Thanks to all our friends for the awesome support – you’ve made our Frankfurt Musikmesse 2012 experience unforgettable! We’re humbled and overwhelmed by all the attention from players, press, online medias and guitar shops – thank you so much! Extra special thanks go to Glockenklang, Elmwood & Palmer amplification, Mad Professor pedals, Elixir Strings, Häussel Pickups, Musikhaus Jever and last but not least our hard working road crew from IKATA! We love all you guys and already miss you and look forward to seeing again next year!

Here you go – the last addition to our Messe Trilogy video series! Thanks to the visitors playing on the clip – sorry, didn’t catch your names though! We hope you enjoy the video and catch a glimpse of the amazing show groove..! We surely enjoyed every minute of the event and can’t wait to be back again!

Day 3 at Frankfurt Musikmesse 2012 – Juha tells a bit more about the Mojo King and the new cool Steambass wiring option!

Day 2 at Frankfurt Musikmesse by Ruokangas Setzer Productions – have fun!

Ladies and Gentlemen: Packed with jaw dropping array of tonal variety, new exciting features and supercharged hot rod looks, the Mojo King has arrived! Read all about it from the spotlight article – and welcome to take her for a spin at Frankfurt Musikmesse 2012!

We’ll bring a beautiful collection of instruments to Musikmesse, including this Steambass Classic that sounds amazing with the Arctic Birch fretboard, and the looks ooze some serious high class retro vibe! We’ll also bring a brand new fretless Steambass to the show – check it out from our stock page!

Among other Musikmesse goodies we’ll bring a Teaburst Unicorn with the most gorgeous Arctic Birch top we’ve seen in a while, a Mojo Grande in a brand new Purple Haze color and much more! Stay tuned on our stock page for photos of all the show guitars! Welcome to see us at the loudest guitar show of the year – you’ll find us from hall 4.0, booth B47!

Check out this pre-released track Desbagd from the new album Feuer by our German soul sisters & brothers Candycream! The album will be released end of March 2012 through Globe Art Music.

Candycream is a nine-piece powerhouse of soul, nu jazz and r&b grooves. The band’s love of 60′s and 70′s soul music blends with an ability to riff emotionally through modern jazz, soul and lounge. Candycream has also worked together with Tony Momrelle and supported such soul legends as Lionel Richie and The Temptations on their European tour dates.

Florian Zepf plays guitar in Candycream, and we’re very proud he has chosen our Mojo guitar to be his main instrument both in studio and live – listen to his groovy licks and solo on the track Desbagd! Check out more info about Candycream and pre-order the new album from their official website!

Time to start packing your bags and booking flights for the loudest and proudest guitar show in the world! Our Messe preparations are proceeding fast and furious – we’ve chosen the most awesome Arctic Birch, lightest Spanish Cedar, best sounding Alder, the most vibrant colors and designed a stunning collection of custom creations for the Frankfurt Musikmesse 2012!

Something new? You bet! We’ll bring along a super cool new version of the Mojo guitar that we’re really excited about – top secret for now, don’t tell anyone… We also have the first ever fretless Steambass along, so all you bass players – spread the word! And talking about basses, I know many of you have waited for a long time for good quality audio clips of the Steambass. Check out the Markus Setzer featured player page – on the sidebar you’ll find clips of two awesome songs by Markus. Listen with good headphones or speakers and I promise you – the tone is divine!

Last year we had a great time together with our demo players Markus Setzer and Petteri Sariola, so we decided to bring them along this year as well – Markus and Petteri will be demoing at our booth B47 in hall 4.0 daily!

Juha Ruokangas will be present at the booth every day together with Musikhaus Jever‘s very own Holger Hanenkamp so whether you speak German, English or Finnish, we’re well covered. This year the showtime is 21-24 March, opening hours from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Warm welcome for everyone!

“This year has been the most eventful ever for us! We introduced the Steambass which has proven already to be a huge success. We attended Frankfurt Musikmesse, Montreal Guitar Show and Turenki Tonefest. We kept on building guitars and delivering them – despite the added pressure of our shop move that was ongoing most of the year.

May this photo, taken by Emma from our backyard a few days ago, remind us all that there’s also a time to rest. I want to thank you all for this wonderful year and wish a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year 2012 to all of you on behalf of the Ruokangas Guitars “Elves” and my family!”

- Juha Ruokangas

A lot of exciting Ruokangas related stuff is happening all over the world, and we want to share with you some of the recent highlights!

We’re honored to be featured in an awesome new book called Electrified, by Robert Shaw. The book is really beautiful, loaded with gorgeous photos – recommended reading for anyone interested in high end boutique guitars!

We’re really happy that the guys at Leftyfretz.com have noticed our efforts to offer equal service to all players! Keep up the good work – your website is amazing!

