NGD: Strandberg Boden OS 7 (updated w/ improved pics!)

[littledoc]

Unfortunately I have to wait til tonight before I can take it for a test toast. Initial impressions: dayum. Super light, low action, feels super well built, great fretwork. I'll post more pics later.

Update: I've had a chance to play it. And, while I fully accept this may be the honeymoon phase talking, I just completely and totally love it. First, the weight makes it very comfortable to hold and move around. It sits effortlessly with perfect balance (I play in the classical position). The fan has taken literally no adjustment time at all; it's quite subtle and feels very natural. The guitar is exceptionally resonant, and the whole guitar vibrates palpably when the guitar is played. I'm just using software amps atm, but the 707Xs sound great to me.

But what's really surprisingly great to me is the Endurneck. The angles really do put your hand into an efficient, relaxed position, and it compliments chord playing, scales, and those massive stretches. On top of that it's finished with a satin so smooth it makes tung oil seem like sandpaper by comparison. It's just an effortless guitar to play. The wide cutaway on the bottom is a nice perk, too, as it doesn't get in the way during big stretches.

I also realized that the pics I posted make it seem like there's very little figuring on the top, but it's actually sorta like Misha was talking about with one of his new sigs — the light has to hit it a certain way. There's actually a really beautiful, almost holographic-looking flame to it.

All in all, my initial impression is that I can't recommend it enough. If you are like me and were jonesing for a Strandberg but couldn't justify spending $3500 on a guitar, this is absolutely the way to go. It's just absolutely outstanding in every respect, and really makes me not care about my other guitars.

 

[Noxon]

Very cool guitar, man. HNGD!

 

[asher]

GAS is reaching critical levels, Captain! She canna' hold much longer!

 

[fortisursus]

Damn the wait is killing me! These dark stained one are making me second guess my choice going natural.

 

[Zinter]

Grats man, looks killer with the rosewood. I got a birdseye on the way because I didn't think I'd like the rosewood but I'm thinking either is good now...

 

[Inceptic]

Stunning. HNGD!

 

[metalstrike]

Damn I need to play a Strandberg guitar of any kind badly. This one looks beautiful!

HNGD!

 

[MatthewK]

Grats man, looks killer with the rosewood. I got a birdseye on the way because I didn't think I'd like the rosewood but I'm thinking either is good now...

I really like birdseye, but to me these look best with rosewood. I'm starting to feel the GAS...

 

[XxXPete]

bad-ass! where did you purchase it from? thx

 

[littledoc]

bad-ass! where did you purchase it from? thx

Strandbergguitars.com

 

[AlexKhan]

Hey, so great to hear that you're loving your new Boden OS 7. I know that's how I felt when I first got to try 'em and then got a Boden 8 last year when I've never owned a 7 or 8-string guitar in my life.

I'd like to tell you guys how I got to know about .strandberg* and I hooked up with Ola. As some of you may or may not know, I work very closely with Guthrie Govan as his US manager and as the record label manager for the Aristocrats. Guthrie and I go way back to when he first did a clinic at my Tone Merchants shop back in '04.

Anyway, two years ago just before the '13 NAMM when I hooked up with Guthrie in LA, he told me that he was at the Uppsala Guitar Festival in Sweden about a month prior and that he got to try out this amazing guitar called Strandberg. I thought, "Hmmm... that name sounds familiar but I can't quite put my finger on it..."

So I looked it up on the Internet and said to myself, "Ah, now I remember. I talked to Chris Letchford about it when I was at Suhr." Back then when Chris told me about it, I thought: "Oh, it's one of those kinds of guitars..." and left it at that. Haha.

But when Guthrie told me "The guitar weighs nothing and resonates like crazy." I just had to investigate and saw that Strandberg had a booth at NAMM. So I went over, checked out the guitars and introduced myself to Ola. And that's how the relationship started. And, now, two years later after regular communications and getting to know each other we are working very closely together and starting this business.

And, as some of you may or may not know - and it's not a big secret anymore, Guthrie owns a Boden 8 but he's still learning to get around on it. He's performed with it at a big Hans Zimmer show in London not too long ago and he has stated at some clinics that he owns an 8-string. Although he has a high-profile endorsement deal with Charvel, he owns and plays many different kinds of instruments for different musical situations: a Vigier Surfreter fretless, Gibson ES-335, Gibson SG, Fender Strats, a Taylor acoustic-electric, and many more. The thing is that he's still learning the instrument and he's not going to do the "Djent" thing with it. He is a great admirer of Ola's work and he and Ola have become good friends as well. Here's a photo of Ola, Guthrie and yours truly at a Korean restaurant (they both love spicy foods) during NAMM a few weeks ago.

