# NGD: Hana wa Saku (.strandberg* content)



## narad (Jun 13, 2014)

There's so much to say about this guitar and the build process I almost don't know where to begin! 

I got in touch with Ola and hopped on the waitlist August, 2011. Quite some time ago, and essentially right after I had received my first Daemoness. With a pure metal guitar around, I was most interested in returning to more classical/clean work, and keen to try a headless guitar, a fanned fret guitar, an eight-string guitar. Simultaneously though, when I held my Atlantean I thought, damn, this is metal. There's no forgetting it - it kind of sets the mood. I thought, what if I tried to spec a guitar that might send a different mood, something more minimalistic, something that had more in common with nature then with a muscle car or a medieval weapon. And this is how I settled on the specs: quilt top, with a light pink stain, pink ivory runners in a rosewood neck, unfinished ash back. Flowery. This was my mockup:



pink_ultimate_strand by jasonnarad, on Flickr

So a lot of things postponed this build - miscommunications, some shop errors, etc. My original build was #37, a natural quilt top that was sold at NAMM. I then sourced my own top from a guitar builder in Seattle. We talked at length about the nature of the stain, the types of quilt tops I like (so nice to find crazy guys who already have a vocabulary for describing all the different types of figuring we just group as 'quilt'), and he sourced a fantastic piece. Absolute private stock level wood.

And then it came time to stain. I have to admit, I was very anxious regarding how this would turn out. PRS had since came up with the PRS pomegranate finish, and so my reference pics at this point where Zimboth's own private stock. I think Ola was anxious too! Most of the made-to-measures simply use the natural beauty of the unstained woods + an oil finish, and this was quite different. Naturally I was ecstatic when Ola sent me this shot:



image3 by jasonnarad, on Flickr

I couldn't believe it. Better than my mockups and reference pics, just dead-on, exactly what I saw with my mind's eye. The stain had spilled onto the sides a bit, so rather than stain the whole thing that color, I suggested maybe a dark, dark purple "sandblasted" ash finish for the back and sides - no big deal. But the guitar needed to be sealed. I had originally spec'd a nitro finish, but I was worried about it cracking in plane transit, hot/cold transitions, and so we decided to go with an oil finish. An oil finish has a natural tint to it, and is applied by hand, so differs in some important regards. And the followup pictures...well, I kind of thought it was ruined. Then a picture where it looked purple-ish, but fantastic. Then the official pictures, where it looked red. It was all over the place.

Then this monday Ola had some business in London, and we met up so I could take delivery of the guitar. I was so shocked when he slid it out of the case - it was really close to the original picture. With no further adieu, .strandberg #60:



DSC_2789 by jasonnarad, on Flickr

Yeaaaa! RE: stain, I'll let the pictures do the talking, but man, .strandberg* guitars are so cool! I had seen thousands of pictures of these things, but you really need to hold it to appreciate the design decisions. The weight is great, and the balance perfect. That gimmicky sort of contour at the bottom for the classical position seating on the leg... not a gimmick! Any reasonable way to hold the guitar winds up as more comfortable as an RG. Much more comfortable than my previous ergo guitar, the Teuffel Tesla.

One of my biggest reservations was the endurneck. I don't know if I'd order it on a 6, but I don't think I want to play another eight-string without it. It's great - on the low frets there's not a huge difference IMO, but up around the body joint it feels a lot smaller than the Schecter eights I tried before.

Tonally, the D-activators do a really good high gain sound. Not really unique sounding - pretty typical high gain DiMarzio sound, and I've gotten reasonable cleans, but I'm still fiddling with the axe to get a convincing clean/acoustic/classical sound. The piezo option was too much at the time...maybe I should have. I don't know the contributing cause of this - the neck shape (and hence mass), the rosewood, etc., but it has better sustain than any guitar I've played. Not to say I'm doing a note holding competition, but that fundamental just seems to hang a second or two longer. Not something I necessarily need, but just an observation.

No processing besides fixing the exposure:


DSC_2835 by jasonnarad, on Flickr

Close to the desired color here:


DSC_2821 by jasonnarad, on Flickr

These contours and the space under the bridge make the body extremely grippable - just about wherever you put your hand around here you find a good spot to hold it:


DSC_2820 by jasonnarad, on Flickr

Pink ivory runners. Pink ivory is often not a bright pink. I think in both real life and in the photos, the pink ivory here resembles flamed koa. Beautiful, but a bit different from the pink theme I was going for. Should have tried purpleheart I suppose!


DSC_2823 by jasonnarad, on Flickr

An unfortunate portion of the pink ivory to be a darker brown, but zero frets are awesome:


DSC_2822 by jasonnarad, on Flickr

My favorite sort of lighting:


DSC_2841 by jasonnarad, on Flickr

And of course it wouldn't be a NGD without some BS NGD filter photo:



DSC_2840 by jasonnarad, on Flickr

I have more to say / a few more pics. Took longer than I thought to construct that post - I'll be back!


