# NGD!!! Strandberg Boden 8



## JSanta (Dec 16, 2012)

Guys.

I received this on Wednesday and just now had some time to take a few pictures. I will post more when I'm around for light during the day, but I think these will do for now!






















The first thing I noticed when I pulled this out of the gig bag was how compact and extraordinarily light the instrument is. It feels as light as the Parker Fly's I've had in the past.

The tone is also fantastic. They Lace X-Bars offer tons of clarity, and have this wonderful bell-like tone when clean, but take to overdrive just as well. I was worried about these, but I won't be changing them

Seated, this guitar offers comfort in many positions, I particularly like how well it balances on my left leg for a more "classical" style position.

The EndurNeck is truly a thing of beauty. Even though I have primarily been a 6 string player, the comfort level is unsurpassed, and it makes playing all over the neck easy. The fanned frets are almost unnoticeable. I really like the the additional tension on the bass strings. 

This is by far and away the nicest playing guitar I have ever owned.

Thank you to Paul and Jim at S7G for being very responsive and for building something I have been dreaming about for a long time. And a special thank you to Ola for making these guitars more accessible to many of us.


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## ikarus (Dec 16, 2012)

what a nice guitar! awesome!


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## M3CHK1LLA (Dec 16, 2012)

wow...a thing of beauty for sure.

congrats


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## fabeau (Dec 16, 2012)

That is ridiculously beautiful.
I love the pale teal top, so far the best stain I have seen on a Boden 8!


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## JSanta (Dec 16, 2012)

Thanks, I was going for more blue to be honest, but I actually like this better. The oil finish on the guitar is wonderful, it feels like I'm more connected with this guitar than any other instrument I have ever had because it feels like there isn't a finish of any kind on it!


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## PresidentJesus (Dec 17, 2012)

Man that's absolutely beautiful. Really love the stain and I completely agree with everything you said. I really need to get started on posting a NGD for my Boden8 but I am swamped right now with work! Really beautiful guitar though man.


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## LolloBlaskhyrt (Dec 17, 2012)

Congrats dude, this guitar is awesome!


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## dudeskin (Dec 17, 2012)

Congrats dude!!
looks awesome!! i love that the top is stained and the rest is bare.


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## crg123 (Dec 17, 2012)

Woah I didn't know that finish was available for the Boden8's. Its kind of a blue jean finish right? My friend (anarchydivine88 on here) is getting one and was waiting for that option to be available. Was there any up charge for that?


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## joshuallen (Dec 17, 2012)

Awesome guitar. Strandberg makes some amazing looking instruments.


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## ThatBeardGuy (Dec 17, 2012)

Congrats on getting such a nice guitar, I love the colour and how there is that nice little stripe down the middle of the body


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## JSanta (Dec 17, 2012)

crg123 said:


> Woah I didn't know that finish was available for the Boden8's. Its kind of a blue jean finish right? My friend (anarchydivine88 on here) is getting one and was waiting for that option to be available. Was there any up charge for that?


 
The color on my invoice was some kind of blue, but it came out like this, probaby due to the relationship of the maple and the stain. I absolutely love the finish, and I'm glad I left the swamp ash natural because the color and grain of the body is spectacular, it would have been a shame to stain it. The charge for the stain is $75, so a complete steal if you ask me.


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## Rook (Dec 17, 2012)

Since having my strandberg I find every other guitar disappointing, congrats and enjoy never fully appreciating another guitar again


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## JSanta (Dec 17, 2012)

Just checked my invoice and the color is listed as Bright Sky Blue. But like I said, I think the fact that it's a stain rather than a glass finish kind of changes the look. To me though, this guitar looks incredible.


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## silentrage (Dec 17, 2012)

Is it possible for you to say how it compares to something like a Suhr Modern?


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## veshly (Dec 17, 2012)

Man that's awesome, the finish is very unique.


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## Randy (Dec 17, 2012)

Looks like Christmas came early for *JSanta*.


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## groovemasta (Dec 17, 2012)

You bedazzled the shit out of his name!!!!


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## JSanta (Dec 17, 2012)

silentrage said:


> Is it possible for you to say how it compares to something like a Suhr Modern?



