Strictly 7 Guitars stop making Strandberg's Boden

[Valnob]

Chris Letchford from Scale the summit posted on fb an update about his signature Strandberg:

"Signature guitar update! Washburn Guitars will now be doing production for all of the Strandberg Guitarworks Boden models, starting with my signature guitar! Ola and the guys have started a new company Astral EXR Systems. This is exciting news!

I'll be posting an update for my signature soon with a new body. Here is the updated spec sheet. Instead of 1A tops, they are upgraded to 5A (the nicest you can get) and my favorite... stainless steel frets now come standard!"

I asked him about s7G and he replied

<<correct S7g are not going to be making Boden's from here on out.>>

 

[Hollowway]

Interesting.... I wonder why the switch - cheaper labor, shorter build times, or ...?

 

[technomancer]

Quality? Washburn USA production is solid and used to producing a lot of guitars and wouldn't put something out the door that needs fretwork, the neck screw holes redrilled, or the bridge ground not functional ("minor" issues a user here had with their Boden). From what a few others have said S7 has also had trouble meeting the demand of the Bodens so that may be it as well.

This actually makes me a bit interested in these now... (well not Letchford's model, but a couple of the other ones)

Also more about this over here http://www.sevenstring.org/forum/extended-range-guitars/235551-big-strandberg-development.html

I am VERY interesting to see what comes out of this AES venture with the group involved

 

[Hollowway]

^ Ah, I didn't see that NGD.

And yeah, that team could put out some positively unruly stuff. I'm interested in what they have up their sleeve, and love that Fortin and Strandberg have a dependable history, so the odds of their being "vaporware" are pretty slim. I saw some posts about wondering why Ola would partner with Fortin, when they could just have their individual companies. It would be super cool if they did something where the guitar itself worked very well with the amp. Kind of like how Fryette FB cabs are specifically designed to work with their Pittbull heads. I'm curious what they'll come up with.

 

[mphsc]

Great news for Washburn, their custom shop used to put out some really nice axes. Sucks for S7.

 

[technomancer]

^ Ah, I didn't see that NGD.

And yeah, that team could put out some positively unruly stuff. I'm interested in what they have up their sleeve, and love that Fortin and Strandberg have a dependable history, so the odds of their being "vaporware" are pretty slim.

 

[lewstherin006]

The new company is by the same guys who used to work at S7, Paul and Allen. Im actually excited about this. I already want an axe from them and they havent started making them yet!

 

[RagtimeDandy]

I'd love to see Strandberg get really big, and this is a good step in that direction. Ola deserves all the success in the world!

 

[thrsher]

Ola should have s7g make only Chris letchford signatures. Washburn should waste their time sanding his SIG guitars

 

[Hollowway]

I thought everyone thought Letchford was a cool dude. Did I not get the memo? I've seen a couple of threads critical of him now.

 

[Captain Butterscotch]

IDGAF what anyone says. I want that guitar so hard.

I thought everyone thought Letchford was a cool dude. Did I not get the memo? I've seen a couple of threads critical of him now.

He is a genuinely cool dude, but he stated his opinion that happened to go against the majority of what SS.org thinks. We all know what happens when someone has a dissenting opinion on here.

 

[technomancer]

All right guys, let's not turn this into a bash fest

 

[thatguy87]

I met him briefly at a their headlining show in San Antonio at the White Rabbit last June and I didn't get any negative vibes from him.

About S7 no longer making Bodens, all I can say is that I expected this and am neither surprised or upset by it. I never considered S7's stuff to be very appealing in regards to both quality and aesthetics (even though the Bodens design doesn't really have much to do with S7). This does indeed make me much more interested in buying one in the future, though it will definitely not have EMGs lol.

 

[Jzbass25]

I talked in the other thread too but I had a question specifically about the letchford model, how would like standard dimarzios sound with that .75 inch fan? Would there be much of a difference?

 

[Lorcan Ward]

I talked in the other thread too but I had a question specifically about the letchford model, how would like standard dimarzios sound with that .75 inch fan? Would there be much of a difference?

I doubt it. Moving your picking hand slightly back would probably have a bigger affect.

I feel sorry for S7. They have had it rough lately and things like this get blown way out of proportion.

 

[HeHasTheJazzHands]

Quality? Washburn USA production is solid and used to producing a lot of guitars and wouldn't put something out the door that needs fretwork, the neck screw holes redrilled, or the bridge ground not functional ("minor" issues a user here had with their Boden).

Not only is it cool to see Strandberg make it bigger, it's cool to see Washburn focusing on solidbodies again, with the Parallaxe and the Bodens.

 

[capoeiraesp]

Definitely good news.
What does this mean for the numerous Bodens that S7 guitars had in production? Judging by ther Facebook pictures there were a lot.

 

[Syriel]

Oh holy crap. This is cool stuff.

Makes me wonder if they'd build a .strandberg* with the "stephen's cutaway" thing. That's another feature that IMO fits VERY well with the .strandberg* idea of ergonomics.

.strandberg* is getting really big, which is totally a good thing as Ola is such a cool guy, so more power to him and his company.

 

[larry]

i thought he would eventually approach carvin or maybe someone reputable overseas like fujigen, but i'm cool with washburn. they're trying to regain popularity and ola's design is innovative [read: hot buttered sex]. seems like a win win, i hope it all pans out. definitely a step closer to seeing the sub $2k boden if they can reach an agreeable mass production method.

 

[underthecurve]

i thought he would eventually approach carvin or maybe someone reputable overseas like fujigen, but i'm cool with washburn. they're trying to regain popularity and ola's design is innovative [read: hot buttered sex]. seems like a win win, i hope it all pans out. definitely a step closer to seeing the sub $2k boden if they can reach an agreeable mass production method.

There is more to strandberg offering a sub 2k boden than finding an efficient production method. There is the worry about diluting the brand, and digging into sales of higher end bodens. PRS resisted to offer an import model of its design for this reason. Not saying I agree with it, but it's a consideration when comanies design and price their range of models.