fretless

Killick | WUOG Live Radio

VIDEO: Killick Hinds live improvisation on WUOG (90.5 FM) Athens, GA. Two of my builds get a workout via his vast array of techniques: 8-string fretless multiscale and Walrus 6-string multiscale. Watch and listen to the evolving soundscapes he creates organically, exploring string harmonics. Fascinating and beautiful. Recorded live 9.21.2021 at the college radio station.

Fretless Spearfish

fretless spearfish guitar
PHOTOS: Fretless Spearfish™ 6-string guitar. Patent-pending Element™ single billet machined aircraft aluminum neck with engraved position markers. Patented Intonation Cantilever™ bridges. Proprietary all passive DiMarzio™ pickups with 10-way switching. Swamp ash solid body in modern poly sunburst.
spearfish fretless guitar

With the multi-scale Element™ aluminum neck I’m playing fretless now in ways I didn’t think I could…ways I didn’t even know were an option. With the multi-scale I am able to play more harmony. I can play fingerings that are simply impossible on parallel frets. (Chris Buono)

VIDEO: Chris Buono tears through 50 seconds of finger-twisting fretless improvisation. Signal chain is Noble DI > Strymon Iridium > Logic so you can hear exactly how good this guitar sounds.
VIDEO: Roopam Garg on Wingspan™ 8-string and Chris Buono on Fretless Spearfish™ 6-string. Live one-take improvisation in the guitar shop where both instruments were built.

A Portrait of the Artist

IMAGE: Eight string fretless multi-scale guitar portrait of Killick Hinds. Swamp Ash, carbon fiber, aircraft aluminum.

This was a new experience for me. I’ve never done a portrait of another human being using guitar as mixed media. Why not, though?

Killick Hinds and I have been friends for almost a decade. One of the first things he sent when we met was his autobiography of sorts, perhaps a proto-biography. As I read, I thought: “Here is an honest soul.”

Many thoughts and visits exchanged since then, and my love for him as a person only continues to grow. For those of you who are new…within fifteen minutes of meeting Killick in person I stopped noticing his skin is a mosaic of artwork. Again, over time, I appreciate his commitment to his singular path as an artist.

VIDEO: Killick Hinds and Rick Toone on Blood Mountain after recording “Magnets & Wires” album/documentary in November, 2019. Friends!

In building this guitar for Killick, I wanted to generate a glimpse of him in tangible, material form. We discussed the technical attributes extensively, however the aesthetics were left entirely to me and delivered to him as a total surprise.

I do believe it works.

It’s not even a guitar…it’s something totally new. The resonances/overtones are unfamiliar to my sensibilities. Bowing with the Pickaso yields entirely new textures & audible rhythms in addition to the fundamental/overtones. It’s instantly rewarding and challenging. This instrument is a perfect ergonomic fit and is truly the electric guitar’s metamorphosis. It’s a surreal time to welcome beauty and homework into the world. Thank you completely! (Killick Hinds)

IMAGE: Listen to “Shifting In Reverse”
IMAGE: Listen to “Seagreengrass Walk”
IMAGE: Listen to “Lake Nonlinear”