Matti Nevalainen (b. 1951) has been making guitars for over 50 years. He made his first electric guitar in 1965 at the age of 14. At the turn of 1989–1990, Matti created his own signature design, the Flying Finn – a guitar which got its name from Matti's childhood years with ski jumping. The American Guitar Player magazine featured Flying Finn in an article in 1994, bringing this Finnish electric guitar expertise also to the international market.
Over the years, Matti has built numerous custom Flying Finn guitars for professional musicians and music enthusiasts around the world. In addition to the FF model, Matti has made LP, ST, TL and heavy guitar models under the name FGW – Finnish Guitar Works.
Matti's work combines his colorful and innovative vision, solid experience and professionalism, and his bubbly and energetic personality. Being one of the pioneers of electric guitar manufacturing in Finland, he has also educated many new musical instrument building professionals as a teacher at the Ikaalinen College of Crafts and Design. The spark for making electric guitars is still burning strong, and new instruments are still being made in Matti's workshop.
Matti Nevalainen at his workshop in Tampere, Finland (2025)
The body painted by Justin "Nordic Thunder" Howard
The body painted by OCTO
