WINGSPAN 6

DRAWING: Wingspan™ 6 is designed for professional travel. Compact 31.64″ (803.65mm) fits perfectly in overhead.

Announcing manufacturing partnerships with Bare Knuckle Pickups (UK) and Aluminati Guitar Company (USA) to produce a limited small batch of Wingspan™ 6 guitars.

WINGSPAN 6 — learn about the features of this exceptional guitar.

Bare Knuckle Pickups and Aluminati Guitar Company both bring more than a decade of experience to their areas of expertise, with an exceptional record of craftsmanship and timely delivery. I am delighted and grateful to work with Tim Mills, Chris Rowberry, James Little, Jeremy Hume, and their teams of skilled professionals.

Wingspan™ has been extensively engineered and tested over a decade of development.

Earlier this year, I visited Aluminati Guitar Company in Asheville, N.C.

Documentation, drawings, CAD models are synchronized with manufacturing partners. Excluding pickups and electronics (UK), all components, manufacturing and assembly will be performed in USA.

Build slots will be on a first come first serve basis. Please email if you would like to join us.

Killick Hinds & Adam Wilson

PHOTO: Killick Hinds & Adam Wilson — so good to see these friends in person. Thank you both for wonderful conversation and music…let’s do it again soon!

Have a listen to the recording above.

That’s the unedited raw audio, exactly how it sounded to us in my studio, as Killick and Adam played live. Think of it like a documentary. No EQ or compression. FM9 + Noble DI > Logic = as heard through NS-10s.

Duet guitars are Wingspan 6 and my personal Strat equipped with a prototype RICK TOONE ’67 tremolo.

The playing is extraordinary. Completely unrehearsed live improvisation for five and a half minutes, exchanging guitars halfway through the session, giving each a turn with both instruments. The performance is so compelling, as they listen and respond to one another.

I asked Killick if he would be willing to master the recording. What he created using the “documentary” mix above is quite fascinating…mastering as a creative act: https://killick.bandcamp.com/album/play-purview-a-digisingle-signal-in-stereo

A gathering of friends under sunny skies. We hit record and talked and laughed and marveled. Adam and I got to try on new guitars and new timbres like tailored crystalline cloth. From undifferentiated exploration these precious snippets fell into the grand cosmic lap, a glimpse into insight and telepathic conversation on the subtlest of levels. A very inspiring and elucidating day! (Killick Hinds)

VIDEO: Killick Hinds coaxes out harmonics not found in the textbook.

Perfect indulgence for a guitarist: spending an afternoon with Rick Toone and Killick Hinds, doing nothing but talking about and playing guitars. Highlight for me was getting to play “Wingspan” — three things stood out about the instrument: (1) the unparalleled harmonic richness of the instrument (meaning natural harmonics can be played in places on the neck that only produce dead thunks on most other instruments…plus the strength of the upper partials when plucking strings is equally remarkable), (2) the immense timbral palette afforded by the electronics, and (3) the incredible ergonomic design, particularly the balance of the guitar. Having played many of Rick’s guitars, and being lucky enough to own a couple of them, I see the elements that he’s been refining for years finding their culmination in this machine. Devoid of any hyperbole, Wingspan is the finest guitar I have played. (Adam Wilson)

PHOTO: Adam Wilson with Wingspan 6 guitar.

Wingspan 6 Natural

PHOTOS: WINGSPAN 6. Torrefied Swamp Ash, carbon fiber, stainless steel, aircraft aluminum.
VIDEO: 53 seconds testing volume roll-off with the Bare Knuckle neck and bridge humbuckers.
PHOTOS: Ergonomic, compact, light weight. Balanced. Supremely resonant. Organic woody warmth, clarity and depth. Patented & patent pending Element™ headless component set. Custom hand wound Bare Knuckle pickups with 10-way switching for a stunning range of humbucking and single coil tones.
VIDEO: Chris Buono with some inspired jazz improv.

Goshawk Trem

PHOTOS: Goshawk™ 6-string guitar with Antique Pewter finish. Carbon fiber, torrefied maple, alder.

Oh wow…that doesn’t really encapsulate it, but oh wow…

The neck that you picked for this is perfect – it has amazing figuring in the wood and the dot inlays perfectly compliment the body.

I love that you ran with my story about Alan and his Pewter Clapton Strat being a huge inspiration for me. You absolutely knocked it out of the park. I really really like the finish scheme that you created for this! You nailed the depth of tone that was so important to me with your use of silvers, pewters, and blacks. On some glances it looks a bit like marble and on others it looks a lot like a well-worn metal surface. The blue carved line is a wonderful compliment and resonates with some of the color that I get from the inlays (and ties into another of my color themes!). 

It is just stunning. I can’t thank you enough.

I’d like to take a moment to appreciate your trem design. It is really really clever! Regardless of the engineer in me wanting to nerd out over the design, I have to say that it is the smoothest trem that I’ve ever had the pleasure to try.

I’ve only spent a few minutes tuning and playing, but I have to say that it feels like home. When I play 6 string, I’ve been playing the purple goshawk and this feels so much like that, but sounds so very different! I can’t wait to spend more time with it.

Thank you again. This has been a wonderful experience. (Jason)

PHOTO: Patent-pending Rick Toone tremolo precision machined from aerospace materials. DiMarzio noiseless single coil pickups designed by Steve Blucher. 10-way switching.

Red Pisces

PHOTO: Red Pisces™ 6-string guitar. Patented and patent-pending Pisces™ tremolo.
PHOTO: Element™ neck precision machined from aircraft grade aluminum. Hipshot locking tuners.
PHOTO: DiMarzio noiseless single coil pickups designed by Steve Blucher. Carbon fiber pickguard.