I think Strandbergs suck

[Calija]

I lied.

I got to play my first ever strandberg a week ago and it didnt sustain at all, just wondering if this is a characteristic of strandbergs or I got unlucky with shitty guitar store setup.

I was looking at a strandberg to be my fast solo guitar, mostly because of the endure neck. But comparing it to my KRYS10, and pretty much every other guitar Ive had, the notes just die out straight away it was quite disappointing. Amp was pretty high gain so Im pretty sure it was the guitar, not 100% sure, I might be stupid.
I dont remember what model it was but it cost ab 2k australian.

Aside from that it was pretty fucking sick, mad chuggs

 

[Riverview]

maybe you tried the new 5 string model

 

[Hollowway]

It's definitely not a characteristic. But, it may not be the "store" setup, as strandberg has a history of hit and miss QC. My guess is that it would be fixable, either through setup or some minor fretwork. BUT, they are priced such that you'd kind of expect some of that to already be taken care of. Strandberg is a good deal if you want a strandberg, but it's certainly not the best thing out there for the price. I have one, and I'm happy with it, as it's lightweight, different, and looks cool. But it's not displacing any of my other instruments.

 

[Calija]

It's definitely not a characteristic. But, it may not be the "store" setup, as strandberg has a history of hit and miss QC. My guess is that it would be fixable, either through setup or some minor fretwork. BUT, they are priced such that you'd kind of expect some of that to already be taken care of. Strandberg is a good deal if you want a strandberg, but it's certainly not the best thing out there for the price. I have one, and I'm happy with it, as it's lightweight, different, and looks cool. But it's not displacing any of my other instruments.

I wasnt aware strandberg had inconsistent QC, but yeah for 2k I want to pay for a playable guitar, especially after getting an ibanez for 2k that played better than anything else.

 

[HellBent]

Generally, less mass=less sustain. Strandberg is one of the lowest mass form factors I can think of as far as guitars go.

 

[Calija]

Generally, less mass=less sustain. Strandberg is one of the lowest mass form factors I can think of as far as guitars go.

The sustain was unplayable, best guess is bad QC and I got unlucky with the one I picked to try out.

 

[ToRNOuTLaW]

Cannot confirm for my Paul Masvidal Signature Boden OS 6. Mass is a factor, but not the only one. I believe adequate stiffness of the wood, neck/body connection, hardware-materials and installation can easily outweigh a mass "deficit". Basically everything that contributes to dampening will kill sustain.

Something different about Strandberg issues: I saw a video by Andre Fludd where he explained his preference for guitars without zero fret. I have never heard that opinion before and it surprised me, as zero-frets are usually sold as a premium feature on more expensive instruments, citing a more coherent tone between open and fretted notes, as well as an automatically well adjusted string height, compared to nut slots that have to be filed down correctly.
Andre's argument is that the strings will overtime dent the frets, due to the constant pressure, and create grooves. I have three headless guitars with zero frets, the strandberg, my Valravn and a DIY build. Also a Le Fay Bass, a boutique instrument, with zero fret and grooves in the headstock instead of a nut. What I found is that when I am bending on the treble strings on the strandberg, which I bought second hand, the strings seem to be stuck and then suddenly 'plink' out of position, which can be heard and eben more so felt. It doesn't happen on my DIY guitar, which is a mess otherwise, neither on the Valravn. The DIY is about 10 years older than the strandberg that was produced somewhere between 2014-16, the Valravn is much younger at around 2022. The Valravn and DIY have stainless steel frets, not sure about the Strandberg. The Le Fay doesn't present that problem, despite having non-steel frets. Might have to do with bigger bass-string radiuses and/or a shallower angle behind the zero-fret?

Before Andre's video, I thought something was wrong with the strandberg's nut or string-clamp. Has anyone else had similar experiences with zero-fret instruments in general and Strandbergs in particular?

 

[Eviga]

I had a Boden 7 USA Washburn Custom Shop from 2014 with ss frets.

Sold it 2020 and had no issues with the zero fret. It also had no wear at all.
Maybe the fretmaterial still differ from each other even they are all stainless steel? But idk

 

[EuropeanBob]

I had a 6 string metal and a 7 string (briefly). Never could get a really good setup on them. I had a high end Jackson at the time so was maybe comparing to a very good setup. The fishman pickups sounded pretty good though.

Was recently looking for a high gain guitar with a trem and tried a fusion in a store. Guitar sounded super thin, bad sustain, just overall felt like a cheap guitar that needed a fret level and a lot of set up work. Was £2000+. I got an old ESP and am very happy.

I really like the comfort of the strandberg body, but in my experience they feel and play like a guitar half the price. I’m also not a fan of the clean sound. Might just be the ones I tried though.

 

[Ray-T]

Cannot confirm for my Paul Masvidal Signature Boden OS 6. Mass is a factor, but not the only one. I believe adequate stiffness of the wood, neck/body connection, hardware-materials and installation can easily outweigh a mass "deficit". Basically everything that contributes to dampening will kill sustain.

