NGD "Eganberg" 7 (Egan Strandberg officially licensed)

[CW7]

I realize this guitar has changed hands a couple of times. (quite possibly between some of you here). But for the curious, here are a couple of pics. I took delivery last week, and she went immediately to my tech for a full fret dress and setup. Just picked it up yesterday...

Specs:

-Strandberg hardware
-Bareknuckle Aftermath bridge/VHII neck
-Dual volumes with coil tap
-27.8 - 26.3 scale
-Standard neck profile. (the original customer order decided against the -Endurneck as he didn't like it, and Joe encouraged me to find one to try as well, as it seemed to be a split audience. I still haven't played an Endur, but I can tell you this neck is VERY comfortable, and with the setup on it now, she plays like BUTTER.)
-Stainless Steel frets
-5 piece Maple/wenge neck
-Pale Moon Ebony fretboard
-Luminlays
-18" radius
-4.75 lbs. total weight



I happened on this guitar mostly by chance. I had been in the market for a Strandberg for about a year- I had money burning a hole in my pocket, and realized there was about 2 weeks left before January, and basically NEEDED to buy a guitar so I'd have some write offs for Uncle Sam. I tried twice to buy a CL7 on eBay, but 1 didn't respond to my offer, and the other came down 100.00 from the asking price. (which is the sellers prerogative of course, but I have been on Ebay since the early 90's, and in music retail sales for 15 years- when someone says "make offer", then budges 100 bucks on something over 3K, that says to me "I don't really want to sell this guitar...". In any event, my search continued...

I have lurked here for quite some time, soaking in info as I have time. I was just never much of a poster. I was glazing over the FS section when I happened on this guy. The PME fretboard JUMPED out at me (as did the sub-5 lbs. weight!), and after a couple of quick PMs back and forth, she was mine and on the way.

As expected, it needed some TLC upon arrival. (I didn't expect to buy a guitar sight unseen, and have it shipped clear across the country in winter and not have to do some adjusting ). So she went straight to my tech, and a week later, it's a new guitar. Joe Egan did a great job with the build on this one, and especially with knowing how few of these are floating around (5 or so, from my initial research?), it will be in my regular playing lineup for a long time to come. It's worth noting that while I don't know Joe personally, I shot him a message after I bought it and he very kindly responded with some great info. Seems like a true stand up and genuine guy, and makes the guitar even that much more special, IMHO.

As far as tone, I only just plugged it in for a small test yesterday. (I just had carpal tunnel surgery last week, and am rehabbing my hand back to 100% and getting my chops back up- it's been mostly couch practice thus far.). My initial reaction is, it sounds great- the pickups are hot. (like I like). I have ZERO experience with the Bareknuckles, so this is a good 1st impression. (for the curious for comparisons sake, my regular axes are a couple of EMG loaded Steinbergers, and an Ibanez PGM). I'll have more opinion after the weekend, which are my first shows back on the road since my surgery. (and on the rig that I know top to bottom. My home rig is a BIAS/Jamup Pro setup I JUST got, so I can't really do a fair comparison as I am still finding sounds in it at this point. My road rig is an H&K Tubemeister coupled with a Soul Food OD for solos, which I only engage with the PGM, as the pickups are about HALF the output of my Bergers.).

Well, that's about it for this one. I still want a Strandberg down the road, but I've also got my eye on a couple of Skervesens, so time will tell as to what my next NGD ends up being.

 

[OmegaSlayer]

Lovely combination of woods.
HNGD!

 

[jwade]

I find it confusing that you somehow could've needed a fret dress on SS frets, especially since that guitar was built quite recently, not even two years ago if I remember right.

 

[CW7]

I find it confusing that you somehow could've needed a fret dress on SS frets, especially since that guitar was built quite recently, not even two years ago if I remember right.

It is just a couple of years old. (from what I understand). I didn't take any close up pics when it came in, but I can tell you the frets showed visible signs of wear. They look MUCH better now. (more like I would expect on a guitar of this age... I have an original Ken Parker Deluxe I bought in 99 with SS frets, and those STILL look good). I can only speculate as to why they showed so much wear so quickly. (giant strings from one of the previous owners? I do know the original owner was using heavy strings- the nut is actually cut bigger to accommodate a much bigger low string than the normal B gauges. It's now got a regular set of D'addario 9's on it tuned down a 1/2 step).

 

[lewstherin006]

Congrats bro this thing is awesome!

 

[Jlang]

So sick dude, awesome wood's for sure.

HNGD.

 

[Alex Kenivel]

Beautiful

HNGD!

 

[Emperor Guillotine]

I was wondering who purchased this off here.

HNGD!

 

[Zalbu]

Looks sick! Interesting scale length though, what tuning do you play in?

 

[CW7]

Looks sick! Interesting scale length though, what tuning do you play in?

It's in standard, down a 1/2 step. The guy who ordered it, from what I understand, was tuning down a good bit further with bigger strings. (hence the altered scale). It's playing nicely in Eb, so I'll probably keep it there for the time being.

 

[TraE]

That is amazing. Absolutely love the black top wood, and how it almost seems to 'infect' the fretboard. Awesome!