An Inside Look at RKS Guitars

Text and photos by Rick Messock

A year after their debut at the 2005 Winter NAMM Show, RKS Guitars may still be the new kid on the block as far as guitar makers go, but if RKS founder Ravi Sawhney has his way that will be a temporary situation.

RKS Guitars has taken the basic guitar concept and restated it as functional art. The guitars are familiar, yet different with their leading-edge sensual curves, understated elegance and ergonomic design.

The functional characteristics are the direct result of the RKS design team scrutinizing and analyzing the various ways guitarists physically handle their guitars. From that logical starting point they incorporated some very rational ergonomic design into the instruments.

Controls are hidden away for aesthetic appeal, but readily in reach for function --literally at your fingertips. Balance is pleasantly neutral and the guitar feels solid and substantial without being heavy. The finishes are attractive and flawless, with a deep gloss and vibrant colors.

Modern Guitars recently took a tour through the new facility and discovered a highly focused and efficient operation that now produces six guitars each day. RKS expects daily production to reach sixty guitars once its operation hits full capacity.

Fifteen employees turn wooden blanks into objects d'art with the help of a CNC machine, a workforce of skilled luthiers, attention to detail and the patience of Job.

Just in case you wondered why the company came up with RKS name, you only have to turn to the owner and chief designer for the answer. Ravi K. Sawhney is an experienced industrial designer who has lent his talents to the design of printers, televisions, telephones, showerheads, and now- guitars. Along with his work with RKS Guitars he's also the owner of RKS Design.

In 2005, RKS won two Silver design awards bestowed by the Industrial Designers of America (IDSA) and BusinessWeek Magazine. BusinessWeek announced the winners in its magazine with a cover shot of a riveting neon green RKS "Pop Series" guitar.

Paul Janowski is the man responsible for executing the vision. He's a member of Ravi's design team at RKS Design. Paul's had years of experience with other guitar makers before working with Ravi. He's also got some stage time under his belt as a working musician that has helped him appreciate the need to keep a guitar's weight down, the instrument balanced and making sure the guitars are reliable tools for the working musician.

Janowski is also keenly aware of the need to give guitars some "show off" appeal.

So how did Ravi and Paul end up designing and building guitars?

Ravi offered, "I began to learn guitar about five years ago and got the idea to make a custom guitar that I could learn to play. I asked Paul to help me out on the project. The project turned into RKS Guitars."

Another RKS design consultant is Rock n' Roll Hall of Fame inductee, guitarist and hit maker Dave Mason.

While a young man of only 19 years old, Mason joined the supergroup Traffic and wrote the classic "Feeling Alright." After he went out on his own, Dave made a name for himself as a solo artist.

Mason's recent venture with RKS has him helping out with the guitars' designs that ended up with a three year stint checking out the prototypes. Dave made sure that the guitars were suitable for working musicians and life on the road.

And just as important to the company, Dave has lent his reputation and good name to the RKS brand by serving as one its chief promoters.

The new RKS production facility is clean and surpisingly quiet. Breaking the silence is the soft whirring of the company's CNC machine as it carves out bodies and necks.

The first step in the manufacturing process is to bring in wood blanks and rough cut each of them into headstocks, necks, and guitar bodies. The rough-cut blanks are allowed to stabilize for a few days before they are placed into the CNC machine. The machine can crank out up to ten parts at a time. For strength and stability the necks are routed for truss rods and carbon fiber reinforcement rods!

One of the reasons RKS chose the Oxnard location is the areas extremely stable climate. The Oxnard Plain rests along the Southern California coast north of LA and south of Santa Barbara where humidity and temperatures vary little throughout the year. This makes for a reliable and more forgiving environment to perform precision woodworking.

After machining, the units are taken out of the CNC machine and racked up before they move on down the line to receive truss rods, tuning machines, fret boards, and all the components needed to make a guitar.

RKS body shells are made of either wood or a wood-based polymer. The polymer shells and pick guards are all made offsite before being shipped to the Oxnard facility for finishing and assembly.

Body shells and necks receive their finishes with a base coat of urethane color, followed by an application of polyester clear coat. The gloss finishes are patiently polished to a deep mirror-like sheen.

The guitars are ready for final set-up once the frets and hardware are installed.

Another thing can be said about RKS guitars. They're not bargain basement specials.

The lowest cost model has an MSRP of $2000 with prices heading skyward to over $10,000 for the more elite editions.

Obviously, this is due to the long hours and costly skilled labor RKS must invest to produce its instruments. The guitars are stunners. They're beautifully designed and crafted instruments that should appeal to guitarists who want something unique, functional and dazzling on stage.

It's also likely that some of these early RKS guitars will end up in the hands of savvy collectors who can rightfully expect them to jump even higher in value as more of these axes are churned out of the Oxnard plant.

Some of the especially noteworthy features of an RKS include the way the pickup selector, volume and tone controls are hidden in the space between the body shell and the body core. While it seems the controls are hidden primarily for aesthetics, function isn't compromised, but enhanced. The controls are all positioned in a way that guitarists won't have to unnaturally bend their wrist to turn the dials.

The guitars are fitted with either a set of DiMarzio humbuckers or special design Lace sensors. The Lace sensors worked particularly well with the string and body configuration tonal qualities of these guitars.

The guitars are also individually set up at the factory before being shipped, so they shouldn't demand any additional calibrating, unlike many other mass produced guitars on the market today.

Also noteworthy, RKS has looked at the environmental impacts of their products- their designs use significantly less wood than conventional guitars and the plastics used are derived from cellulose, a renewable material.

RKS guitars all incorporate neck through body designs and are available as solid bodies or polymer hollow bodies, all in a nice colorful array of sparkling finishes.

Future projects for RKS include Ravi's interest in offering a below-$1,000 guitar, designing guitar instruction that would accelerate the learning curve for new guitarists, venturing into acoustic guitar design and expanding the RKS market to overseas markets.

To get a hint of the RKS factory team's sense of fun, innovation and cool, check out the RKS website and take its guitar gallery for a very literal spin. Its very trick software allows viewers to rotate each guitar a full 360 degrees!

RKS is already moving forward to establish a network of dealers around the world who will offer their full product line. These guitars with their unique open architecture design are well worth a look, a listen, and will certainly end up with a long line of admirers.

Manufacturer information
RKS Guitars, LLC
Corporate Headquarters
221 Lombard St
Oxnard, CA 93030
Phone: (800) 942-4RKS
(800) 942-4757
(805)988-2144
info@rksguitars.com
Website: RKS Guitars

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Dave Mason, Ravi Sawhney, and RKS Guitars