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## MarmaladeMad (Jun 13, 2014)

That top looks delicious. Incredible guitar, HNGD!


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## SerOner (Jun 13, 2014)

Interesting color, HNGD


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## Rev2010 (Jun 13, 2014)

Holy shit!! That is smoking hot!! Brilliant idea to go with that color, looks stunning  Congrats man.


Rev.


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## Noxon (Jun 13, 2014)

Amazing. HNGD to you, man!


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## bouVIP (Jun 13, 2014)

That's the most beautiful pink top ever!!!!


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## wigger (Jun 13, 2014)

Amazing guitar, HNGD! I just loooove these Bodens, the shape is so unique. It looks like perfection to me. Really nice color, too!


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## DakiEnt (Jun 13, 2014)

OMG! Happy NGD. That is unreal.


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## Sparks (Jun 13, 2014)

HNGD man. This is surely one of the most unique and beautiful Strandbergs I've ever seen. Big congrats!


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## asher (Jun 13, 2014)

God I love that color so much. It's a supple, gorgeous red sunset.


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## StevenC (Jun 13, 2014)

HNGD!

I can't wait to come over and play it!


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## thrsher (Jun 13, 2014)

Congrats buddy


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## Daf57 (Jun 13, 2014)

Dude, that came out gorgeous!! Big congrats on a masterpiece guitar!


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## mphsc (Jun 13, 2014)

nailing it broski. Congrats.


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## HighGain510 (Jun 13, 2014)

That came out great!!! What happened to your high E string in the photos?


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## AkiraSpectrum (Jun 13, 2014)

super cool, congrats!


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## Convictional (Jun 13, 2014)

That quilt top is easily the nicest quilt top I've ever seen. It's so pure and perfect and the quilt is so wonderful.


Why do you keep getting these nice guitars? Daemoness and now this? Seriously?


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## teamSKDM (Jun 13, 2014)

This is one hundred percent to a T how ive told so many people I want my custom strandberg made. hngd man shes gorgeous.

more back shots too!!


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## Shawn (Jun 13, 2014)

Such a beautiful guitar and great pics too. Congrats!


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## Corrosion (Jun 13, 2014)

Mad envious right now.. never thought I'd gas so hard for a pink guitar before this but [email protected] that is insanely Phatty!


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## Aris_T (Jun 13, 2014)

This is an impeccable creation! Enjoy!

HNGD!


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## JerichoCheng (Jun 13, 2014)

THIS IS THE BEST STRANDBERG IVE SEEN, CONGRATS!!


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## JosephAOI (Jun 14, 2014)

INSANEEEEEEEEEE. That top is ridiculous! I literally got chills when I saw it cause your post built up to it so much and ....ing delivered hard haha! 

Congrats, man!


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## Erockomania (Jun 14, 2014)

WOW! Love that you went with pink and kept the scheme homogenous. Really nice job.


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## ikarus (Jun 14, 2014)

EPIC!! HNGD!


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## Cosmic Junglist (Jun 14, 2014)

Killer! Real men rock pink


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## Lorcan Ward (Jun 14, 2014)

Wow that is nice!!!! The quilt top is awesome. Happy NGD!!!


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## asfeir (Jun 14, 2014)

This is beautiful. I remember you were a bit anxious about having that staining done properly and I'm glad it turned out so good! Probably Ola's best work yet!


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## GRIZ (Jun 14, 2014)

That quilt though! Effing gorgeous


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## Splinterhead (Jun 14, 2014)

stellar build! Congrats on a killer guitar!


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## Cowboyfromhell (Jun 14, 2014)

Amazing guitar! Congrats HNGD!


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## narad (Jun 14, 2014)

Thanks guys! Glad you like it - I thought I was pretty much the only one who would be on board for a satin pink guitar!



StevenC said:


> HNGD!
> 
> I can't wait to come over and play it!



Anytime man - gotta get those group demo vids going.



HighGain510 said:


> That came out great!!! What happened to your high E string in the photos?



Ha, I was hoping I'd be able to explain it before someone called me out on it. Basically it snapped within 2 minutes of getting home and playing. I'd already played for a few hours spread out at work and while picking it up, so it's not like it broke immediately, but essentially as soon as I plugged it into the amp ...*snap*.

Then I looked at the break, and it wasn't a break at all: the string completely unwrapped from the ball end. Very weird. Ola says it's some incompatibility with D'Addario strings and he's sending me some prototype string set which will hopefully remedy this.



Convictional said:


> Why do you keep getting these nice guitars? Daemoness and now this? Seriously?



