# NGD: Red/Maple .strandberg* Boden OS7



## asher (Mar 7, 2015)

So I gave in and I've finally also had the chance, and the weather, to take some pictures.

Fricking amazingly light; really resonant and loud unplugged; rather comfortable body shape; I've found the bridge really easy to use, and much more comfortable (and for some reason, more in proportion) than I might have thought from looking at pictures; the Endurneck really is damn comfortable, and though I don't notice a lot of difference on the first couple frets, stuff from the 7th-9th fret up practically plays itself, which is the first time I've said this about a guitar (thumb is much more relaxed); access is good; ash looks great; flame is kinda so-so, to be completely honest, and doesn't change much, though the red is a nice color; the birdseye board is *fantastic* and much better than my old JP7; the 707Xs aren't bad, but I'm going to change them since the guitar needs to be more versatile than that.

There's a small amount of some of the route tearing around some of the bridge plates, but I'm not fussed, and the rest of the routes seem quite good.

If you've been on the fence, I highly recommend taking advantage of the two week return period to give one of these a spin 

ed: gah, looks like some things didn't rotate, sorry guys.  all taken with my Lumia Icon phone, for reference.
ed2: planning to toss 57/66 set in, I don't want to mess with redoing all the wiring, and I've been super curious about them.


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## asher (Mar 7, 2015)

Pics #2


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## asher (Mar 7, 2015)

Pics #3. I was amused when I came back inside and noticed the Luminlays had gotten sunlight-powered.


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## QuantumCybin (Mar 7, 2015)

Beautiful man, damn. HNGD!!


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## shadowlife (Mar 7, 2015)

Every one of these NGD threads brings me closer to pulling the trigger...

Congrats on yours- looks great!


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## Hollowway (Mar 7, 2015)

I like that color combo the best. I find it weird that they don't just make solid color tops, and do away with the flame. Everyone seems to be disappointed with the flame, and just going with a swamp ash, or plain maple (with stain) would eliminate any of that frustration.


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## Noxon (Mar 7, 2015)

Very nice, sir! Congratulations!


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## movingpictures (Mar 7, 2015)

Hollowway said:


> I like that color combo the best. I find it weird that they don't just make solid color tops, and do away with the flame. Everyone seems to be disappointed with the flame, and just going with a swamp ash, or plain maple (with stain) would eliminate any of that frustration.



Or just use better tops..it is an $1800 guitar. Bush league stuff


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## HighGain510 (Mar 7, 2015)

NOICE! Yours has an even better board than mine!  Another option for not touching the electronics but swapping the pickups is the Fishman Fluence option. I REALLY considered grabbing those but figured I already knew I wanted Lundgren M7 set in something again and now that they do the the M7C's I knew I had to do that for mine. People who have been long-time EMG users have said the Fluence stuff is sick, so that might be an option if you wanted something a little difference than the 707X pickups. I am not huge on the 57-7/66-7 pickups in my CL7 FWIW, that's why I'm dropping the BKPs in that one.  Either way, I'm sure it will be awesome, congrats again dude!


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## olejason (Mar 7, 2015)

movingpictures said:


> Or just use better tops..it is an $1800 guitar. Bush league stuff



Yeah it does seem like they cut corners on the quality of the tops. I'd also like to see ebony boards offered.


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## asher (Mar 8, 2015)

Thanks guys!

I think of the OS guitars that we've seen here this top is probably the weakest. It's got some alright character aside from the flame, but that itself is pretty mediocre. I'm okay with it here, though obviously I'd love a nicer one. The Nat finish ones especially seem.to have better tops.

If I'm greedy I'd say I have the best fretboard though 

Also, I snagged a 57/66 off eBay earlier today, so I'll see how that goes whenever they show up.


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## metalstrike (Mar 8, 2015)

Ah, I was waiting for this NGD. I remember you mentioning yours was getting delivered a few weeks ago in another thread. As someone who is severely tempted by one of these, thanks for the pics and info!

HNGD!


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## Andromalia (Mar 8, 2015)

Waiting for EU availability. From a swede guy. Grmbl.


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## Abraxas (Mar 8, 2015)

That's wild looking!


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## dimitrio (Mar 8, 2015)

Love that strandberg shape, love red. That is a win! HNGD!


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## Silence2-38554 (Mar 10, 2015)

These guitars are fantastic. I just picked up the same color combo & it's gorgeous. Your board is WAY nicer than mine but yeah, my top is better haha. Ya win some, ya lose some, 'ya know? NGD coming soon for mine!

Also : The 707x's are better than I was expecting but I'm still gonna swap them for a Fishman Fluence set


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## JaxoBuzzo (Mar 10, 2015)

Words cannot describe my want for one of these. HNGD!