I can't say enough myself about how much I love the .strandberg* guitars. Even a long time ago during my days at Fender in the 90's, I've always been interested in cutting-edge innovative-design guitars. Sorry, I'm just not that interested in 60-year-old designs although I certainly appreciate the classics. I'm interested in what's defining now and the future! Haha. Anyway, I owned a few Steinberger guitars, a Brian Moore MC/1 and a Parker Fly Artist. But I could never bond with those guitars because of the cold and sterile sound that the composite materials imparted. So, to me, the Strandberg combines the best of the old (mainly in the use of time-proven tone woods all around) with the best of the new and the cutting-edge. And it also looks so cool when many "modern" or "futuristic" designs are just too out there or often look outright goofy.

But, ultimately, the things that matter are the sound, feel, and playability. And the .strandberg* just has its own thing. It doesn't sound like a Strat, Les Paul, Tele or any superstrat. It has its own sound and feel in the way the guitar resonates. That's what I found so intriguing. It's light but punchy. Most chambered guitars tend to sound airy and wimpy but the .strandberg* sounds tight and focused with the most extreme distortion while providing a much broader sonic spectrum than "normal" solid-body guitars. I would acoustically compare the .strandberg* to other great solid-bodies and be flabbergasted by its unique sonic properties.

And, of course, then there are all the ergonomic features: the unbelievably light weight, the perfect balance, the EndurNeck that's weird at first but then conforms to your hand movements in an eerie yet very pleasant manner, and the fanned frets system which is also surprisingly easy to adapt to... I never thought that I'd ever feel comfortable with any 7 or 8-string guitar but the .strandberg* 7 and 8-string guitars are so comfortable and easy to play. And, very recently, I got the Boden 6 prototype - the first of its kind built by WCS. It's like, "Wow... I don't know if I'll be going back to 'conventional' guitars again..." It's got all these lows and highs that I almost never hear in normal solid-bodies (which are normally very mid-heavy) but still has the focus and the punch, which almost seems impossible to achieve.

Anyway, that's the story on how I hooked up with Ola and how we got to working on this very promising venture now. I owe Guthrie a big one for this hookup, obviously. When Guthrie tells me something is very cool, I listen intently and seek it out. Then I pursue it in a very persistent manner and then work on executing a plan in a relentless modus operandi but also patiently over a long period of time. So I'm just in the early phases of all this and all I can say for now is that Ola and I are thinking big.

 

[JoeyBTL]

Guthrie owns a Boden 8 but he's still learning to get around on it.

Still learning huh...I have a hard time imagining this because as far as we can see, Guthrie just commands the instrument to do as he pleases

 

[littledoc]

So, to me, the Strandberg combines the best of the old (mainly in the use of time-proven tone woods all around) with the best of the new and the cutting-edge. And it also looks so cool when many "modern" or "futuristic" designs are just too out there or often look outright goofy.

But, ultimately, the things that matter are the sound, feel, and playability. And the .strandberg* just has its own thing. It doesn't sound like a Strat, Les Paul, Tele or any superstrat. It has its own sound and feel in the way the guitar resonates. That's what I found so intriguing. It's light but punchy. Most chambered guitars tend to sound airy and wimpy but the .strandberg* sounds tight and focused with the most extreme distortion while providing a much broader sonic spectrum than "normal" solid-body guitars. I would acoustically compare the .strandberg* to other great solid-bodies and be flabbergasted by its unique sonic properties.

And, of course, then there are all the ergonomic features: the unbelievably light weight, the perfect balance, the EndurNeck that's weird at first but then conforms to your hand movements in an eerie yet very pleasant manner, and the fanned frets system which is also surprisingly easy to adapt to... I never thought that I'd ever feel comfortable with any 7 or 8-string guitar but the .strandberg* 7 and 8-string guitars are so comfortable and easy to play. And, very recently, I got the Boden 6 prototype - the first of its kind built by WCS. It's like, "Wow... I don't know if I'll be going back to 'conventional' guitars again..." It's got all these lows and highs that I almost never hear in normal solid-bodies (which are normally very mid-heavy) but still has the focus and the punch, which almost seems impossible to achieve.

This echoes my thoughts on the guitar exactly. It's crazy how I find my thumb naturally anchoring the different flat surfaces as I play; it's entirely smooth and intuitive. Plus the guitar is just super comfortable to hold and resonates like crazy. I gotta say, too, that I think the 707Xs sound superb in this guitar. Great choice.

And the personal touch and transparency is hugely appreciated (I loved the hand-signed qc checklist!). You guys are delivering on every level and I wish you nothing but continued success.

 

[Sumsar]

So I'm just in the early phases of all this and all I can say for now is that Ola and I are thinking big.

So I am very interested to know if Ola has any plans on doing Bodens (7 string) with tremolos at some point? I guess it is going to be a bit weird with the fanned frets and all, but seeing as the hardware is anyway his own making it should be possible to make a floyd like tremolo to work with fanned frets?

I am asking because as much as I like the strandbergs (without having ever played one) the idea of a guitar without tremolo is like a guitar only made for rhythm guitar and I want to shred and do Shawn Lane / Vai-ish tremolo stuff goddamnit!

