Weekly Wednesday Q&A with Juha Ruokangas

What..!? How could there ever be a good reason not to order a new custom guitar - some might argue. Join me on this live stream and you’ll find out the 5 most common pitfalls that you should be aware of!  A little disclaimer - this podcast is not about the guitars we make in my company. Instead, it's simply a dialogue to help you, who are interested in learning more about your own instrument....

Let's continue where we were left off a week ago! We discussed a bunch of different whammies as well as a few T-style bridges last week, so now we'll dive in to talk about tune-o-matics, wraparounds and as an icing on the cake I'll report to you what I've learned about the Evertune bridge when we've installed those to a number of custom guitars over the past years. A littl...

Today we’ll talk about guitar and bass bridges. What makes a good bridge? What makes a bad bridge? A huge topic - impossible to do much more than scratch the surface in this one broadcast, but let's do our best! I will attempt to address the main guitar bridge styles, including the classic T and S style, tune-o-matic, locking whammy, wraparound - and hopefully we have a moment to discuss abou...

As a guitar player - the wood quality of your guitar matters, whether you know it or not. Why? Because the wood materials are the very key element dictating whether any guitar has the potential – the genes – to become a decent musical instrument. Today we'll talk talk about Thermally Aged Tonewood. If you're not familiar with the term, you still might have heard about roasted or carameli...

So you're considering the possibility of becoming a guitar maker? It is a fascinating profession, indeed - but not so easy to succeed in it!  In this live stream I'll reveal to you a few key challenges you'll face on your path to becoming a luthier. I'll also discuss about my personal experiences, having earned my living from making guitars already for 25 years.  A little discl...

This week's podcast title is a bit cryptic, isn't it? I agree - and it is intentionally so. Let me explain a little.  A French author named Emmanuel Bighelli recently published a book about French guitar makers. Congrats, Emmanuel! Now he's in the middle of making another book in English - and he chose me to be one of the luthiers to be introduced in this book. Great! Emmanuel sent...

Buying a guitar on tight budget is not easy. First off - there are so many cheap guitar brands and types available! And more importantly - how can you know if any of them are good!? Let's talk about that on my live stream! Ok - it's not always the case of being broke when one needs to find a guitar for small money. Sometimes friends or family might ask for your help to buy a guitar. Mayb...

How can I know if it's my guitar or my technique to blame when my hottest licks just keep failing me..!? Truthfully - I felt that I'm kinda walking on thin ice with this topic... so I invited the Shaman of Shred himself to discuss all those crucial technical elements when racing through the fretboard in lightning speed - a big welcome to the Sorcerer of Soloing, Sensei Mika Tyyskä alias...

What is a dead spot? Can it be fixed? Dead spot is a common term related to a note that decays significantly quicker than the other notes. Why does it happen - and more importantly, is there a cure? That's what we'll talk about on this episode of my podcast! A little disclaimer - this podcast is not about the guitars we make in my company. Instead, it's simply a dialogue to help you...

Someone asked in my earlier live stream about string gauges, and I answered something about it briefly... but the topic has been bothering me since - so let's dig deeper and find out what is the absolutely best string gauge to your guitar!  A little disclaimer - this podcast is not about the guitars we make in my company. Instead, it's simply a dialogue to help you, who are interested in...

Ok… so your guitar doesn’t stay in tune? Where to look for the solution? Let’s talk about tuning issues in guitars! Can be electric or acoustic, doesn’t matter - many of the fundamentals are exactly the same.  A little disclaimer - this podcast is not about the guitars we make in my company. Instead, it's simply a dialogue to help you, who are interested in learning more about your own instru...

"The sound of my guitar is too dark. It doesn't cut through in my band - something's missing! Should I get new pickups?" Where does the electric guitar sound come from? Is it the pickups? Or the amplifier? Does the acoustic/unplugged sound matter at all in an electric guitar? In this episode we'll talk about all that. Come challenge me with your most tricky questions! I pr...

"Today, when I picked up my favourite guitar, it didn't feel like it did the day before. It was harder to play and even the sound felt flatter. What had happened?" Many of you may have experienced the same. In this episode we'll talk about what makes a guitar feel good to play. I'll do my best to help you understand your instrument better, and give all tips I can how to ma...