Guitar players have known for decades that when we want to make our guitars sound better, the first place to turn to is Seymour Duncan. In fact, this has been so true for so long, a lot of guitar manufacturers are now saving us time by building their instruments with Seymour Duncan pickups already installed. These companies range from solo ventures of a single master builder hand-making exquisite blues machines one-at-a-time, to large companies producing precision shred weapons on a massive scale, and all points in between. No matter your style, budget, or aesthetic sensibilities, it seems that someone out there is building the exact guitar you need, and the odds are becoming pretty good that it will come with Seymour Duncans in it. Working for Seymour Duncan and writing for this blog gives me access to many of these companies that I wouldn’t otherwise have, so I thought you (the reader) might enjoy it if I talked to a few of the people responsible for bringing us such amazing instrumental variety and shared those insights here. I had the first of such conversations with Tommy Kaihatu, founder of Rick Hanes Guitars, where I learned about how he got started in the business and what makes his guitars unique and practical options for players looking to step outside the offerings from the major manufacturers. Rick Hanes Guitars, started in 2011 in Surabaya, Indonesia, currently offers over a dozen basic body styles in double- and single-cut silhouettes, featuring eye-catching contemporary design elements and top carves, available in a wide variety of finishes, and sporting premium hardware and electronic components. Since its founding, the company has grown to employ an experienced workforce of 52 people. Tommy Kaihatu, on being asked about the name of his company and why he doesn’t use his own name for the brand, explains “My only son, Patrick Johanes, inspired me to start this guitar company. He really wanted me to build his own custom guitar. I named this guitar Rick Hanes – a shortened version of Patrick Johanes.” Unlike many larger guitar companies who go to Asian OEMs to produce their lower-priced import models for domestic sales, Rick Hanes Guitars manufactures all of their instruments under their own label in-house, using technology that appears to rival that of  high-end Western brands. Tommy: “We use modern technology at our site to support us in making the highest quality guitars; from a computerized wood-drying system, to CNC machines, to laser machines and Plek machines, etc.”

While emphasizing the company’s desire to produce top-tier instruments at reasonable, if not rock-bottom, prices (many of their models retail for around $1,800 USD), Tommy points me to the company motto: “Passion and Dedication to Quality.” This is evident from their factory tour, where visitors to the company website can see (after some loading time) a truly impressive facility, as well as a clear dedication to premium materials, fit, and finish in their guitars.

Looking through their product lines, it could be said that while the outlines of some of their guitars may be traditional, everything in between is pretty radical. Their most-popular model, the Rick Hanes Avenix, is an aggressively-contoured, double-cut, Floyd Rose-equipped shred machine, available in a wide variety of insane color-swirl and geometric finishes and both H-H and H-S-H pickup configurations. Other models, like the Irul FM and Orestis Nalmpantis signature series, feature naturally-contrasting hardwoods attractively inlaid along contour lines in the tops of the guitars.

Clearly, the folks at Rick Hanes are not satisfied by the well-trodden road of putting out  slightly-tweaked versions of 60-year-old market-tested designs. I asked Tommy about a specific model: the curiously-named D Squirrel Series, because, in addition to being a guitar with a giant hole cut through it, it also features a fully-integrated iPhone docking channel and mounting interface right on he top of the body.  Displaying an almost surprising level of casual familiarity with digital tech, Tommy explains “The iPhone is a new phenomena… I was attracted by its capabilities for guitar software applications like guitar effects, sound amplifiers, backing tracks, and recording systems. I was thinking, ‘why don’t we make a collaboration between the traditional guitar and high-tech applications?’. It is much more simple, efficient, much smaller compared to the Roland GK, and so far there have been no special challenges in designing the way it works [with the guitar].” Guitar manufacturers tend to sell their wares in one of two ways: either through traditional dealer networks (like Gibson and practically everyone else), or direct via catalogs and web stores like Carvin does. Conversely, Fender Guitars has created major waves in the industry to start 2015 by moving to a model that employs both approaches to sales, maintaining their long-standing network of dealers while also beginning to offer direct sales of many models through their website. One person that didn’t surprise was Mr. Kaihatu, as he’s been seeing the benefits of that two-pronged sales approach for several years. Tommy: “We sell directly from our website and maintain a traditional dealer network as well. I think that’s the perfect combination for helping Rick Hanes grow in the market. As a new brand, I can’t rely only on traditional dealers because they focus [mainly] on the famous brands. Thanks to the internet and all kinds of social media, [we’ve been able to] make the promotion faster, cheaper, and efficient.”

This wouldn’t be the Seymour Duncan Blog if I didn’t also probe about pickups; specifically why Rick Hanes choose to use Seymour Duncan products exclusively in their instruments. On this, Tommy has to say “It’s because Seymour Duncan pickups are the best pickups in the world, and Rick Hanes Guitars use only Seymour Duncan pickups for all the best quality reasons.”       Like Rick Hanes Guitars themselves, the list of notable players using their instruments includes the names of some talented people you might not have heard of yet, but are definitely worth checking out:

• Mike Abdow (Aquanett)
• Chris Bickley (Thunderhead)
• Giovani Melendez (Mirage Theory)
• Richo Bermu (Aligeria)
• Balawan (solo artist)
• Tore St. Moren (solo artist)
• Adrian English (solo artist)
• Mark Claytor (solo artist)
• Tom Kopyto (solo artist)