I know floyds are not popular with the djent heads because they are "oh so hard to keep in tune n' stuff, and I can't really play guitar I am actually just a bass player on an 8 stringed instrument even though I should properly just be playing a 1 string bass", but someday pretty please

 

[thatguyupthere]

So how about an OS 6er?

 

[Musiscience]

Ola and I are thinking big.

Please think as big as you can, it would be so nice to see it become a modern classic and being more available at different price points, for younger players and the less fortunate.

I wish you guys a lot of success, you deserve it and truly work on creating a future for the instrument !

 

[AlexKhan]

We will look at many different options and consider all the possibilities but we do have to stay focused as well and do one thing at a time exactly right before moving onto the development and production of new models. The electric guitar as a platform is so modular that the permutation possibilities are virtually endless and it's easy to screw things up if we don't focus on getting one thing right at a time before moving on.

As the brochure states, the OS 6 should be available to ship before the middle of the year. OS 8 is in the development phase and I'm guessing that it could be ready by the 4th quarter of this year. I'm sure there will eventually be trem models, gloss finishes for both maple top guitars as well as solid colors, perhaps a lefty model or two, more pickup options, etc. But... please allow us to nail down one model at a time and that the QC is the best it can possibly be. We're not moving forward to new things until the QC is rock solid and 99%+ consistent from the factory. That is our immediate goal but be assured that we are looking at all possibilities for the future.

Although I say that we're thinking big, and we certainly are, I also like being small and being able to offer personalized services and being responsive like I'm able to do now. I guess that comes from my experience at Tone Merchants and Suhr of offering not only "boutique" gear but the best possible customer service experience. Believe me, having worked at Fender and now working at GC (the two mega-giants of this industry), I really do enjoy this small and personable segment of the industry and focusing on the very best possible quality at the high-end.

Getting big brings a lot of headaches as well. The growth has to be controlled and we can never lose our focus on providing great quality and value as well as excellent personable customer service. As far as small companies are concerned, I think the sweet spot is around 25~30 employees and both Ola and I have absolutely no interest in owning and running our own manufacturing operation. We prefer to keep the overhead and headcount as low as possible and outsource the manufacturing with factories we trust quality-wise and can have good long-term relationships with.

My experience from having observed various guitar companies is that it stops being fun when it gets to 50+ employees. And then you also can't provide the personable and responsive customer service anymore either. It starts getting all corporate and that's fine for the likes of Fender and GC and which I'm a part of for my "day job" (which I also love, BTW) but not at this high-end "boutique" level. I really love this duality position of a thoroughly corporate gig on one hand and a very small boutique gig I can be passionate about on the other. I have the best of both worlds. And although I'm totally committed to growing the .strandberg* business, it needs to be fun and be driven by passion.

So we're at the beginning of the next growth phase for .strandberg* but neither Ola or I are in a rush to grow, grow, grow... Although Ola recently resigned from his lucrative and successful day job of database software manager at WHO to focus on .strandberg* full-time, he does other consulting work and can return to WHO if necessary anytime. Same for me in that it's a fun part-time job and my livelihood and support of the family isn't depending on it by any means. And, honestly, that makes it that much more fun. We will grow and we're thinking big but not at the expense of it being fun and something we can manage without all the stress of running a business.

Ola and I are driven to provide the best innovative new guitar products possible at reasonable prices with great service and we believe the rest will take care of itself if we succeed in doing that. We are not driven to show growth at all costs so we can sell the business at the highest possible price. I have no interest whatsoever in being part of a business like that and I've seen and continue to see so much of that in this industry or any other industry in general. Think big but keep it small, simple and manageable without the headaches, complexities and all the overhead costs. That's our thinking and model and both Ola and I want to keep things that way. We believe it will mean better products and customer service.

 

[littledoc]

Think big but keep it small, simple and manageable without the headaches, complexities and all the overhead costs. That's our thinking and model and both Ola and I want to keep things that way. We believe it will mean better products and customer service.

That's a really difficult balance to pull off, but I hope you guys can.

 

[AlexKhan]

That's a really difficult balance to pull off, but I hope you guys can.

Thanks. Yes, it'll be difficult but we believe it's for the best and we also firmly believe that we can pull it off and have fun in the process.

I'm also very immersed in the work I do with Guthrie and the Aristocrats. The band recently released two live albums, is recording their third album in the studio at this very moment and there's a Guthrie US/Canada clinic tour that I also have to manage as soon as the session is finished. It's like "Whew~ I need a breather!"

And, on top of that, I've started working with a young new .strandberg* artist named Plini from Sydney, Australia whose music and playing I really love so that's been a very exciting development as well. But I must admit, I think I'm finally tapped out now. Haha. That being said, I'm always looking around for new opportunities and making new connections so I'm sure things are only starting to cook right now.

 

[QuantumCybin]

Awesome guitar and awesome content in this thread. Have to agree about Plini, his "Sweet Nothings" EP is beautiful. HNGD!