Strandberg Boden J series

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HeHasTheJazzHands

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Guess this'll replace the old Washbergs.

Lots of exciting announcements coming up this week as part of our NAMM celebration; first up, The brand new 2016 Boden J series!
The Boden J series represents the ultimate in craftsmanship in a production guitar. Available as 6-, 7-, and 8-string in a variety of finishes and using premium materials.
The Boden J line is manufactured at the highly regarded Dyna Gakki factory in Japan, to our exact specifications, from the same premium materials as our Custom Shop guitars with no corners cut.
Specs:
Bolt-On construction
Book-matched 4A Flame Maple top
Chambered Swamp Ash body
Torso carve, arm bevel
EndurNeck™ profile neck
5-pc (3x) Roasted Maple neck with Carbon Fiber/(2x) Purple Heart fillets (7-, and 8-string only)
Ebony (6-string)/Ebony Bound Pau Ferro fretboard (7-, 8-string)
25.5” – 25” (6-string)/25.75″-25″ (7-string)/28″-26.5″ (8-string) scale
16″ – 20” compound radius
24 x stainless steel frets
.strandberg* EGS Series 5 fixed bridge & string locks, Black
endurneck-by-strandberg-logo
.strandberg* Branded Lace Alumitone™/Aluma X-Bar™ pickups
3-way switch
Ebony Volume/Tone controls
Black hardware
Luminlay Glow in the Dark side dot markers
Luminlay Glow in the Dark fret markers (offset low > 12th < high)
2 kg / 4.3 lbs approximate weight
.010 &#8211; .046 strings (6-string)/.095 &#8211; .064 (7-string)/.009 &#8211; .084 (8-string) Optimized Tension Strings
Natural/Red/Black/Brown/Blue Matte Poly finish

https://strandbergguitars.com/product/boden-j-pre-order/

https://strandbergguitars.com/boden-j-series/

Boden-J-angle.png
 

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Sumsar

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So, now there are two shops producing the same quality / price point of guitars, except one is custom and the other is not? Seems a bit weird if you ask me.
 

HeHasTheJazzHands

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So, now there are two shops producing the same quality / price point of guitars, except one is custom and the other is not? Seems a bit weird if you ask me.

The Washburn Boden series is done, since their custom shop is closed.

This seems to be taking over the Washburn bodens.
 

narad

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There is the Swedish custom shop as well. M2M / Swedish CS / Boden J / Boden OS

The price seems quite high, and if the yen rebounds after Japan's current policy of purposely devaluing its currency to boost trade, which seems likely, these will quickly become unaffordable to everyone. If the JPY/USD rate was back to what it was last year it'd push these prices up close to M2M range.
 

DaddleCecapitation

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From what I've seen from Japanese online guitar stores, the USA Strandberg stuff is stupidly overpriced. I suspect this will make pricing much better for Japan and other countries in the region.
 

elkinz

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even their OS series is super pricey. Ill never get one at this rate :p and not to mention you cant get any in stores in New Zealand.. :s
 

Jonathan20022

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This is pretty much cannibalizing your own line of instruments, you could get the exact same specs from the Swedish Custom Shop for about 100$ more. Roasted Maple doesn't cost that much more than regular maple so this is a bad move in my eyes.

+ There are countless better options even for the Japanese in this price range.
 

oracles

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This is pretty much cannibalizing your own line of instruments, you could get the exact same specs from the Swedish Custom Shop for about 100$ more. Roasted Maple doesn't cost that much more than regular maple so this is a bad move in my eyes.

+ There are countless better options even for the Japanese in this price range.

This.
 

Sumsar

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Yeah I would more hope for some very very barebones 1000$ OS version and honestly I think the market for that price point is a lot bigger than the 3000$ market.
 

boogie2

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There is the Swedish custom shop as well. M2M / Swedish CS / Boden J / Boden OS

The price seems quite high, and if the yen rebounds after Japan's current policy of purposely devaluing its currency to boost trade, which seems likely, these will quickly become unaffordable to everyone. If the JPY/USD rate was back to what it was last year it'd push these prices up close to M2M range.

Yeah, I don't get it. Same price as the custom shop without any of the options that I'd want. Pass.
 

LordCashew

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^- The newsletter also says there will be a passive pickup option for the OS 7 and 8 strings. :yesway:
 

mrchi

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I don't quite get it, their is little difference between the os and the custom shop versions, same hardware and woods, I have seen numerous reviews comparing the two, and the differences are small,(barr the customisation)
so I can't see where the j series will sit, the production version in my opinion (as an owner) can't really improve, as the craftsmanship on the os series is pretty flawless, and let's face it apart from the patented parts it's a bolt on with a matt finish, it can only be so good.
The Ash, bird's-eye/flame Maple used is top quality so I can't see how they can improve?

