Ruokangas Guitars - Pushing Sonic Boundaries With A Unique Take on Tradition

E

edgie

New member
During the past few weeks I've been looking for a Telecaster I can save up for that will compliment my Tyler BW. This time around I would prefer a subtler design leaning more into the traditional yet will have the improvements being offered by modern guitars specially the comfort and tuning stability of Tyler. I considered the usual suspects - a Tyler Classic, Skermetta, Suhr, etc. until I stumbled upon Ruokangas. Incidentally, someone I know is the dealer and he just got them in so I decided to investigate deeper.

I managed to try not one, but 3 of its models this week at Sam's(Soft member simplecomplexity) place. I must say though that I only got to try them with a small solid-state amp clean as there's no proper amp available yet at his place. He's got the VSOP(Strat), Unicorn(LP), and Hellcat(whammy-equipped rock/metal guitar). They all sound and feel different from each other for obvious reasons and yet they have something in common with each other: all of them has this full-frequency sound like there's a separate pickup for each string and no matter what the playing position is, they are just very comfortable. I'm sure the Hellcat is not even my cup of tea because of the looks but it's hard to put down too.

I'm happy to note that these guitars have modern features but they don't sound sterile at all. All of them are Thermo Treated(similar to Suhr's and Music Man's roasted maples), meaning the woods are dried to simulate aging by doing something to their molecular composition making them more stable. I'm not sure what it contributes tonally but I honestly never knew what they mean by piano-like lows until now. I just didn't think it's possible on the guitar and I thought they're just exaggerating on the forums. I mean it's a guitar so how can it have the piano sound "hugeness"? But it's just there, I can't explain, but it's just there.

I won't expound on how I find each model now lest I'd be accused of shilling for Sam but you guys may want to read on the Ruokangas website. All I can say is that in terms of sound, function, and balance, for me, they just exceeded the traditional designs they were patterned after by more than a mile. They also have a very intuitive Guitar Builder feature that you might want to check out for yourself too. IMHO, Ruokangas has the best website out there among the many boutique builders.: )

After that, I decided that I'll order a Classic Mojo(Telecaster classic) model. Lead time will be 7-8 months, plenty of time to save for GAS money and sell stuff. haha.
 
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Sorry I don't have pics. You can view the said models at Ruokangas.com
and the actual pics by googling Sam's guitar madness.
 
You're quick on the order! Happy for you!

When I tried out the axe, somehow I thought of you and knew that you'd love the build of the guitars. I brought my own amp (Port City Twelve) and it helped a lot to unleash the full potentiality and tonal spectrum of the guitar. Lovely harmonics and articulation. The build quality is indeed impeccable and great playability straight out of the box. I couldn't bond with the Hellcat for it's shred/metal-specific build, at least that was my impression of it (I can only shred paper). The Unicorn looks STUNNING with a sweet tone to go with. I love the neck on that guitar (59' feel)! The Spanish Cedar wood is an interesting choice, that does set it apart from the traditional LP-style. However, this does not sacrifice sustain and the sweet mids which I enjoyed very much while playing it. The VSOP, personally for me, seems like a modern interpretation of the strat-esque design. Low action, flatter fretboard radius and comfortable neck (although a tad thin for my liking). I liked the neck and middle pickup, but found the bridge a bit too bright for me. Nonetheless, I find the VSOP will cut through the mix very well when I tried it out with overdriven tones.

Overall, I think I enjoyed the Unicorn the best. Those who are looking for singlecuts and LP-alternatives should definitely give this a try. I've gone one round and return back to appreciate the traditional/vintage build of strat-style guitars, so the VSOP did not speak to me so much. The Hellcat, well I'm unable to comment much. Juha from Ruokangas, from the various articles I've read around forums/magazine, has been a passionate builder and settle for nothing less than perfection on his products. My two cents.
 
ShredAddict said:
pictures please!
Click to expand...

Only because you asked.. For more pics, please visit my website.
forsoft.JPG
 
Thanks for chiming in David! I understand what you mean with the VSOP's neck. It's a fast C neck profile hence the shape. For my order, I chose Narrow D profile. It'll have a 41mm nut(1 5/8) and it'll be quite similar to a Tyler '59 Standard. You are right on the bridge pickup being bright by itself but I think ALL of real strat bridge pickups are bright and thin anyway due to the physics involved. That's why it's always good to wire the 2nd tone control to the bridge pickup and that's what the VSOP comes stock with. When I play strats, I always roll down the bridge pu's tone to 3-5 anyway so basically I'm simulating humbucker with it.

And I'm not sure if you did this, but if you play with the tone knobs they have a wider useable range than your typical tone knob. I'm not sure what it is but I ought to ask Ruokangas about it. You can do trills while rolling it up and down to hear what I mean.

As for the Unicorn, I think the Spanish Cedar(for those not familiar, it's like the Honduran Mahogany of old times, not the current heavier and relatively less resonant ones) looks much better(mocha colored) than a mahogany specially that it's Thermo Treated. It has more clarity than a typical LP, less heavy and doesn't feel compressed(the upper frets of an LP is the reason why I'm a strat, not an LP guy). I can only wish that I have the dough to afford something like that. lol.
 
