Virtuoso

onedrop - Virtuoso
A true marvel of onedrop’s potential, Virtuoso is Ethan Cheung’s signature model.

Onedrop’s roots are paid homage in the body of work that made the Virtuoso possible. In addition to the opus of onedrop’s know-how, the name comes from Ethan’s amazing compositions that he creates for his own freestyles, and performs beautifully on the saxophone.

The Format:C, Ethan’s favorite model, became the overall starting point for the Virtuoso, letting him tweak his favorite throw to better serve his particular style.
The body is made of high-end 7075 aluminum, and it has a slightly light feeling at the end of the string that still has a definite “hardness” to its playfeel. This is interesting. It appears to have a straight profile, but the actual shape is more rounded, which becomes apparent as soon as you grip it. . You could say that it’s a little closer to the Citizen than the Format:C.

If you want a wonderful rounded playfeel that is also a lot of other wonderful things, the Virtuoso delivers the controll and sin that Than demands from his hardest competition throw. As an added homage to onedrop’s early brilliance, the rim is inspired by a combinatino of their first releases, the Project and Groove.

Official Description

It’s always intriguing to make a signature yo-yo. We always invite the player to contribute as much as possible to the design so that this important moment for them is the best it can be. A good measure of success is if the yo-yo is a reflection of the person. Ethan Cheung is a player on our team who is focused on competitive yo-yoing, but he doesn’t sacrifice any artistry in this pursuit. This rare combination makes Ethan stand out.

If you watch Ethan Cheung’s performance at Worlds 2018 in Shanghai you will notice precision, artistry, clarity, mastery. If you look at his signature yo-yo, the Virtuoso, you will notice the same characteristics. The 7075 aluminum alloy design is very focused towards function as a hard core competitive yo-yo with all the performance you would expect. If you look closely, you’ll also see the artistry with the clean flowing lines, the minimalist cup, the light bead blast, and the beautiful “projection profile” on the face of the rim giving a small nod to our first yo-yo, the Project.

Ethan explains his thought process on designing his signature yo-yo:

“At a glance, the design is reminiscent of the Format:C: which was the yoyo that allowed me to push my own boundaries and place 10th at Worlds in Iceland. But if you look more closely, you’ll notice the grooves on the rim - a tribute to the original Project and the roots of One Drop. For this signature model, I wanted a yoyo that would allow me to explore more styles of movement, that complements any style of play thrown at it. It is this balance of comfort and performance, of minimalism and detail, that makes us proud to present: the Virtuoso.”