makka
Member
OK so long time listener, first time caller here on SSO. Lots of cool posts to read but I've never really had anything interesting to say so an NGD sounds like a great topic for my first post.
I already own a second hand RG7620 which was my first introduction to 7 strings and I've had that for a number of years. I was looking for a 7 string that could do a few more tricks. I considered an EBMM JP7 but there were things about them that I didn't like so I started talking to some builders about a custom instrument.
To cut a long story short through a fortunate chain of events the search ended with me talking to Juha Ruokangas and his small and highly talented team at Ruokangas guitars in Finland.
I suspect he was a bit surprised at my specifications but he took in his stride and after lots of fun discussion and challenging work they produced this beauty (pics are from his talented wife Emma since any pics I take simply can't do the guitar justice)
There's an article on the creation of the guitar here along with a bunch more photos. Gives an idea of some of the challenges faced (thanks Juha for taking the project on
.
So some of the special features I was looking for...
You'd think all those options would be over the top but it all just works without requiring a degree to operate
Massive thanks to Juha and the team for both your patience and producing my dream guitar!
I already own a second hand RG7620 which was my first introduction to 7 strings and I've had that for a number of years. I was looking for a 7 string that could do a few more tricks. I considered an EBMM JP7 but there were things about them that I didn't like so I started talking to some builders about a custom instrument.
To cut a long story short through a fortunate chain of events the search ended with me talking to Juha Ruokangas and his small and highly talented team at Ruokangas guitars in Finland.
I suspect he was a bit surprised at my specifications but he took in his stride and after lots of fun discussion and challenging work they produced this beauty (pics are from his talented wife Emma since any pics I take simply can't do the guitar justice)
There's an article on the creation of the guitar here along with a bunch more photos. Gives an idea of some of the challenges faced (thanks Juha for taking the project on
.So some of the special features I was looking for...
- GraphTech Piezo system in the bridge running to a stereo jack. I wanted to avoid having a second jack drilled into the guitar preferring to use a Y split cable instead
- Tremol-no unit to lock the bridge
- Two EVH D-Tunas one for the low B and the other for the low E. These work incredibly well in conjunction with the Tremol-no. I'm really amazed how accurate the tuning change is for both strings when flicking back and forth between the two modes. I was a bit nervous the low B wouldn't work that accurately but it works great!
- Blower switch to switch to the bridge pickup from any pick up combo
- There's also push/pull pots for a coil tap and dark/bright option for piezo. The latter was a surprise option Juha slipped in and that works nicely
- The back is finished in satin nitro for that woody feeling
You'd think all those options would be over the top but it all just works without requiring a degree to operate
Massive thanks to Juha and the team for both your patience and producing my dream guitar!
