# Strandberg Boden in Japan!



## rockstarazuri (Nov 24, 2014)

So, I just got back form Music Fest 2014 in Tokyo, and there's good news.

Strandberg Boden 7s are going to be on sale in Japan by the end of this year. Official news, I heard it from Shun Nokina and the staff there.




























The brand new Boden OS line for the Japanese market, launched at Music Fair Japan 2014. Specs are:
- Solid Flame Maple top
- Chambered Swamp Ash Body 
- Birdseye Maple Neck with Walnut & Carbon Fiber laminates
- Birdseye Maple or Rosewood fretboard
- 26.25" - 25.5" scale
- Stainless Steel frets
- 20" fretboard radius
- EndurNeck profile
- Lace Aluma X-Bar pickups
- 3-position blade switch
- Master Volume 
- Master Tone 
- Weight: approximately 2 kg

No corners have been cut in providing a more affordable .strandberg* guitar - they have 100% of the original playability and sound. Final pricing is yet to be determined, but aimed at ¥1,985,000 + tax <-- official statement

(Typo on the price, its 198500yen which is roughly $1680)

It's supposedly made by one of ESP/Schecter factory in Asia, presumably Korea, but when I tested it it felt nothing like a Schecter guitar in terms of quality. More like a high end Ibanez Prestige and Mayones to me (having owned both, of course). Maybe even better quality than those.

And THE PRICE. Super stoked!!

PS 6 string version might be on sale around March, according to the staff.


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## Mattykoda (Nov 24, 2014)

Was just about to post this. Super excited for a more affordable Boden!


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## timbucktu123 (Nov 24, 2014)

is it coming to the usa?. importing from japan honestly isnt that much of a hassle so i could get one either way


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## LIPCoelhoq (Nov 24, 2014)

could i get one, living in the EU?


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## HighGain510 (Nov 24, 2014)

Now THIS is interesting....  IF that factory can get the QC issues sorted out the Washbodens seem to be suffering from as of late, that's a smoking price for a guitar I'd love to try out finally!


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## ImNotAhab (Nov 24, 2014)

Do want...


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## bouVIP (Nov 24, 2014)

I want one so badly right now


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## Shimme (Nov 24, 2014)

Hopefully an 8 will be available sometime, but I might get that 7 regardless...

DAYUM strandbergs are cool!


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## Jonathan20022 (Nov 24, 2014)

Interesting but I wouldn't pay close to two thousand USD for a Korean Made Guitar. 

At first I was very surprised/excited seeing this but then I started getting confused since the specs seem to be relatively similar to what Washburn offers. This seemed to kill the incentive to order a USA made one since this is half the price, but I'd rather not get a guitar with cut corners just to get my hands on the design.

They're saying that no corners were cut, but I'd have to see them first hand to believe that honestly. That being said Korea has been putting out some pretty solid work recently, but I still wouldn't be paying that much money for a guitar made in the same place as the LTD's and Schecters for >= $1000.


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## asher (Nov 24, 2014)

LACE pickups and the Strandy hardware aren't cheap.

See also Ibanez Premiums.


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## SavM (Nov 24, 2014)

This is great news! If the quality is up there with the LTD deluxe models or even slightly better that would be amazing. The tops don't look too bad either, time to get these bad boys into more hands it seems. I do wonder what will happen with the Washburn line though.


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## StevenC (Nov 24, 2014)

Between the price of a new Dingwall Combustion and the Strandberg hardware, I don't think these are too badly priced.


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## Jonathan20022 (Nov 24, 2014)

asher said:


> LACE pickups and the Strandy hardware aren't cheap.
> 
> See also Ibanez Premiums.



I'm talking more about the cost to the consumer, if someone in the US wants in on this you'd be spending (Tax + Shipping + Customs/Duties). That brings it over 2k.

I've owned two Ibanez Premiums and they were fantastic guitars, I'm not saying Korea wouldn't put out a quality Boden but until they're offered worldwide spending 2k+ on a Korean guitar doesn't seem ideal. If they bring that to other countries and avoid the cost of importing and shipping that would be awesome.

I would rather save up an extra thousand and go Washberg at the the price after imports and everything. But that's just me. It's wonderful for the Japanese Market to get these at 198500 Yen though.


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## Dabo Fett (Nov 24, 2014)

If I can find a way to get one in America, I'll be getting one asap. Unless I just get a promotion first hahaha


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## technomancer (Nov 24, 2014)

Jonathan20022 said:


> I'm talking more about the cost to the consumer, if someone in the US wants in on this you'd be spending (Tax + Shipping + Customs/Duties). That brings it over 2k.
> 
> I've owned two Ibanez Premiums and they were fantastic guitars, I'm not saying Korea wouldn't put out a quality Boden but until they're offered worldwide spending 2k+ on a Korean guitar doesn't seem ideal. If they bring that to other countries and avoid the cost of importing and shipping that would be awesome.
> 
> I would rather save up an extra thousand and go Washberg at the the price after imports and everything. But that's just me. It's wonderful for the Japanese Market to get these at 198500 Yen though.



If Ikebe or Ishibashi are carrying these (which is likely since it was the Gakki festival these were announced at) you're high on the price... you don't pay tax when buying a Japanese guitar and you normally don't pay import duties from either of those companies so you're just looking at shipping. Also take into account that the price is probably including the Japanese use tax that you don't pay if you're a buyer outside Japan. So you're looking at more like ~$1550 plus shipping. Not a bad deal at all. 

Might not be good for the guys that are flipping Washbergs at a premium though...


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## bouVIP (Nov 24, 2014)

A friend showed me this pic he took. He said it's easy to play and cheap price wise. $1700 isn't too bad for the specs.


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## SpaceDock (Nov 24, 2014)

Figured it was only a matter of time. I will be anxiously awaiting the first NGD, hopefully the quality is up to expectations.


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## SevenStringJones (Nov 24, 2014)

Jonathan20022 said:


> I'm talking more about the cost to the consumer, if someone in the US wants in on this you'd be spending (Tax + Shipping + Customs/Duties). That brings it over 2k.
> 
> I've owned two Ibanez Premiums and they were fantastic guitars, I'm not saying Korea wouldn't put out a quality Boden but until they're offered worldwide spending 2k+ on a Korean guitar doesn't seem ideal. If they bring that to other countries and avoid the cost of importing and shipping that would be awesome.
> 
> I would rather save up an extra thousand and go Washberg at the the price after imports and everything. But that's just me. It's wonderful for the Japanese Market to get these at 198500 Yen though.



After shipping, upgrades, and PayPal fees the washburns are easily approaching double the price of one of the OS models. Plus with the subpar tops and other flaws of recent, these Korean ones are starting to appeal to me. Of course I'm going to wait and see just what kind of quality they are but they're much more appealing than a washburn at this point. Especially since I can get a seven that DOESNT have a maple fingerboard. 

Off topic, have you decided your black water specs yet?


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## fortisursus (Nov 24, 2014)

At the Washberg prices I've been hesitant to order one given that I've never tried a headless/fanned fret/endurneck guitar. If the prices end up being reasonable and no glaring short comings. They've definitely got my attention


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## ImNotAhab (Nov 24, 2014)

Big* appetite for affordable Bodens, maybe they will take notice? I could not afford a $3 one but a $1500 dollar model? I would be all over that.





*big in a subjective sense.


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## Jonathan20022 (Nov 24, 2014)

technomancer said:


> If Ikebe or Ishibashi are carrying these (which is likely since it was the Gakki festival these were announced at) you're high on the price... you don't pay tax when buying a Japanese guitar and you normally don't pay import duties from either of those companies so you're just looking at shipping. Also take into account that the price is probably including the Japanese use tax that you don't pay if you're a buyer outside Japan. So you're looking at more like ~$1550 plus shipping. Not a bad deal at all.
> 
> Might not be good for the guys that are flipping Washbergs at a premium though...



Oh I didn't know, I'm actually importing a guitar from someone selling on here right now and was just assuming that would be tacked onto the price. $1550 + Shipping is a solid price for these and what they are at the very least.

And yeah people either aren't noticing, or don't care anymore  but wait time on a Washberg is 1-2 months now and they're actually coming out very nicely and really well built from the ones I've owned, sans the alignment issue on the Masvidalien. So flipping something that is borderline readily available from dealers at a solid rate is completely pointless. The person I sold my CL7 for 2850 ended up selling it for 4k on eBay to someone which is ridiculous.

I'd personally just get another Washberg myself, I haven't had bad experiences with them and a Boden 6 is calling my name 



SevenStringJones said:


> After shipping, upgrades, and PayPal fees the washburns are easily approaching double the price of one of the OS models. Plus with the subpar tops and other flaws of recent, these Korean ones are starting to appeal to me. Of course I'm going to wait and see just what kind of quality they are but they're much more appealing than a washburn at this point. Especially since I can get a seven that DOESNT have a maple fingerboard.
> 
> Off topic, have you decided your black water specs yet?



I've never bought direct, I've gone through Ede Wright and he was more than accommodating and only charged me whatever price was on the catalog. So I didn't pay any of the fees you would get by going direct. I haven't had any flaws on my Bodens or CL7, and my Masvidalien had the neck alignment problem sadly. That and I doubt you'd get a top this nice on a production was, or it would simply be luck of the draw.

If they can deliver and if I can really get a solid Korean Boden at just under $1600 then I'm all for it. I didn't know we were exempt from all those fees and taxes when buying from Japan in the first place but if it was in place I wouldn't want one if it pushed the price farther into the 2k range.

And I've honed in on the general specs, so hardly much is gonna change. Having a hard time deciding wether I want another 6 or 7 at this point since I've been buying 7 strings more often nowadays


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## rockstarazuri (Nov 24, 2014)

If anything, these were closer to what a Suhr Rasmus are in terms of quality. SUper high end.

Also, I heard that they're going to be sold at select shops (5 for now) in Japan, so most probably Ikebe and Ishibashi (which are equivalents to Guitar Center in the US) won't stock em. I don't know about retail in the US, maybe not now.


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## blanco (Nov 24, 2014)

These need to come to the EU, with washburn price+shipping+tax being way to close to the M2M prices for us EU guys it makes sense to expand the EU market with OS models.


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## mnemonic (Nov 24, 2014)

Jonathan20022 said:


> At first I was very surprised/excited seeing this but then I started getting confused since the specs seem to be relatively similar to what Washburn offers. This seemed to kill the incentive to order a USA made one since this is half the price, but I'd rather not get a guitar with cut corners just to get my hands on the design.



I'm curious about this too. I think you can probably get a quality guitar from Korea, so with a proper setup they will probably compare favorably to the Washbergs. 

Since they've got basically the same specs (and same quality tops from the look of it), I wonder how many USA orders these would cannibalize if they were released in the USA? Might be a reason to restrict distribution to Japan only, or Asia/Europe only.


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## mag8 (Nov 24, 2014)

sweet!


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## jahosy (Nov 24, 2014)

Great news indeed! Always intend to try one of these. 

Are they strictly for the Japanese market though? (like Jackson stars, Edwards, certain Caparison.. etc?? )


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## Shimme (Nov 24, 2014)

^We don't know yet for sure. It seems possible though, as they've apparently only been announced for 5 stores in Japan.


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## rapterr15 (Nov 25, 2014)

Considering I'm living in China right now, I might just have to have to plan a trip to Japan in February when I get a month off. Hopefully these things are on sale by then. I'm am suuuuper stoked to learn about this. I've been GASing for a Boden for quite a while, but spending $3.5k would be a bigger chunk out of my bank account than I can comfortably part with.


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## Slunk Dragon (Nov 25, 2014)

Gawd damn, now I really want one of these. That price point seems totally do-able!


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## Hollowway (Nov 25, 2014)

I have zero interest in owning a strandy in the $3000+ price range. At $1600ish? Totally interested.


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## remain0silent (Nov 25, 2014)

no lefty?


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## HighGain510 (Nov 25, 2014)

Jonathan20022 said:


> Interesting but I wouldn't pay close to two thousand USD for a Korean Made Guitar.
> 
> At first I was very surprised/excited seeing this but then I started getting confused since the specs seem to be relatively similar to what Washburn offers. This seemed to kill the incentive to order a USA made one since this is half the price, but I'd rather not get a guitar with cut corners just to get my hands on the design.
> 
> They're saying that no corners were cut, but I'd have to see them first hand to believe that honestly. That being said Korea has been putting out some pretty solid work recently, but I still wouldn't be paying that much money for a guitar made in the same place as the LTD's and Schecters for >= $1000.



Well you're getting the Strandberg hardware, Lace pickups (if that's your thing, personally I'd probably swap those out immediately as I haven't been overly impressed with the vids I've seen of those but who knows!) and the body shape + neck carve of a Strandberg. Considering the cost of those items alone, and the fact that it's not being built by some shady ass shop (looking at S7, not Washburn, obviously ) that might not even deliver, $1700 seems like a more than fair price, IMO.  

You can't assume "corners were cut" just because they were made in a country that has a cheaper labor rate, especially considering Korea has been churning out some pretty killer instruments in the last several years and the quality of the instruments many of the standard factories used over there seems to have improved quite a bit in recent history.

Considering the flaws on some of the recent Washburn-built Bodens, I'm all for allowing another, less-expensive company take a shot at it. If those examples in the pics are from the Korean shop, they look great to me. I'm also slightly skeptical until I see some much better pics of the actual workmanship as well, but I'd put a decent amount of faith in these being great if they're being built by the Schecter/ESP Korean shops. 




technomancer said:


> If Ikebe or Ishibashi are carrying these (which is likely since it was the Gakki festival these were announced at) you're high on the price... you don't pay tax when buying a Japanese guitar and you normally don't pay import duties from either of those companies so you're just looking at shipping. Also take into account that the price is probably including the Japanese use tax that you don't pay if you're a buyer outside Japan. So you're looking at more like ~$1550 plus shipping. Not a bad deal at all.
> 
> Might not be good for the guys that are flipping Washbergs at a premium though...



