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| Company type | Osakeyhtiö / Ltd. |
|---|---|
| Industry | Musical instrument |
| Founded | 2005 |
| Headquarters | , |
Area served | Worldwide |
Key people | Mika Räty (CEO) |
| Products | Electric guitars and instrument parts |
| Divisions | Wood Fiber Technologies Inc. |
| Website | flaxwood.com |
Flaxwood is a Finnish manufacturer of guitars and instrument parts based in North Karelia. [1] The company manufactures instruments from natural fibre-reinforced thermoplastic through a patented injection moulding process. [2] Flaxwood was founded in 2005 following a research project on natural fibre-reinforced thermoplastic composites led by Heikki Koivurova. A prototype was developed initially in 2003 with the design input of Luthier Veijo Rautia and two years later Flaxwood introduced their first line of guitars. In 2011, they released a line of hybrid guitars. [3]
Design
Material
The body, neck and backplate of a Flaxwood guitar are made of a fibre-reinforced thermoplastic composite. The composite material, also known as Kareline FLX, was developed through a collaboration between Heikki Koivurova, an industrial designer from Joensuu, Kareline, a Finnish manufacturer of composite materials, and the then University of Joensuu. [4] [5] It consists of small wood fibres, in this case from recycled northern spruce, mixed with a thermoplastic bonding agent. The semi-liquid mixture is moulded into shape with the fibres set in a predetermined direction. This results in a uniform material with a density of 1 or 2 kg/cm³ (74906 lb/ft³) that can be recycled. [ citation needed]
Manufacturing
Flaxwood produces and assembles their instruments and parts in Joensuu, Finland. The parts that come out of the mould are shaped with the cavities, pockets, joints and practically all the holes. They are then assembled and finished by hand with tools that are commonly used in traditional guitar workshops. [ citation needed]
Products
Guitars
Flaxwood Series
The guitar models of the regular line come with approximately similar features and various pick-up configurations. The bodies are semi-hollow with a backplate and come with either a Gotoh 510UB hardtail bridge, a Gotoh GE-103B tune-o-matic bridge or a Schaller LP tremolo bridge. The glued in necks feature 22 medium jumbo frets, a 25.5" scale length and a 1-11/16" Tune-X Tuning System nut.
Instrument Components
Since 2011, Flaxwood has launched a line of components for music instruments such as bolt-on guitar necks, guitar blanks and fingerboard blanks for bowed string instruments. [6] [7] Some of the components are used by other companies like the German violin manufacturer Mezzo-Forte. [8] [9]
Notable players
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References
- ^ "Soitinvalmistuksesta iso bisnes Pohjois-Karjalaan". Kansan Uutiset Oy. 2010-11-03.
- ^ "Method for manufacturing musical instrument and a musical instrument Patent (Patent # 7,214,866)". justia.com. Justia. 2005.
- ^ TonalInnovationCenter (2011). "Flaxwood technology, Patented injection molding – Jukka-Pekka Karppinen". SlideShare Inc.
- ^ "Így készül egy kompozit gitár". aktivgitar.hu. 2013.
- ^ Grace, Robert (2007). "Kareline seeks global markets for bioblends". plasticsnews.com. Crain Communications Inc.
- ^ Alexander, Lars Dallmann (2012). "Kleiner Exkurs zu Vintage-Hype und Gitarreninnovationen".
- ^ "Oma Yritys Suomalainen Flaxwood tähtää 6,4 miljardin euron soitinrakennusmarkkinoille". Kauppalehti (in Finnish). 2011. Archived from the original on 2014-11-29. Retrieved 2013-08-29.
- ^ Ridden, Paul (2011). "Flaxwood's new Hybrid guitar launched at Winter NAMM". Gizmag.
- ^ Parish, Matt (2013). "Perfecting the Sustainable Guitar". mmrmagazine.com/. Timeless Communications.
