The 1st generation Valvebucker was launched in 2019. It gained a lot of publicity at the time, being the
first and only vacuum tube powered active pickup system ever for electric guitars. The key Mk2
upgrades are:

• Available now for 4- and 5-stringed Ruokangas basses
• Available now for 7-stringed Ruokangas guitars
• Completely new visual design
• The redesigned floor unit features now a balanced output (works as a DI box) as well
• The floor unit is now always matched in colour with the instrument

And a quick recap of the Valvebucker key features:

• A sensitive magnetic pickup capsule, capturing the instrument sound in high fidelity
• Tube powered proprietary preamp circuit
• One pickup – but a wide variety of sounds
• Military grade triode and pentode NOS tubes with lifetime warranty
• A floor unit included, to connect the Valvebucker® -equipped included to the rest of your signal chain
• A 12VAC power supply included
• A 10-foot XLR cable included

The design architecture of the Valvebucker® circuit is noteworthy, making use of sweet spots found from
outside the typical operational points of vacuum tubes, by using relatively low voltages. The power
consumption of the Valvebucker® remains within the given values also during startup – an important
feature when using commercially available pedal power units. Every Valvebucker® unit is handmade and
finetuned individually in Finland. The Valvebucker® design team is: Lassi Ukkonen (the designer of the Simble Overdrive, etc), Jorma Kostamo, Jyrki Kostamo, Junnu Vuorela and Juha Ruokangas.

The Valvebucker® Mk2 is available as a custom option for Ruokangas guitars and basses, adding 2000€/US$2.200.00 to the basic cost of an ordered instrument. The Valvebucker is not available as an
aftermarket/retrofit product.

This is what Sonny Landreth says about his Valvebucker guitar:

”I love the Valvebucker Mojo! This pickup/system is unique and doesn’t sound like anything else. If I
had to sum it up with one word, it would be smooth as the Valvebucker is the smoothest sounding
pickup I’ve ever experienced. It kind of reminds me of the difference between vintage Neve and SSL
consoles of the day. I especially like it for dialing in a big, clean tone with the selector switch in the
middle position for my solo songs. The range from top to bottom for moving parts of bass lines
against chord melodies etc is balanced and nothing ”pokes out” too much – much easier to let
multiple parts speak. Also, I love how complex, distorted chords with open tunings for slide sound.