Yep, exactly. If they're willing to export to the US (or they become available through dealers in the US), our price doesn't include the Japanese tax, just as it doesn't apply to any other guitar you import from Japan. Seems like a great deal to me! I agree, seems like the folks who have the most at stake here are the ones who already have USA Washburn-built Bodens who don't want their stuff to depreciate or worse yet, have the Korean-built Bodens stomp the USA versions thus making them worth even less than before.  For competition or the consumer (i.e. the consumer buying the instrument from a dealer, not someone trying to buy second-hand at an inflated price), I can only see this as a win assuming they will export these to the US. 



Jonathan20022 said:


> I've owned two Ibanez Premiums and they were fantastic guitars, I'm not saying Korea wouldn't put out a quality Boden but until they're offered worldwide spending 2k+ on a Korean guitar doesn't seem ideal. If they bring that to other countries and avoid the cost of importing and shipping that would be awesome.
> 
> I would rather save up an extra thousand and go Washberg at the the price after imports and everything. But that's just me. It's wonderful for the Japanese Market to get these at 198500 Yen though.




Again, that $2K+ price you listed is not accurate. Seems like they'd be about $1700 or so to get them in the US (includes shipping at that price), and since the Washburn-built guitars were in the mid-2's last I checked I still think that's a pretty decent savings on a new instrument. The quality will be the determining factor here, if the Korean-built Strandberg stuff is awesome, there's not going to be a ton of demand for the Washbergs, period.


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## Jonathan20022 (Nov 25, 2014)

Yeah I didn't think it was $1700 shipped on these, when I did the conversion online it came out to roughly $1690 before anything else. So I though adding shipping + customs and duties would push it to 2k. It's all dependent on the quality of the builds at this point thought.

And the only reason I mentioned corners being cut was because the official announcement say "No corners were cut" and that made me kind of weary


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## straymond (Nov 25, 2014)

I'm already making a list of stuff that I can live without and sell.
a kidney. oxygene. the missus. stuff like that.


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## AuroraTide (Nov 26, 2014)

Yes! If they release an 8 version it'd be even better.. 
Booked a trip to Japan last week for February too!


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## MemphisHawk (Nov 26, 2014)

Welp, guess I'll be getting one.. what is "end of the year: anyway? next week is December???


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## dante511039594 (Nov 26, 2014)

The most important thing is NO MORE MAPLE FRETBOARD BODEN7 NOW !


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## Shredmon (Nov 26, 2014)

very interesting indeed. But not really convinced of producing it in the ESP/LTD/Schecter Factorys, had 2 lemons with my last guitar i returned and played some Schecters too with minor to major flaws....Still, maybe they will sort it out, a more affordable Strandberg would be awesome.
greets


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## dante511039594 (Nov 26, 2014)

rapterr15 said:


> Considering I'm living in China right now, I might just have to have to plan a trip to Japan in February when I get a month off. Hopefully these things are on sale by then. I'm am suuuuper stoked to learn about this. I've been GASing for a Boden for quite a while, but spending $3.5k would be a bigger chunk out of my bank account than I can comfortably part with.


It is almost impossible to get one while you are traveling in Japan because most of the guitar shop is no around landmarks. Anyway, 3500&#20992;&#23454;&#22312;&#26159;&#22826;&#36149;&#20102;,&#25105;&#23425;&#21487;&#20080;&#21035;&#30340;(&#12316;&#65507;&#9651;&#65507&#12316;&#12290;


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## downburst82 (Nov 26, 2014)

Great news!! Hopefully we do get them in North America. I have Zero worries about them being Korean made, my Ibanez s2170 Prestige was one of the ones made in Korea and it absolutely holds up to almost any Japanese prestige. If I got a Korean strandberg built as well as my prestige I would be thoroughly happy (even at $1700).


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## rapterr15 (Nov 26, 2014)

dante511039594 said:


> It is almost impossible to get one while you are traveling in Japan because most of the guitar shop is no around landmarks. Anyway, 3500&#20992;&#23454;&#22312;&#26159;&#22826;&#36149;&#20102;,&#25105;&#23425;&#21487;&#20080;&#21035;&#30340;(&#12316;&#65507;&#9651;&#65507&#12316;&#12290;



I should have clarified, spending $3.5k on a Washberg is outta my league at the moment. I can do half that on one of these, though. And really? Wouldn't I be able to find one of the shops that carries these if I have the address? Doesn't seem like it would be that difficult.


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## AuroraTide (Nov 26, 2014)

Shimme said:


> ^We don't know yet for sure. It seems possible though, as they've apparently only been announced for 5 stores in Japan.



Any word on what these 5 stores are?


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## Bigfan (Nov 26, 2014)

That price is pretty great for those specs/hardware. my first run Boden was about a grand more expensive and definitely worth it (although there was the whole S7 almost taking my money and running thing).

If they make these in six string variants I might pick one up in the future, although I want to spend less money on guitar gear than I normally do. It'll be hard to resist, that's for sure.


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## MemphisHawk (Nov 26, 2014)

dante511039594 said:


> It is almost impossible to get one while you are traveling in Japan because most of the guitar shop is no around landmarks. Anyway, 3500&#20992;&#23454;&#22312;&#26159;&#22826;&#36149;&#20102;,&#25105;&#23425;&#21487;&#20080;&#21035;&#30340;(&#12316;&#65507;&#9651;&#65507&#12316;&#12290;




I'll just drive 2 miles to it in my car


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## rockstarazuri (Nov 26, 2014)

Not sure on what or where the shops are but they will most probably be centered around Tokyo. I'm guessing that they'll sell at limited amounts at first (like Rasmus guitars)


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## kevdes93 (Nov 26, 2014)

the black/maple combo will be mine.


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## Cloudy (Nov 26, 2014)

A bit pricey for a MIK guitar but its definitely a good development for the brand.

Hopefully these have better QC than washburn...


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## mortbopet (Nov 26, 2014)

This absolutely _*must*_ come to the EU! as stated before, it is stupidly expensive to get any type of strandberg here, so introducing this to the EU would be very exciting and NGD-enducing.


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## Forkface (Nov 26, 2014)

If these come to the States I have no problemo paying 1500ish bucks for a Korean made guitar. They've been stepping their game up a LOT lately to the point where I feel they're on par with similarly priced japanese/american guitars. The schecter sls I recently tried was built on par with this year's prestiges and definitely better than all the Gibsons Ive tried in the last couple of years (granted, I havent tried a Les Paul custom or anything comparable, but around the price range they did). 

And of course, each brand has its own QC, if they step it up a notch compared to other brands coming outta there, I'm sure they will be great guitars worth the money.


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## Grand Moff Tim (Nov 26, 2014)

People tend to forget that once upon a time, Japanese guitars were viewed the same as cheap shitty Chinese or Indo guitars are today. It was only after _decades_ of experience and setting out to prove themselves that Japan earned the reputation it has today regarding gear (and even then, some idiots STILL think anything non-American sucks). It should be clear to anyone with eyes that the same thing has slowly been taking place in Korea. 

Ten years or so from now, we may all be looking at Korean guitars in much the same light as we look at Japanese guitars now, and turning up our noses at wherever the production moves once it becomes too unprofitable to manufacture in Korea. Hint: Some Korean brands have already moved production of their cheapest models to Vietnam and China.


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## mortbopet (Nov 27, 2014)

Excited as i am, i wrote to strandberg's facebook page, about the possibility of introducing the Boden OS to the european market. This is the answer:

Question in short: _"Will the Boden OS series be available in europe?"_
Answer: _"We are looking into the options for doing this but have to evaluate first how the supply/demand situation works out in Japan."_

Sooo i guess it's all up to our Japanese brothers and sisters to get their wallets out and buy every boden in sight!


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## Hollowway (Nov 27, 2014)

mortbopet said:


> Excited as i am, i wrote to strandberg's facebook page, about the possibility of introducing the Boden OS to the european market. This is the answer:
> 
> Question in short: _"Will the Boden OS series be available in europe?"_
> Answer: _"We are looking into the options for doing this but have to evaluate first how the supply/demand situation works out in Japan."_
> ...



I gotta think these will sell well in Japan, because $1600 is not nearly as much money there as here, right? In other words, the average yearly income of Japanese people is substantially more than US people, right?


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## Zhysick (Nov 27, 2014)

Hollowway said:


> I gotta think these will sell well in Japan, because $1600 is not nearly as much money there as here, right? In other words, the average yearly income of Japanese people is substantially more than US people, right?



Not exactly... take in consideration how absurdly expensive is the life there... I mean... to rent a house mainly.

For example: where I live now a "standard" salary is 1000. Renting a normal flat in a nice place is about 400/month. Food, petrol for the car, etc. is not too much expensive. With that salary and a "normal" life (going out on weekends, dinner, cinema...) you can easily save 200 per month.

In other european countries you can easily earn 2500/month, but you have to pay 1000 for the rent plus 250 of electricity/water in summer and about 500 in winter because of the heaters. Petrol is 1 plus per litre, a cinema ticket is about 3 more than here...

I mean... the salary is not everything.

Japan is a bit expensive in other things. Maybe not the food, but petrol, rents...


Anyway, I wish they just bankrupt their bank accounts and buy all the fvcikng Boden OS they build just because I want one in Europe!!!!!


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## BucketheadRules (Nov 27, 2014)

Grand Moff Tim said:


> People tend to forget that once upon a time, Japanese guitars were viewed the same as cheap shitty Chinese or Indo guitars are today. It was only after _decades_ of experience and setting out to prove themselves that Japan earned the reputation it has today regarding gear (and even then, some idiots STILL think anything non-American sucks). It should be clear to anyone with eyes that the same thing has slowly been taking place in Korea.
> 
> Ten years or so from now, we may all be looking at Korean guitars in much the same light as we look at Japanese guitars now, and turning up our noses at wherever the production moves once it becomes too unprofitable to manufacture in Korea. Hint: Some Korean brands have already moved production of their cheapest models to Vietnam and China.



Indeed - and before too long the same will be true of China.


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## mnemonic (Nov 27, 2014)

Zhysick said:


> Not exactly... take in consideration how absurdly expensive is the life there... I mean... to rent a house mainly.
> 
> For example: where I live now a "standard" salary is 1000. Renting a normal flat in a nice place is about 400/month. Food, petrol for the car, etc. is not too much expensive. With that salary and a "normal" life (going out on weekends, dinner, cinema...) you can easily save 200 per month.
> 
> ...



Can confirm, was in gran canaria on vacation last week and I'm super jealous of how much cheaper most stuff is compared to the UK.


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## narad (Nov 27, 2014)

Hollowway said:


> I gotta think these will sell well in Japan, because $1600 is not nearly as much money there as here, right? In other words, the average yearly income of Japanese people is substantially more than US people, right?



Nope - the opposite is more true, especially when compared to California! It's in between prestige and j-custom, which seems about right if they're made well with .strandberg* hardware.


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## Zhysick (Nov 27, 2014)

mnemonic said:


> Can confirm, was in gran canaria on vacation last week and I'm super jealous of how much cheaper most stuff is compared to the UK.



But if you have to live with just 700/month like a lot of people here... 

That's what I meant. The price depends not only on the salary.

I was very very very lucky to earn 1200 monthly. I have had a good life here and I can afford buying a Korean made Strandberg but I can swear that 90% of the people here just can't. And 5% can just buy three or four Ola made Strandbergs, sure...


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## mnemonic (Nov 27, 2014)

Zhysick said:


> But if you have to live with just 700/month like a lot of people here...
> 
> That's what I meant. The price depends not only on the salary.
> 
> I was very very very lucky to earn 1200 monthly. I have had a good life here and I can afford buying a Korean made Strandberg but I can swear that 90% of the people here just can't. And 5% can just buy three or four Ola made Strandbergs, sure...



Yeah that part isn't as fun. I guess I'll just have to retire there instead!

Gotta say, I liked the look of some of those Scandinavian holiday homes overlooking the beach.


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## jfrey (Nov 27, 2014)

99% will pull the trigger!


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## Dominion (Nov 29, 2014)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?list=RDeQzQ8sc9qb4&v=s22dceatYTw


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## gigawhat (Nov 29, 2014)

[Youtubevid]AXPhfuYlLNg[/MEDIA]

Posted on the Strandberg Facebook page.


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## Lifestalker (Nov 30, 2014)

gigawhat said:


> [Youtubevid]AXPhfuYlLNg[/MEDIA]
> 
> Posted on the Strandberg Facebook page.



Incredible playing!


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## will_shred (Nov 30, 2014)

asher said:


> LACE pickups and the Strandy hardware aren't cheap.
> 
> See also Ibanez Premiums.



If they play like a Schecter I might go for it (in theory, at least ), every Schecter I've picked up this year has been absolutely top notch. 

I honestly didn't expect an Asian made Strandberg to be a thing, i'm pretty surprised. Those look dead sexy though.


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## bouVIP (Nov 30, 2014)

http://www.ikebe-gakki.com/ec/pro/disp/1/377839

It's on Ikebe's site for 223.700 YEN without Tax so a bit over $1800 USD...still tempting


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## Hollowway (Nov 30, 2014)

Wow, that was fast! I'm all over an 8 if one shows up!


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## leonardo7 (Nov 30, 2014)

Whats the scale length? I had previously read 25.5"-26.25 but that Ikebe link says 25"-25.5"


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## darkchoco (Nov 30, 2014)

rapterr15 said:


> Considering I'm living in China right now, I might just have to have to plan a trip to Japan in February when I get a month off. Hopefully these things are on sale by then. I'm am suuuuper stoked to learn about this. I've been GASing for a Boden for quite a while, but spending $3.5k would be a bigger chunk out of my bank account than I can comfortably part with.



