Should I return this Indonesian Boden Original 7?

[diagrammatiks]

They ship with relatively high action because most of them need fretwork, neck joint adjustment, and/or bridge rebuilds in order to get lower.

this is absolutely true. Most manufacturers do this. But strandberg is super atrocious about it.

 

[Avedas]

I'll play a J-berg one day. Maybe...If anyone's selling one for approx $2500 let me know lol.

I've seen quite a few around that range but those were all local sales that won't ship out of Japan

My MIK Prog 6 is pretty solid. It's had a couple issues, but I've managed to resolve them. The biggest one was the zero fret being too high. Since I got it lowered the action is basically perfect.

 

[SCJR]

I've seen quite a few around that range but those were all local sales that won't ship out of Japan

My MIK Prog 6 is pretty solid. It's had a couple issues, but I've managed to resolve them. The biggest one was the zero fret being too high. Since I got it lowered the action is basically perfect.

I also have to get my zero fret lowered slightly though I still get the action pretty low Just want that last .25mm or so. Didn't notice that the tech didn't do that when he leveled the rest.

This is the first guitar I've had with a zero fret. Is it common for it to be higher than the others coming from manufacturers or just another Strandberg "quirk" lol.

 

[eclecto-acoustic]

It's very common to have a taller zero fret.

 

[Avedas]

I believe it's intended to give leeway for wear and tear, but yeah it doesn't do your setup any favors.

 

[eclecto-acoustic]

Like all set up related items, it depends on the player. I don't like a bottomed-out action because I play with a heavier hand. If you're trying to go as low as possible, then yes, a level zero fret makes more sense. You reap the benefit of better intonation at the lower frets as well.

 

[Hollowway]

Under no circumstances does a teller zero fret help. It’s literally only going to make a difference on buzzing, etc, when playing the string open. But it raises the action every single note on the FB. It’s a trade off to make one note (open string) sound better at the expense of diminishing playability on the remaining 23 frets. It’s not a good trade off, and it’s shocking to me that someone like Ola, who spent as much time thinking about guitar design, would do it.

 

[eclecto-acoustic]

Again, it's a preference thing. If your goal is as low an action as you can possibly get while retaining playability, then yes, a taller zero fret is a senseless hurdle. But if you want to do things like playing slide, or if you're pretty heavy handed like I am, that tradeoff of open note tone vs super low action elsewhere isn't really a big deal. If anything it's made my guitar more versatile.

As ever, different strokes.

 

[Richter]

Everytime I read those threads I get a weird feeling. All of my 4 Bodens were flawless and perfectly set up. Guess I got lucky.

 

[Hollowway]

Again, it's a preference thing. If your goal is as low an action as you can possibly get while retaining playability, then yes, a taller zero fret is a senseless hurdle. But if you want to do things like playing slide, or if you're pretty heavy handed like I am, that tradeoff of open note tone vs super low action elsewhere isn't really a big deal. If anything it's made my guitar more versatile.

As ever, different strokes.

I don't mean to make this an argument between us, but being heavy handed would necessitate higher action, not a taller nut (zero fret) because, again, it's only going to affect the open strings. And the taller zero fret was definitely not for playing slide. There has been no mention of slide, no marketing toward slide players, and no attempt to endorse slide players. This would be a bug masquerading as a feature.

 

[eclecto-acoustic]

I don't mean to make this an argument between us, but being heavy handed would necessitate higher action, not a taller nut (zero fret) because, again, it's only going to affect the open strings. And the taller zero fret was definitely not for playing slide. There has been no mention of slide, no marketing toward slide players, and no attempt to endorse slide players. This would be a bug masquerading as a feature.

No real argument, far as I can see. To me a zero fret is something I could take or leave. Most guitars don't have them and they obviously make music just fine. Some do, and they seem to make music fine as well.

My only point about taller vs level is that, like anything, it's all about trade-offs and some players are ok with them while others aren't. A taller zero fret which then necessitates a slightly higher action just isn't a big deal to me...my action would probably be slightly higher without it in place anyhow, because of how and what I like to play.