Strandberg / Astral EXR Systems / Announcement!

[ramses]

I'm sadly going to have to retract my order, while it says on their catalog that they accept 3 methods of payment they only accept one now. That being Paypal, so you have to add in the cost of fees on both your deposit and balance.

Just thought people might want to know if you're considering ordering one, have the 3.9% set aside as well for both payments. I decided to not order it because it would be around 3600 by the end of it all, and although I AM curious, I'm not that curious yet I'll just wait until this production thing gets fast enough that we can order one through a normal system.

Sorry to hear that. Hopefully you can get a second hand one.

When I placed my order, they still had three payment methods, and I used PayPal because it was the most convenient one for me.

 

[Jonathan20022]

Sorry to hear that. Hopefully you can get a second hand one.

When I placed my order, they still had three payment methods, and I used PayPal because it was the most convenient one for me.

Yeah I'm asking around to see if anyone has one for sale, but if anything I'll just keep an eye out. Ola told me that they plan on doing something with eCommerce to facilitate the entire process for everyone! I honestly can't wait.

 

[mniel8195]

the payment option is ridiculous.

 

[BlackStar7]

Ouch. I sure wish I had picked up one of the walnut topped Bodens when they were still $2750.

 

[Animus]

I'm sadly going to have to retract my order, while it says on their catalog that they accept 3 methods of payment they only accept one now. That being Paypal, so you have to add in the cost of fees on both your deposit and balance.

Just thought people might want to know if you're considering ordering one, have the 3.9% set aside as well for both payments. I decided to not order it because it would be around 3600 by the end of it all, and although I AM curious, I'm not that curious yet I'll just wait until this production thing gets fast enough that we can order one through a normal system.

Ouch is right. That is getting really expensive for a "production" guitar. I didn't think it was allowed to directly pass on the merchant fees to the customer? And they are passing on 3.9%? I thought the Paypal fee is usually 2.9%? I was in line for a Boden8 last year but decided to back out as the pricing structure was getting close to custom land, and I was already in the queue for a real Strandberg anyway.

 

[narad]

Ouch? They're pricey, but they're not exorbitantly pricey. The Parkers built in the Washburn factory are more, and these are comparable to a custom Suhr or Anderson - many of the other US-made customs. Custom in the sense you pick how many strings you want, the woods, and the stain and that's about it.

The Strictly7 stuff at ~$2500 was not appealing at all to me, but Washburn at ~$3600, for that damn brown stained flame maple top and maple board? Yea...thinkin' about it.

 

[Animus]

Ouch? They're pricey, but they're not exorbitantly pricey. The Parkers built in the Washburn factory are more, and these are comparable to a custom Suhr or Anderson - many of the other US-made customs. Custom in the sense you pick how many strings you want, the woods, and the stain and that's about it.

The Strictly7 stuff at ~$2500 was not appealing at all to me, but Washburn at ~$3600, for that damn brown stained flame maple top and maple board? Yea...thinkin' about it.

I was just comparing to a real Strandberg custom where you can choose full options. I wouldn't blink to buy a Boden in terms of price in and of itself but at the price I would rather just wait for a full custom.

 

[TemjinStrife]

Ouch? They're pricey, but they're not exorbitantly pricey. The Parkers built in the Washburn factory are more, and these are comparable to a custom Suhr or Anderson - many of the other US-made customs. Custom in the sense you pick how many strings you want, the woods, and the stain and that's about it.

The Strictly7 stuff at ~$2500 was not appealing at all to me, but Washburn at ~$3600, for that damn brown stained flame maple top and maple board? Yea...thinkin' about it.

I have limited experience with the Washburn-made Bodens.

At the launch price of $2850, yes, all day.

At nearly $3600, I would much rather have a Suhr

 

[narad]

I was just comparing to a real Strandberg custom where you can choose full options. I wouldn't blink to buy a Boden in terms of price in and of itself but at the price I would rather just wait for a full custom.