Hey mate! Are you native or laowai?

I'm living in Shanghai China too and very easy to go to Japan, cause I got permanent residence there.

Actually those axes are on sale now according to digimart.net. But the price is 240000yen instead of 198000yen.


----------



## darkchoco (Nov 30, 2014)

dante511039594 said:


> It is almost impossible to get one while you are traveling in Japan because most of the guitar shop is no around landmarks. Anyway, 3500&#20992;&#23454;&#22312;&#26159;&#22826;&#36149;&#20102;,&#25105;&#23425;&#21487;&#20080;&#21035;&#30340;(&#12316;&#65507;&#9651;&#65507&#12316;&#12290;



&#20320;&#21487;&#20197;&#30452;&#25509;&#19978;&#32593;&#20080;&#21834;~


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## Dabo Fett (Nov 30, 2014)

hmmm...If theyre around $18-1900 plus shipping, im not so sure. yeah its only a couple hundred more, but for the same price i could go to sweetwater and get an rg3727...


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## rapterr15 (Nov 30, 2014)

darkchoco said:


> Hey mate! Are you native or laowai?
> 
> I'm living in Shanghai China too and very easy to go to Japan, cause I got permanent residence there.
> 
> Actually those axes are on sale now according to digimart.net. But the price is 240000yen instead of 198000yen.



Heya, I'm a foreigner in Shenzhen. Before the National Day holiday in October, I saw flights round trip from HK to Tokyo for around $300, which is not bad at all. You have permanent residence in Japan? That's pretty rad. I'm not sure about visa requirements (if any) for foreigners going to Japan. I'll have to check it out, obviously, if I intend on going.


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## asher (Nov 30, 2014)

Aside from the book match line that looks at least as good as most of the Washbergs.


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## Homer3005 (Nov 30, 2014)

Boden OS in action


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## gigawhat (Nov 30, 2014)

I dont remember the exact thread, but I argued that this probably wouldnt happen, guess Im eating crow now. I also said that if they made one, Id buy it. If my JPX sells, I might just try and get one of these imported, as long as the fan is 25.5-26.25 like it said originally. If so that Natural with Maple board is calling my name something fierce.


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## Hollowway (Nov 30, 2014)

darkchoco said:


> Hey mate! Are you native or laowai?
> 
> I'm living in Shanghai China too and very easy to go to Japan, cause I got permanent residence there.
> 
> Actually those axes are on sale now according to digimart.net. But the price is 240000yen instead of 198000yen.



The only 8 on there is 450,000 yen. Is that because it's a washberg?


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## jahosy (Nov 30, 2014)

^ think that's a washberg 8. It was sold a few months back. 

Washbergs Boden 7 are listed at $3500 shipped. Even at $2100 shipped these OS models are definitly a viable option. And from those photos they look on part with the US made ones.

Add to that you're buying ready made guitars so no second guessing on how your top will look.


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## leonardo7 (Nov 30, 2014)

$2000 Korea

$3500 USA

$5000 Sweden


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## Jonathan20022 (Nov 30, 2014)

Yeah this is pretty far off from the $1550 price technomancer said, I'm gonna stand by and say that I wouldn't throw down 2k on this or more if it came out to that.

This is a great option if someone can't invest the 3250 to get a USA Boden, but it's still too much for what it is. I'd love to try one and compare it to the USA Bodens/my other guitars, because assuming these are better than the ones made in the Washburn shop is a bit of a stretch period.

Waiting for long term reviews, and customer opinions on these.


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## technomancer (Nov 30, 2014)

Jonathan20022 said:


> Yeah this is pretty far off from the $1550 price technomancer said, I'm gonna stand by and say that I wouldn't throw down 2k on this or more if it came out to that.



Yeah it's pretty far from the price given at the show (which was where my number came from).

That said it's not surprising the opinion you already stated repeatedly hasn't changed now that they're more expensive


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## Jonathan20022 (Nov 30, 2014)

Yeah, I was willing to accept that $1550 + Shipping considering how much the legit Strandberg (?) Hardware and Lace Pickups would end up costing to throw into the guitar. But at 2k, you have a lot of competition in the price range for great guitars as well.


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## ikarus (Nov 30, 2014)

jahosy said:


> Add to that you're buying ready made guitars so no second guessing on how your top will look.



yep, thats a reason I would get one of these.


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## Dabo Fett (Nov 30, 2014)

Are these shipping yet though? Like do we have an absolute, confirmed via receipt price on them?


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## MemphisHawk (Nov 30, 2014)

If I get a chance, I will ask today. Still early over here.


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## Grand Moff Tim (Nov 30, 2014)

Jonathan20022 said:


> This is a great option if someone can't invest the 3250 to get a USA Boden, but it's still too much for what it is.



Just out of curiosity, is there some special reason small-batch, high-end guitars shouldn't cost that much just because they're made in Korea?


----------



## Jonathan20022 (Nov 30, 2014)

Grand Moff Tim said:


> Just out of curiosity, is there some special reason small-batch, high-end guitars shouldn't cost that much just because they're made in Korea?



No there isn't a reason, I'm clearly in the minority based on this thread.  But I personally think it costs more than it should given that it's made in the same location several guitars for half the price and under are also made at. I'm sure people considering buying these are considering it for the same reasons I did for my Wasbergs. I was interested in having a go at the design and features without having to invest money and substantially more time to get an Olaberg made for me. I see the appeal in a cheaper Boden, but considering not a lot of people have gotten their hands on the OS line, I think it's pretty far fetched to call this small-batch and high end. The only reason that production might not be as fast as other guitars made there is that the hardware is still reliant on Strandberg to be made at a production level rate.

Truth be told, how are people expecting them to make a better Boden than a shop that has an excellent reputation in the US with a great track history? Washburn has always had a great reputation for their high end instruments and a lot of people can attest to that from the several guitars they've been building for quite some time (Parker, Nuno B. Series). They had their share of setbacks and issues that shouldn't have been on customer guitars, but so has EBMM, Mayones, and a number of large brands. Resolution and overall consistency is what's important, and that's what I've had with Washburn, the one time I was offered a fix for a problem (Masvidalien Neck issue) it was completely reasonable (1-2 Week Repair ETA, Paid Shipping back and forth). And having 3 of their other guitars with no problems, I never had any doubts about them producing Strandberg guitars.

Overall and realistically, people spend more and go with USA made and other equally viewed locations for their consistency and better quality than the lower and mid range instruments made in other countries.


----------



## nik35 (Nov 30, 2014)

Dabo Fett said:


> Are these shipping yet though? Like do we have an absolute, confirmed via receipt price on them?



Looks like some people have already gotten theirs:

Instagram


----------



## narad (Nov 30, 2014)

Jonathan20022 said:


> But at 2k, you have a lot of competition in the price range for great guitars as well.



But that's even more true at the Washburn $3500 range. 

Switching topic, the prevailing gist I get in this thread is that guitars from Korea have a certain price range, i.e., Ibanez Korean-made guitars are X.XX and so I'm only willing to pay X.XX + Y.YY for a Korean made Strandberg. A poor generalization IMO - Korean made Ibanez are lower in quality than Japanese made Ibanez because that is precisely the niche they are expected to fill: lower cost, lower quality. There's nothing saying this is true in this new endeavor.

So I think it's unclear how tight Sweden HQ can keep the quality control on these, and what directives they've given to the factory, how many they're expected to produce, what timetable. With a reasonable amount of flexibility, these could be great buys. And do we really expect these to be any worse than the Strictly7 stuff? I'd rather have a properly done veneer flame than a poorly stained, poorly built, AA figured maple top from those guys, and with other QC issues going on with the Washburn stuff at nearly double the price, I don't see why anyone would scoff at the OS line.

EDIT: I return to my computer with this post half done, finish it, post it, and see it's mostly been hashed out in the meantime ::sigh:: Still! haha


----------



## Jlang (Nov 30, 2014)

Jonathan20022 said:


> Truth be told, how are people expecting them to make a better Boden than a shop that has an excellent reputation in the US with a great track history? Washburn has always had a great reputation for their high end instruments and a lot of people can attest to that from the several guitars they've been building for quite some time (Parker, Nuno B. Series). They had their share of setbacks and issues that shouldn't have been on customer guitars, but so has EBMM, Mayones, and a number of large brands. Resolution and overall consistency is what's important, and that's what I've had with Washburn, the one time I was offered a fix for a problem (Masvidalien Neck issue) it was completely reasonable (1-2 Week Repair ETA, Paid Shipping back and forth). And having 3 of their other guitars with no problems, I never had any doubts about them producing Strandberg guitars.
> 
> Overall and realistically, people spend more and go with USA made and other equally viewed locations for their consistency and better quality than the lower and mid range instruments made in other countries.



You have obviously never gotten into Starcraft 2 or other E sports. 

Korea >> USA 


All jokes aside, if these make an appearance in North America I will more than likely jump on one.


----------



## Jonathan20022 (Nov 30, 2014)

narad said:


> But that's even more true at the Washburn $3500 range.
> 
> Switching topic, the prevailing gist I get in this thread is that guitars from Korea have a certain price range, i.e., Ibanez Korean-made guitars are X.XX and so I'm only willing to pay X.XX + Y.YY for a Korean made Strandberg. A poor generalization IMO - Korean made Ibanez are lower in quality than Japanese made Ibanez because that is precisely the niche they are expected to fill: lower cost, lower quality. There's nothing saying this is true in this new endeavor.
> 
> ...



Yeah haha, I ended up adding a few points to make it clear that I'm saying this isn't a bad buy (Albeit more than I would drop, but that's not relevant). But it's best to see how they fare in the public before saying they're going to be better made than the Washburn guitars. AFAIK, and talking to some owners of the recent batch, there hasn't been any issues with production overall since they made major changes to how the operation's being run.

But yeah it's completely dependent on how well they're made, there's a ton of Korean made guitars that demolish S7's guitars moreso now that Jims running the entire operation himself


----------



## Grand Moff Tim (Nov 30, 2014)

Jonathan20022 said:


> No there isn't a reason, I'm clearly in the minority based on this thread.



Nah, I do understand where you're coming from, since I personally say "I'm not paying that much for a Chinese-made guitar" when I see Rasmus by Suhr or the Dingwall Afterburner series. I just think Korea isn't quite getting the credit it's due sometimes. I suppose people could tell me the same about China .



Jonathan20022 said:


> But I personally think it costs more than it should given that it's made in the same location several guitars for half the price and under are also made at.



That could also be turned around by talking about American-made guitars, considering the price differences between, say, LP Studios and American Standard Strats compared to Suhrs and Tom Andersons. 

...or Washbergs .


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## fortisursus (Nov 30, 2014)

Well I guess all we can do is wait. As painful as it is. I'll be eagerly awaiting the verdict. Do they cut some corners or will it be a solid piece? To be honest I was very impressed with a LTD BS-7 I got a few years back. It was a great guitar and cost less than a grand. I definitely think Korea can put out a quality guitar. Now will some of these damn people posting videos do a review instead! Pretty please


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## darkchoco (Nov 30, 2014)

Hollowway said:


> The only 8 on there is 450,000 yen. Is that because it's a washberg?



It is a used and sold already, Im not sure whether it's a washberg or orignal one.


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## darkchoco (Nov 30, 2014)

rapterr15 said:


> Heya, I'm a foreigner in Shenzhen. Before the National Day holiday in October, I saw flights round trip from HK to Tokyo for around $300, which is not bad at all. You have permanent residence in Japan? That's pretty rad. I'm not sure about visa requirements (if any) for foreigners going to Japan. I'll have to check it out, obviously, if I intend on going.



I have no idea about foreigners' visa, sorry...

As far as in Shenzhen, why not let those Japanese ship the strandberg directly to HK cause HK is totally tax-free in importing. You just need to find a way to get contact with the guitar shop and purchase online.


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## rapterr15 (Nov 30, 2014)

That's a great idea actually. I'll just need make a friend in HK who would be willing to have the guitar shipped to them, for me.

Btw, does anyone know if these will be shipping in the standard Strandberg gig bag? I would hope so.



darkchoco said:


> I have no idea about foreigners' visa, sorry...
> 
> As far as in Shenzhen, why not let those Japanese ship the strandberg directly to HK cause HK is totally tax-free in importing. You just need to find a way to get contact with the guitar shop and purchase online.


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## rockstarazuri (Dec 1, 2014)

Stores are selling them as fast as they are stocking them! They started selling last Saturday, and most of the stock are gone already.

As for the quality, I think the amount sold in Japan (in such a short time too!) says loads about how high it is. Japanese people are VERY picky about quality, so yeah  having played them, I can say that they rival many high end guitars including Suhr, PRS and MusicMan.






That said, incoming NGD.


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## HighGain510 (Dec 1, 2014)

rockstarazuri said:


> Stores are selling them as fast as they are stocking them! They started selling last Saturday, and most of the stock are gone already.
> 
> As for the quality, I think the amount sold in Japan (in such a short time too!) says loads about how high it is. Japanese people are VERY picky about quality, so yeah  having played them, I can say that they rival many high end guitars including Suhr, PRS and MusicMan.
> 
> That said, incoming NGD.



That is excellent to hear!  I'd love the option of having those OS models come to the U.S. without having to import them if possible. No offense to Washburn, but if this factory is putting out similar-quality guitars, why would I pay $3K+ for a used Washberg? Crazy talk, I'd rather buy an OS model new for $2K considering a lot of those Korean factories produce some killer stuff, I'm not all about paying for hyped up used prices for guys trying to flip their remaining Washbergs.  If these are as awesome as you say, it's seriously excellent news for the market in general and terrible news for the U.S. Strandberg flipper crowd!  If Ola sees how well these are coming along, I hope he will look into expanding the markets in which they are sold so people aren't required to import them, would certainly make life easier for the US/UK folks trying to get their hands on one without the worry about condition/issues or paying absurd prices due to labor, hype or market shortage.


