Strandberg / Astral EXR Systems / Announcement!

[narad]

I am pretty happy with my Boden8. The flame top is pretty decent imo.

Excellent top. It's really not going to get any better than that without a gloss finish or a bunch of photoshop (Letchford style).

 

[Animus]

Excellent top. It's really not going to get any better than that without a gloss finish or a bunch of photoshop (Letchford style).

That's actually my favorite thing about it. The stain matte finish and what I am going do on all my guitars from now on. I don't like the plastic candy coated gloss look on anything. The wood needs to be able to breathe imo too.

 

[TBF_Seb]

Mine is perfect from everything I see in terms of fit and finish.

I'd be very happy if mine turned out like yours. Fingers crossed...

 

[Emperor Guillotine]

Chatted with Aaron Marshall last night. Keep an eye out for a Boden 7 that he has coming in from Washburn. It'll be a little different with a GLOSS top, all chrome hardware, and that blue/green color that you see on some of the Parker Maxxfly models (like the one Misha had for awhile).

 

[birch]

Not sure how to put my thought down here, because I also received a CL7 with a less then satisfying top, but I don't mind because it plays amazing.
But about 2 months ago, I had to get the hole for the truss rod drilled out, because my truss rodwasnot accessible anymore. And one month ago, I swapped strings and had to do some adjustments to the truss rod, only to find out the truss rod can't go any further. I have given my CL7 in to a local guy who is friends with Ola but it has been there now for the past 3 weeks, so honestly I am getting well fed up with this situation and I want my guitar. Did you notice I said I want the guitar, not a rebuild.
Any of you have any pointers I would love to take em, becaue my patience is running low

I had a similar problem with my truss rod, but it turned out to be the truss rod key itself, combined with the design. Because of how deep the truss rod nut is inside the neck by design, I had to use the long end of the hex key to reach the truss rod nut, and it felt like it wouldn't turn, but it was just because i didn't have enough leverage holding the short end of the key.

I experimented on other guitars trying to adjust their truss rods while holding the short end of the key and they felt similarly hard to adjust. Let me know if it works for you. Im on the lookout for a hex key with 2 long ends (if that makes sense) if anyone knows where to get one from.

 

[silent suicide]

I had that issues when I received the guitar, but some force freed it up, but now when I turn it just stops and comes to an end. I agree the truss rod design isn't optimal, for an ergonomic guitar, because I really hurt my fingers when I have to make a truss rod adjustment

 

[TemjinStrife]

He has bass hardware already. I think he's just waiting for someone to order one. His son is a bassist, so I'm surprised we haven't seen one yet.

When I chatted with him in NYC, he mentioned that he only had one or two sets of bass hardware built, and the full production run of bass hardware would be very expensive, so he wasn't sure if or when he would offer one.

 

[StevenC]

When I chatted with him in NYC, he mentioned that he only had one or two sets of bass hardware built, and the full production run of bass hardware would be very expensive, so he wasn't sure if or when he would offer one.

Huh, fair enough. I guess he could probably mill some if someone really wanted.

 

[Animus]

I had that issues when I received the guitar, but some force freed it up, but now when I turn it just stops and comes to an end. I agree the truss rod design isn't optimal, for an ergonomic guitar, because I really hurt my fingers when I have to make a truss rod adjustment

On my Boden8 I was able to use the long side of a regular allen wrench and it worked just fine but was a little tough without as much leverage. I have a socketed screwdriver that can take hex bits as well that would probably work too and be easier as far as the torque.

 

[Watty]

Anyone know why Chris' new play-throughs all seem to feature a guitar other than his Boden sig?

 

[eclipze1]

Hi Guys,

I have been playing my Boden 7 for the past 3 days.
The only thing is did on the Boden7 is adjust the string height and change the strings.
Everything on the guitar is playable and awesome.
I don't have any truss rod issue. I was tempted to adjust the truss rod abit but I avoided that because I can still manage the playability on the guitar.

 

[tylerisdumb]

Hi Guys,

I have been playing my Boden 7 for the past 3 days.
The only thing is did on the Boden7 is adjust the string height and change the strings.
Everything on the guitar is playable and awesome.
I don't have any truss rod issue. I was tempted to adjust the truss rod abit but I avoided that because I can still manage the playability on the guitar.

Congrats!!!!

Might be worth checking the truss rod-just to be safe and avoid future issues.

Where are the pictures??

 

[eclipze1]

I posted a picture about a few days back.
Anyway, guys...... I am unable to post biggers picture into this thread.

 

[eclipze1]

Ok, I found way to upload the pictures.
Here you go.....

 

[Jonathan20022]

^ Just like mine! How are you liking it? I swapped the pickups with a set of 57-66's but I might go back to my 707x's since I have my other Boden 7 with those pickups already.

 

[eclipze1]

Thanks, Jonathan.
I think for now I will just use what it is built for.

 

[Sacha]

Got my 8! Right on schedule. It's built perfectly and plays / sounds awesome like my other one. BUT the finish admittedly weirded me out a bit at first. It's the Space colour and it's SO dark it's pretty much matte black, with a hint of blue under bright light or up close. I was expecting it to look like buddy's a couple posts up but it's way darker than that.

I actually really like it when viewed objectively but it almost renders the flame maple top pointless (other than for tonal qualities). There's virtually no contrast between the black and blue to make the figuring visible. Up really close under bright lights it looks like it would have had some nice flame-y almost quilted type patterns.

Here it is in normal light:

With flash:

Also wonder why they don't use real rosewood for the necks, perhaps a sourcing reason?

Anyway the tone / feel / build is all good so overall I'm pretty stoked with it!

 

[TBF_Seb]

Also wonder why they don't use real rosewood for the necks, perhaps a sourcing reason?

What do you mean, no real rosewood? Is there false rosewood?

How does it compare to the RedruM you got? This was still with wenge neck & fretboard IIRC.

 

[Sacha]

What do you mean, no real rosewood? Is there false rosewood?

How does it compare to the RedruM you got? This was still with wenge neck & fretboard IIRC.

It's 'Caribbean Rosewood' (which it does say on the Strandberg site etc.) which as far as I know isn't actual rosewood like Brazilian or Indian.

It's a bit early to compare but in terms of build quality and general feel the new one is right up there with the Redrum. There are a few details that have changed since that time but nothing major besides some of the wood selections.

The flame on the Redrum is much more obvious / contrasted to the colour:

 

[patsanger]

Carribean Rosewood - "Chechen, Chechem, Black Poisonwood, Caribbean Rosewood"

"Because of its density, natural luster, and beautiful coloration, Chechen is sometimes referred to as Caribbean Rosewood, though it is not a true rosewood in the Dalbergia genus."

Chechen | The Wood Database - Lumber Identification (Hardwoods)