The .strandberg* Thread

[Ralyks]

I had a near-mint neck thru metal up for $1800 for about 4 months before I finally caved and sold it for $1400.

I literally shipped out my Masvidalien today and was thankful I only took a few hundred dollars of a hit on it. And yeah, it was around 2 months.

Personally, I’m glad the used market is going down. I still have my other 3 Strandbergs and would like to add more. May seem like a fanboy thing, but Strandbergs just work for me for whatever reason.

 

[SCJR]

Honestly it was about time the prices calmed down. Strandberg quality has been lacking for years but some rabid fanboys deluded themselves and others into thinking they were worth the price of entry.
I've played a bunch of the newer indo ones and owned korean/US ones, and they were never worth the price ime.
Also the 2x4 neck is a stupid gimmick.

As much issue as I have with the company I have to say that I've found the flat neck to be the most effective part of the design. After breaking my left hand in three spots and the repeated stress injury incurred from my day job I've found the Strandberg to be the only guitar I can play for long periods anymore. And I have a guitar with a round neck and small shoulders (PRS Zach Myers, a known quasi-baseball bat), a Jackson Dinky which is much flatter, and a Godin Multiac 7 which is pretty flat but with large shoulders. Every bass I've played since is too much strain to endure for more than a few minutes.

I'm probably not qualified and certainly not interested in breaking that down in terms of the physics but the layman's day-to-day result has spoken for themself. Without the Strandberg I simply can't play the way I do. I have to be grateful for that, even if it took me three of them to finally land on one that matched the QC standards expected at the price point. Initially I thought this was as much to do with the lack of a headstock as the neck shape but I've had better but ultimately the same limited experience playing my friend's Osiris.

 

[KnightBrolaire]

As much issue as I have with the company I have to say that I've found the flat neck to be the most effective part of the design. After breaking my left hand in three spots and the repeated stress injury incurred from my day job I've found the Strandberg to be the only guitar I can play for long periods anymore. And I have a guitar with a round neck and small shoulders (PRS Zach Myers, a known quasi-baseball bat), a Jackson Dinky which is much flatter, and a Godin Multiac 7 which is pretty flat but with large shoulders. Every bass I've played since is too much strain to endure for more than a few minutes.

I'm probably not qualified and certainly not interested in breaking that down in terms of the physics but the layman's day-to-day result has spoken for themself. Without the Strandberg I simply can't play the way I do. I have to be grateful for that, even if it took me three of them to finally land on one that matched the QC standards expected at the price point. Initially I thought this was as much to do with the lack of a headstock as the neck shape but I've had better but ultimately the same limited experience playing my friend's Osiris.

more power to you if the design works for you. For me it does nothing. I found the endurneck to be the least comfortable neck I've ever played, especially in comparison to the IPNP neck on my USA strandy. I'm not exactly picky about neck profiles either, I have a pile of guitars with necks ranging from a quite fat, deep C shape (balaguer) to super thin flat D shapes (aristides 070 and jackson wr7).

That's fucking heinous that you went through 3 of them to get a good one. That is not something that should ever happen with a brand at this price point.

 

[SCJR]

more power to you if the design works for you. For me it does nothing. I found the endurneck to be the least comfortable neck I've ever played, especially in comparison to the IPNP neck on my USA strandy. I'm not exactly picky about neck profiles either, I have a pile of guitars with necks ranging from a quite fat, deep C shape (balaguer) to super thin flat D shapes (aristides 070 and jackson wr7).

That's fucking heinous that you went through 3 of them to get a good one. That is not something that should ever happen with a brand at this price point.

Trust me if not for the injury I would have never even bothered. I saw Chris Letchford and Tosin using them ~2013-14 or whatever it was and was always intrigued but figured I'll mess around with a headless if I encounter one. The injuries kind of forced my hand and I then began to seek one out, pun definitely intended.

My first was an OS which was a dog of dogs in terms of fretwork and overall QC (also didn't love the lace sensors) and the second was an Indo classic which had similar issues and I just didn't vibe with it. Felt way too heavy for what was intended to be a very light guitar. Landed on a '17 Korean Prog 7 and it's my #1. I think they are slightly more accessible as ERG instruments to those with smaller hands or a history of injury, of which I have both. Though I've heard that the flat design gets to be a bit too much when you get to 8 strings. Never played one myself. I can see it being much more of the "2x4 plank" feel when you're traveling that far to the edge in either direction.

Again I'm extremely thankful for it but if not for the injuries my horizons would remain as wide as they once were and all things considered the brand would have been a stay away overall.

 

[jayarpeggios]

I really love the Strandberg design, and they are probably my favorite guitars, but yeah... QC is just absolutely awful and not exactly fast or helpful support either. I think I got lucky on my first one, didn't have to send it back. 2nd one I had to send back 2 or 3 times before getting a non-lemon. And just recently bought a 3rd and it too has to be sent back. Honestly, as much as I love their instruments I think I'm done with Strandberg I don't want to deal with the hassle of shipping shit back and forth to get a good one, at these prices + indo it's kind of insane to cheap out on the QC process. Fuck, I'd pay them / someone to just look at the damn guitar before shipping it to me.

 

[Richter]

I own 4 Bodens and they're my favorite instruments ever so I guess I get the fanboi status. Apparently I got lucky with mine. Never had to send them back or whatever. Though the new direction the brand took with the NX series pisses me a little bit. They ditched some features (roasted necks, real thick tops, introduced less expensive woods) all for the sake of sustainability according to them. Oh and they raised their prices. Less features and a heavier price tag, yay!

No. Truth is you had a new investor coming to the board and you were asked to do more profits. The planet has zero to do with this.