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## jahosy (Dec 1, 2014)

Will await your NGD mate  

Hope the outcome is similar to Jackson with their MIJ 'Professional' models back in the 90's


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## hairychris (Dec 1, 2014)

jahosy said:


> Will await your NGD mate
> 
> Hope the outcome is similar to Jackson with their MIJ 'Professional' models back in the 90's



What, as in get shut down because the quality was so high?



Seriously, though, I own an old Japanese Jackson and it's great. I also own a Korean Ibby and it's fantastic too. If the Korean shops are bumping their quality up then I think that these Korbergs will be very good indeed.

Looking forward to the NGD as well.


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## Jonathan20022 (Dec 1, 2014)

Grand Moff Tim said:


> Nah, I do understand where you're coming from, since I personally say "I'm not paying that much for a Chinese-made guitar" when I see Rasmus by Suhr or the Dingwall Afterburner series. I just think Korea isn't quite getting the credit it's due sometimes. I suppose people could tell me the same about China .
> 
> 
> 
> ...



Yeah in hindsight it's a silly assumption to make since whenever the new worst factory pops up in a new foreign country everything else gets bumped in reputation 

And yeah very true haha, the gap between everything you mentioned is much larger.

Can't wait to see that NGD as well, maybe I can try and get my hands on one and see what they're like since I'll be traveling over to Japan soon on business.


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## AuroraTide (Dec 1, 2014)

rockstarazuri said:


> Stores are selling them as fast as they are stocking them! They started selling last Saturday, and most of the stock are gone already



Do you know what stores are getting them? I'm heading to Japan for most of February and was hoping to get one but it looks like I might have to try and get a store to hold one for me


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## Lifestalker (Dec 1, 2014)

I'm saving for a Strandberg now. CL7 to be exact.

I'd be very interested in playing a Korean model. What woods are being offered on these new models?


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## rockstarazuri (Dec 1, 2014)

Update : There's barely any stock left, and I suspect they'll all be gone by this weekend. The next batch is coming in March apparently.


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## jahosy (Dec 1, 2014)

hairychris said:


> What, as in get shut down because the quality was so high?
> 
> 
> 
> ...



 yeh those MIJ Jacksons are really something. Played some MIK Deans and schecters as well and thought they're pretty good. Solid but nothing fancy. I guess for the Korbergs (like the term) they're charging more for Ola's original hardwares and ergonomic design. Seems fair. 

Now let's just hope they play as good as they look


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## jahosy (Dec 1, 2014)

rockstarazuri said:


> Update : There's barely any stock left, and I suspect they'll all be gone by this weekend. The next batch is coming in March apparently.



Were they mainly sold through Ikebe? Was there another shop listing it on Digimart and all soldout within 24 hrs?


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## Lifestalker (Dec 1, 2014)

Just stumbled upon this.


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## rapterr15 (Dec 1, 2014)

There's some more pics from Ikebe Gakki of a couple in stock models and two that have already sold. These things look niiiice.


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## Dominion (Dec 2, 2014)

jahosy said:


> Were they mainly sold through Ikebe? Was there another shop listing it on Digimart and all soldout within 24 hrs?



Yup!!!
Rock Inn


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## hairychris (Dec 2, 2014)

They're <1200 GBP before tax and shipping.

Woah.

I might have to get on one next year, after having sorted out apartment move & etc.


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## rockstarazuri (Dec 2, 2014)

NGD teaser. I feel like I just won at life.


----------



## ikarus (Dec 2, 2014)

Apparently the flame maple tops look much better than on the washbergs.


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## rockstarazuri (Dec 2, 2014)

They look good indeed, mine looks like a 1 piece, can't really see the centerline!

And you can choose and try whichever you like before buying them 

Video of it in action

http://youtu.be/ONtFfZpOnNk


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## Zsharp (Dec 2, 2014)

the tops do look quite nice and the endurneck looks great too!


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## ikarus (Dec 2, 2014)

Is it possible to install other pickups in the Boden? Or do I need special custom shop pickups due to the fan?


----------



## Captain Butterscotch (Dec 2, 2014)

Something with a bar like EMGs or Blackouts or other Lace pickups. SD customs shop will make pickups for fanned fret instruments as well.


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## Jonathan20022 (Dec 2, 2014)

ikarus said:


> Is it possible to install other pickups in the Boden? Or do I need special custom shop pickups due to the fan?



Should be, Laces are passive pickups so hopefully they should be routed for a ground wire already. I did a little research on that before getting my Bodens and decided against it since I actually enjoyed the active pickups quite a bit.

You might need slanted pickups in a soap bar configuration to really make it look nice, but it is totally possible. The Zero Fret acts as the ground for all the strings once it (The ground wire) is attached to the bridge pieces. You only have to worry about this and routing for a ground if you got a Boden with Active pickups, but the OS line with passives should be no problem


----------



## Dominion (Dec 2, 2014)

rockstarazuri said:


> NGD teaser. I feel like I just won at life.



From Ikebe???
black/maple sold out in 5 mins


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## ikarus (Dec 2, 2014)

ok thanks, so you CANT fit/order it with the SD Sentien/Pegasus combo like on the other Bodens?


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## Jonathan20022 (Dec 2, 2014)

ikarus said:


> ok thanks, so you CANT fit/order it with the SD Sentien/Pegasus combo like on the other Bodens?



I'm not sure, the only OS' I've seen have Laces but I'm sure they could probably expand on the line in the future. It isn't a hard swap though since it comes with passives


----------



## fortisursus (Dec 2, 2014)

rockstarazuri said:


> NGD teaser. I feel like I just won at life.



I demand more! Sharing is caring 

I won't lie I do have a slight disposition towards paying big bucks for a Korean guitar. But is only because of the conditioning that i've received from brands typically cutting corners, using cheaper hardware, ect on korean imports. These do look amazing though. My Boden GAS is kicking in again...


----------



## Forkface (Dec 2, 2014)

rockstarazuri said:


> NGD teaser. I feel like I just won at life.



DAYUMN BOY. 10/10 ggwp get carried scrubs.


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## Dabo Fett (Dec 2, 2014)

is any other site selling them? ikebe wont return my emails, although i figure red/maple is probably gone


----------



## Forkface (Dec 3, 2014)

I've been wondering... Even if these DO sell like crazy in Japan (at it seems that they will), would Washburn actually allow them to come to the States?
I mean, of course theres going to be a difference in quality (maybe?) but ASSUMING they're like, very well made and stuff, wouldn't that completely destroy their market?

hell, i would totally buy one of these first because I've never tried the boden shape, strandberg hardware, endurneck, etc. and I would like to maybe try 'em out first before spending the big bucks, and then you end up with a perfectly well built guitar, nice woods and the like... why would i get the upgrade (aka the washberg)? That would be my thought process, and I would imagine a lot more people's too. 

just thinkin' out loud of sorts.


----------



## mnemonic (Dec 3, 2014)

Forkface said:


> I've been wondering... Even if these DO sell like crazy in Japan (at it seems that they will), would Washburn actually allow them to come to the States?
> I mean, of course theres going to be a difference in quality (maybe?) but ASSUMING they're like, very well made and stuff, wouldn't that completely destroy their market?
> 
> hell, i would totally buy one of these first because I've never tried the boden shape, strandberg hardware, endurneck, etc. and I would like to maybe try 'em out first before spending the big bucks, and then you end up with a perfectly well built guitar, nice woods and the like... why would i get the upgrade (aka the washberg)? That would be my thought process, and I would imagine a lot more people's too.
> ...



I sure do love it when my reply gets deleted when I click submit. Thanks, phone. 

Anyway, I had the same thoughts on the first page. I hope I'm proved wrong, but I think if Washburn/US production is to remain in the picture, this will be an Asia or Asia and Europe exclusive. 

The only way I see them expanding the Korean import to America is if Washburn/US production move to more of a semi-custom production, a-la Carvin. Otherwise, it will eat too much of the current sales. 

But who knows, other brands have multiple levels of production with no issues. Not really the same thing, but you can buy a Mexican Strat, American Strat or a Custom Shop Strat.


----------



## hairychris (Dec 3, 2014)

fortisursus said:


> I demand more! Sharing is caring
> 
> I won't lie I do have a slight disposition towards paying big bucks for a Korean guitar. But is only because of the conditioning that i've received from brands typically cutting corners, *using cheaper hardware*, ect on korean imports. These do look amazing though. My Boden GAS is kicking in again...



Not a problem here assuming that it's proper Ola hardware.

Also, dear USians, welcome to the rest of the world where "imported guitar" is not a dirty phrase!


----------



## SavM (Dec 3, 2014)

Absolutely frigging juicy! If these come over here, I'd be all over it... absolutely all over it!


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## rockstarazuri (Dec 3, 2014)

They have the same hardware and woods, just a different factory. Made in Korea, QC in Japan, apparently. Chances are that Ola himself personally overlooks the 1st batch QC too


----------



## fortisursus (Dec 3, 2014)

hairychris said:


> Not a problem here assuming that it's proper Ola hardware.
> 
> Also, dear USians, welcome to the rest of the world where "imported guitar" is not a dirty phrase!



This is exactly why I'm interested. Evident by a lot of posts here a cheaper Bodn would seem to provide a lot of market penetration. I love the design, just don't want to spend 3000-3500 on something so far changed from the norm without trying it first.


----------



## jephjacques (Dec 3, 2014)

Color me cautiously optimistic about these. Cheaper Bodens could be really cool if their QC is good. I'd certainly pick one up if only to try out some of those Lace pickups with Strandberg ergonomics.


----------



## Jonathan20022 (Dec 3, 2014)

Forkface said:


> I've been wondering... Even if these DO sell like crazy in Japan (at it seems that they will), would Washburn actually allow them to come to the States?
> I mean, of course theres going to be a difference in quality (maybe?) but ASSUMING they're like, very well made and stuff, wouldn't that completely destroy their market?
> 
> hell, i would totally buy one of these first because I've never tried the boden shape, strandberg hardware, endurneck, etc. and I would like to maybe try 'em out first before spending the big bucks, and then you end up with a perfectly well built guitar, nice woods and the like... why would i get the upgrade (aka the washberg)? That would be my thought process, and I would imagine a lot more people's too.
> ...



That's the same thing I was thinking, it almost cannibalizes the Washburn line but sight unseen I've always been more impressed with USA Made instruments vs Korean ones. 

It'd be really cool to have them stateside, they would become more common place and easier to get a hold of. I hate waiting, so if something were to happen to my Boden 7 while I was performing or something and I could just get a production one made decently I would be all for it. I'm assuming there is a quality difference between them two at this point just based on assumptions.

And one thing I'm sort of against is Ola overseeing first batches (If that's even true) because he's one man. He can't be in Korea/Japan/USA often enough to monitor and control what gets released from everywhere. If these are made exceptionally well then the quality dips afterwards like it did with Strictly 7, then it'd be a huge shame. There's a ton of support for the OS line and it should deliver so they can bring it to other places. Here's hoping.


----------



## mortbopet (Dec 3, 2014)

Regarding my earlier comment - Strandberg replied and said that the introduction of the Boden OS series to europe would depend on the supply/demand situation in Japan.
As far as i'm reading, the signal that's being sent to Strandberg right now is, that they need to get their behinds ready, start expanding markets and increasing batch numbers. If the guitars are already now sold out, i cant imagine that they interpret it any other way.


----------



## mnemonic (Dec 3, 2014)

I wonder if they will make a left handed one if they introduce to Europe. 



hairychris said:


> They're <1200 GBP before tax and shipping.
> 
> Woah.
> 
> I might have to get on one next year, after having sorted out apartment move & etc.



Because if they're around this price I literally can't not buy one.


----------



## rockstarazuri (Dec 3, 2014)

Jonathan20022 said:


> That's the same thing I was thinking, it almost cannibalizes the Washburn line but sight unseen I've always been more impressed with USA Made instruments vs Korean ones.
> 
> It'd be really cool to have them stateside, they would become more common place and easier to get a hold of. I hate waiting, so if something were to happen to my Boden 7 while I was performing or something and I could just get a production one made decently I would be all for it. I'm assuming there is a quality difference between them two at this point just based on assumptions.
> 
> And one thing I'm sort of against is Ola overseeing first batches (If that's even true) because he's one man. He can't be in Korea/Japan/USA often enough to monitor and control what gets released from everywhere. If these are made exceptionally well then the quality dips afterwards like it did with Strictly 7, then it'd be a huge shame. There's a ton of support for the OS line and it should deliver so they can bring it to other places. Here's hoping.



At some point of production (especially the early stages), he would have to oversee the production line to make sure nothing goes wrong and the quality is up to standard, like it or not. That's how mass production works.

Personally I have been less impressed with USA made stuff, the USA Fenders I owned were pretty sloppy in terms of construction. Also there are complaints about Washbergs because of stuff like neck alignment etc, which these don't have.

I know there are a lot of skeptics about the whole MIK thing. These are MIK but checked in Japan, with stringent QC (I know this because I work in a Japanese manufacturing company). I say to them 'the proof is in the pudding'


----------



## Dabo Fett (Dec 3, 2014)

hopefully they can get the second batch out a little quicker than they originally thought since I apparently missed the first batch, and the stores have been pretty unresponsive so far, at least to me. I know I'm not the only one sitting here waiting cash in hand


----------



## Jonathan20022 (Dec 3, 2014)

rockstarazuri said:


> At some point of production (especially the early stages), he would have to oversee the production line to make sure nothing goes wrong and the quality is up to standard, like it or not. That's how mass production works.
> 
> Personally I have been less impressed with USA made stuff, the USA Fenders I owned were pretty sloppy in terms of construction. Also there are complaints about Washbergs because of stuff like neck alignment etc, which these don't have.
> 
> I know there are a lot of skeptics about the whole MIK thing. These are MIK but checked in Japan, with stringent QC (I know this because I work in a Japanese manufacturing company). I say to them 'the proof is in the pudding'



What I mean is what good is the first batch being amazing if everything else isn't going to be up to par? Not saying it will, but that was the case with Strictly 7, Ola was there for a few weeks then everything went to shit.

