tremolo

Eric Johnson Signature Strat

VIDEO: Chris Buono plays Eric Johnson signature Fender Strat™ equipped with patent pending Rick Toone™ tremolo system. This guitar is a stock Fender factory instrument purchased from Sweetwater and modified with Rick Toone™ components. Note the original (factory) bone nut and vintage Gotoh tuners. No roller nut or string trees needed. Total ’50’s vibe.

IMAGES: Eric Johnson USA made signature Fender Strat™ purchased from Sweetwater. Serial number EJ23684. This guitar arrived from the factory with vintage 6-screw tremolo, 5-spring claw, bone nut, and non-locking vintage tuners. As part of the Rick Toone™ tremolo testing process, this factory guitar has been fully retrofitted with the new component package.
DIAGRAMS: Rick Toone™ tremolo is designed to be a direct replacement bridge for any brand of guitar that uses standard Fender™ body rout dimensions. Fender Stratocasters™ with the vintage 6-string screw tremolo design and also the current dual post tremolo design can be directly replaced with the patent pending Rick Toone™ tremolo. If you are a guitar builder or are seeking to upgrade your existing guitar, use the diagrams above to confirm compatibility with the new tremolo.
PHOTOS: Eric Johnson signature Fender Strat™ upgraded with patent pending Rick Toone™ premium components, including: tremolo, output jack, neck plate. Nickel plated aircraft aluminum and stainless steel. Observant readers might also notice the quartersawn factory maple neck has been reshaped to Advantage™ neck profile. This guitar has become a lovely personal favorite here in the studio.

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.

Cat Head Mask

VIDEO: Who is inside the mysterious Cat Head Mask? How does he see to play?! Does he even need to? What is reality anymore…is your glowing screen speaking truth? Alice, we are no longer in Kansas.

Rick Toone Tremolo System Explained

VIDEO: Rick Toone ’67™ tremolo designed to retrofit Leo Fender’s iconic guitar. Conventional parallel frets. Traditional adjustment mechanisms, including spring claw tensioning. Instantly familiar intonation and string height settings. This retrofit tremolo has been optimized to fit the existing holes in the S-type guitar body.

Rick Toone tremolo system comes in two versions:

’67 — designed to retrofit classic S-type guitars

(and)

Pisces — designed for innovative new instruments

Both tremolos share the same design features:

• Pitch shift entire chords in tune
• Extremely wide pitch range
• String height action remains constant
• Intonation remains constant
• Use single ball-end commercially available string brands
• No need for a locking nut
• Simple fast string changes that don’t require tools

However, the internal mechanisms of the two tremolo units are quite different. Multiple patents pending.

***

Q&A

Q: What are your plans for the tremolo?
A: I am actively seeking manufacturing partners and volume OEM licensing arrangements. If you are a manufacturer or investor who understands the potential, please contact me. RICKTOONE@GMAIL.COM

Q: Can I buy a tremolo from you at this time?
A: Due to limited quantities, both versions of the tremolo are available only on completed guitars I build.

Q: When will I be able to buy a tremolo?
A: Availability will depend on the manufacturing/licensing arrangement. Announcements will be made on this website. Please check back for ongoing updates.

VIDEO: Patented Rick Toone Pisces™ modular tremolo system. Multi-scale capable. 6-string, 7-string, and 8-string capable. Specifically created for innovative new instrument designs.