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## Konfyouzd (Mar 10, 2015)

That's good stuff right there


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## dhgrind (Mar 10, 2015)

happy new guitar day! these are such interesting guitars and yours looks great. The red stain and maple board look amazing together.


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## MAJ Meadows SF (Mar 10, 2015)

Yeah meh tops can disappoint, but hell it's a .strandberg*. As long as it's toneful and plays itself then it's a win. Besides then you have an excuse to eventually get a killer exotic natural topped one! Definintely a sexy fretboard though. I'd finger that. oh yeah. 

HNGD!


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## asher (Mar 10, 2015)

MAJ Meadows SF said:


> Yeah meh tops can disappoint, but hell it's a .strandberg*. As long as it's toneful and plays itself then it's a win. Besides then you have an excuse to eventually get a killer exotic natural topped one! Definintely a sexy fretboard though. I'd finger that. oh yeah.
> 
> HNGD!



.... so like the koa run I put a deposit down on (convinced by this guitar)?



I highly suggest everyone who is on the fence to just go ahead and try one, and if they don't like it use the two week return window.

You'll probably keep it though.


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## HighGain510 (Mar 10, 2015)

Silence2-38554 said:


> These guitars are fantastic. I just picked up the same color combo & it's gorgeous. Your board is WAY nicer than mine but yeah, my top is better haha. Ya win some, ya lose some, 'ya know? NGD coming soon for mine!
> 
> Also : The 707x's are better than I was expecting but I'm still gonna swap them for a Fishman Fluence set



Please post up a thread with your thoughts on those once you do the swap! I was very interested in those if I had stayed with actives so I'm curious how they sound in one of these! 



MAJ Meadows SF said:


> Yeah meh tops can disappoint, but hell it's a .strandberg*. As long as it's toneful and plays itself then it's a win. Besides then you have an excuse to eventually get a killer exotic natural topped one! Definintely a sexy fretboard though. I'd finger that. oh yeah.
> 
> HNGD!



Yeah normally I'm a stickler for wanting a nicer top on guitars in this price range, but it's solid maple (not a veneer) and the guitars play and sound amazing, so I'll take that over a flashy top and a tonal dud.   Hell, my CL7 is one of the Washburn-built ones with a rather meh top but goddamn does she play and feel amazing! I had the opportunity to send both my Washboden and the OS 7 back if I didn't love them... but I kept them and what's worse is now I want more! 



asher said:


> .... so like the koa run I put a deposit down on (convinced by this guitar)?
> 
> 
> 
> ...



 x 100. So absolutely impressed with these instruments! Hate to sound like a fanboy but I've spent enough time over the last few weeks playing them that I fear for some of my other guitars as I really would love another of the 6'er variety!


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## groverj3 (Mar 10, 2015)

Stunning!


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## DredFul (Mar 10, 2015)

Do want!

Happy NGD!


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## nistley (Mar 10, 2015)

asher said:


> Also, I snagged a 57/66 off eBay earlier today, so I'll see how that goes whenever they show up.



Is there anything specific to look for, considered the angled chambers? As I posted in another thread, I'm ready to get this, but getting +$200 of pickups is annoying, still, I'm considering it.

Also, Happy NGD =)


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## asher (Mar 10, 2015)

They're normal 707Xs. Anything that will fit a 7 string soapbar route will fit.


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## Inceptic (Mar 10, 2015)

HNGD!

It will be interesting to eventually hear comparisons between this and your koaberg.


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## STARLOVIN (Mar 11, 2015)

asher said:


> They're normal 707Xs. Anything that will fit a 7 string soapbar route will fit.



I compared the schematics of the 707x with Bareknuckle soapbar covers. Soap bar covers are actually a bit bigger. Mounting pole widths also differ by 4.5mm.


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## asher (Mar 11, 2015)

STARLOVIN said:


> I compared the schematics of the 707x with Bareknuckle soapbar covers. Soap bar covers are actually a bit bigger. Mounting pole widths also differ by 4.5mm.



How about vs. any other manufacturer?


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## STARLOVIN (Mar 11, 2015)

asher said:


> How about vs. any other manufacturer?



Not sure. I've only looked into BKP soapbars. And after speaking to my friend who is a luthier, some routing would be required to fit the BKP soapbar. As well, the mounting holes would need to be filled and re-drilled to accommodate the soapbar mounting hole space width.


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## HighGain510 (Mar 11, 2015)

asher said:


> How about vs. any other manufacturer?