And the fact about the neck alignment problem, was that it was a CNC issue from what I know. And it's since been rectified, it only affected a single neck joint, on a single model that they offered (Masvidalien). They fixed mine completely but I decided to get a refund for it instead of wait for the repair/rebuild.

The tops were a big point of controversy, and you can see from all the Recent guitars they've put out. They look great. It doesn't seem like people have kept up to date with them, but they dissolved Astral EXR and everything is handled by Music Corp and Washburn now.


----------



## jahosy (Dec 3, 2014)

rockstarazuri said:


> These are MIK but checked in Japan, with stringent QC



This is the crucial point, for me at least. 

The OS models are meant for the Japanese market, and these people know their shit when it comes to detailing / craftmanships (just look at their Architecture). IMO they simply won't allow half arsed products into their market cos no one will buy them. 

Heck, even some of my favorite guitars are MIJ.


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## Forkface (Dec 3, 2014)

Jonathan20022 said:


> but that was the case with Strictly 7, Ola was there for a few weeks then everything went to shit.



Lol, wasn't S7 like, 3 dudes? you can't compare that to a full-scale Korean factory. If the first batch(es) come out fine, theres no reason why the rest shouldn't as long as QC doesn't drop the ball.

And since QC is done in Japan, I don't see that happening.

It is my understanding that they're gonna be made in the same factory Schecter and LTD makes guitars. Maybe they dont make the best guitars... but they're CONSISTENT. honestly, you play one EC1000, you've played 99% of them. There's lemons, of course, but that happens to everyone.


----------



## Jonathan20022 (Dec 3, 2014)

Forkface said:


> Lol, wasn't S7 like, 3 dudes? you can't compare that to a full-scale Korean factory. If the first batch(es) come out fine, theres no reason why the rest shouldn't as long as QC doesn't drop the ball.
> 
> And since QC is done in Japan, I don't see that happening.
> 
> It is my understanding that they're gonna be made in the same factory Schecter and LTD makes guitars. Maybe they dont make the best guitars... but they're CONSISTENT. honestly, you play one EC1000, you've played 99% of them. There's lemons, of course, but that happens to everyone.



They had quite a few people as far as I remember, now it's just the owner Jim. I don't think Ola would place the production of his product in the hands of a business run by only 3 dudes overall 

And yeah lemons happen, but as far as my experiences Washburn has been consistent with the Strandberg line. But that's just me.


----------



## TemjinStrife (Dec 3, 2014)

Jonathan20022 said:


> They had quite a few people as far as I remember, now it's just the owner Jim. I don't think Ola would place the production of his product in the hands of a business run by only 3 dudes overall



AES was pretty much just three people, so he did. They just subcontracted production out to Washburn.



> And yeah lemons happen, but as far as my experiences Washburn has been consistent with the Strandberg line. But that's just me.



Eh, the Strandberg thread in the dealer's section disagrees with you 

Regardless, I'm interested to see if Washburn has an exclusivity agreement with Ola to produce Bodens in a particular market.

Ola is also dealing with the fact that whenever you license a trademark, you have to make sure QC is up to par, or else you can lose the trademark through what is called a "naked license."


----------



## Jonathan20022 (Dec 3, 2014)

TemjinStrife said:


> AES was pretty much just three people, so he did. They just subcontracted production out to Washburn.
> 
> 
> 
> ...



He meant about the Strictly 7 days, they had a lot more people than 3 working there making their stuff and these Bodens.

And like I said, my experiences have been great. And I've had 4, one from the first run of CL7s and 3 from recent productions (Early/Mid 2014).


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## Guitarrags (Dec 4, 2014)

Now we know what the US is getting:

.strandberg* Guitars | Products


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## jahosy (Dec 4, 2014)

So we now have the production models > Korea; semi customs > US ; and full customs > Sweden? 

Very smart move 

And love the fact that the walnut top boden is back!


----------



## teamSKDM (Dec 4, 2014)

Guitarrags said:


> Now we know what the US is getting:
> 
> .strandberg* Guitars | Products



is this like carvin " in stock" guitars?


----------



## Jonathan20022 (Dec 4, 2014)

So...


----------



## Haun (Dec 5, 2014)

Why won't Ola do something similar for us Europeans! Import taxes are a killer on such an expensive instrument. I just want a Korean Boden 6 that I don't have to sell my first born to afford.


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## mortbopet (Dec 5, 2014)

As it seems to me, the Washburn part of the business plan will now change to exclusively making the semi-custom guitars. Therefore, the chance of production models being introduced to the us market should be somewhat higher now (since they won't compete with what Washburn has to offer).
But as far as Europe goes, there's still a big void to fill, so I can't help but think that some announcement will be made in the coming weeks/months.


----------



## SevenStringJones (Dec 5, 2014)

mortbopet said:


> As it seems to me, the Washburn part of the business plan will now change to exclusively making the semi-custom guitars. Therefore, the chance of production models being introduced to the us market should be somewhat higher now (since they won't compete with what Washburn has to offer).
> But as far as Europe goes, there's still a big void to fill, so I can't help but think that some announcement will be made in the coming weeks/months.



Agreed. It will also give people unfamiliar with the Strandberg guitars a chance to try something affordable before committing to the U.S. models. 

Also, Koa topped black limba body with a cocobolo neck and ebony boarded Boden 7? Wet dreams do come true.


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## mnemonic (Dec 5, 2014)

mnemonic said:


> The only way I see them expanding the Korean import to America is if Washburn/US production move to more of a semi-custom production, a-la Carvin. Otherwise, it will eat too much of the current sales.
> .



Boom, called it.

Really hope they offer something in Europe too!


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## insaneshawnlane (Dec 5, 2014)

So is it confirmed that the US is getting the Korean production models? I followed the link above but didn't see anything


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## mnemonic (Dec 5, 2014)

insaneshawnlane said:


> So is it confirmed that the US is getting the Korean production models? I followed the link above but didn't see anything



Nothing confirmed, but its implied by strandberg/washburn shift toward semi-customs (and higher price.)


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## ImNotAhab (Dec 5, 2014)

Korean import = 





Seriously if these become readily available ill lose my mind.


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## rockstarazuri (Dec 5, 2014)

These Korean ones are on Ishibashi right now btw.  you guys know what to do.


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## XxXPete (Dec 6, 2014)

i see NOTHING confirmed about US getting the korean made


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## rapterr15 (Dec 6, 2014)

rockstarazuri said:


> These Korean ones are on Ishibashi right now btw.  you guys know what to do.



Any idea why the ones on Ishibashi are almost 18,000 yen more than those on Ikebe Gakki?


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## technomancer (Dec 6, 2014)

rapterr15 said:


> Any idea why the ones on Ishibashi are almost 18,000 yen more than those on Ikebe Gakki?



They're not. The price listed listed on Ishibashi includes the Japanese tax that you don't pay if you're buying from outside Japan. They're actually slightly cheaper at Ishibashi.


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## gigawhat (Dec 6, 2014)

If i can sell my JPX, ill probably be picking one of these up if possible.


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## redstone (Dec 7, 2014)

- useless post -


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## JaxoBuzzo (Dec 9, 2014)

So, I just walked into this thread, and I have read it, but just to make sure I'm correct: US is getting Korean import Strandbergs? Are these going to be under $2k?


----------



## Hollowway (Dec 9, 2014)

JaxoBuzzo said:


> So, I just walked into this thread, and I have read it, but just to make sure I'm correct:
> 
> US is getting Korean import Strandbergs?
> 
> Are these going to be under $2k?



No and no.  I'm sorry, but thanks for playing! We have some parting gifts backstage.

Srsly, they are only available to Japan. But what we're talking about on here is that there's nothing stopping you (or any of us) from ordering these from Japan and having them shipped here. Plus, you can deduct the Japanese sales tax.

And the price seems to be under $2000, even with shipping and potential customs fees. But it sounds like it'll just squeak under $2000 OTD.


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## Pablo (Dec 9, 2014)

JaxoBuzzo said:


> So, I just walked into this thread, and I have read it, but just to make sure I'm correct: US is getting Korean import Strandbergs? Are these going to be under $2k?


So far, the official answer to both questions is maybe...


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## MemphisHawk (Dec 9, 2014)

technomancer said:


> They're not. The price listed listed on Ishibashi includes the Japanese tax that you don't pay if you're buying from outside Japan. They're actually slightly cheaper at Ishibashi.



Yeah but I live in Japan so that doesn't help. Lol. I can ship domestic USPS back to the states though! No customs! Who wants one!!!


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## rockstarazuri (Dec 9, 2014)

You can get them from Ishibashi via overseas shipping or you can go through people living in Japan. For a small fee of course


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## MemphisHawk (Dec 10, 2014)

I can ship one of these at Ishibashi's price of 241,645&#20870; w/tax to the states for ~2250USD. Depends on the yen rate on the day I buy it and where you live in the states. Also no customs because it will ship USPS Priority Domestic rate and fully insured. 

I'm just sayin. I don't even know if that is a good price, but that is what it would take... if I did it.


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## insaneshawnlane (Dec 10, 2014)

Looks like Ishibashi can't ship these internationally. Just got this in an email 

"Dear Taylor-san,

This is Hiroaki.

I am afraid to let you know this but we can not sell Brand new Strandberg
items to outside of Japan due to
dealership agreement between Strandberg dealer and Ishibashi Music.


I hope to hear from you soon.

If you have question, please feel free to contact me.
Thank you very much.

Best regards,
Hiroaki Gohno/International Sales Agent"

tis dissapointing


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## straymond (Dec 10, 2014)

Looks like that vacation to Japan is way overdue!


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## HighGain510 (Dec 10, 2014)

I'm hoping Ola will see the clear demand in the U.S. market for these Korean-built Strandbergs and get a deal going with some dealers in the US for these. Huge market for ~$2K production model Strandberg stuff, he's missing out on a lot of business by keeping them limited to the Japanese market.


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## MemphisHawk (Dec 10, 2014)

insaneshawnlane said:


> Looks like Ishibashi can't ship these internationally. Just got this in an email
> 
> "Dear Taylor-san,
> 
> ...



Like I said, I can ship one of these from Ishbashi to the states using domestic USPS mail. :kermitsipstea:


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## insaneshawnlane (Dec 10, 2014)

MemphisHawk said:


> Like I said, I can ship one of these from Ishbashi to the states using domestic USPS mail. :kermitsipstea:



Yeah I just saw that. I was just emailing Ishibashi to see the exact price I would pay minus customs. I think I'm just gonna wait to see if these come state side. Thanks though and I'm sure someone will take you up on your offer!


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## cubix (Dec 13, 2014)

HighGain510 said:


> Now THIS is interesting....  IF that factory can get the QC issues sorted out the Washbodens seem to be suffering from as of late, that's a smoking price for a guitar I'd love to try out finally!



First of all hello everyone! I'm just trying to bring myself to order one of the production Bodens, I've heard the Washburn custom shop does a very good job. Could You let me know what QC issues we're talking about? The only complaints I've heard is about the figured maple tops being not so "figured", but I actually like them. What more there is to worry about ?

Thank You!


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## Jonathan20022 (Dec 13, 2014)

cubix said:


> First of all hello everyone! I'm just trying to bring myself to order one of the production Bodens, I've heard the Washburn custom shop does a very good job. Could You let me know what QC issues we're talking about? The only complaints I've heard is about the figured maple tops being not so "figured", but I actually like them. What more there is to worry about ?
> 
> Thank You!



Being as honest as I can, and coming from an actual owner of 4 of them.

The Masvidalien suffered from a neck alignment issue for awhile, apparently some of them had it and some didn't. The one I got had the neck angle off by a bit causing some issues fretting the lowest string. They offered to fix it for me, I chose a refund and they rebuilt it for the dealer I purchased from in less than a month. AFAIK new ones don't have this anymore, it was a CNC error from a little while ago.

The original CL7s were stained and finished in an oil finish. So where players would play the most, sometimes you could see the blue fade and come off a bit. They changed that in the beginning of 2014, and started finishing all of them in a Poly Coat except the Walnut Topped guitars which they don't make anymore anyways. The Satin finish prevents that from happening again. They offered all of the original CL7 owners who suffered from this to refinish them in a Poly Finish from what I was told.

The Tops, which is completely subjective IMO. I love the top on mine and the past ones I've had, some were better than others but like I've said many times before, my aim was to try the design without investing years and thousands into a completely custom build going in blind. Not that I don't have faith in Ola.

Some of the initial batch of high E action adjustment screws were sharp and would cause those strings to break when you bent them. My 2nd Boden 7 had this and they sent me a new screw next day air shipping when I called Music Corp about it.