Please enlighten me if I'm wrong :)
 

pott

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The OS' tops and necks have not been excellent. Look at all the NGDs here. A few barely have any flame showing.

My Washburn-built Boden6 has a great top and flawless build... but the nut was HORRIBLE. I got it second hand and it was basically unplayable. I got a new nut made which is flawless (although string spacing is a two way choice: have it out of wack but aligned with the locking stringlocks, or have it making sense but with kinks between the nut and stringlocks), and the guitar is now playable (but doesn't play as nicely as all my other guitars: I have 0 tolerance for fretbuzz and the Boden is quite picky on its setup).

The J series aim at:
1) consistent build quality & wood selection
2) no options to keep the cost 'down' (erm...)
3) no wait list
vs. the custom shop (Swedish) and lower-end production (OS) lines.

The roasted neck is a cool feature, so are the passive pickups: but that is entirely subjective...

The CS models however all got a significant price-rise... which puts the Boden J prices more in context of the available lines. We won't know how customer-centric (vs. cost centric) it is until those Boden J get compared to the Swedish CS models (not seen any of either floating around yet).
 

mrchi

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I see what your saying bud, but in reality, heavy flame is purely a cosmetic thing ,with such a negligible difference it just shows how close in reality the current lines are :)
 

pott

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Yes and no. It's purely cosmetic, yes. But having an intermediate line above the OS allows justifying the higher costs (they are being very explicit on the website about them being 3A tops, something not present on the OS description).

I would feel VERY disappointed if I were an OS owner with most of the tops I saw here, based on the promise of a flame top. But the website doesn't say 'premium' or '3As' etc... just that it's book-matched top. THAT's where the value is for Strandberg, and where customers can chose to make a choice.
 

AlexKhan

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Hello, Ed here.

The development of the J Series serves several purposes. The first is to serve the Japanese market with models with Sweden/US Custom Shop quality level that do not have outrageous prices. The second is to offer Sweden/US CS quality level "production" guitars that are in stock for immediate purchase through our online store or through our dealers. As you know, MtM and CS guitars have long to very long wait times. The third is to work with Nick Sugimoto of Sugi Guitars and Dyna Gakki to be able to offer limited custom option guitars for the Japanese and regional Asian markets as trying to get Sweden-made Custom Shop guitars there is virtually impossible and makes no business sense whatsoever. This has been requested by both the distributors in Japan and in markets such as China.

As far as the US, EU and the rest of the world, the J Series means you can get CS level quality in materials and workmanship but without the wait and also without the Custom Shop options. Custom Shop operation and production operation are two completely different kinds of operation as I've witnessed both at Fender and at Suhr. A Custom Shop operation requires so much more work and time. With the Sweden MtM and CS operation, you get Ola's personal input on both the products and service. The Sweden operation is all Ola and you get that small luthier attention-to-detail and personalized correspondence with the man himself. I'll be mainly handling the operations, QC, sales and services for all of the .strandberg* guitars produced in Japan, Korea and China, which really is my forte based on my background and experience.

So I hope this explanation helps you understand why the J Series was created and how it fits in within the overall .strandberg* product structure.

Thanks!

Ed
 

StevenC

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More great info, Ed. Much appreciated.

What exactly is Nick Sugimoto's involvement with the Boden J line?
 

AlexKhan

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More great info, Ed. Much appreciated.

What exactly is Nick Sugimoto's involvement with the Boden J line?

Nick is a technical consultant to the Dyna Gakki factory and also works as their liaison to other OEM buyers such as Fender and whoever else sources from Dyna. Nick speaks good English and has worked with some top artists such as Steve Vai, George Benson, Pat Metheny, etc. during his days as Fujigen's top master builder.

I've been a big fan of Nick's work since my days at Tone Merchants when I was a Sugi Guitars dealer. Sugi's SH485 "Bat" model is one of the best LP-style guitars I've ever seen or played. Guthrie sort of put that guitar on the map when he used it during a clinic at TM. In fact, Guthrie bought a new SH485 from Nick recently.

SH485 - Sugi Guitars

So it was natural for me to contact Nick about working with .strandberg* and he agreed to give it a shot. He will do all the QC and other engineering work with Dyna to make sure the J Series guitars will be the best they can be. Ola and I have the utmost faith and confidence in Nick. He is a legend in the Japanese guitar industry and a really nice guy to boot!
 


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