plus, that tone. Warmth, piano clarity, sweetness.

Deeply grateful to Andrew for allowing me a blank canvas and his patience as I thought through how to manifest this machine.

“Have you considered designing a 7-string single cut? I have always been drawn to single cuts (mainly Teles), and I have been looking for a seven string. I can’t, however, find one that I like. Please let me know if that is something you would be interested in working on. I just love single cuts, but most people don’t push the limits of what they are capable of. I was thinking a headless multiscale, humbuckers (probably Bare Knuckle), 6-way switch, tone and volume. Simple finish, probably a nice black stain with a nice wood grain.” (Andrew)

“I am still a bit speechless…I have been playing almost non-stop, and I am completely blown away. Even when I am not playing it, I am still thinking about it. The design and aesthetic are incredible. It is so much fun to play, and I have barely scratched the surface. It is so comfortable, and you were right…a complete tone machine. The fun starts now, as I am already finding new ways to approach my playing. I can’t wait to see where she leads. Thank you so much, and it was definitely worth the wait.” (Andrew)

PHOTO: “Eclipse” 7-string guitar. Torrefied swamp ash, quartersawn torrefied flame maple, ebony. Carbon fiber, aircraft aluminum. Patented Intonation Cantilever™ component system. Custom Bare Knuckle™ PolyMath pickups with 6-way switching.