I have only played a couple of Suhrs, but the quality is pretty close. That being said, the Suhr I played cost nearly twice what this did, and that guitar was impeccable. This just feels different because of the oil finish, but built very well. I don't think I could put them at exactly the same level, but I could have two of these for the price of the Suhr I played. 

So the S7G Strandberg Boden is amazing for what you get, but it is probably not as perfect as the ones you get from Ola, but also don't carry the same price tag, so that has to be taken into consideration. Overall though, in this price range, it is the nicest playing guitar I have come across.


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## JoeyW (Dec 17, 2012)

Wow! Congrats my friend!


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## bls4lyfe01 (Dec 17, 2012)

That is Hot! Congrats


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## technomancer (Dec 17, 2012)

JSanta said:


> I have only played a couple of Suhrs, but the quality is pretty close. That being said, the Suhr I played cost nearly twice what this did, and that guitar was impeccable. This just feels different because of the oil finish, but built very well. I don't think I could put them at exactly the same level, but I could have two of these for the price of the Suhr I played.
> 
> So the S7G Strandberg Boden is amazing for what you get, but it is probably not as perfect as the ones you get from Ola, but also don't carry the same price tag, so that has to be taken into consideration. Overall though, in this price range, it is the nicest playing guitar I have come across.



Wait, what was the total price on this?


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## JSanta (Dec 17, 2012)

About $2600. The Suhr I played was close to $4k. So not exactly twice the price but substantially more expensive.


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## mr_ormus777 (Dec 18, 2012)

Congrats man, love that axe!


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## NoMod (Dec 18, 2012)

These are really growing on me...the top turned out nice and I totally agree about the swamp ash, very purdy...


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## glassmoon0fo (Dec 18, 2012)

On the comparison tip, I'd echo the sentiment that this is the nicest I've played in the price range. I must say I've been plesantly and consistantly surprised by Allan's fretwork on all things S7, since usually when I get a new guitar it can benefit from my tech doing a fret job. The only guitars that Ive owned that havn't had anything that could be improved upon fretwise were my two S7 builds, my Rico 8, and a brand new rg2228, all the others had at least one or two bulging or sunken frets. I will say that as my boden is really light, it could use some beefing up to sound as good as my rico, but if I were to do another one of these, I'd think going solid construction and dimarzios would fix that nicely. That said, the design of the Boden makes comparing other guitars to it downright unfair. It's smaller and lighter than my jp6 by far, much less the mahogany/maple monster rico (which I was surprised by the ligh weight of, at the time). Only thing else I could think of would be SS frets, but if it becomes an option in the future, best believe this will be hard to beat. 

Put some vids up of this monster, the finish makes me jelly.


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## JSanta (Dec 18, 2012)

I would love to post a few videos, but don't have anything to do that with. I will at some point post some soundclips as my coworker has a great recording set up


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## JSanta (Dec 18, 2012)

I played an Ibanez 8 at the shop today and was shocked with how much wider the fretboard felt. I don't think I would have been to get along with that neck, so I'm glad I decided to spend a bit more and get this one. The new strings I just put on feel great!


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## JSanta (Dec 23, 2012)

Had my first lesson that I was able to take this guitar along to. Over the years I only worked on technique and I found that I know very little about the theoretical aspects of playing so I found a great jazz guitarist to get lessons from. 

My teacher has a gorgeous 7 string jazz box and he was shocked at how great this guitar was covering jazz. He just couldn't stop playing it, and the one hour lesson turned into over two when he called his buddy over who I'm told has over two hundred 8 string guitars (mostly classical) and he asked that as soon as I got home to email him the info to order one because he was just enamored. The tonal ground this guitar is capable of is just incredible.


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## IronGoliath (Dec 23, 2012)

This thing looks.. just.. dude.. gorgeous.. what have you done.. it's.. it's a miracle? It's melted cheese on toast every day for the rest of time? I don't have any coherent words to say. 

Marvellous. Absolutely hysterical over here.

HNGD


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## skalla (Jan 6, 2013)

sorry for the mini-bump but I've got to say: that is one sexy guitar! How big is the fan on the frets? and out of interest, when you order one of these, is it possible to choose pickups or do they all come with lace xbars? :>

I'm really considering selling my rg2228 and putting some money inbetween for a boden8 :G worth it? 

