Ron Emory is a Southern California guitarist and original member of T.S.O.L. (True Sounds of Liberty), the Huntington Beach punk band formed in the late ’70s. As a co-founder and longtime guitarist, he helped define T.S.O.L.’s shift from early hardcore into darker, melodic territory that bled into deathrock and other punk offshoots, a sound that traveled with skaters and DIY venues across the region.
Across four decades he’s kept the focus on songs and feel: touring and recording with T.S.O.L., stepping in on guitar for Social Distortion in 2006 after Mike Ness broke his wrist skateboarding, and exploring tone on big hollow-body Gretsch guitars - tools he’s praised as straight rock-and-roll workhorses.
Beyond T.S.O.L., Emory has written and recorded outside the band, including the 2010 solo album Walk That Walk, cut in Orange County and released with contributions from friends in the SoCal punk community.
Offstage, Emory is a deeply rooted surfer and skater in OC. Period photos show him carving the Sign-In Bowl in Anaheim in the late ’80s, and he appears in the Skateboarding Hall of Fame’s Old School Skate Jam listings in 2001–2002. His raw skating talent and impact with the guitar create a firm presence in the skate-punk scene.
Our Tribute deck with Ron underscores those early years, paving the way for the collision of surf, skate, & punk rock that defined the SoCal scene for years to come.
Skaterbuilt Skateboards
Ron Emory Tribute Skateboard Deck – Surf-Inspired 10.5” (Pre-Order 2025)
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