Around the world – it’s all about music! Check out the powerful tone of Matias Kupiainen on the latest Stratovarius video Under Flaming Skies! And how about the soulful sound of Flo Zepf with his Mojo Custom on the Candycream tune Give Love a Chance, featuring on vocals Tony Momrelle!

And then something completely different – Nev is a big name in Turkey – check the YouTube clip and look for a gorgeous ruby red Unicorn Custom.. The warmest regards to our Istanbul retailer Guitar Center – you’re doin’ a great job!

Itching to get a new guitar? A hot tip for all you enthusiasts – take a look at Vintage & Rare, the essential gateway to find the coolest vintage, rare and boutique guitars and guitar gear world wide. Nicolai Schneekloth & your team – keep up the awesome work!

And last but not least, a couple of selected quotes from Ruokangas players. You’ll find more from the testimonials page. Enjoy!

“The Ruokangas team have a real passion for what they do! Every one of my Ruokangas guitars is absolutely awesome. I fell in love. Thank you so much Juha.”
- Bruno Longobardi, France

“I would like to extend my highest accolades possible for the incredible design and workmanship of your guitars!”
- David Miskit, Florida USA

“Ruokangas guitars are instruments for grown-ups!”
- Thorsten Hoffmann, Germany

“I am totally in shock Juha! This is a killer guitar – I have 20 guitars, but this one is the best!!!”
- Michael Pagaard, Denmark

“I have many guitars, some are good, some even great. Then I have the ones I use. They are all Ruokangas guitars.”
- Juha Torvinen, Finland

All you guitar and bass lovers in Germany – head your way to Oldenburg this weekend! The annual Vintage Guitar Show will take place at the Schule am Floetenteich, and Musikhaus Jever will be there with an impressive Ruokangas collection!

The opening hours are: Saturday 10am to 6pm, Sunday 11 am to 4pm. As always, there’s a LOT of guitars to see!

Check out more information from the Vintage Guitar Show website. For those attending – have a great show and tell our best regards to Holger and the rest of the Musikhaus Jever team!

O-hoy all you bass maniacs out there! Markus Setzer will give a masterclass and perform with his trio at Feel The Bass event held at Mannheim Popakademie this Sunday, October 16th! He will have a couple of Ruokangas basses along, so all you interested in demoing the Steambass and enjoy some awesome bass playing, here’s a great chance! Find out more from Feel The Bass website!

Welcome everyone to the first ever Turenki Tonefest! The finest Finnish luthiers and gear manufacturers gather together at this unique event held in our new hometown, at the coolest location imaginable, the historic Turenki Railroad Station, built in 1862 and renovated some years ago back to it’s full original glory!

Turenki is located conveniently right in the middle of the southern Finland so we’re close by no matter if you come from Helsinki, Tampere, Lahti or Turku direction.

The guitars, amps and pedals will be demoed by top Finnish players. The amazing guitar virtuoso Antti Paranko will be there with his Trio demoing Ruokangas instruments – so don’t miss this! You can find more info from the Turenki Tonefest website and Facebook page!

Well – the living could have been easy if we wouldn’t have moved our workshop at the same time! We have a lot of material gathered of the workshop project and as soon as we find the time to organize all that, you’ll find out more…

We also found in some miraculous way time to attend the Montreal Guitar Show (which was a blast, thank you so much for everyone involved!) this summer. As always, we’re making a video of the show for you – and while waiting for that, check out this one – Juha was interviewed by Rebecca Dirks of Premier Guitar at the MGS. Thanks Premier Guitar & Rebecca, thanks Jacques André and the MGS team!

And last but not least – thank you for your patience with us – the shop move has taken it’s toll – e-mails and phone calls haven’t been answered as fast as we would have wanted. The worst is however now behind and we’ll catch up all the delay in no time!

Our long anticipated move to the new location is finally reality! The old Harviala manor facility fits like a glove to our old school philosophy of making guitars, and there’s no doubt that in this beautiful and relaxing atmosphere our creative spirits will soar higher than ever!

We have still quite a bit of tweaking to do in the new shop, so we ask for just a little extra patience if your e-mail isn’t replied as fast as usual or telephone call isn’t answered every time. We’re working hard to get the wheels turning, and we truly appreciate all the support and understanding you’ve given us during these past months – thank you so much, we wouldn’t be here doing what we do without you guys!

The highlight boutique guitar event of the year is close at hand! Juha will bring along some of the most beautiful Ruokangas guitars ever made – including the gorgeous Duke Classic, custom built to the permanent Ste-Cat Collection. See you in Montreal!

We hope you enjoy our Musikmesse 2011 video, featuring performances by Petteri Sariola, Markus Setzer and Uriah Duffy!