Rick Toone | Luthier

Four Horsemen

PHOTO: Self-portrait, post-NAMM.

The driving rains of Los Angeles shredded to tendrils, as sharp peaks of the San Jacinto Mountains eviscerated moisture-laden Pacific air. Twelve lanes of traffic condensed to four.

Sunlight hunted remaining moisture, evaporating a thousand miles of desert in the rain shadow of the eastern slopes. Emotion welled and water streamed from my eyes, involuntary tears of joy, and relief.

The intensity, pressure, and excitement of the trade show uncoiled itself from around my internal organs. Alone, I laughed out loud at the first saguaro, as if an old friend. The gentle shimmering in my ears an audible reminder of thunderous cacophony left behind.

"If you believe god is music, NAMM will make you an athiest."

FMoF

And yet, there were moments of sublime musicality, and musicianship. Great camaraderie, as the four of us rustled like outlaws. A realization that sparks we struck are about to grow into something much, much, larger. We will talk about those moments soon enough.

"Your guitar sticks in my head, and I can’t stop telling my friends. Millions of guitars at NAMM...yours is the one I remember."

LH

Companions dispersed, I drifted south, to Tucson.

I sought council from those who had passed before me, in the form of artifacts at the Amerind Foundation. Master craftsmanship revealed in every chip of each arrowhead, a necessity when working tools are stone. Efficiency, displayed as delicate aerodynamic functionality — a few ounces of precisely aimed rock capable of dropping two thousand pounds of running animal in a collapsed meat pile.

My cousin Scott built the beautiful Mission Style rift sawn oak couches in the main display hall of the museum: BAKER + HESSELDENZ

Mostly, though, I needed nature. My soul is acclimated to solitude, my mind to flowing streams of thought. Metaphorically naked I immerse in the forms around me, artifacts of wind and water.

NAMM 2012 | 1219 Exhibit Hall E

TOONE & TOWNSEND will occupy booth 1219 located in Exhibit Hall E at NAMM 2012. Sharing booth space with us is Strandberg Guitarworks. Ola and I thought ours would be a great pairing.

Come explore leading edge guitar innovation!

Designing a display is an art form of its own. Essentially the goal is to create an environment that welcomes visitors, reflects your ethos, is lightweight, easily assembled and transported.

It was important to me to reflect my own values in the design...

Every item in the booth has another purpose in the outside world. Nothing is wasted, and everything is high quality, for years of service.

Food grade maple butcher block tables with stainless steel legs will support the instruments. The tables ship to Townsend Machine as component assembly tables, after NAMM.

Oak artist easels will display high resolution B&W photographs printed on fine art canvas. The canvases will adorn the offices at Townsend Machine, after the show. The easels will be donated to Tricia's Frenchtown Elementary School art classroom, for use by her students.

All of these, made in USA.

My beloved THD Univalve tube amp, built by Andy Marshall in Seattle, will allow the guitars to whisper and roar in dulcet tones. An EVM-12L pairs with the Celestion Classic Lead '80 to express the lower fundamentals of seven and 8-string guitars. This revoicing is a bit magical.

I am very much looking forward to meeting you in person. So many of you have contacted me to share support, or excitement at meeting up and getting a chance to play these instruments. Thank you! See you next week!

Steampunk'd Orchid

Through the window of his workshop last nite, I caught a glimpse of one of Santa's elves putting finishing touches on Orchid. At least that's what I think I saw.

The bass was Orchid, yet not quite.

Halie is adult now — biochemical engineering student — living in the city, wandering underground jazz clubs, frequenting Bassnectar. Steampunk purple aesthetic full on. Check out the crazy string hangers on that machine...

Bridges? Lavender?!

"It is BEAUTIFUL thank you thank you thank you!! Gorgeous. Perfect. I'm so happy to have her back."

Halie

Like I said, I'm not even sure I saw this. If not for these stolen snapshots, I'd seriously consider this whole thing an imaginative dream.

"Thanks for posting Steampunk'd Orchid. Orchid is one of the most beautiful shapes I have ever gazed upon."

KN

Sketch | Minor Adjustments

I know from experience Tosin Abasi takes excellent care of his guitars. However, something seems to have happened to Sketch. Imagine my surprise when it arrived at the shop looking like this.

Strangely, it was perfectly in tune.

In fact, it seems in better condition than when I first gave it to him.

Neck is slimmer, almost an eighth inch. Replacement stainless steel components fabricated themselves, including an innovative new strap lock. Bare Knuckle Nailbomb took control of the pickup cavity. Body shape is sculpted and refined.

"To me the body is like the fossilized remnant of a dinosaur's pelvic bone, ancient and awe-inspiring."

Raj

And there are these — holes.

Lithium Tree | Chris Buono

PHOTOS: Lithium Tree/Karsh Kale guitarist Chris Buono flies Sketch 7-string. Grammy Award winning drummer Rodney Holmes sets the pace, making complete ambidextrous limb independence look easy.

Triumph Brewing Company in New Hope, PA, was testing ground for Lithium Tree last night. They are finalizing new material as well as the lineup of the band. Intense progressive instrumental soundscapes sound tight and fresh, painted by Buono's guitar/electronica, propelled by Holmes' fluid athleticism.

A month or so ago, guitarist Chris Buono contacted me, and we clicked immediately. Several of his students had suggested he check out my work. Introductions made, we looked for an excuse to meet up.

Last night's New Hope gig was a perfect place for him to explore Tosin Abasi's newly modded Sketch. With the wood finish on the guitar almost nearly completely dry...

("newly modded")

...during the day I installed Sketch's TOONE & TOWNSEND production hardware and the custom Bare Knuckle Nailbomb, then drove to meet Chris that evening.

"While a steadfast rule of mine is to never play an unknown-to-my-hands guitar on a gig (with multiple meter shifts and complex charts, no less) — Sketch is an instrument that cannot be denied. From first taking it out of the bag I knew I was going to rock this axe for more than just the tune I mentally shed on the way to New Hope (I don't play 7-string).

The asymmetrical neck profile, while scary as hell, fell right into place within my fret hand. The body was incredibly form fitting. And, Rick's treatment to the swamp ash - WOW.

Plugging in Sketch to my all-Fractal rig revealed a gorgeous, throaty, piano-like tone that was devastating. When I hit the crunch Sketch roared with gnarly awesomeness that made it a blast to travel the fanned frets. Pumping it through my ring mod block with expression control assigned to the carrier oscillator made for a phat-ass Moog vibe that garnered whiplash-like audience head turns on aural contact.

As for the headless design, it makes Sketch well-balanced and I really dug the performance and feel of the tuning machines. To sum it up: I'm floored. Sketch changed me. And, in addition to being a solid citizen Rick Toone is one smart mofo and a good egg. Oh, what a night..."