Juha Ruokangas is a Finnish luthier well known on The Guitar Channel since he has been the subject of several interviews and has also animated a series of luthier chronicles. Juha (pronounced Yu-A) manufactures with a small team of luthiers instruments of very high quality entirely by hand, without the help of CNC (ie without Computer Numeric Control machine).
Thanks to a backstage pass owner of this Mojo Classic, The Guitar Channel got the chance to spend some time with this Telecaster coming from the North.
Mojo Classic Ruokangas Guitars review
Test setup
The guitar was plugged in directly in the Apollo Twin Universal Audio interface with the Fender 55 Tweed Deluxe plugin loaded. Only a touch of reverb was added in Final Cut Pro during the video editing.
Photo album
For reference, here's a pic of the Mojo with my Rittenhouse Telecaster on the right:
What I enjoyed the most
- Top quality
- The sounds
- Perfect tuning stability
- Confort of playing
- The touch
- Perfect balance between the P90 and the bridge pickup
What I enjoyed the least
- An almost too perfect guitar, especially for a raw design like the Telecaster
Conclusion
Spending several days with an instrument of this quality is a rare privilege. Indeed, the Ruokangas are instruments which are difficult to find given the very limited production. This Mojo Classic is a hell of guitar! Hard to find anything to blame on this guitar, everything is perfect. Almost too perfect for my taste. Especially for a Telecaster that is a guitar by essence rustic, we lose a little this side there but for the benefit of a pleasure to play.
Regarding the sounds, you are in for a treat when you play this guitar. The P90 in the neck position sounds great and mixes very well with the single coil in the bridge position. The guitar twang beautifully without ever being aggressive. Here is a guitar coming from a cold country but with a temperament of fire!
You want to know more about Juha, don't miss the series of luthier chronicles recorded with him :
The Guitar Channel podcast
The audio version of the video is available in the podcast on iTunes, Spotify and below:
Podcast: Play in new window | Download | Embed
Until the next gear review, keep on playing the guitar!
Pierre Journel.
