Michael Tobias, known for his bass guitar products, switches gear to introduce the new Rubicon series of electric guitars.
Rubicon 6-22
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Years in the making and unveiled earlier this year, the Rubicon Series is now available as part of Kingston’s Michael Tobias Design (MTD) line of instruments.
Although the Tobias name is known in bass guitar circles, few people know that he originally played the guitar. So releasing his own line of electric guitars is not much of a surprise for those that are close to him, including his son who is a guitar player himself.
Two new guitars are currently available, the Rubicon 6-22 (22 frets) and Rubicon 6-24 (24 frets). Both instruments come with a look and shape similar to his bass designs, discarding conventional designs where necessary to create a truly player friendly instrument.
The carved alder body and flamed maple top of the guitars are ergonomically carved for playing convenience and aesthetics. This playability is matched by an asymmetrical one-piece maple neck. You can pick between maple or rosewood for the fretboard, while the Buzz Feiten Tuning System ensures intonation along the fingerboard. Both guitars come with a 25.5″” scale length.
Rubicon 6-24
The custom wound humbucker pickups used on the guitars are proprietary to MTD. They come with Series/Parallel switches for added tonal flavors, along with conventional three way pickup switching and a pair of knobs for controlling tone and volume.
Aside from the difference in fret number, the Kingston Rubicon 6-22 guitar comes with a fixed bridge, while the 6-24 has a modern tremolo bar. Tobias chose the fixed GraphTech Resomax Harmonic Bridge System to help increase the sustain of the 6-22 model. The Rubicon 6-24 on the other hand features a Trem King tremolo bar, a newly patented vibrato system that uses a fixed bridge concept. The manufacturer describes it this way “The tone block only moves when the vibrato bar is moved and all mechanical action is inside the guitar. Only light pressure is required to actuate the vibrato. The feel is precise and smooth. The incredible sustain is preserved.”
The Rubicon 6-22 comes in a satin finish Dr Brown’s Burst or gloss finish Trans Cherry. The Rubicon 6-24 also comes in satin finish Dr. Brown’s Burst, but its alternative color is different – solid black in satin finish. No pricing information as of this writing is available, but you can find out more about the Rubicon series by visiting MTD Kingston.
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