The Lundgren M7C's appeared to be direct drop-in's for EMG's, I held mine above the pickups when they arrived and I believe they are using the same size cover. I'll advise if Phil has to do any routing but I do not believe that is the case. It's interesting as the pickup is offset inside the cover... I'll snap a pic of the pickups before they get installed.


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## Chiba666 (Mar 11, 2015)

UK/Europe please


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## HighGain510 (Mar 16, 2015)

asher said:


> How about vs. any other manufacturer?





HighGain510 said:


> The Lundgren M7C's appeared to be direct drop-in's for EMG's, I held mine above the pickups when they arrived and I believe they are using the same size cover. I'll advise if Phil has to do any routing but I do not believe that is the case. It's interesting as the pickup is offset inside the cover... I'll snap a pic of the pickups before they get installed.




Just a heads up - I had Philtone perform the "active to passive" procedure yesterday on my CL7 and OS 7 models. The OS 7 got the Lundgren M7C's (the EMG-soapbar cover style pickups) and while the routes for the pickups were no big deal, the pickup wiring was stiff and he did need to route a tiny bit out inside the cavities to get the wire to fit through properly. It didn't seem like he had to take out much wood, but it did take some slight modification to do it. Also the jack position was VERY close to the one pot so wiring those puppies up nice and neat was not easy!  SO glad I had him do the job instead of trying to handle the grounding myself, looks great and sounds 1000x better. I honestly feel the EMGs in here did both guitars a great disservice, the Lundgrens tightened up the low B substantially and the BKPs in the CL7 work very well with the rosewood neck! I wasn't paying attention when Phil dropped the pickups into the CL7 so the logos are upside down on the Bulb etched Juggernauts lol which means I'll have to flip those around at the next string change, but holy crap what a difference in both guitars!!!  


Did you end up putting those 57-7/66-7 pickups into your OS, Asher?  Not trying to talk you out of it (as it IS a good deal of work doing the grounding and all too) but the difference in tone from the 57-7/66-7 set in my CL7 to the BKPs was *tremendous*. The 57/66 set was better overall than the 707X set so it's still a step up if you're set going that route, but MAN... we plugged into his shop amp (Fender Super Reverb... and it's a GOOD one too... OMG CLEAN TUBE AMP GAS....  ) with both sets of pickups and it was a night and day difference in the CL7 and OS 7. If you have the tools (or know a tech who does), I highly recommend going with passives in these guitars, the actives obviously don't sound "bad" by any means, but with the pickup swaps in both, I feel like both guitars are definitely worth the price tag at this point. For what I paid between the cost of the OS 7, the M7's and the work to install them, it just feels like a solid deal. 

Oddly enough, and still on topic, there was a gent coming in there right after me with an OS7 who said he had a high fret (17th?) on his OS 7! I'm willing to bet it was someone on here, but I couldn't remember who posted about that recently so I didn't bring it up.  Hopefully either Phil or Ed/Ola get him squared away, I felt bad as mine was pretty much perfect out of the box and outside of the pickup swap, she didn't need any additional work from Phil which is always a great thing to hear!


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## asher (Mar 16, 2015)

The set is still on order, hasn't come in yet - I grabbed it off eBay, and then got a message from that store that they were waiting on their next shipment, so it'd be an extra week or two. I'm in no rush.

I'll see how I like them, you may be convincing me to change the set on my koaberg though!


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## HighGain510 (Mar 16, 2015)

asher said:


> The set is still on order, hasn't come in yet - I grabbed it off eBay, and then got a message from that store that they were waiting on their next shipment, so it'd be an extra week or two. I'm in no rush.
> 
> I'll see how I like them, you may be convincing me to change the set on my koaberg though!



If you can still go passive on the koa one, do it now!  Worst case scenario, you can go back to actives later and still have the ground wiring all done for you.  Trust me when I say it's a job that's better done by the factory instead of retrofitting it yourself later.


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## asher (Mar 16, 2015)

HighGain510 said:


> If you can still go passive on the koa one, do it now!  Worst case scenario, you can go back to actives later and still have the ground wiring all done for you.  Trust me when I say it's a job that's better done by the factory instead of retrofitting it yourself later.



Oh, I have no doubts about that 

I do love the M7s I have in my 1527.


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## ihunda (Mar 16, 2015)

Congrats! This lefts me so much wanting for the 6er version! Those things do a good job at stopping my vader gas.


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## DraggAmps (Mar 17, 2015)

Are these not made by Washburn anymore? Been a little while since I've been looking into them, but I thought they were made by the Washburn USA shop?