That's all I can remember right now, if anyone else remembers feel free to mention it. This line is excellent if they bring it to the US for a fair price, but coming from experience the lot that I had were on par with my EBMMs and Mayos, they were all excellently made and the only issue I had that needed immediate attention was the neck alignment issue on the Masvidalien. A lot of people seem to have written off Washburn for a few early mistakes, but if you notice that's the only things the people are complaining about  no one seems to be paying attention to all of the recent Washburn Bodens. And dare I say, their "mediocre" tops 



























As I was once told on this forum by a few people, if you haven't played one you shouldn't be taken seriously. Take a look for yourself and ask the owners of recent Washburn made Strandbergs how they feel about it. I can argue left and right, but these guitars speak for themselves. I'm sure the OS line will be great and be well made, I'm not shitting on the OS line just because I'm an owner of the Washburn USA ones. I hope it does well enough and they start selling these here, at least Ola's making more of an effort to satiate the demand for his design and guitars than most other luthiers are


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## Guitarrags (Dec 13, 2014)

Having owned my Boden 7 for a few months now, I can say my guitar is 100% perfect! Plays like nothing else I have owned and the EndurNeck is fantastic. There is not a single flaw that I can find and I'm uber picky. My top is absolutely killer as well.


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## putnut77 (Dec 13, 2014)

ok, so whoever is living Japan. You buy a bunch of these and ship them to me. k? Thanks.


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## cubix (Dec 13, 2014)

Thank You for the detailed destription Jonathan. I know this probably isn't the right place to ask but how thick is actually the Endurneck? I play both Gibson and Ibanez Wizard necks and I have to say I find the Gibsons slightly thicker neck more comfortable than the wizard in the long run. There is no specs as far as thickness goes for the Endurneck. I've also seen the Washburn line has more rounded off/smoother corners on the neck than some other I've seen. I'm just worried about the squareness of the neck as I don't always have my thumb on the back of the neck, mostly on top of it to be honest...


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## Jonathan20022 (Dec 13, 2014)

cubix said:


> Thank You for the detailed destription Jonathan. I know this probably isn't the right place to ask but how thick is actually the Endurneck? I play both Gibson and Ibanez Wizard necks and I have to say I find the Gibsons slightly thicker neck more comfortable than the wizard in the long run. There is no specs as far as thickness goes for the Endurneck. I've also seen the Washburn line has more rounded off/smoother corners on the neck than some other I've seen. I'm just worried about the squareness of the neck as I don't always have my thumb on the back of the neck, mostly on top of it to be honest...



I'll PM you, last I remembered they don't specify those things for everyone to know because of the license you need to buy.


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## rockstarazuri (Dec 17, 2014)

http://youtu.be/fctC_jrHK8s

Not a strandberg video, but its a factory tour of where they made the Boden OS. (World instruments Korea)
Proof : Strandberg gigbag at 2:48~ at the back


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## rockstarazuri (Dec 19, 2014)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=35DpOXdYDYU


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## rapterr15 (Dec 19, 2014)

^^^ You're not helping my GAS. Does he make any comments as to the overall craftsmanship? They look beautiful, and the Lace Pickups sounded nice to my ears.


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## XxXPete (Dec 20, 2014)

after that video...GAS!!!


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## Lifestalker (Dec 20, 2014)

XxXPete said:


> after that video...GAS!!!



Seriously! I'm overloaded with GAS right about now.


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## rockstarazuri (Dec 20, 2014)

rapterr15 said:


> ^^^ You're not helping my GAS. Does he make any comments as to the overall craftsmanship? They look beautiful, and the Lace Pickups sounded nice to my ears.



Nope, it's just an explanation of the guitar. I own one though, and I think it's on par with my Ibanez Prestige RGA321 and Suhr Rasmus


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## rapterr15 (Dec 21, 2014)

rockstarazuri said:


> Nope, it's just an explanation of the guitar. I own one though, and I think it's on par with my Ibanez Prestige RGA321 and Suhr Rasmus



What would you say the size of the fret wire is? The poster of the one NGD that's up mentioned that it's a bit smaller than his liking. Would you say it's medium or medium/jumbo?

Also, if I am to come to Japan in February, you think it'd be feasible to buy one of these? I should be able to find a store that has some in stock, right?


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## rockstarazuri (Dec 21, 2014)

Medium jumbo stainless steel frets. I don't know if they will be still in stock, they seem to sell out pretty quickly. If you're lucky you might.


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## DeathCubeK (Dec 23, 2014)

Was watching Chappers' most recent video about his tour of the World Music instruments building factory in Korea when I noticed something interesting. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ngKCDNoRku0

Skip to 1:09


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## Jonathan20022 (Dec 23, 2014)

It was brought up in the other thread, I think it's fair to say that it is being made there unless it was just a coincidence.


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## MBMoreno (Dec 23, 2014)

Yup, they are







This confirms the suspicions


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## JoeyBTL (Dec 24, 2014)

I think this is great and a step in the right direction but the price still turns me off. Although its for quite a unique instrument, when does the specs and uniqueness outweigh the quality of the guitar, for the money. How good are the woods that are being used and the quality of construction? Thats the same factory that makes Schecters, ESP Ltds, and PRS SEs. I know if anyone of those companies came out with a guitar being made there for ~$2k, everyone on here would think its a joke. I have a PRS SE and while its a good guitar, one of the great appeals is that its a great guitar for the money. 

As much as I realllly wanna try one of these and like the idea of owning one, that price is just too high if its a long the lines of the other guitars being built there. Maybe Ola has certain specifications set and things they have to go by there, but I'd still like to see an unbiased review on one of these from someone who has one of the Washbergs.


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## rockstarazuri (Dec 25, 2014)

They have the same materials and hardware, pickups etc as the USA made ones, just different manufacturing factory. Straight from Ola himself at the Music Fair.

Or you can ask him yourself if you're inclined to do it. He replies very quickly, awesome customer service.


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## thatguyupthere (Dec 28, 2014)

Jonathan20022 said:


> That's the same thing I was thinking, it almost cannibalizes the Washburn line but sight unseen I've always been more impressed with USA Made instruments vs Korean ones.
> .



How would Korean made bergs infringe on the Washburn ones if there are already tons of companies doing the exact same thing? For example: Gibson/Epiphone, EBMM/SBMM, PRS/PRS SE, Fender/Squire, not to mention all of the performance levels of Ibanez you can get.

Bringing them state side would probably be the smartest thing for the company. People who want a 3000 dollar berg are going to pay 3000 dollars the same as any Gibson elitist is going to not so much as bat an eye at Epiphone. The same goes for people not being able to afford that 3000 dollar berg are clearly going to want a cheaper model. plus the process of making production models is entirely consistent, with the added exception of somebody having a lazy Monday at work x). 

Any why wouldn't strandberg want to expand the market? It literally makes more sense to bring the bergs to the states than not. I know I sure as sh0t would buy one! No way at this point I could afford a CS boden, ain't nobody gat tahm fo dayt.


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## bouVIP (Jan 4, 2015)

blue~


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## rapterr15 (Jan 6, 2015)

Could that possibly mean these might be coming to markets other than Japan, or is this likely for the 6 or 8 string model? Interesting as well that only the top is stained and the sides are natural unlike the current Boden 7 OS. I hope to god at NAMM these will be announced as coming to the states. I want one in my life. Bad.


----------



## Adamewf (Jan 8, 2015)

Definitely a great alternative to the boden series


----------



## TemjinStrife (Jan 8, 2015)

thatguyupthere said:


> How would Korean made bergs infringe on the Washburn ones if there are already tons of companies doing the exact same thing? For example: Gibson/Epiphone, EBMM/SBMM, PRS/PRS SE, Fender/Squire, not to mention all of the performance levels of Ibanez you can get.
> 
> Bringing them state side would probably be the smartest thing for the company. People who want a 3000 dollar berg are going to pay 3000 dollars the same as any Gibson elitist is going to not so much as bat an eye at Epiphone. The same goes for people not being able to afford that 3000 dollar berg are clearly going to want a cheaper model. plus the process of making production models is entirely consistent, with the added exception of somebody having a lazy Monday at work x).
> 
> Any why wouldn't strandberg want to expand the market? It literally makes more sense to bring the bergs to the states than not. I know I sure as sh0t would buy one! No way at this point I could afford a CS boden, ain't nobody gat tahm fo dayt.



It is very possible that one of the terms Washburn demanded as part of the licensing agreement to produce Bodens was exclusive U.S. distribution. This is just speculation of course (any such term would be confidential, or at least not publicly known), but is relatively common.

Thus, bringing the Boden OS models into the US might violate the terms of the Washburn licensing agreement. Who knows?


----------



## MBMoreno (Jan 8, 2015)

TemjinStrife said:


> It is very possible that one of the terms Washburn demanded as part of the licensing agreement to produce Bodens was exclusive U.S. distribution. This is just speculation of course (any such term would be confidential, or at least not publicly known), but is relatively common.
> 
> Thus, bringing the Boden OS models into the US might violate the terms of the Washburn licensing agreement. Who knows?



But Europe isn't the States


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## TemjinStrife (Jan 8, 2015)

MBMoreno said:


> But Europe isn't the States



The exclusivity might extend to the EU


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## Pablo (Jan 8, 2015)

I've read a lot of guys throwing around the notion that Washburn was producing Bodens _under license_ from Strandberg. Had Washburn purchased a license from Ola, I'm sure the guitars would be labelled "Washburn" and be bought through Wasburns distributors and dealers. 

As none of this appears to be the case, I would suggest that Ola is buying a service from Washburn. 
I.e., there is no license - Washburn is simply producing instruments _for_ Strandberg, esentially turning idle production capacity into a profit.

Now, there may or may not be a contract stipulating minimum production numbers... but I'd be very surprised if Washburn has _any_ say in whether Ola can have his instruments produced elsewhere.

Cheers

Eske


----------



## TemjinStrife (Jan 9, 2015)

Pablo said:


> I've read a lot of guys throwing around the notion that Washburn was producing Bodens _under license_ from Strandberg. Had Washburn purchased a license from Ola, I'm sure the guitars would be labelled "Washburn" and be bought through Wasburns distributors and dealers.
> 
> As none of this appears to be the case, I would suggest that Ola is buying a service from Washburn.
> I.e., there is no license - Washburn is simply producing instruments _for_ Strandberg, esentially turning idle production capacity into a profit.
> ...



Washburn is producing instruments that contain Strandberg trademarks (and patents). This is the very definition of a "license." 

Licenses come with all kinds of terms, as well, including quality controls (without which you would have a "naked license" and lose your trademark) and can include exclusivity arrangements.

Now, the agreement between Strandberg and Washburn might or might not have exclusivity arrangements. However, such provisions are very common in licensing agreements to protect the licensee, or for the licensee's benefit.


----------



## gigawhat (Jan 9, 2015)

TemjinStrife said:


> Washburn is producing instruments that contain Strandberg trademarks (and patents). This is the very definition of a "license."



Washburn is making them for Strandberg, but they are in no way licensing anything from Strandberg. 

Its the same as Ibanez and Sugi. Sugi builds the J-Customs on commision for Ibanez, and get paid a flat rate per intrument. They make no money off the sales of said guitars, which is where licensing comes into play, its to regulate making money off of someone elses ideas. If Sugi sold Ibanez branded guitars built in-shop directly, they would need a license to do so.

Same situation with Strandberg and Washburn. Washburn builds them for money and then hands them off to Strandberg who prices, markets, and sells them, there are no other connections between the two.

Case-in-point, call Washburn and try and place an order for a Boden. If Washburn is licencing from Strandberg, they will gladly sell you one, because that would be money in their pocket. But if they wont give you the time of day, you know it is because it's someone else's money.

Now Washburn could have included an exclusivity clause in the contract, just as I'm sure Strandberg had one to keep Washburn from building their own version of the Boden.


----------



## TemjinStrife (Jan 12, 2015)

gigawhat said:


> Washburn is making them for Strandberg, but they are in no way licensing anything from Strandberg.
> 
> Its the same as Ibanez and Sugi. Sugi builds the J-Customs on commision for Ibanez, and get paid a flat rate per intrument. They make no money off the sales of said guitars, which is where licensing comes into play, its to regulate making money off of someone elses ideas. If Sugi sold Ibanez branded guitars built in-shop directly, they would need a license to do so.
> 
> ...



We're getting into nitty-gritty unnecessary arguments here, but Washburn is in fact using Strandberg's trademarks and patents "in commerce" even if it is not selling them itself. This requires both a license to use the marks (and patents) and a quality control provision.

This is pretty consistent across industries. I don't do much in the way of IP licensing anymore these days, but if the agreement between Washburn and Strandberg did not contain a license to produce goods bearing Strandberg trademarks, I'd tell Strandberg and Washburn to both fire their lawyers


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## gigawhat (Jan 15, 2015)

Anyone seen this yet?

[Youtubevid]jgaDE-yLYLg[/MEDIA]

A Boden OS with a quilt top and gloss finish. If Flame is in the future color me even more interested! Though considering this is made at WMI it might just be a veneer. Better not be a photo top for the price.

Edit: just saw the teaser of the blue flame up a few posts. My want level is reaching critical mass.


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## jemfloral (Jan 15, 2015)

Pretty sure that was a one off for Yvette Young, who, officially or not, is basically a .strandberg* artist. I wouldn't expect the Korean-made OS's to have quilt tops for a while yet. That's supposed to be what the Washburn custom shop is for...


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## gigawhat (Jan 16, 2015)

bouVIP said:


> blue~





jemfloral said:


> Pretty sure that was a one off for Yvette Young, who, officially or not, is basically a .strandberg* artist. I wouldn't expect the Korean-made OS's to have quilt tops for a while yet. That's supposed to be what the Washburn custom shop is for...



So this Blue Flamed one must be for another non-strandberg artist, huh? 

I find it hard to believe they would make one-offs for people in a Mass-Produced-Factory.

Thats what the Washburn Custom Shop is for...


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## jemfloral (Jan 17, 2015)

I have no idea who the blue flamed maple top OS is for, but I'd love to have it! It's all speculation, but it could also be that with the coming Korean-made Boden 6 and 8 they have decided to add new color options as well. Or perhaps the OS specs are being brought to the Washburn shop too, as I know a fair number of people have been asking for the Chris Letchford model _without_ the Scale the Summit inlay.

