Strandberg / Astral EXR Systems / Announcement!

[ola_strandberg]

Hey everyone,
while there are a lot of disheartening comments here, please rest assured that I care.

What you all bring up has been addressed, is being addressed or will be addressed. Some things mentioned are on point, but a lot of things are not correct.

Many of you may not know that I have maintained a day job throughout building up Strandberg Guitars, and have had to rely on licensing to grow, but I have come to realize that the buck has to stop with me (as correctly stated in earlier comments).

Through your support, I am finally at a stage where I am now (starting August 1) taking a step down to two days/week on the day job for a transition period of six months. They have been very good to me throughout these years, so it's the least I can do for them. Assuming that I with full attention on guitars can really work things out and sustain this business, I will then leave the day job completely (timed very well with NAMM, incidentally).

All of these years, I have taken great pride in being approachable and involved, and it has been painful to not live up to expectations lately. Please don't drown me in e-mail, but do feel free to get in touch with me personally if you are not happy with your instrument. I will not be able to help everyone, or address all issues, but I will do my best.

Thanks for the support!

/Ola

 

[ola_strandberg]

And by the way... I haven't announced it yet, but together with GHS, I have developed a custom balanced string set for the Boden 8 going from a .009 to a tapered wound .084".

Thoughts on that?

 

[Espresto]

"Many of you may not know that I have maintained a day job throughout building up Strandberg Guitars, and have had to rely on licensing to grow, but I have come to realize that the buck has to stop with me (as correctly stated in earlier comments)."

Does this mean there will be no more production guitars? Will individual builders still be able to license your designs?

 

[ramses]

Assuming that I with full attention on guitars can really work things out and sustain this business, I will then leave the day job completely (timed very well with NAMM, incidentally).

I hope everything will work out great for you.

Please don't drown me in e-mail, but do feel free to get in touch with me personally if you are not happy with your instrument.

Sorry, but I had to send one just now

And by the way... I haven't announced it yet, but together with GHS, I have developed a custom balanced string set for the Boden 8 going from a .009 to a tapered wound .084".

Thoughts on that?

This is great news. I have been waiting for that announcement. When will it be official?

 

[ola_strandberg]

"Many of you may not know that I have maintained a day job throughout building up Strandberg Guitars, and have had to rely on licensing to grow, but I have come to realize that the buck has to stop with me (as correctly stated in earlier comments)."

Does this mean there will be no more production guitars? Will individual builders still be able to license your designs?

There will most certainly be production guitars! But they will be purchased directly from Strandberg Guitars and not from a licensing partner, and they will have had more of my personal attention now that I have more time to devote to it.

The Boden design is still available under Creative Commons. The only thing I had to change was that I had to impose a non-commercial restriction, so that it only applies to self-builds.

 

[StevenC]

Ok, a few things Ola.

First, does that mean AES is being absorbed into Strandberg Guitars? For example, next years catalogue will be labelled Strandberg instead of AES?

Will you still be using your dealers, or will you be doing globally what AES has been doing in the USA?

Third, to echo ramses, those strings sound good and I'll be looking forward to checking them out. When can we expect to hear about them? A bit thicker on the lowest string would probably suit me better, though.

 

[Watty]

So...does this mean Washburn is out of the game then?

 

[TemjinStrife]

Interesting. Hopefully this means greater uniformity in QC, whatever the source.

 

[Emperor Guillotine]

Edit: nobody needs to hear by bitching about my s7 boden 8 that I'll never see.

Get a refund. Maybe it's better that way.

And by the way... I haven't announced it yet, but together with GHS, I have developed a custom balanced string set for the Boden 8 going from a .009 to a tapered wound .084".

Thoughts on that?

In reference to my posts on the last page, this would suit my needs very nicely, Ola.

So...does this mean Washburn is out of the game then?

So there will be a "Strandberg Guitars" shop/factory?

 

[asher]

Get a refund. Maybe it's better that way.

Clearly you are not familiar with the trainwreck that is Strictly7...

 

[Emperor Guillotine]

Clearly you are not familiar with the trainwreck that is Strictly7...

Oh no, believe me, I am.

http://www.sevenstring.org/forum/of...because-jim-too-busy-getting-laid-online.html

 

[asher]

Oh no, believe me, I am.

http://www.sevenstring.org/forum/of...because-jim-too-busy-getting-laid-online.html

That was the icing on the cake, I meant the actual gigantic S7 Boden threads and shitstorms and repeated customer service meltdowns.

 

[Jonathan20022]

So...does this mean Washburn is out of the game then?

Oh no Washburn is still very much in the picture, I believe that "Astral" and the guys Paul/Allan aren't going to be as active in the process. They're focusing on their music as far as I know (Arecibo, ETB).

I've decided to keep my Boden 7 with me and just seek some sort of compensation. I've been told the top on the rebuild will be similar/the same, so there's no point in wasting this guitar and going through the process. I'm sticking with it, if anything I got a flawless Boden and I think it look great, so that's what matters

 

[Cloudy]

Glad to hear the words back Ola.

You really need to get your future team to focus on basic QC issues that pass time and time again. And please to god sort out the top issue that is absolutely killing Strandberg for me (and numerous others).

Hate to sound so negative but Astral has really been dropping the ball on a lot of instruments leaving shop and it does nothing but hurt you

 

[ikarus]

is the puplic wait list down or something? I can't find it anymore...

 

[WiseSplinter]

is the puplic wait list down or something? I can't find it anymore...

I asked Ola about that and his reply was that there is no longer a publicly viewable waitlist.
He did say that I will be notified well ahead of time when my slot comes up, so I guess you can assume the same for yourself.

 

[StevenC]

They removed the M2M public wait list a while ago. It's been email notifications for months now.

Also, that sort of question should probably be in the other Strandberg thread in the luthier section, which is where we discuss the customs.

 

[Scattered Messiah]

And by the way... I haven't announced it yet, but together with GHS, I have developed a custom balanced string set for the Boden 8 going from a .009 to a tapered wound .084".

Thoughts on that?

Sound superb!
I'd totally dig that, incidentally exactly the sizes I'm using on mine right now. Having an estimate would help

Ps: best of luck to you and the business, hope it all goes well!

 

[Tom Drinkwater]

Haha, so im not alone!

Yep my fretboard needs a good clean, although the dull areas seem to be stained into the finish (can't wipe them off). Anyone have any tips on oiled finish cleaning? The body is pretty faded wherever there has been lots of contact. I am playing this guitar all day every day though.

I've contacted Ola about it and he offered a refinish/ new body, but Im just weighing up wether it is worth it.

One of my customers just recommended using this https://www.birchwoodcasey.com/Refinishing/Wood-Finishing/Stock-Sheen-Conditioner.aspx
for necks and fretboards that have that dark or greying thing going on. If the finish itself is damaged you may end up needing to clean and refinish it.

 

[ramses]

AES's facebook page has not done a production-.strandberg* update since July 18th. Instead, Strandberg's facebook page has continued posting production updates. I'm wondering if this is just a coincidence, or if the Astral brand is getting discontinued.