Paul Rhoney Guitar Co.

An amazing new guitar maker from Portland, Oregon.

The past few months, you may have noticed that I haven’t been posting as often as I usually do. I’ve been pretty preoccupied with fatherhood, spending a lot of time feeding the little fella while surfing the internetz on my iPhone. My favourite site is the Offset Guitars forum. Apart from finding info on an amazing array of cool guitars, the best part is the ‘Mods & Projects’ section. Here, young guitar fans build their own guitars from scratch. This to me would be the ultimate in my guitarnerdom… to be actually able to build a guitar exactly how you want with your own 2 hands. To me, this is in the same level as being able to levitate by flapping your arms or turning invisible by holding your breath. ie… black magic.

One wizard on this site is Paul Rhoney. Paul is a full time guitar maker who happens to make some of the coolest looking guitars I’ve seen for a long while. Instead of the usual Stratocaster or Telecasters, Paul makes guitars that Fender should’ve (but didn’t) or his own cool designs. One such guitar is the Oceana.

This guitar is based on a few of Paul’s favourite guitars, in Paul’s own words, “Most obviously inspired by the Supro Dual Tone/Martinique/Sahara/Coronado body style, but mixed with my other favorite guitars, the Fender Jazzmaster and the Gibson Les Paul.  I spent the last couple of years, after making tmy first one, refining the curves and “perfecting” my design. I feel like I’ve really made it my own.”

Paul’s woodworking is outstanding. The carves, curves and design of the guitar are truly beautiful. This attention to detail is the difference between a ‘proper’ guitar luthier and someone who bolts together relic Fender’s and charges 3 grand.

Next step was the paint. Paul sends out to get his guitars painted, and chose a metallic blue/green color for the top, with the rest being clear.

Paul wasn’t really happy with the results. I myself don’t mind a little bit of grain sinkage, as it gives the idea of being a thin skinned guitar… not a guitar covered in thick, tone sucking paint. Anyway, the finished guitar turned out fantastic.

I fell in love with this guitar when I saw it on the Offset Guitars forum. Amazingly, this guitar is for sale for a screamingly cheap price… I would honestly buy it in a heartbeat but I’ve imposed a guitar buying ban on myself for the rest of the year. (It’s pure torture.) If you’re interested in purchasing this beauty, contact Paul here.

Paul recently made another guitar based on the Oceana design. Anyone remember last year or so when Moog released their own guitars?

While I’m sure they sound amazing and are beautifully made, they sit very much in the ‘Super Strat’ category which really isn’t what 90% of today’s guitar players want. So Paul got a Moog guitar for a ridiculously cheap price, gutted the electronics and made this…

It’s a stunning guitar. Cutting edge electronics in a timeless design. And again, Paul’s attention to detail shines through.

The think binding adds to the uniqueness of this guitar. Not polite strips around the edge… the way the binding follows the bottom bulge is fantastic.

From any angle, this guitar is pure sex. I’m in awe that people can actually do this type of work at home in their workshop. It’s something to aspire to… one day, one day. Look out for the guitarnerd range of guitars, coming in 2015… or maybe 2018.