 

[Boy_Narf]

Hello everyone,

I recently got my hands on the original butterscotch and I really liked it. Honestly have not been able to stop thinking about it for a few days now.

The version with the beautiful roasted neck was 10% off due to being "the old model". Has anyone done a shootout of the old and new/nx version of the butterscotch guitar? Do you think the hardware upgrades are worth it vs the loss of the roasted neck? As I understand the differences are the heel carve, string protectors, losing the height adjustment locking screws, slightly different feel to the tuning knobs, and a different gig bag. Am I missing anything?

He also showed me a standard NX in green and I honestly didn't notice the neck difference until he told me about it. It wasn't until after did some research that I found out about the other "upgrades". I do think the NX tuners were easier to adjust, and the old knobs are horrible, so nice to see the knurling on the new ones.

I'm also wondering about string gauges. I put D'addario 11-52 on all of my guitars. Will this set work on this guitar? I've read a few posts saying that heavy strings don't fit through the nut and to stick with 10's. Any experience in the heavier string department?

I don't currently have the scratch for the guitar until I make a bunch of sales, so I'm really wondering if I'll be making a mistake waiting a few months and ordering an NX.

Thanks everyone.

 

[jeromereuff]

Hi there,
Reading the last comments, and the huge gap between repeated QC complaints and rising prices, wondering if strandberg still is as popular as 5 years back ..
I've been curious about them for years, but never had the chance to get my hands on one to test them. And now I even can't find a model that suits my taste any longer - 6 string, HH Suhr, 5-way & tremolo. Apart from the ultra limited run DALA ...
That's got to be my disnosaur side.

 

[SCJR]

Hi there,
Reading the last comments, and the huge gap between repeated QC complaints and rising prices, wondering if strandberg still is as popular as 5 years back ..
I've been curious about them for years, but never had the chance to get my hands on one to test them. And now I even can't find a model that suits my taste any longer - 6 string, HH Suhr, 5-way & tremolo. Apart from the ultra limited run DALA ...
That's got to be my disnosaur side.

I believe that's any Prog 6?

 

[Alberto7]

I think their popularity has only skyrocketed since 5 years ago. I've already seen them out in the wild a couple of times at local gigs in a pub and a bar here in Montreal. They're not quite one of the main brands, but I think most people that have been at the hobby for a year or more have at least heard of them and recognize the shape. And tons of popular artists and youtubers use them.

Despite that, I don't think QC issues have been addressed much. Why would you when they still sell like hot cakes.

 

[jeromereuff]

I believe that's any Prog 6?

Well... That's correct, the Prog is the last one.

 

[FloridaRolf]

Hey guys, I'm looking for used 8-string strandbergs and I just wanted to ask if some of you got any experience regarding the strandberg-designed pickups vs the fishmans in those guitars. Youtube just has a single comparison and I couldn't really tell them apart.

 

[SCJR]

Hey guys, I'm looking for used 8-string strandbergs and I just wanted to ask if some of you got any experience regarding the strandberg-designed pickups vs the fishmans in those guitars. Youtube just has a single comparison and I couldn't really tell them apart.

Never played an 8 but I had a very brief stint with a Classic 6 and the Strandberg pickups were pretty underwhelming. It was a 2020 and there have been a couple of changes since though so it would depend on when whatever 8 you're looking at was made.

The Abasis were a big step up from the Moderns in my 7. Overall I would stay away from Fishman. I used to love them but I'm super fatigued on them. I have an LP style guitar with a Suhr SSV/SSH+ combo and it blows the Strandberg tones away.

 

[FloridaRolf]

Never played an 8 but I had a very brief stint with a Classic 6 and the Strandberg pickups were pretty underwhelming. It was a 2020 and there have been a couple of changes since though so it would depend on when whatever 8 you're looking at was made.

The Abasis were a big step up from the Moderns in my 7. Overall I would stay away from Fishman. I used to love them but I'm super fatigued on them. I have an LP style guitar with a Suhr SSV/SSH+ combo and it blows the Strandberg tones away.

I had one for a few days now and I absolutely get what you mean. It has a very distinct sound which is cool for certain things but I can imagine those PUs becoming absolutely annoying after some time. Nice cleans though.

 

[thetourist]

Hey all, a trem noob here.

I'm looking to figure out how different the tremolo units on the strandberg guitars are compared to a double-locking FR/Edge type trem. I'm looking to buy my first guitar with a trem, mainly to play Plini covers. And obviously the strandberg can do that, but can their trem keep up with the OG trems in terms of feel and durability? What do you guys think?

 

[jco5055]

their trem is single locking, so on paper it won't be as stable as a FR/Edge...but I'd guess it can still do most whammy stuff, just don't try to copy Steve Vai or Slayer etc.

 

[LunatiqueRob]

I'm putting three of my Strandys up for sale (Plini Neck-Thru, Fusion NX, and Standard Tremolo).

Here's the link to the Plini: https://www.sevenstring.org/threads...ru-natural-finish-2021-mint-condition.362787/

Fusion NX: https://www.sevenstring.org/threads...n-nx-amber-yellow-2021-mint-condition.362788/

Standard Tremolo: https://www.sevenstring.org/threads/strandberg-boden-standard-6-tremolo-bengal-burst.362789/

 

[yanlin]

How’s strandberg j8 quality, compared to something like… say an abasi usa larada/emi8?

 

[StevenC]

Eight Thousand Dollars

 

[narad]

The (somehow unintentional) downfall of strandberg is painful to watch. These are some of the worst specs put forth from any boutique builder. If coming up with new specs is a problem, there are literally about 70 M2M designs from which to base reasonable models from. The resq is the only good thing coming out of there now.