Ruokangas VSOP Standard "custom"

VSOP front
Originally uploaded by Uncle GroOve.

Ordered 4 months ago, she is finally here.
We're talking about a Ruokangas VSOP Standard which has been somewhat customized by Juha to my specs.
The upgrades basically are:
Haeussel "harrybarden" blade humbuckers on a pearloid 'guard
Stainless steel frets
Flamed maple neck and fretboard.
The guitar is a bow to that venerable Fullerton double-cut design, from the 25.5" scale length, to the bolt-on neck down to the alder body. Finish is a ultra-thin vintage white poly job. The" venerable design" is brought up-to date by the Wilkinson steel block (a joy to operate, smooth and precise), a moose shin bone nut (naturally lubricated) and thermo-treated woods. This treatment aims to recreate the natural effect of wood aging and drying over time and is a trademarked process (IIRC it was developed by the Wood Institute in Helsinki, Finland).
Tonally the guitar is *alive* and resonant; the low-wind pickups (appx. 4.5K) induce a nice harmonically rich sheen, but despite the maple and the stainless steel frets there is none of that glare in the mid-high register and no ice-pick shrillness from the bridge pickup. The mid positions sund "clucky" and yield an immediately apparent timbre difference when played with an overdriven amp or stompbox. Just flick from one position to go from bright to dark - easy!The generous frets are high enough so that in the high register you're practically playing a scalloped fretboard, which does wonders for faster, shred oriented players. For the heavy crowd I'd recommend using Harry Haeussel's "hot" version of these blade pickups, of course.
The price of this baby would be around 2'800 Euro (incl. VAT). In the price is included a sturdy Hiscox form-fitted case.