@Shred addict: The pic above seem to make the VSOP's hip larger than it actually is. It seems to be bigger than the normal strat in actual due to the reduced waist but it's not that big.
 
edgie said:
Thanks for chiming in David! I understand what you mean with the VSOP's neck. It's a fast C neck profile hence the shape. For my order, I chose Narrow D profile. It'll have a 41mm nut(1 5/8) and it'll be quite similar to a Tyler '59 Standard. You are right on the bridge pickup being bright by itself but I think ALL of real strat bridge pickups are bright and thin anyway due to the physics involved. That's why it's always good to wire the 2nd tone control to the bridge pickup and that's what the VSOP comes stock with. When I play strats, I always roll down the bridge pu's tone to 3-5 anyway so basically I'm simulating humbucker with it.

And I'm not sure if you did this, but if you play with the tone knobs they have a wider useable range than your typical tone knob. I'm not sure what it is but I ought to ask Ruokangas about it. You can do trills while rolling it up and down to hear what I mean.

As for the Unicorn, I think the Spanish Cedar(for those not familiar, it's like the Honduran Mahogany of old times, not the current heavier and relatively less resonant ones) looks much better(mocha colored) than a mahogany specially that it's Thermo Treated. It has more clarity than a typical LP, less heavy and doesn't feel compressed(the upper frets of an LP is the reason why I'm a strat, not an LP guy). I can only wish that I have the dough to afford something like that. lol.
Click to expand...
I guess that's my issue with the VSOP. I VERY SELDOM mess around with the tone knob. Volume yes, but not tone knob. I prefer it just maxed out so I don't have to worry about it too much. The bridge on my K-Line isn't as bright and thin for me. Then again, it's also about what kind of pickups used too.
 
edgie said:
You can do trills while rolling it up and down to hear what I mean.
Click to expand...
And it came with some slight 'wah-like' effect.. namle can probably liken it to a very very very mild beano boost sorta sound.
that's what i thought of first when i heard edgie play with the tone knobs
 
Had the chance to try out the VSOP and Unicorn at Sam's. Very well built indeed and Juha's satin finish is quite a feat to behold. Just silky smooth and great workmanship all around. I agree with David that the VSOP leans towards a more modern take of the Strat, with modern features and tones.

Now begins my excruciating wait for the arrival of my Mojo King :)
 
I had the opportunity to test the VSOP and Unicorn at Sam's crib. I put my money on the VSOP!

Even without plugging in to the amplifier, the guitar was super resonant and loud! Who needs an amplifier ;)

Plugging in the guitar into the amplifier, the guitar tone was awesomeness. Amazing clarity and plenty of sweetness from the single coils. In my opinion it is a marriage of modern and vintage tones. A blissful marriage that is. The neck was very comfortable to play too.

I was there to buy a pedal but testing that guitar was the highlight!

For the Unicorn, I wasn't feeling it as much even though I am a sucker for LP's. The VSOP is a must try and get if it's your kinda thing!
 
Repost from TGP-----
I finally get to post this after waiting for quite some time. Since I saw Juha's inlay artwork on some of the guitars on his website, I also wanted some to be done on my order.

But not being a huge fan of complicated inlays(e.g. vine inlays confuse me) and wanting to make it look casual, I decided to have something simpler than what he normally does to match the body's solid color. I still want to retain the Tele design's workhorse vibe. So I used my wife's love for cats as an inspiration and worked with Sam at Boutique Guitar Loft and Juha over possible designs. We came up with a sleeping cat, fishbone, and cat nail X marks for fret markers.

The neck is a very comfortable Narrow D shape with stainless steel frets(no ping sound! : )) which I can say is almost similar to my Tyler in thickness that I don't feel the change in neck shape when I switch guitars. Radius is 12" which may suggest a modern feel in paper but to me, it still has that vintage guitar feel. The back of the neck is finished with a thin satin finish.

For the body, the rounded off edges is a very nice touch. I was initially worried that maybe I should have requested an arm cut as one of my main gripes about teles is their thick/heavy slab feel on the hip side. Coupled with a lightweight body that I specified to Juha, it's really the most comfortable Tele I've played that balances well whether in sitting or standing position. It's as if the qualities of some of the notable tele-type guitars which I use as my standard for comfort and lightness(RS Guitarworks Old Friend) and of course the Tele sound(a friend's 2001 Suhr Classic T) have been squeezed into this guitar.

Pickups are Ruokangas Mojo Blues pickups. The bridge pu has flatpoles like a Broadcaster pickup and the neck is a P90-style pickup which Ruokangas has fitted with a lacquered Rosewood cover. The bridge pickup has a touch more mids than usual Tele pickups, but still has a punchy sound with twang at clean settings and overdrives nicely too. The neck pu balances well with the bridge pu -- fatter than a usual Tele neck single coil as you would expect from a P90-style pu but still detailed and balanced.

The Gotoh locking tuners work mighty fine. I love how neat the tuning posts are and they hold the tuning so well. Not sure what the pots are(Juha says he uses a Japanese brand) but they are very smooth and have nice taper to them.

Also, I must mention the customer service qualities from both dealer and Ruokangas are simply outstanding. It may take Juha a day or two to reply(which is understandable given the volume of clients) but when he replies, every single question I asked was answered articulately(and I tend to ask a lot). He also follows up with the dealer during the build stage. More importantly, the lead time of 10 months was accomplished excellently. The guitar arrived very well set-up, not a single buzz anywhere on the neck after tuning up.



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