With regard to Yvette's Boden OS (the black quilted top), she received that months before any indication was made that there would be a less expensive Korean-made option. I would suspect that either Ola himself built a couple to show them what the finished product should look like, or they ran a few test builds at the WMI factory to make sure that the quality was up to snuff. Just a guess though.


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## Guitarrags (Jan 18, 2015)

Boden OS is coming to the U.S.

With a Little Help From My Friends | Strandberg Guitarworks


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## mortbopet (Jan 18, 2015)

Guitarrags said:


> Boden OS is coming to the U.S.
> 
> With a Little Help From My Friends | Strandberg Guitarworks



Could anyone clarify for me, if that link means that the OS line will be available in Europe?


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## Shimme (Jan 18, 2015)

Very cool


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## JoeyBTL (Jan 18, 2015)

Just need to see the price direct to the US to judge.


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## Dayviewer (Jan 18, 2015)

Yes, yesssss, hope to see them coming to Europe as well with an appearance at the Musikmesse, gotta try them!


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## cubix (Jan 18, 2015)

YES!!! This makes up for the dissapointment of the Carvin Vader being only 27" scaled  Waiting unpatiently for the Boden 6 OS !


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## Dabo Fett (Jan 18, 2015)

This does screw with my new guitar decision, in the best way possible


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## Haun (Jan 18, 2015)

C'mon Ola. Bring the OS line to Europe. Ordering a Washberg here runs up in almost the same as a made to measure because of import fees, and the made to measure waiting list is insane.


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## rapterr15 (Jan 18, 2015)

This is really exciting stuff, and I'm really pleased for Ola that he's brought his brand this far. 

After the release of the Vader I was hell bent on getting one, but now I'm not sure. I'm sure the craftsmanship of the Carvin will be a notch above, but the ergonomics of the Strandberg design are more appealing as well as the multi-scale. The Strandberg's being inspected and set up in the U.S. is certainly a good thing. 

So, Boden OS or Vader?

All I know is that of all the "first world problems" many of us are fortunate enough to experience, this is a pretty good one to have.


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## Miek (Jan 18, 2015)

holey moley i am buying a Boden OS asap


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## InfestedRabite (Jan 18, 2015)

oh lord

need to see them US prices for the OS line


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## cubix (Jan 18, 2015)

Someone somewhere mentioned $1400 for the Boden 6, if that's true I'm all over it and I might even pay the taxes here in EU


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## HighGain510 (Jan 18, 2015)

Well this is certainty great news!!! Between the Vader coming out and these coming to the US, 2015 looks like it's off to a great start!  Really want to see the pricing on these!


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## rapterr15 (Jan 18, 2015)

cubix said:


> Someone somewhere mentioned $1400 for the Boden 6, if that's true I'm all over it and I might even pay the taxes here in EU



That almost seems too good to be true! If the 7 comes in around $1500 it'll be a no-brainer for me. I'm curious as to whether the color schemes will be the same as those available in Japan.


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## insaneshawnlane (Jan 19, 2015)

Wow this is great news! If it's true that the 6 string variant will only cost $1400 than I can't see the 7 costing more than $1600.

I had some money set aside for a Vader 8 but I can't resist finally trying/owning a .strandberg*!


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## fortisursus (Jan 19, 2015)

2015 the year of the headless! Seriously though, this completely overcomes my disappointment with only 27" Vader offering. Because of the uncertainty with specs involved with the Washburn boden I just couldn't get myself to order one. However I think there is a good chance an OS could be in my future! And perhaps a custom later down the road.


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## floyo123 (Jan 20, 2015)

Really sexy! Really curious how much the new factory models will cost in EU.

Prices in EU for those guitar are ridicolous!


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## cubix (Jan 20, 2015)

Prices will be confirmed at/after NAMM - guess not alot of time till we find out


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## MatthewK (Jan 20, 2015)

Well shit... I'll be very interested to see what these go for. Also, I feel kind of bad for Carvin.


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## StevenC (Jan 21, 2015)

http://strandbergguitars.com/product/boden-os-7/

$1,895


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## asher (Jan 21, 2015)

StevenC said:


> .strandberg* Guitars | Boden OS 7
> 
> $1,895



Danke.

A liiiittle higher than I would have hoped to test out, but not unexpected, and probably not unreasonable.

Black and maple looks way better than I might have thought!

I might, at some point, grab one with that return period...


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## StevenC (Jan 21, 2015)

For comparison:


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## Lifestalker (Jan 21, 2015)

The only put off to me is active pickup routes. Reasonably priced though. This creates some heavy competition with the Kiesel Vader.


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## asher (Jan 21, 2015)

I'm actually way more sad they're 707Xs, was hoping we'd get 57/66 or Laces


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## Lifestalker (Jan 21, 2015)

asher said:


> I'm actually way more sad they're 707Xs, was hoping we'd get 57/66 or Laces



I was actually thinking the exact same thing after going over the list.


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## JaxoBuzzo (Jan 21, 2015)

God. USA made carvin Vader? Or Korean made Strandberg?


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## InfestedRabite (Jan 22, 2015)

put in cart, added shipping etc

$2912 NZD, not even counting what customs will do to me (and at that price it will hurt bad)

=/

that's way too much money for a guitar that i would still have to replace the pickups and electronics to be satisfied with it eh

hoping for good used deals on them tbh


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## JoeyBTL (Jan 22, 2015)

Yea not having at least laces is a big turn off. I was really entertaining the idea of getting one of these but the EMGs are disappointing, also because it would have an unnecessary battery compartment and would need a ground hole drilled when I would want to swap them for passive pickups. Ugh.


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## MatthewK (Jan 22, 2015)

I think they really missed the mark on the price. Help me, Kiesel Vader. You're my only hope.


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## Jonathan20022 (Jan 22, 2015)

That's like I've said, WAY too high for what it is. IMO at least.

Also if anyone's still considering one, the 707X's are fantastic in Bodens and in the wood choice. They're actually super tight rhythm pickups and pull off sounds really well without sounding like they're super compressed.

[SC]https://soundcloud.com/kenji20022/racecar-periphery-cover-strandberg-boden-7-demo[/SC]

That's a demo I did with the 707X's before I swapped them out for the 57/66 Set which is arguably better for cleans and lead playing but not as tight for rhythm playing. Actives shouldn't be a huge turn off for you guys, there's never been more options for soapbar spaced Active pickups before.


----------



## Guitarrags (Jan 22, 2015)

Also, I'm curious why the weight is higher on the OS.


----------



## JoeyBTL (Jan 22, 2015)

Yea the price isn't really too appealing either. Maybe we'll just have to wait for some reviews and some actual comparisons. But also like I said, its not the active routes, its the idea of taking a drill to my brand new guitar just because I don't prefer the pickups.


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## Haun (Jan 22, 2015)

2.5k after customs in Denmark. Well, that settles it, I'm not getting one until they make them available in the EU for a more reasonable price. And all i want is a Boden 6. I'd happily pay the 1900, but after customs it's unbelievable.


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## rapterr15 (Jan 22, 2015)

I wonder why they decided to go with EMG's when the OS's sold in Japan have Lace pups? The price is also a bit higher than I was hoping for, as well. I'll get to try one out soon enough hopefully (if they're in stock when I'm in Tokyo in a week), and then I can come closer to a decision on Boden or Vader. I'll be back in the states in July, but if I'm gonna buy one of these, I'll go for one from Japan cause I'll take the Lace over the EMG's, thanks. Really curious to see what the base price is on the Vaders, as well.


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## Lifestalker (Jan 22, 2015)

I think I'll go with my original plan and opt for a Washberg Boden 7. Prefer other options anyway.


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## cubix (Jan 22, 2015)

Well I'm actually glad they went with the EMG-X and I can only hope they will do the same for the BODEN OS 6 so I don't have to put any money into it  Fingers crossed!!! I was worried when I saw how they install the bridges at that factory in Korea, but since the Strandberg hardware requires routing for the bridge it's done by a CNC so should be OK  Hope they really do the QC in the USA though...


----------



## blanco (Jan 22, 2015)

Available to pre-order in the US now.

http://strandbergguitars.com/product/boden-os-7/

EDIT: Links crashed already


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## Lifestalker (Jan 22, 2015)

rapterr15 said:


> I wonder why they decided to go with EMG's when the OS's sold in Japan have Lace pups?




Because America? lol 
Because James Hetfield, Kirk Hammet, Zakk Wylde, etc?


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## shanerct (Jan 22, 2015)

I'm GASing over this pretty hardcore. Always wanted one but could not justify the 3500+ price tag. The price of the OS is more within my budget. I have a friend going to NAMM who I'm hoping gives me a good report. If so, I'll order one.


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## TemjinStrife (Jan 22, 2015)

Endurneck only?


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## gigawhat (Jan 22, 2015)

Ouch $1900? Thats pretty steep, I figured these would come in closer to the $1600 mark. No Laces either, so thats another $200 plus having to modify a brand new guitar, now this doesnt seem anywhere near as awesome as it was yesterday.

Also anyone care to take a guess as to what this means:http://strandbergguitars.com/portfolio_page/production-boden-prototype-tosin-abasi/

Production-Boden-Prototype-Tosin-Abasi, hmm. Its a dead link for now, as is anything related to strandbergguitars.com/products, which coincidentally, is exactly how I found this link.


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## mnemonic (Jan 22, 2015)

gigawhat said:


> Also anyone care to take a guess as to what this means:.strandberg* Guitars | Production Boden Prototype &#8211; Tosin Abasi
> 
> Production-Boden-Prototype-Tosin-Abasi, hmm. Its a dead link for now, as is anything related to strandbergguitars.com/products, which coincidentally, is exactly how I found this link.



Not a dead link for me. 



> The search for a partner that could help scale up production of .strandberg* guitars started in late 2011, and discussions with Strictly 7 Guitars started at NAMM 2012. We had been introduced by mutual acquaintances, and after a breakfast and a handshake, preparation work began.
> During the spring of 2012, preparatory discussions were held, and in May, the production transfer started. As always, when experimenting, we didnt start with the fanciest pieces of wood. Poplar is a nice modeling wood, and there was plenty of it around, and Rob (see link above) happened to have a bookmatched crotch cherry piece saved up for a rainy day. For the neck, we took pieces that were laying around, and the fretboard came from a planned neck blank that had been re-sawn by mistake.
> When Tosin learned about the build, he became interested in it as a complement to the sound of #17 and #8, which share very much the same tonal characteristics. And who better to be the first user of the guitar that was modeled after his builds? A slight diversion from the original specifications was made, in the custom wound DiMarzio pickups.


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## technomancer (Jan 22, 2015)

gigawhat said:


> Ouch $1900? Thats pretty steep, I figured these would come in closer to the $1600 mark. No Laces either, so thats another $200 plus having to modify a brand new guitar, now this doesnt seem anywhere near as awesome as it was yesterday.
> 
> Also anyone care to take a guess as to what this means:.strandberg* Guitars | Production Boden Prototype &#8211; Tosin Abasi
> 
> Production-Boden-Prototype-Tosin-Abasi, hmm. Its a dead link for now, as is anything related to strandbergguitars.com/products, which coincidentally, is exactly how I found this link.



The page is from 2012...


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## HeHasTheJazzHands (Jan 22, 2015)

I'm one for Korean-built guitars...

But nearly $2k? 

Naw, son. Naw. 

I see Carvin's gonna get a lot of headless love this year.


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## wannabguitarist (Jan 22, 2015)

HeHasTheJazzHands said:


> I'm one for Korean-built guitars...
> 
> But nearly $2k?
> 
> ...



Headless love? That'd be frustrating.


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## jemfloral (Jan 22, 2015)

technomancer said:


> The page is from 2012...



Agreed, I think the website means to point to this one as being one of the original Boden prototypes before the S7 guitars started being built. I wouldn't expect this to be a future production model, given that it has the IPNP neck and there is already a standard Boden 8 out, with the OS 8 line to happen at some point in 2015 as well.


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## Zhysick (Jan 22, 2015)

DAMN! They f**ked everything...

Too expensive. How much they want to earn for each guitar? It's almost insulting...

Well... I have to go to Japan for holidays and buy a Boden OS. That way will be cheaper...


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## cubix (Jan 22, 2015)

You might say $1900 is steep for a Koren instrument, however show me a different instrument that checks all these boxes:

headless
unique hardware
stainless frets
fanned frets (multiscale)
carbon in the neck
chambered body
(for me) good pickups stock

I don't really see anything out there that's close and that many "non standard" guitar features make the price so "high". Have You seen any other korean istruments with similiar specs to compare the price? When it's almost half of the cost of a Washburn Boden I don't see how the price is wrong. I will agree that BOTH Bodens are pricey (USA and Korean).


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## HeHasTheJazzHands (Jan 22, 2015)

^Carvin Vader.


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## MatthewK (Jan 22, 2015)

The Steinberger Synapse ticks most of those boxes and you can get them new for between 6 and 7 hundred.



cubix said:


> You might say $1900 is steep for a Koren instrument, however show me a different instrument that checks all these boxes:
> 
> headless
> unique hardware
> ...


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## cubix (Jan 22, 2015)

Yeah I mean ALL, not a few of them. 

Vader is not multiscale and hardware is questionable (choice of scale length too, for a 6 string especially), the steinberger is not multiscale, no stainless frets, weighs almost as much as a normal guitar (not chambered?) and I think it requires double ball strings?... No thanks.


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## rockstarazuri (Jan 22, 2015)

To put things in perspective, a Korean Schecter is like, what, around $1200?

Why does everyone bash on MIK instruments so much? It's WMI and they have skilled workers building these.


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## HeHasTheJazzHands (Jan 22, 2015)

^If you get their highest-end model, which is a 7-string, neck-thru, 27'', Floyd Rose-equipped model with a Sustainiac.


