Drooling over Flaxwoods!

Hello All! 🙂

I’m sure that Rick and Richard (IG Instructors) will understand my experience from yesterday! It went like this:

I showed up at the music store where I teach, and the owner says “Bill I have a couple of rep-sample guitars I want you to try.” He seemed genuinely excited, so I asked him what they were, and he said “Well, I don’t want to explain what they are, or what they’re made out of, I just want you to do the “blindfold-test” so-to-speak! Besides, I doubt you will have heard of them.” So about 2 hours later (when I had a half-hour break) I asked him if I could try one of these new “rep-sample” guitars. He then said “Sure, do you want to try a P-90 equipped or Hum-Single-Hum model?” To which I said “P-90.” (Simply because I own a bunch of HSH-equipped guitars and ZERO P-90 guitars!) So he opens a case and hands me a GORGEOUS, shiny gold Flaxwood Liekki!!! HOLY CRAP! I start laughing, because I feel like I DO KNOW about these guitars (vicariously through Lundmark and Graham!) So he was a bit puzzled and said “You know about these?” Then I explained about Infinite Guitar and these two MONSTEROUS IG Instructors/mentors. (BTW, I already have visions of a future Massachusetts – USA – In-store Flaxwood Product Demo/Clinic featuring EITHER or BOTH of my IG buddies!!! How cool would THAT be?!?) 😎

Anyways I took a 30-minute spin on the Liekki, and I was HOOKED! This guitar is six-dtring heroin!!! (LOL!) I mean just GORGEOUS! It PLAYED great! It SOUNDED great! It FELT great! It LOOKED great! what more do you want to know?!? BTW, more specifically, it was very balanced. By that, I mean the weight was very even. Since most guitars in my experience are “body-heavy,” the Liekki may have seemed “neck-heavy.” However, in reality, this meant it was just “balanced.” The setup (straight from the “rep” (without tweaking) was perfect! The intonation was spot-on (I’m picky about that!) The tone was SO RESONANT! To me electric-guitars are “midrange-machines.” So the perfectly resonant electric guitar needs to have just the right midrange to NOT be too bright, NOT be too dark, and have that “singing upper-mid” quality that seems to resonate whether you use with a little gain, or with a LOT of gain! No matter what preamp/amp sound I used, the Liekki “sang” like a bird! AWESOME! Then I took a spin on the Flaxwood Voima (in natural matte-gray/black flaxwood finish.) This instrument was also superb! All of the above superlatives apply, except I personally liked the Liekki’s P-90 resonance (BTW, both Flaxwoods were Seymour Duncan equipped.) a bit more. (Again, I do NOT own any P-90’s, so I may have suffered from the “honeymoon-phase!” (LOL!) 😉

So my boss hasn’t decided whether he’ll carry them or not. (He knows how I FEEL now though!) For what it’s worth, the Flaxwood line is EXACTLY the type of guitar that Performance Music Center specializes in. We have a small shop, (relative to the likes of Guitar Center for example!) with a couple of VERY experienced salesman who can give a line like Flaxwood the attention they deserve and require. (In the past, Joe [the owner] has taken on lines like Blade, G&L, Hamer, etc as examples of smaller/lesser-known companies who make GREAT product, but don’t have the huge marketing budgets!) I really hope we bring them on-board. Incidently, I am NOT involved in retail in any way. I just teach there – and have for 21 years. 😎

I’m gonna end up in the “poor-house” if I dive-into a Liekki! (LOL!) However, I might have to do it anyways. We’ll see…maybe if I sell this-that-and the other thing…etc!!!) :rolleyes:

“Six-String Heroin!” :eek::o:D

~Bill Meehan~ 🙂