A true fusionist, he often incorporated elements of funk, pop, rock, blues, Brazilian and even a classical form of music infused with jazz. In the early ’80s Ritenour was given his own Ibanez signature model guitar, the LR-10, which was only produced between 1981 to 1987. The use of the LR-10 can be heard exclusively on his album Rit. Ritenour now (mostly) plays the Gibsons he first played in the ’70s (the ES-335 and L5), as well as his signature Lee Ritenour Model archtop guitar made by Gibson. Ritenour joined the 10th and 11th annual Independent Music Awards judging panel to boost independent musicians’ careers. He was also a judge for the 8th and 9th Independent Music Awards. In June 2010, in celebration of his fifty years as a guitarist, Lee Ritenour released the album 6 String Theory (in reference to 6 musical areas covered by the use of guitar). The album featured famous guitarists Steve Lukather, Neal Schon, John Scofield, Slash, Pat Martino, Mike Stern, George Benson and B.B. King as well as younger players such as Andy McKee, Joe Robinson and Guthrie Govan.