rick toone

Fabio Mittino | Live

Fabio Mittino emailed me from Milan, Italy. He will be performing live on his S2 guitar this afternoon at 2 PM. Fabio is astutely utilizing Eventbrite technology to broadcast live to the world from his home, despite quarantine. See you there…

HOW IT WORKS: RSVP by selecting REGISTER. You will receive an email with a link for the concert. Tune in at the concert time. The artist will provide you information to support them through an online donation via a service like PayPal or Venmo. Donations for house concerts typically range from $10-20, more for ensembles.There is NO PAYWALL.

In this challenging time we’re all going through, we are working to connect people in isolation, support working musicians, but also be sensitive that many people are taking a huge financial hit. This may not be a good time for you to contribute. We still invite you to join us. We’re all in this together.

Fabio Mittino started his musical journey at the age of 13 with classical guitar. Robert Fripp’s Guitar Craft expanded those horizons and led to various bands, session work and collaborations with Bert Lams of California Guitar Trio. Precision with delicacy marks his style, Fabio moves effortlessly between acoustic and electric guitars and sensitive to powerful approach to his instruments. He plays original music on electric guitar with his own solo project, “Simple Music For Difficult People” and with Bert Lams of California Guitar Trio, playing the music of Gurdjieff/De Hartmann arranged for guitars.

fabio mittino
IMAGE: Eventbrite live concert featuring Fabio Mittino. Sunday, March 29, 2020 @ 2 PM EDT.

Harp Guitar

Windows open, cool early spring air offsetting the warmth of sunlight on the building. Trees just beginning to bud, Robins and Red Wing Blackbirds in lively song all around us. My dog, Lena, content to lie in the grass and wait for our run.

I set up the Apple laptop, Apogee converter on my workbench. Direct into Logic, with one channel each for guitar and sub-bass. Capture the sound of this instrument as accurately as possible.

All twelve strings tuned: EGABCD sub-bass, EADGBE guitar.

Pause. What will I play?

I slowly breathed. Let the thoughts fade, emotions replacing them. I asked myself: “What are you feeling?”

“Waiting.”

All of humanity feels what’s coming. Storms just beyond the horizon. There is a weight to this moment. If ever there was a time to take out Skynet and eradicate the fucking filters, this would be now. While we can still connect as a species, person to person, beyond the systems of corporate and government power. Communicate necessary truths peer-to-peer across geographic and political borders.

I picked up my guitar pick and clicked record.

“This thing looks incredible.” (Tosin Abasi)

“Gorgeous all around! I just listened on the big speakers. The lows are excellent. Those basses sound beautiful!” (Killick Hinds)

“Hope it won’t offend you to say the first thing I noticed was the excellence of your photography. Might have been a different career path in another life. What to say about the guitar? It’s another of your creations that could easily be displayed in a museum. More practically, I’d love to hear a player with a classical background try it. Wonder what some of the teachers at Berklee would make of it?” (Steve Blucher)

Wow Rick…I feel like I have just glimpsed decades into the future! This must be the ‘poly-metal alloy’ construction…I enjoyed your commentary too, very poignant. (Alasdair Bryce)

harp guitar
PHOTO: Compact, ergonomic, headless. Perfectly balanced and weighing only 10.5 lbs. despite full 34” sub-bass. Sarah Connor’s weapon of choice.
stainless steel and aircraft aluminum sub-bass
PHOTO: Stainless steel and aircraft aluminum sub-bass.
double neck guitar
PHOTO: Mahogany solid body. Carbon fiber. Patented Intonation Cantilever™ bridges, Positional Constant String Pitch Control System™ bass bridge. Element™ 6-string guitar neck precision machined from single billet aircraft aluminum.
rick toone
PHOTO: Proprietary DiMarzio™ pickups.

Fine Art

Hi Rick,

Your Goshawk™ guitar and Anthology™ case against a piece of furniture of 1774 (Jean-Francois Leleu). The piece of furniture is really unique in this world…as is your guitar. The drawing is a self-portrait from Frank Auerbach, he is one of the best living artists from the London school (a good friend of Francis Bacon and Lucian Freud).

I started again to play acoustic for a couple of days, difficult to re-adapt. My (French) guitar teacher played your guitar, he went crazy! Your guitar is Fantastic, more than I ever could expect.

A thousand thanks for all this.

Adam (Paris, France)

goshawk guitar

Fabio Mittino | (Video)

Fabio Mittino continues his journey into the mechanized miniature steampunk world of Simple Music for Difficult People. His S2 6-string guitar is configured to achieve a specific range of tones via Q-Tuner pickups and alternate tunings combined with his signature precision picking technique.

NAMM 2020 | Free-Way Switch (Booth 2726 Hall E)

This year I have teamed with Alasdair Bryce, inventor of the Free-Way™ Switch (NSF Controls), for NAMM 2020. Steve Sjuggerud has invented an add-on to the Free-Way™ which will completely revolutionize the sound and performance of pickup coil splits.

I will not explain Steve’s invention at this time. He and Alasdair will be at NAMM in person to demonstrate this important new technology. Go experience.

NAMM Show: Booth 2726 Hall E

Little Angle Wing 8-string guitar.

Hi Rick, I wanted mention that your 8-string fan-fret guitar will be the pride of the Free-Way booth and we are hugely appreciative to be hosting it at NAMM!! That guitar is a fusion of worlds ideas and materials – an absolute masterclass. (Alasdair Bryce)

Little Angle Wing 8-string guitar.