Music

Machine Gun

VIDEO: Joe Cirotti works out the Rick Toone ’67 trem on Jimi’s Machine Gun. Caleb Estey on drums. Wayne Lyle, bass. February 7, 2025 @ Bernie’s Hillside Lounge, Chester, NJ. (video courtesy of John Barless Pellichero)

Dude I used the ’67 guitar for a Hendrix show. Fucking thing absolutely decimated. 14 and a half minutes that song was. Wailing on the trem. By the end it was still in tune. Crazy! (Joe Cirotti)

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.
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.

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: 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.

NAMM 2025

IMAGE: Gunslinger Pisces™ and Tim Mills’ personal RICK TOONE ’67 will be on display.

Tim Mills (founder of Bare Knuckle Pickups) was kind enough to invite me to display at their booth again this year. Two of my builds will be at the show. Gabriel Levi earned his return spot as well, and will be delighted to give you a test flight on these awesome guitars.

BARE KNUCKLE PICKUPS (BOOTH 5737)

Tim’s personal RICK TOONE ’67 is wired with Bare Knuckle ’63 Veneer Board set with ‘RWRP’ mid coils and zinc plated steel baseplate on the bridge coil. Custom BKP 280K pots -‘A’ taper for vol and ‘J’ taper and Vitamin Q 0.022ufd PIO cap. Tim’s guitar features the patented RICK TOONE ’67™ tremolo which brings revolutionary pitch bend performance (and is a direct retrofit) to the classic standard Stratocaster™ body routes.

Gunslinger Pisces™ is wired with Bare Knuckle PolyMath pickups designed by Tim Mills and Nolly Getgood. Freeway 10-way switching brings out all the delicious coil splits plus humbucking tones. Gunslinger features the leading edge patented RICK TOONE PISCES™ multi-scale capable tremolo.

VIDEO: Gabriel Levi rocks Gunslinger Pisces™ 6-string pre-NAMM 2025.

Gunslinger

VIDEO: Chris Buono showcases the patented & patents pending Rick Toone™ tremolo on Pisces Gunslinger™ 6-string guitar. Fender Deluxe with an AEA and SM57.

More and more, I’m going retro. Touch the real world. I’m contemplating a flip phone. Analog has benefits.

I got a library card.

Zane Grey fills half a long shelf. Writer of westerns, a hundred years ago. Many of the books have not been checked out in fifty years. There is a wonderful smell to old paper and ink, spines that crack slightly with gentle opening.

1873 was within living memory when Grey was writing. Homesteaders, miners, ranchers, rustlers, prostitutes, lawmen. Winchester lever action. Claim a piece of land and pass your genes to the next generation. If you fail at the mating dance…there’s always the profession of gunslinger.

belt hangs heavy
steel against my hip
glint of brass
polished shells
checkered walnut grip

the hammer click
acrid stench of cordite
spaced between heartbeats

out here
the sun will take your breath
this trickle down the spine
reminder of slow death

somewhere a crevice
in a canyon
flowing cool and clear
wellspring of precious water
help a man to heal
wash the blood from his hands

PHOTOS: Swamp ash, carbon fiber, precision machined aircraft aluminum. Bare Knuckle™ custom PolyMath pickups with 10-way switching.