You might be underestimating the cost of a made-to-measure guitar though. If I get mine imported to the UK, I think I'm looking at $7k USD. If I try to rendezvous with it in the US, I think I'd still be around $6.5k. No crazy options either - stained quilt maple top, pink ivory runners, DiMarzios (you'll pay more for DiMarzios vs. going with a manufacturer that Ola gets supplied from).

Obviously I'm still super excited about it, it's just that the Washburn guitars seem like a great value from my current perch. In some sense I regret not taking my made-to-measure guitar (a fixed bridge multiscale 8) and changing it to a TT fret trem 7 --true made-to-measure options -- then ordering a Washburn fixed bridge multiscale 8. But Strictly7 hadn't even been announced as a collaborator when I placed my order so I'm not that melancholy about it.

 

[bschmidt]

can anyone explain the production structure to me? as far as i can tell they are doing one or 2 runs of each model a year and that's why there is a wait list right?

 

[ramses]

can anyone explain the production structure to me? as far as i can tell they are doing one or 2 runs of each model a year and that's why there is a wait list right?

It is better to ask them directly, because they are constantly making changes to their logistics, in order to properly meet demand.

There may or may not be a wait list for the model you want. For example, a forum member spent one week in the wait-list for a CL7, and placed the order a couple of days ago.

 

[Pilgrim of the Dark]

Yeah... I was strongly considering ordering a production model, but after the $200 up charge for SD Pegasus/Sentient pups (their only passive route option), and the $200 up charge for one of the 6 stain options they offer, I ended up looking at roughly $3800 or so before the paypal fee...

Needless to say, I am considering other options now

 

[Jonathan20022]

Ouch. I sure wish I had picked up one of the walnut topped Bodens when they were still $2750.

Likewise, I would have happily paid that much. Didn't expect the price to go up so significantly and for the more reasonable payment options to disappear.

Ouch is right. That is getting really expensive for a "production" guitar. I didn't think it was allowed to directly pass on the merchant fees to the customer? And they are passing on 3.9%? I thought the Paypal fee is usually 2.9%? I was in line for a Boden8 last year but decided to back out as the pricing structure was getting close to custom land, and I was already in the queue for a real Strandberg anyway.

I've seen a lot of people do it, and it is pretty pricey. I reconsidered simply because I could order quite a few things with that money, not taking away from Washburn of course. I could spec out a Suhr and be at or under that price range no problem.

Ouch? They're pricey, but they're not exorbitantly pricey. The Parkers built in the Washburn factory are more, and these are comparable to a custom Suhr or Anderson - many of the other US-made customs. Custom in the sense you pick how many strings you want, the woods, and the stain and that's about it.

The Strictly7 stuff at ~$2500 was not appealing at all to me, but Washburn at ~$3600, for that damn brown stained flame maple top and maple board? Yea...thinkin' about it.

Of course, it's not absurd what they're asking for one, but I just realized my options and that by the end of it all. I was paying 3450 + 138 in Fees + 70 for the Shipping, for the level of customization I feel like I can probably order a Suhr and stay well within those regions while maintaining the most control over how the guitar will be. I had to ask Allan a to route an area for a ground wire so that I could install Passive Pickups on the CL7 when the time came for that myself.

But like I told Ola, I'll just wait until there's enough models available to order and get one shipped out to me. And when they setup the eCommerce solution and more options for their line.

As far as the process goes, you go on the Astral site and sign up for an email Subscription for a specific guitar. For example, I wanted a CL7.

I got the email saying that I could officially place my order about 3 days after I got on the email subscription. They did however say in this email that only Boden 7/8's and CL7's were being made on this run. So if you wanted a Masdivalien or something else, you would have to wait for that batch to come around. About a week after that I got the spec sheet confirming everything I wanted, and a few days after that the invoice.