Ha, wrong way around - this, and hopefully this week the Daemoness. But to put this in context, these guitars and my upcoming Vik were all bought with money from a single industry internship 2-3 years ago. Of course, just my luck that they all finish the same month (essentially the same week!). 

I'm otherwise an academic and wouldn't be able to keep this lifestyle up (until I sell out to industry).



teamSKDM said:


> more back shots too!!



Incoming!



asfeir said:


> This is beautiful. I remember you were a bit anxious about having that staining done properly and I'm glad it turned out so good!



If you're one of the guys who I chat to on a regular basis over the course of a build you'd know I'm "a bit" anxious about every aspect of a build. I'm such a terrible person to be ordering guitars, and yet here we are. I have a hartung order placed and paid in full around October and it hasn't even started because I'm so anxious about the quality of his redwood...



asfeir said:


> Probably Ola's best work yet!



Hehe, hide that message from StevenC! Neg-rep incoming! ;-)

Part II update coming soon... (had to submit my PhD thesis - no biggie!)


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## narad (Jun 14, 2014)

So part II, a bit more of a thorough review.

I was anxious (haha) regarding the endurneck, but it's definitely one of the best aspects of the guitar. I had seen photos but had very little understanding of what it would feel like. I think this photo sums it up. 



DSC_2813 by jasonnarad, on Flickr

In that spot between the 9th and 15th fret or so, on the bass side, the neck narrows to the point where almost all the neck mass is on the opposite side. It's essentially as thick as the fretboard. So the neck feels very flat and thin where your thumb tends to land, but the neck mass overall is still quite chunky. People had described the flat aspect, but I hadn't realized how much the neck shape is able to create the illusion of playing on an extremely flat/thin neck in the higher frets. I've had a lot of trouble in the past getting enough pressure to do long bars, especially in classical pieces, and this profile significantly improves this.

The back:


DSC_2798 by jasonnarad, on Flickr

I have other shots of the back that are super sexy, but I feel this is more accurate. The sandblasted black ash is not completely opaque, and along the ridges some of the ash coloring comes in. A small criticism, but I'm not a big fan of that sort of worn look. 

The join as best as I could show outside of macro mode:


DSC_2811 by jasonnarad, on Flickr

It's not quite at the level of some of my other guitars in terms of craftsmanship. My Huber and Ken Lawrence guitars are truly perfect in my eye - you can look them over and there's just perfect lines at every intersection. #60 isn't quite there - the joint is still super tight but not flawless. I realize most guys are going to think I'm crazy for thinking that! 


And just for the hell of it, my favorite photo from that set:


DSC_2806 by jasonnarad, on Flickr

Overall I'm really liking it and it's a completely different experience when compared to traditional guitars. I've had some other headless/ergo instruments since ordering this, and none of them really delivered in terms of what they were claiming. But in my mind, both the boden body shape and the endurneck are significant innovations.

There are a few things I'm not a fan of. I find about half the tuners to be very hard to turn. If you want to really apply extra effort you run the risk of your fingers sliding past other tuners. I find the lowest string not to be particularly tight. I actually don't know what scale this is! But I admit I'm very new to 8s.

In summary,
Pros:
- lightweight
- super comfortable in the way it sits on your legs
- super comfortable against your ribcage
- endurneck is noticeably great for wide necks and high frets. Really makes an 8 feel like a 7. Not too different from normal in the lower frets. 
- quilt top is absurd.
- Ola nailed the finish.
- fretwork is very good. Better than most.
- zero frets are great
- hardware is very high quality, well designed
- D-activors have a great, if somewhat typical, DiMarzio high gain sound. Guitar is very clear sounding with great sustain.
- the gigbag and the case are both the best in their respective areas. The gigbag looks high quality in photos, and the case looks like a flimsy cover to save it from the rain. Wrong. The case has four inch walls of cold-rolled steel. J/K, but it is very thick plastic, very hard plastic. 
- Ola seems like a super nice guy and was very patient in trying to get the top/stain how I had envisioned. It was a long build. 

Cons:
- tuner gears are very stiff
- double side dots are off kilt a tiny bit
- whatever's going on with the high e
- joints are solid and tight, but not perfect, may have to do with the finishing process
- figuring on the back cover does not match the front very well
- would have prefered more opaque back finish
- the pink ivory was less pink than desired - one runner is essentially invisible from the front
- the oil finish seems to have pushed some of the reds in the stain towards the edge of the body / maybe should have pursued a satin poly finish
- case is ultimately quite heavy
- DiMarzios cost a lot from Ola, maybe not a great clean compared to alternatives like Hauessel, not super tight low end like lundgren
- I got lost while picking up the guitar and only got to chat with Ola for about 20 minutes ;-)

A very pretty, very well-thought-out guitar. It really feels like playing the next generation/iteration of electric guitar, and I'm looking forward to my second slot. Overall I'd say that in terms of Ola's options, if you want the most value for the money it's definitely better to pursue natural woods and boutique Euro pickups, so that's some food for thought for people on the waitlist.

