The Gil Yaron Bone is one of the most sought after guitars made today - everything about it gives good reason for the demand. It’s the perfect halfway point between an ultimate Tele and Les Paul with just the right amount of each to create an instrument with a voice that is familiar yet beautifully strange, mesmerizing you from the first notes played. Add to that a build quality that is unsurpassed and you have one hell of a guitar.
Bone 1 and Bone 59
The Bone comes in two flavors, The Bone 1 which is the original Bone series guitar with custom hardware and trim, and the Bone 59 which is an exact '59 LP replica in a Bone-design body and with a Bone-design headstock. The Bone 59 has the same hardware, plastics, binding, colors, PAFs, etc. as in a '59 LP replica.
About the Bone Series, in Gil Yaron's words:
"After 5 years of dedicating myself to the study of golden age models such as pre-CBS Strats, Teles, Basses and late '50s Les Pauls and ES-335s I finally felt comfortable enough to clear my mind and try to design something that I believed might bring some freshness into my work.
"The big question for me always was 'why invent something new when the old stuff is so perfect?' And the truth is, no matter how much I struggled with the idea of a new design I just couldn't think of anything that would be seriously meaningful in terms of tonality yet simple and different in a good way.
"Sure, I could have taken a '59 LP, changed the outline, headstock, inlays, etc. and called it 'my own' but this is not good enough. Visual shape doesn't really change anything. On the other hand, building something that is way out in terms of construction materials, pick ups and building methods might be a mistake for me because I'm still a vintage purist in my soul and my entire experience is based on the old guitars, be it the lumber, glues, shapes, pick ups, methods; I find the old school stuff magical and consider it a base for anything I do.
"So, the idea was simple (as always). I made a list of the attributes I find important in an exceptionally good sounding guitar and another list of the things that I didn't like. If I was able to suppress the bad and emphasize the good the outcome might just be 'my own.' Why 'my own?' because this reflects the way I, as a player and a builder, can control the result and create something that has roots in the past but is still different.
"It's common knowledge that not all of the original bursts sound exceptional. Some are great, some are not so much, but when you play one of the great ones you can understand why it has become an iconic instrument."
"I've been doing my best to build guitars to the highest standards and I believe I gathered enough experience by now to be able to control the outcome and achieve consistency where every guitar that leaves my shop is great sounding. Making a long story short, here's the good and bad lists:"
GOOD:
1) Tight balance of frequencies across the entire range
2) Even bass and treble response across the entire fingerboard
3) Strong and well defined midrange with depth and sweet articulation
4) Enough brightness but no harshness
5) Wide dynamic range
6) Perfect balance between pick ups
7) Sustain
8) High resonance and high acoustic level
9) Low weight for comfort
BAD:
1) Not very comfortably played while sitting down
2) Weight of the average LP can get a bit hefty
3) Some PAF's just don't cut it
4) Headstock gets broken easily
5) Inconsistency - some are killer some are not
6) Some design factors don't contribute to maximizing tone quality
Gil Yaron's pursuit of a new design that emphasizes the good aspects of the venerable old guitars and eliminates the bad has yielded the Bone, a new creation that is rocking the guitar world to its roots.
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Here is a link to the Bone proto build diary:
http://www.tdpri.com/forum/tele-home-depot/391212-new-design-proto-build-bone.html
BONE 1
- Extremely resonant and lightweight instrument with a wide tonal range
- Will cover the classic vintage tonality and feel of the '50s LPs with a stronger than usual amount of the “Tele On Steroids” effect
- This model is equipped with the new patented Bone PUs as a standard feature to compliment the wider tonality range of the instrument
BONE 1 BASIC BUILD INCLUDES
- Solid lightweight old growth mahogany body shell
- Solid paulownia or balsa inner body fill
- Rosewood board
- New patented Bone PUs, based on the '50s PAF with wider tonality range
- '50s LP type circuit with CTS pots and repro BB caps
- Dot inlays
- Nylon nut
- 3 ply body binding W/B/W
- Average flamed eastern maple top
- Resomax lightweight wrap around bridge
- SE510-06M-N open back tuners
- Black plastics with Bone style 3 ply pickguard B/W/B
- Black M69 rings
- Thin nitrocellulose finish
- Black headstock with pearl logo and gold script
- Hard shell case
BONE 1 OPTIONS
- pre 1970 CITES certified BRRW board
- Single ply neck binding
- Original NOS PIO BB caps (0.022MFD & 0.010MFD)
- NOS '50s harness and PU lead wires (two strands)
- Kluson tuners
- Trapezoid celluloid nitrate inlays
- Private stock maple tops (exhibition grade figured maple and/or '50s reclaimed maple)
- Authentic detailed relic on finish and all parts
- Crème plastics
- Hard shell ATA case