Something different about Strandberg issues: I saw a video by Andre Fludd where he explained his preference for guitars without zero fret. I have never heard that opinion before and it surprised me, as zero-frets are usually sold as a premium feature on more expensive instruments, citing a more coherent tone between open and fretted notes, as well as an automatically well adjusted string height, compared to nut slots that have to be filed down correctly.
Andre's argument is that the strings will overtime dent the frets, due to the constant pressure, and create grooves. I have three headless guitars with zero frets, the strandberg, my Valravn and a DIY build. Also a Le Fay Bass, a boutique instrument, with zero fret and grooves in the headstock instead of a nut. What I found is that when I am bending on the treble strings on the strandberg, which I bought second hand, the strings seem to be stuck and then suddenly 'plink' out of position, which can be heard and eben more so felt. It doesn't happen on my DIY guitar, which is a mess otherwise, neither on the Valravn. The DIY is about 10 years older than the strandberg that was produced somewhere between 2014-16, the Valravn is much younger at around 2022. The Valravn and DIY have stainless steel frets, not sure about the Strandberg. The Le Fay doesn't present that problem, despite having non-steel frets. Might have to do with bigger bass-string radiuses and/or a shallower angle behind the zero-fret?

Before Andre's video, I thought something was wrong with the strandberg's nut or string-clamp. Has anyone else had similar experiences with zero-fret instruments in general and Strandbergs in particular?

Yes, I have seen that for high strings, not on bass.
I think Strandberg know the problem and even made a modular nut that seemed interesting to me. But no idea what happened with that.

 

[Ray-T]

I lied.

I got to play my first ever strandberg a week ago and it didnt sustain at all, just wondering if this is a characteristic of strandbergs or I got unlucky with shitty guitar store setup.

I was looking at a strandberg to be my fast solo guitar, mostly because of the endure neck. But comparing it to my KRYS10, and pretty much every other guitar Ive had, the notes just die out straight away it was quite disappointing. Amp was pretty high gain so Im pretty sure it was the guitar, not 100% sure, I might be stupid.
I dont remember what model it was but it cost ab 2k australian.

Aside from that it was pretty fucking sick, mad chuggs

Maybe you can find a different Strandberg to try.
I also wouldn't buy a guitar that doesn't feel right even if it might just be the setup because if it's not...

 

[MaxOfMetal]

Strandberg quality control is just dogshit. I hate making those sorts of absolute generalizations, but man, they've been at it for like ever now and it's still a complete roll of the dice what you get when you open the box.

They sell these things hand over fist as is, so I don't think they're going to get better anytime soon.

What I typically recommend with Strandberg, if you play one and like the general feel of the guitar and there aren't any glaring defects you can't live with, you can put a little work in and make them decent if they're one of the rougher examples. You can play roulette with ordering another, but I've seen enough returned a second and third time.

 

[jephjacques]

That almost sounds more like a wiring issue to me instead of some structural problem with the guitar. Either way that guitar should not be for sale.

 

[SalsaWood]

Strandbergs do suck.

 

[Metallica35]

In my experience (I own a standberg Prog 7 string), it does sustain less than a hipshot or a floyd rose bridge. The bridge saddles on the strandy are more similar to that of a tune-o-matic (narrow, sharp). To me, it behaves a lot like a tune-o-matic or a kahler. Both kill sustain. It's not horrible like you're describing. There was probably a setup issue with the one in the store. But if you want a solo machine, i'd go with either a hipshot bridge or a floyd. It's all personal preference, but for me, I find that those sustain the best. Floyd is max sustain if you aren't bothered by the setup process on them.

Also, I have no idea how anyone plays fast on the endurneck. It feels very awkward to me, and I've thought about selling mine a few times because of it. It's a great rhythm guitar, but I never play leads on mine at all. The neck is just way too chunky for me personally. I generally stick to my ESPs or my Skervesens. The strand is really portable and light though, and it makes for a great travel guitar. I just don't think they're the end-all be-all of guitars like some people do. They're good at some things and bad at other things. Like any guitar...

 

[nistley]

I have had two 7 string Strandbergs, kept 1 for years, and it is one of my favorite comfortable guitars. The sustain is absolutely terrible, I agree. It was like that on day 1, so its not zero fret wear, and I even emailed support, but they said something like "that's not possible, our construction is superior" Anyway, I have tried some other ones, including a whole BUNCH at NAMM, and they always had low to mediocre sustain. Their basses didn't have this problem, I really loved the tone and feel of them.

So, my conclusion is that the lightweight aluminum hardware, carbon fiber, and swamp ash are not a perfect recipe for sustain. I do like the tone and transients for the most part.

Also, one last interesting anecdata point, I have some custom guitars from the same builder, one is headless, and the other ones are not, and they all sustain great, but the headless one is still just above average, and had a neck through construction, steel/brass hardware, while the headstocked ones sustain fantastic. This makes me think that the overall mass of the body is indeed a factor, and super light weight headless guitars will always have this handicap.

 

[technomancer]

I've had 2 or 3 of the various production models, wanted to love them but they really are just not that great

 

[wheresthefbomb]

I don't need to play one to tell you that. Look at that nerd shit.

 

[ArtDecade]

Strandberg thinks you suck.

 

[Ray-T]

So this guitar has even less body and more aluminum. Apparently the sustain is not great (I hope the timestamp at 9:44 works).