And now let me contradict everything I just said by showing this awesome mockup of what would be the best .strandberg* I've ever seen. Cheers guys!



green_strand_14226661849_b0f32f82c0_h by jasonnarad, on Flickr


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## HighGain510 (Jun 14, 2014)

narad said:


> Ha, I was hoping I'd be able to explain it before someone called me out on it. Basically it snapped within 2 minutes of getting home and playing. I'd already played for a few hours spread out at work and while picking it up, so it's not like it broke immediately, but essentially as soon as I plugged it into the amp ...*snap*.
> 
> Then I looked at the break, and it wasn't a break at all: the string completely unwrapped from the ball end. Very weird. Ola says it's some incompatibility with D'Addario strings and he's sending me some prototype string set which will hopefully remedy this.



Huh, that does sound odd. I hadn't heard anything about needing special strings for Ola's hardware/tuners before, is this something new? Does D'Addario do something unique with their strings at the ball end?  That's all I use anymore so I haven't experimented with many other brands in a long time, didn't think they were doing anything odd/unique to their strings but maybe something about his tuner design doesn't play well with them specifically? Either way, that thing looks amazing so hopefully you guys can get it sorted out! I'd love to try an 8-string .stradberg* with the Endurneck but I don't trust the Washburn/Astral folks working on that line enough to build me one and I don't feel like waiting a couple years for one via Ola's list.  I dig the pros/cons list though, it seems fairly unbiased which is always nice on the more recently-hyped builders instead of solely posted the rose-colored glasses version.  Nicely done!


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## StevenC (Jun 14, 2014)

narad said:


> And now let me contradict everything I just said by showing this awesome mockup of what would be the best .strandberg* I've ever seen. Cheers guys!



But that's not #44?


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## SamSam (Jun 15, 2014)

Truly beautiful. But I think the best one so far is #56 

Only just mind...


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## narad (Jun 15, 2014)

HighGain510 said:


> Huh, that does sound odd. I hadn't heard anything about needing special strings for Ola's hardware/tuners before, is this something new? Does D'Addario do something unique with their strings at the ball end?  That's all I use anymore so I haven't experimented with many other brands in a long time, didn't think they were doing anything odd/unique to their strings but maybe something about his tuner design doesn't play well with them specifically? Either way, that thing looks amazing so hopefully you guys can get it sorted out! I'd love to try an 8-string .stradberg* with the Endurneck but I don't trust the Washburn/Astral folks working on that line enough to build me one and I don't feel like waiting a couple years for one via Ola's list.  I dig the pros/cons list though, it seems fairly unbiased which is always nice on the more recently-hyped builders instead of solely posted the rose-colored glasses version.  Nicely done!



Yea, it seems to be some specific interplay between the way the tuner wraps the string and the D'Addario threading. They're also pretty much all I use, but I guess I bought an 8 so I can start being one of those guys that gets custom gauge string sets and all that. ERGs - complicating every aspect of playing.

Yea, agreed - I was really itching for an Astral build, especially because there's not a whole lot of difference between my specs and theirs, at a huge cost difference. I also heard good things about their quality at NAMM, and the first couple of CL7s looked amazing. But yea...hate reading the recent reviews of them and seeing how different the woods are now. Nothing gold can stay it seems.



SamSam said:


> Truly beautiful. But I think the best one so far is #56
> 
> Only just mind...



Ha, you could well be right, but it needs to be finished first!


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## jemfloral (Jun 20, 2014)

definitely my second favorite made to measure strandberg! congrats!

(the greyish burl, nexus-looking strandy is my favorite)


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## mcsalty (Jun 20, 2014)




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## narad (Jun 20, 2014)

jemfloral said:


> definitely my second favorite made to measure strandberg! congrats!
> 
> (the greyish burl, nexus-looking strandy is my favorite)



I like that one too - this whole "batch" has really been a showcase of cool specs and wood.


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## narad (Jun 24, 2014)

Tiny update: I've been using the GHS custom set that Ola sent me for a week now - no problems with the unwinding/snapping at all. Seems like just something with certain gauges of a D'Addario.

Also...stellar guitar for tapping stuff. That's not really my thing, but I was still experimenting for almost two hours day just because the setup was so perfect for it.


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## decreebass (Jun 24, 2014)

I want that guitar! Trade me for my Carvin DC800!! HNGD!


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## Mwoit (Jun 25, 2014)

narad said:


>



Dat green. I may have to email Ola.


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## StevenC (Jun 25, 2014)

I have to keep coming back to this thread because this guitar is so pretty!

Also, don't you have 2 more NGDs you should be sharing with us?


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