I really want one of these. I am debating my main guitar purchase of the year and I'm really torn between one of these, a Jackson Misha Sig, or an EBMM JP15 (or maybe the Majesty Artisan if I happen to like it better in person, but I think I'm set on the JP15). Truly cannot decide.


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## vinniemallet (Mar 17, 2015)

Curious to see when this is going to be available in Europe. What's probably gonna be the price?


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## Sumsar (Mar 17, 2015)

About the Europe thing, copied from the OS 6 thread:

"
Hi -----,thanks for your message.


We will have the Boden OS 6 (and 7) available in Europe around the April/May timeframe. We only sell direct through our website, and the price will be 1950 including VAT. The Boden OS 6 will come with Seymour Duncan Jazz/JB pickups mounted straight, and the color/wood options will be the same as the Boden OS 7.


We look forward to having you as a customer!


Best regards,
Ola
"


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## HighGain510 (Mar 17, 2015)

DraggAmps said:


> Are these not made by Washburn anymore? Been a little while since I've been looking into them, but I thought they were made by the Washburn USA shop?
> 
> I really want one of these. I am debating my main guitar purchase of the year and I'm really torn between one of these, a Jackson Misha Sig, or an EBMM JP15 (or maybe the Majesty Artisan if I happen to like it better in person, but I think I'm set on the JP15). Truly cannot decide.



The Boden *OS* 7 as shown in this thread is the Made in Korea version that gets shipped to the US for final QC by Ed Yoon in California. Not sure if OS stands for "overseas" perhaps, but that is my guess. The "Boden 7" model is still made by Washburn in Illinois, if you go to the Strandberg website it has a link under "Shop -> US Custom Shop" and that lists the models that Washburn will still build in the USA. 

If you look on the back of the headstock the Washburn CS built guitars, they stamped "Made in the USA" with the serial number into the wood, whereas the Boden OS 7 has a printed logo and states it was built in Korea. Also that being said, unless it's a typo on the Strandberg site, the scales for the fan of the Washburn-build Boden 7 is 25-25.75" instead of 25.5-26.25 on the Boden OS 7 model so that is another way to differentiate the two.

Serial looks like this on my OS 7:







Basically as of right now (again according to their site, you'd have to check with Ola for the "official word" of course) it looks like the breakdown is as follows:

Washburn USA Custom Shop Builds:

Boden 6
Boden 7
Boden 8
Boden CL7
Masvidalien
Varberg

WMI (Korean Factory building the OS models):

Boden OS 7 (currently)
Boden OS 6 (near future)
Boden OS 8 (near future?)


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## TauSigmaNova (Mar 17, 2015)

Sexy. HNGD


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## rockstarazuri (Mar 17, 2015)

The Japanese versions doesnt have anything on the back of the neck other than the serial number, btw.


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## FILTHnFEAR (Mar 17, 2015)

Not usually a fan of headless, but damn. Love that finish and that fretboard.


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## HighGain510 (Mar 18, 2015)

rockstarazuri said:


> The Japanese versions doesnt have anything on the back of the neck other than the serial number, btw.



Yep, that was the very first run... but they do say OS on the body, right?  All runs going forward will likely retain the serial number and writing as shown in my pic.


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## asher (Mar 30, 2015)

So, went to install the 57/66s last week, and some minor bad news:

Somehow, the washer on the g-string tuner has I think cracked, because it just spins in place when the tuner is twisted and does not actually increase tension on the string any more.


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## superash (Mar 30, 2015)

That's pretty poopy dude, any pics of the damage?


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## JamesM (Mar 30, 2015)

Strange. That hardware is rock solid. Email someone (as I'm sure you probably already have) and I bet it will get taken care of.


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## asher (Mar 31, 2015)




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## cubix (Mar 31, 2015)

Have you tried another tuning peg on that string, from the B string for example and see if it tunes? I'm not 100% sure how the tuning works but it seems like a broken thread if it just spins in place...


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## asher (Mar 31, 2015)

It's the fact that the washer has become detached - it shouldn't be spinning in place. It's not the knob or the threads.

They're sending a whole new assembly to me, as apparently they don't have a good solution yet if the washer detaches like that.


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## Aaron316 (Apr 1, 2015)

Have you considered adding the EMG RPC swtih to the guitar?


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## asher (Apr 1, 2015)

Aaron316 said:


> Have you considered adding the EMG RPC swtih to the guitar?



Instead of swapping pickups? Little late for that now 

I'm not sure what it does off-hand though. What makes you suggest it?