It's hard to know if I'd like the endurneck though, it looks like it can feel odd to use but so far I've only heard positive things about it. Is there any way to see what customization-options are available for the boden? The only page I've seen so far only showed the two different "base" models (from tosin and misha)


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## JSanta (Jan 6, 2013)

skalla said:


> sorry for the mini-bump but I've got to say: that is one sexy guitar! How big is the fan on the frets? and out of interest, when you order one of these, is it possible to choose pickups or do they all come with lace xbars? :>
> 
> I'm really considering selling my rg2228 and putting some money inbetween for a boden8 :G worth it?
> 
> It's hard to know if I'd like the endurneck though, it looks like it can feel odd to use but so far I've only heard positive things about it. Is there any way to see what customization-options are available for the boden? The only page I've seen so far only showed the two different "base" models (from tosin and misha)




Glad you like it! The fan is 28&#8243;-26.5&#8243;

They all come with the X-Bars, and honestly I didn't know what to expect but I love the clarity on these. They are not high output and I like the fact that I can easily go from jazz to metal with just a patch change and rolling down the tone knob. 

You can email Paul at S7G to see what options they might be rolling out in the future. When I ordered mine, they had just started the staining option, and you could choose the EndurNeck or the IPNP from Rick Toone.

My experience with other 8's is limited. I did play an RG8 at a shop a few weeks ago and I really hated the way it felt. Something about the neck profile on the Boden and the fan make it effortless to play. The Ibanez was just too wide for me, I did not feel comfortable on it. Built well, but not my thing at all.


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## jsl2h90 (Jan 6, 2013)

I'm just letting you know that when I order mine... I'm gonna tell Paul to make it exactly like yours. That thing is gorgeous, sorry to cop your style but holy hell that guitar is mouth watering. Reminds me of this one:
http://www.supremebrutality.net/interviews/images/cynic1.jpg


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## JSanta (Jan 6, 2013)

jsl2h90 said:


> I'm just letting you know that when I order mine... I'm gonna tell Paul to make it exactly like yours. That thing is gorgeous, sorry to cop your style but holy hell that guitar is mouth watering. Reminds me of this one:
> http://www.supremebrutality.net/interviews/images/cynic1.jpg



No worries  Because the stain batch and the top are unique to mine, they will just look like brothers rather than copies. I hope you enjoy yours as much as I enjoy mine!


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## Chuck (Jan 6, 2013)

Beautiful instrument. 

So, is this S7 made guitar but with a Strandberg design or what? I'm confused


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## JSanta (Jan 6, 2013)

This is a Strandberg Guitar made by the guys at Strictly 7. Here's something to give you a bit of information: Production Models | .strandberg* Guitars


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## Chuck (Jan 6, 2013)

Ahh ok gotcha. Thanks man


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## JSanta (Jan 6, 2013)

Misery Theory said:


> Ahh ok gotcha. Thanks man



Glad I could help you out a bit. I know it can be a bit daunting buying a guitar that you've never played, let alone one that is probably much different than anything you've ever encountered.

The reviews on here are accurate, the guitars are superb, and in my experience the best playing instrument I have ever played.


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## tsar nicholas (Jan 6, 2013)

Incroyable! Ultra rad axe.


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## ElRay (Jan 7, 2013)

Let us know your take (or even a few recordings) of the straight pick-ups in the fanned-guitar. 

Ray

EDIT: I did forget. Misha had his #15 .strandberg* "rebuilt" into #23 and Durero said that the three guitarists in his band had extensively tried-out a straight pick-up multi-scaled guitar. The basic gist was that a straight bridge pick-up loses too much of that "bridge pick-up sound" to get a tight, clean distorted sound on the bass strings. Whether it's a deal breaker or not really depends on what tones you're after and what style of music you're playing.


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## JSanta (Jan 7, 2013)

Unfortunately I don't have the tools to record, nor do I have experience with straight vs. slanted pickups in an ERG. That being said, the guitar has exceptional clarity, and honestly, I have zero room to complain. The guitar plays and sounds like a million bucks. My 18 year old self never would have imagined owning a guitar like this


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## absolutorigin (Jan 9, 2013)

That stain is very cool. Awesome strandberg man!


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