A few short years ago, Flaxwood challenged traditional thinking about what is necessary to produce great guitar tone. Its guitars are made by breaking down recycled wood fiber, mixing it up with an acoustically sensitive polymer and then injection-molding it into the familiar shape of a guitar. In an effort to introduce the technology to a wider audience, the company has allowed a traditional axe to mate with one of its own. The result of this unholy union has now been born. The appropriately-named HYBRID has a European alder wood body and a bolt-on Flaxwood neck and is available in single coil or humbucker pickup configurations.
The company's Jussi Reijonen told Gizmag that Flaxwood is "combining the advanced material technology used in our earlier models, with traditional wood guitar luthiery, in an effort to get closer to the players who are more familiar with traditional designs."
The body is crafted from non-endangered European alder body that's supplied from certified sustainable resources. The 22 fret natural fiber composite bolt-on neck, the primary ingredient of which is recycled Northern Spruce, helps provide the company's trademark sustain, responsiveness and stability.
The HYBRID is initially available in two model types. The 3SC version has three Seymour Duncan SSL-2 single coil pickups and a blend control which adds gradual neck pickup signal, in addition to the volume and tone knobs. There are a couple of Seymour Duncan humbuckers on the 2HM version, with volume and individual pickup tone controls.
The new model is shipped with Elixir Nanoweb 0.010 to 0.046-inch strings, benefits from a Tune-X tuning system and is available with either a stainless steel hardtail or tremelo bridge. Launched at NAMM in Anaheim recently, the Flaxwood HYBRID is crafted in Finland and carries a suggested retail price of US$1,299.