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## asher (Apr 4, 2015)

New saddle in yesterday. Will swap today and give the 57/66s a spin


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## Zinter (Apr 4, 2015)

asher said:


> New saddle in yesterday. Will swap today and give the 57/66s a spin



I love them in mine, still looking at swapping it to BKPs long term though


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## Aaron316 (Apr 5, 2015)

asher said:


> Instead of swapping pickups? Little late for that now
> 
> I'm not sure what it does off-hand though. What makes you suggest it?







Basically it's like a coil tap... But you can roll the knob to add/cut the amount of low freq. I plan on adding it to my jCuston 8.

EMG Pickups / RPC / Tone Controls / For Guitar / Accessories / Electric Guitar Pickups, Bass Guitar Pickups, Acoustic Guitar Pickups


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## TheShreddinHand (Apr 16, 2015)

Guitar is a beaut man! How are the new EMGs working out in it? Did you get the saddle issue fixed?


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## asher (Apr 16, 2015)

TheShreddinHand said:


> Guitar is a beaut man! How are the new EMGs working out in it? Did you get the saddle issue fixed?



They're WAAAAAAAY better. Very clear, much more dynamic. Still quite a bit of thunk out of the bridge, but I can play quickly strummed bar chords on the neck clean now and it sounds nice!

They sent me a new saddle assembly, which I popped on. What happened is that the part of the washer we can see is actually the flared end of a cylindrical sleeve that slips over the part of the saddle that actually moves in and out to tune the string. There's a small hole in the bottom of the sleeve through which a very small screw protrudes from a channel in the bottom of the string piece, which keeps the pieces locked in place and allows the torque transfer. The sleeve had just split running through the hole, so it was rotating around the string piece instead of transferring torque.


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## TheShreddinHand (Apr 17, 2015)

asher said:


> They're WAAAAAAAY better. Very clear, much more dynamic. Still quite a bit of thunk out of the bridge, but I can play quickly strummed bar chords on the neck clean now and it sounds nice!
> 
> They sent me a new saddle assembly, which I popped on. What happened is that the part of the washer we can see is actually the flared end of a cylindrical sleeve that slips over the part of the saddle that actually moves in and out to tune the string. There's a small hole in the bottom of the sleeve through which a very small screw protrudes from a channel in the bottom of the string piece, which keeps the pieces locked in place and allows the torque transfer. The sleeve had just split running through the hole, so it was rotating around the string piece instead of transferring torque.



Nice, good to hear it's fixed up and the 57/66 set is working out. They are pretty killer pickups. Sounded awesome in the Loomis I used to have.


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## TheShreddinHand (Apr 20, 2015)

asher said:


> They're WAAAAAAAY better. Very clear, much more dynamic. Still quite a bit of thunk out of the bridge, but I can play quickly strummed bar chords on the neck clean now and it sounds nice!



Do the pole pieces of the 57/66-7s line up with the strings or are they slightly off because of the slant? Do you know if this makes a difference or not?


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## Overtone (Apr 20, 2015)

dat ASH!

super duper happy new guitar day to you my friend.


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## Inceptic (Jun 1, 2015)

TheShreddinHand said:


> Do the pole pieces of the 57/66-7s line up with the strings or are they slightly off because of the slant? Do you know if this makes a difference or not?



+1 to this question.

OP, did you get the regular 57/66's or custom-slanted ones?


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## asher (Jun 1, 2015)

Regular - they're not slanted pickup routes, they're normal sized ones angled. The strings are a tiny bit off on the edge cases. But they sound just fine.

Sorry for not getting back to you, TSH!


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## geese_com (Aug 7, 2015)

Do you have any pictures of the OS 7 with the 57/66 pickups installed? I am on my phone so I might have just missed them.


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## asher (Aug 7, 2015)

Don't think I took any. I'll try to grab some this weekend.


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## geese_com (Aug 7, 2015)

asher said:


> Don't think I took any. I'll try to grab some this weekend.



Awesome! Thanks. 

Those pictures sure won't help my Strandberg GAS.


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## asher (Aug 7, 2015)




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## asher (Aug 12, 2015)

geese_com said:


> Do you have any pictures of the OS 7 with the 57/66 pickups installed? I am on my phone so I might have just missed them.


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## dadam (Aug 12, 2015)

It doesn't look like the poles are very far off at all. This definitely makes me feel better about the eventual passive-conversion of mine. 

By the way, I'm in love with the amount of swirly figuring you got on the fretboard. Very nice!


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## asher (Aug 12, 2015)

Of course, now that I have my koaberg, this is untouched


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## big_aug (Aug 12, 2015)

asher said:


> Of course, now that I have my koaberg, this is untouched



Ill buy it at a substantial discount


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## geese_com (Aug 12, 2015)

asher said:


> Of course, now that I have my koaberg, this is untouched



Dibs!


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