I would then be on the June/July Run and once my build started it would take 3-4 months for it to be completed. So realistically I could expect my CL7 by September or October. I would have been cool to know about all that before I got so into the idea of placing an order on one, I would have gotten on the waitlist and placed my deposit long ago if I had known. In my mind it was, email them and get the invoice back within a day or two, pay your deposit and your build would automatically start.

 

[thrsher]

I'm sadly going to have to retract my order, while it says on their catalog that they accept 3 methods of payment they only accept one now. That being Paypal, so you have to add in the cost of fees on both your deposit and balance.

Just thought people might want to know if you're considering ordering one, have the 3.9% set aside as well for both payments. I decided to not order it because it would be around 3600 by the end of it all, and although I AM curious, I'm not that curious yet I'll just wait until this production thing gets fast enough that we can order one through a normal system.

shit like this appalls me. its the cost of doing business, you cheap ....s. i dont support companies that do this shit. when i can, i cover fees to help out small shops/sellers/friends but big business forcing customers to do this...BULLSHIT.

 

[zasonlee89]

just the side note on 4 month building time, I'm still waiting on mine and its been 5 months.. heres my story
1. I ordered on nov2013 and I asked about my guitar progress on jan2014 and they said mine will be done end of feb.
2. I contacted then end of feb and they said my guitar is almost done just waiting on parts and will ship out early march.
3. i asked again and it will be done end of march.
4. Last week I got the message that my guitar failed QC. I have to wait until next month.

Since they keep telling me 'will be done next month' I'm not even sure if I'll get my guitar next month. little worried.

 

[asher]

They might delay, but we haven't seen anything out of the Washberg venture to suggest they won't deliver.

 

[jemfloral]

jonathan20022, give a call to Ede Wright at WrightToneGuitars. I chatted with him a while ago about ordering through him.
1. he's closer to you
2. you might be able to pay via a different method and avoid the paypal fees
3. he might even have some strandys in stock or coming in shortly, as the last i talked to him, he was expecting a few from the batch that has been shipping out recently
4. from my experience with him he's very knowledgable and a terrific guy to work with.

ultimately, i ended up finding one of the walnut-topped boden 7's and purchased that because i was very concerned with the bump up in price, but if i hadn't i would most likely have ordered through Ede, (and i still may in the future if i ever pull the trigger on a masvidalien, but thats a ways off for now)

cheers!

 

[Jonathan20022]

jonathan20022, give a call to Ede Wright at WrightToneGuitars. I chatted with him a while ago about ordering through him.
1. he's closer to you
2. you might be able to pay via a different method and avoid the paypal fees
3. he might even have some strandys in stock or coming in shortly, as the last i talked to him, he was expecting a few from the batch that has been shipping out recently
4. from my experience with him he's very knowledgable and a terrific guy to work with.

ultimately, i ended up finding one of the walnut-topped boden 7's and purchased that because i was very concerned with the bump up in price, but if i hadn't i would most likely have ordered through Ede, (and i still may in the future if i ever pull the trigger on a masvidalien, but thats a ways off for now)

cheers!

Incredible, thanks dude! I may be snagging one of these if I can just skip the wait and the fees! I can't thank you enough.

 

[narad]

jonathan20022, give a call to Ede Wright at WrightToneGuitars. I chatted with him a while ago about ordering through him.

That's a cool shop. It makes me curious though - is there any way to tell an S7 .strandberg from a Washburn model from standard photos alone? Recently it seems like all the Washburn maple is really nice, whereas the S7 had some pretty terrible ones - that's a reasonable giveaway. But is there anything else?

 

[ramses]

That's a cool shop. It makes me curious though - is there any way to tell an S7 .strandberg from a Washburn model from standard photos alone? Recently it seems like all the Washburn maple is really nice, whereas the S7 had some pretty terrible ones - that's a reasonable giveaway. But is there anything else?

It is easy actually: Besides S7 using AA maple, you can tell by looking for the offset dot inlays (Washburn only).