I met Kate (Ekaterina) via Instagram and the excellent work she did filming Misha Mansoor playing his Reptile Spearfish™ 6-string guitar. I love the moods she is able to capture with her photography…levels beyond documentary.
“This is a very interesting path you’ve had, but I see all of it as being highly intellectual and more introverted and I absolutely relate to and admire your choices. On a side note your creations are beautiful and do have a touch of an intellectual to them.” (Ekaterina Gorbacheva)
IMAGE: Patented Intonation Cantilever™ solo bridge. Securely anchors plain-end or ball-end strings.IMAGE: Ball-ends drop in effortlessly and anchor securely on the 8-string Element™ neck.IMAGE: Slender, sleek and lightweight. Ergonomic contours with smooth flowing thumb surfaces.IMAGE: Element™ 8-string multi-scale neck. Single billet precision machined aerospace aluminum.IMAGE: Fretboard Flare™ allows exceptional string bending capabilities where you need it most.IMAGE: Patented Intonation Cantilever™ solo bridge. Stainless steel, bearing bronze. Lightweight, precise, stable tuning. Zero intonation drift. Intonation adjusts independent of tuning.
PHOTOS: Scrimshaw is the art of engraving the bone or tooth of a powerful animal. Spearfish™ 6-string guitar drives Yngwie Malmsteen’s original 1969 Marshall.PHOTOS: Perhaps no mammal will ever (can ever) be as powerful as Herman Melville’s great white whale, Moby Dick. Nature, embodied. All that is untamed. You can recite the litany, but still it will not end with simply facts: patent pending Element™ aircraft aluminum neck, stainless steel Intonation Cantilever™ patented bridges, exclusive DiMarzio™ pickups, carbon fiber, resonant swamp ash.
It is such a joy to get time with great friends, especially involving music. When Steve Sjuggerud invited me to visit him in Florida this past week, it was an immediate yes.
The occasion was a live performance featuring Steve, Dan Ostrowski (drums), and acoustic guitarist Mike Dawes. Mike was visiting from UK, enroute to tour dates of his own. Also, we would be filming video…of the live performance, plus interviews.
More on that soon.
The next several days were just Mike, Steve, and me hanging out and testing guitars. Steve owns a stunning collection of original iconic vintage gear, lovingly curated, in perfect playing condition: Trainwreck, 1969 100-watt Marshall, Fender 1959 Strat. Plus some of the best new gear: Gil Yaron 1959 Les Paul replica, 1964 Fender Tweed replica, Blug amplifier system.
Essential benchmark guitar tone references.
Against them, we would be comparing two Goshawk™ 6-string prototype guitars I’d just completed.
What you might not know, what you might not expect, Mike Dawes — although known for his acoustic skills — is actually one of the best electric guitarists I’ve ever heard. His playing is fluid, melodic, effortless. Metal, shred…
Mike and Steve ripping together through Iron Maiden’s “The Trooper” at concert volume still has me grinning ear to ear, a few days and a few thousand miles later.
PHOTO: Rick Toone, Steve Sjuggerud, Mike Dawes.PHOTO: Steve works through pickup coil combinations on Goshawk™ 6-string.PHOTO: Rick Toone original prototype 6-string (2012). Signatures of those who have played or helped develop this guitar. Note early patent pending tuner.PHOTO: Rick & Steve, mid-testing.PHOTO: Steve looks on as Mike explores Blueshift™ 7-string ER. Antares 6-string in foreground. Photographer Adam King works the angle.PHOTO: Our location…overlooking a tidal marsh, Florida coastline.
