PHOTOS: Blueburst Spearfish™ 6-string guitar. Swamp Ash, precision machined aircraft aluminum, stainless steel, carbon fiber. Element™ component set in blue anodize, including the RICK TOONE™ patented tremolo system. Bare Knuckle Nolly Getgood signature PolyMath pickups with 10-way switching.
Rick, I just received the guitar, and let me tell you, I’m absolutely blown away! The first thing that struck me was that vibrant blue—it’s so present and just stunning. But then, I started playing, and wow, the neck is beyond exceptional. Honestly, it is most likely the best neck I’ve ever had in my hands. Very similar to the headless one (Wingspan) but I appreciate the holes in the neck as markers! So smart!
I know I’ve only just begun to discover everything, but even in these first moments, I can feel the care and craftsmanship. And that tremolo—it’s something else! It’s so inventive and innovative, and honestly, it’s a joy to use. I’m excited to spend much more time uncovering all its nuances, but from these first impressions—this guitar is something truly exceptional!
PHOTOS: Blue Sky Spearfish™ 6-string guitar. Alder, precision machined aircraft aluminum, stainless steel, carbon fiber. Element™ component set in black anodize, including the RICK TOONE™ patented tremolo system. Bare Knuckle Nolly Getgood signature PolyPAF pickups with 10-way switching.
Hey Rick! I love this thing! I like the new Element neck…bending is easier…
The pickups are amazing and work very well with the FreeWay. The PolyPAF pickups have this open sound…set free from the sort of sound “cap” which limits the openness of other pickups. Where they excel is the allowing the player to get a sharper, discrete bass sound…it is just awesome with the djent stuff…they are awesome for a crunch sound. I like the different feel and sound I get with my chord solos. I have played through my KSR Gemini (which I use for all things metal), my Synergy set up, my Bludotone amps, and the Positive Grid Spark Mini Vai edition. The guitar sounds great through all of these and with multiple switch settings. No having to choose one or two good sounding settings. I have also checked out the pickups through my Little Walter amps, a Carr Sportsman, and the Axe Fx…it interacts well with all of these.
The trem is exactly as expected…smoother and easier to use than a Floyd Rose. Plus it does things that a Floyd-Rose can not.
Thank you very much for allowing me the privilege to experience all the wonderful things that happen when I play these amazing instruments. (Bob Gore)
PHOTO: Aidan gets acquainted with his new Birdseye Blonde ’67 guitar. Multi-year student of Chris Buono, it was a great learning experience to listen in on their lesson and jam here in the studio.
Having the chance to sit down with Rick and play this guitar was a tremendous experience. The craftsmanship speaks for itself: it’s wonderful to play, comfortable, beautiful to look at, and most importantly sounds excellent. The tremolo is incredibly smooth, and it’s amazing to pitch shift chords in tune. The tuning stability is also the best I’ve experienced on any tremolo. Being able to drop the low E and stay in tune is wild!
Thank you again for hosting us this past Saturday. Reflecting with Chris during my lesson tonight, it really was a joy to be surrounded by music in its rawest form, and getting to share in that experimentation was as eye opening as it was inspiring.
My biggest takeaway from playing and conversing between the three of us was the importance of respecting the music and composition versus “taking a solo”. Improvisation has form, and establishing lead sections (beginning, middle, end) is as exciting and engaging as supporting with rhythmic and/or ambient variations.
PHOTO: Black Wolf ’67 guitar. Relic nitro over Alder. Rosewood w/maple. Aircraft aluminum, black fiberglass.
I wanted to explore in a different direction with this build.
Black Wolf ’67 is the mirror of Birdseye Blonde ’67 — taking the same platform but radically flipping the electronics plus some subtle construction details. Lithe dark magic emerges from this forest, all glowing eyes and bright fangs in the gloaming.
Bare Knuckle alnico Nailbombs coil-split with superorganic woodiness into singles with punch and depth. Perfect gleam and ruthless clarity, there is no outrunning in this fairy tale. Slip between the trees…but full-on humbucking brings every soft creature in the valley to standstill.
Rick, Thanks so much for bringing such a great instrument into the universe. It is truly remarkable. The tremolo is an engineering and sonic marvel. Truly the best guitar I have ever played. (Eric Cohen)
PHOTOS: Bare Knuckle alnico Nailbomb calibrated set with 6-way switching. Simplified one volume + one tone. RICK TOONE™ patented tremolo system.
PHOTO: Something magical happened in the 1950’s. Gretsch drums, Fender Tweed, paired with (my ’67 version) Leo’s iconic guitar…they play together so well recording is effortless.PHOTO: Sporting team colors, Sjuggs points out the Plexi/Tweed switch on this awesome Dumblesque “Tweedle” 5E3 build from Denver Amp Works. Fluxtone speaker tech is probably the greatest invention since radio — imagine your tone is perfect no matter what the volume in the room.
My good bud Steve Sjuggerud flew up from Florida this week to hang out in the studio and catch up. Our plan was to record a jam session, but we got distracted by amplifiers. More specifically, amplifier mods. Turns out, this might be the deepest rabbit hole of all time. We forgot to play and just talked for two days.
Choose your tubes. Pot values. Caps. Resistors. Rectifier? Schematic. Point to point. Switches. Wire gauge. Speaker. Magnet material. Cabinet material. Open back or closed? Pine. Birch ply. Finger joint. Tolex. Tweed.
Change out any of those variables and the amp becomes an entirely different beast.
Steve, so awesome to catch up in person. Thank you for our time together — and also this amazing amp.
PHOTO: Black anodize Rick Toone™ tremolo on the ’67. In the background the 5E3, patiently waiting to jam.
