Tremolo

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)

Sunburst Spearfish Trem

PHOTOS: Sunburst Spearfish™ 6-string guitar. Swamp Ash, precision machined aircraft aluminum, stainless steel, carbon fiber. Element™ component set in black anodize, including the RICK TOONE™ patented tremolo system. Bare Knuckle bespoke pickups with 10-way switching.

“I got the guitar!! It is everything I could have dreamed of and so much more. It is perfect! Thank you so much for building this!” (Janarth)

Blueburst Spearfish

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!

THANK YOU!!” (Thibaut)

Blue Sky Spearfish

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)

First Impressions

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.”