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## insaneshawnlane (Jan 22, 2015)

Idk, I said f*#k it and pulled the trigger on a black/birdseye maple. I'm not too worried, especially with that return policy.


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## Forkface (Jan 22, 2015)

rockstarazuri said:


> To put things in perspective, a Korean Schecter is like, what, around $1200?
> 
> Why does everyone bash on MIK instruments so much? It's WMI and they have skilled workers building these.



idk.
Some people think its still the 90's. Others just enjoy complaining.

Oh, but Ibanez is releasing Indonesian guitars for $1600 and people are going nuts for them in the other thread...

smh.

Edit: I plan to get a sixer as soon as they make em available. Been wanting a Strandberg for a while, and something tells me the difference between a korean one and a washburn one is not going to be 2k bucks.


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## jahosy (Jan 22, 2015)

So it's either A$2500 shipped to Australia for the OS, or A$4500 for the washbergs... hmmmmmmmm


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## gigawhat (Jan 22, 2015)

My biggest issue with the price, is that at $1900 plus pickups and pots and shit and shipping for everything, ill be close to $2250-$2300, and for that price I can throw on an extra grand and spec out a Custom and have an American-made guitar made to my exact wants.

The fact that it is korean doesnt bother me, most of the 7-strings Ive owned were built at WMI. In fact, it should be better than most since they are supposed to be shipped to the Washburn shop and set-up by a strandberg team, so the QC should be awesome. 

The fact that it is a couple hundred more than expected and they dropped the Laces just makes this not worth it for me. I *might* still get one, but I doubt it.


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## asher (Jan 22, 2015)

The Vader would be awesome if I weren't mainly curious for the fanning and the Endurneck to relieve wrist pain :/


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## powerofze (Jan 22, 2015)

Getting slightly off topic here but: how do WMI made instruments compare to say... japanese made stuff such as a prestige in terms of consistency and playability?


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## insaneshawnlane (Jan 22, 2015)

powerofze said:


> Getting slightly off topic here but: how do WMI made instruments compare to say... japanese made stuff such as a prestige in terms of consistency and playability?



On the first page someone said something along the lines of 'It felt as good as a Prestige Ibanez or Mayones' 


Edit: Here it is - "...when I tested it it felt nothing like a Schecter guitar in terms of quality. More like a high end Ibanez Prestige and Mayones to me (having owned both, of course)"

Even more


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## Jlang (Jan 22, 2015)

To everyone bitching and moaning about the price for a guitar made at WMI, some things are flat out more money than others. Would you go The Keg and bitch that someone is getting a burger for 15 dollars compared to your steak for 50? No , because they are two different things. Strandberg OS is not Schecter , therefore the price tag is hefty. If you want a USA version, just fork out another 1500 bucks.


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## cubix (Jan 22, 2015)

They must have different levels of quality, it's not that they CAN'T make an instrument that's comparable to the Washburn stuff, but it's just about the time they are allowed to spend on an instrument (=price). For 1 Strandberg I bet they put out 3-5 LTDs or Schecters.


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## fortisursus (Jan 22, 2015)

To be honest I was pretty impressed with the quality of my LTD BS-7 i had a few years back. Once you hit their higher end import guitars they are pretty nice. Plus it's not like we're getting the first batch either. If there were any kinks before hand, they were probably fixed with the Japanese runs. I'll really be interested how they fare with premium specs instead of the usual degraded hardware. My wallet it calling


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## shanerct (Jan 22, 2015)

Pulled the trigger on the Natural Birdseye Maple! Looks like I'm joining the club =)


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## Forkface (Jan 23, 2015)

shanerct said:


> Pulled the trigger on the Natural Birdseye Maple! Looks like I'm joining the club =)
> 
> img



Now we're talking! congrats bro, make sure to show us tons of pics when it arrives


----------



## asher (Jan 23, 2015)

All the maple boarded ones look hot. I was surprised by the all-nat and the black trans, actually...


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## devan421 (Jan 23, 2015)

Joined the Strandberg club !

I had to look around a lot of stores in Tokyo to find one but I succeeded in the end .

It's super comfortable to play : super light, the EndurNeck doesn't feel odd at all and the neck feels like butter. I have a Ibanez PGM500 but this is a whole different world !


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## rapterr15 (Jan 23, 2015)

Congrats, dude! Looks really slick. You should post an NGD thread with more pics haha. Did the store you bought it from have any other in stock? I'm gonna be in Tokyo in 10 days or so and I desperately want to get my hands on one.


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## devan421 (Jan 23, 2015)

rapterr15 said:


> Congrats, dude! Looks really slick. You should post an NGD thread with more pics haha. Did the store you bought it from have any other in stock? I'm gonna be in Tokyo in 10 days or so and I desperately want to get my hands on one.


Thanks man !
I think they had one more left : Red with Rosewood(?) fretboard. The store was Key Music in Shibuya. There's a lot of music shop next to it but it's not too hard to miss, it's right on the corner of a street with a big vertical sign.

Hurry up though ! I asked ( in my broken japanese) other shops that carried Strandberg when they were expecting another shipment and nobody knew ! 
Good luck finding your Strandberg !


----------



## Forkface (Jan 23, 2015)

credit goes to this guy > https://www.facebook.com/BNphotog?fref=photo
theres a whole album of pics from all brands  and he takes pretty nice pics


----------



## Mangekyo (Jan 23, 2015)

I love strandberg. I'm glad more people can get their hands on these kinds of guitars.

But personally, I'm only interested in having it made old school style. With a 2 year wait list by Ola himself... I don't like this ehh watering down if you will. Not trying to make anybody feel bad or anything, I just feel like the full spirit of the strandberg was by it being custom himself instead of sourcing out to regular factories.


----------



## albertc (Jan 23, 2015)

The strandberg feeling better is probably just confirmation bias. I couldnt imagine spending that much money on a Korean guitar


----------



## ikarus (Jan 23, 2015)

Mangekyo said:


> With a 2 year wait list by Ola himself...



I think you can add a couple of years...


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## cubix (Jan 23, 2015)

Plus OLA is using the exact same procedure they are using at the factories, he cuts everything on the CNC including the neck shaping. How is that old school  It's just that You can order almost anything You want and with the production You don't have that freedom. I am a tremolo fan, and I'm searching all the time for the perfect trem system (basically non locking floating trem that I can lock in a simple way and detune), the Strandberg trem seems to be very close to that, if he develops the tremlock he's been working on I really might place an order with him in the future... Or maybe there will be a trem production model in the meantime?


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## littledoc (Jan 24, 2015)

gigawhat said:


> My biggest issue with the price, is that at $1900 plus pickups and pots and shit and shipping for everything, ill be close to $2250-$2300, and for that price I can throw on an extra grand and spec out a Custom and have an American-made guitar made to my exact wants.



Yes, and if "an extra grand" is that trivial to you, then by all means go for it. And who the hell is charging you $400 for pickups? Don't most places ship for free these days?

And actually no, you can't have a US Boden made "to your exact wants". For that you've gotta get on Ola's waiting list. You just get a handful of extra semi-custom options. 

Basically with the OS, you're getting the same materials, same design, and quality control done by Strandberg. If you want to shell out $1000-$1500 more for your own favorite pickups and a different finish, well, that's why the US shop exists. Personally, I think like a lot of folks I'm not particularly picky about pickups and I like the finishes on offer enough that I wouldn't care to spend another grand to get something different.


----------



## gigawhat (Jan 25, 2015)

littledoc said:


> Yes, and if "an extra grand" is that trivial to you, then by all means go for it. And who the hell is charging you $400 for pickups? Don't most places ship for free these days?



Lawls, yeah that grand is so trivial that Im making a complaint about price, great reading comprehension.
How about that extra grand being the difference between a conservatively spec'ed (ash body/maple neck, limited fretboard and finish options) mass-produced import, albeit of decent quality, and a full on custom spec'ed MIA guitar made from my choice of materials, hardware, body shape, scale, etc.

When your talking about the difference between $200 and $1200, yeah a grand is a decent amount considering its 6x more. When you're talking about the difference between $2200 and $3200, a grand is a little less than a third of the price.
Suddenly that grand doesn't seem so trivial considering what you get for a third-more money.

As to the pickups, Laces like what I want to put in and like what came with the Japanese Boden OSs are $220 a set. And I guess not everyone does free shipping considering it cost $70 to have the boden shipped to my door, $20 for the pickups shipped to my door, and almost $10 to have two push/pull pots and a 3-way switch that cost $30 shipped to my door. Add the $1900 for the boden and thats $2250. 



> And actually no, you can't have a US Boden made "to your exact wants". For that you've gotta get on Ola's waiting list. You just get a handful of extra semi-custom options.



No one said they would, I simply said I could have a custom built for $1k more. I never once made mention of the Washburn custom shop, just that for 1k more i could have a US custom. You saw I said US custom and just assumed that Im stupid and was talking about the washburgs instead of making the logical conclusion I was actually talking about a custom made in the US exactly like I said? Again, great reading comprehension.



> Basically with the OS, you're getting the same materials, same design, and quality control done by Strandberg. If you want to shell out $1000-$1500 more for your own favorite pickups and a different finish, well, that's why the US shop exists. Personally, I think like a lot of folks I'm not particularly picky about pickups and I like the finishes on offer enough that I wouldn't care to spend another grand to get something different.



Thats fine, you dont have to spend that extra grand to get exactly what you want in every way, I would just love it if you would stop slinging shit my way because i do. Im pretty sure how I spend my money literally affects your life 0%. I also like how you are stuck on the Washburn shop, you do realize other people build US custom guitars right? Im kinda starting to wonder.

TL;DR My money is my money, Ill spend it how I want to. Thanks for your asshole opinion about my opinion, though. Fvck off, and have a nice day.


----------



## Khoi (Jan 25, 2015)

Forkface said:


> credit goes to this guy > https://www.facebook.com/BNphotog?fref=photo
> theres a whole album of pics from all brands  and he takes pretty nice pics



Hey, that's me 

Thanks, I'm uploading more pics specifically of the Strandberg OS


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## Khoi (Jan 25, 2015)

More Strandberg OS close-ups:

See the whole album here:https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.780755565312235.1073741874.476013825786412&type=1


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## gigawhat (Jan 25, 2015)

Any pics of the natural one? I dig the red and black, but natural flame tops give me weird feelings in my no-no parts.


----------



## cubix (Jan 25, 2015)

One thing I definately prefer on the BODEN OS is the black neck mounting screws... Those silver ones on the Washburn Bodens look a bit like cheap wood screws bought by the pound.


----------



## rockstarazuri (Jan 25, 2015)

^ and the electronics backplate. Flamed maple!


----------



## insaneshawnlane (Jan 25, 2015)

I gotta be honest...I am not impressed with the flame on these tops. The flames I saw on the Japanese run were far more spectacular.

And these are the examples they bring to NAMM?

Though the post on their Facebook made it seem like the first shipment that they would be selling hasn't even arrived yet. Hopefully the incoming guitars have some better tops!


----------



## Andromalia (Jan 25, 2015)

These are on my possible shopping list, but OF COURSE after 3 or 4 years of nothing, all the companies put out new interesting stuff the same year so I'll have to pick. This or the Carvin are good contenders though, I want a guitar to play comfortaly on a chair in front of the computer.


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## jemfloral (Jan 25, 2015)

Khoi said:


> Hey, that's me
> 
> Thanks, I'm uploading more pics specifically of the Strandberg OS



Khoi, terrific pictures mate! Glad someone from sso decided to post pictures of the strandberg booth and not just the ibanez, schecter, etc. Did you grab any of the standard CL7 (i.e. not the Crest-toothpaste-sparkle finished one)? I'd love to see those as well if you've got 'em.


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## asher (Jan 25, 2015)

gigawhat said:


> TL;DR My money is my money, Ill spend it how I want to. Thanks for your asshole opinion about my opinion, though. Fvck off, and have a nice day.



Not necessary or cool, dude.

So you're clearly talking about a US custom shop getting you a custom spec Strandberg but also saying it's not Washburn. Where are you going then?


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## Jlang (Jan 25, 2015)

I think buddy was referring to going an entirely different route via another builder located in the USA. He is just being a complete dick about it.


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## littledoc (Jan 25, 2015)

gigawhat said:


> TL;DR My money is my money, Ill spend it how I want to. Thanks for your asshole opinion about my opinion, though. Fvck off, and have a nice day.



Someone's taking this all a little too personally.

The Boden OS are a great deal. Yeah, they're expensive for a Korean-made guitar, but most Korean-made guitars don't use proprietary multiscale hardware and have chambered bodies. If you don't like what's offered for the price, then obviously you can shop elsewhere  including getting a custom. But you're kidding yourself if you think you're going to get anything resembling a full-custom Strandberg for under $4k.


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## Zinter (Jan 25, 2015)

Couldn't resist one of these... Ordered a black w/ birdseye!


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## cubix (Jan 25, 2015)

Me I'm waiting for the 6 strings, fingers crossed for EMGs, wouldn't have to touch anything on it then! Just noticed something that's bothering my OCD - the logo is too close to the edge of the guitar... it's not as close on the US and Custom Bodens :/


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## insaneshawnlane (Jan 25, 2015)

Zinter said:


> Couldn't resist one of these... Ordered a black w/ birdseye!



Good man! I'm glad I'm not the only one that found black and birdseye completely irresistible! I was going to order one literally within minutes of them becoming available but had to wait til the following morning to make sure I could ACTUALLY afford it 

I look forward to seeing a few strandy NGD's mid February (I emailed Ola and he said they should ship to customers by mid Feb )


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## Silence2-38554 (Jan 27, 2015)

Zinter said:


> Couldn't resist one of these... Ordered a black w/ birdseye!



I am SO wanting to do this but the damn EMG's are just killing me. Obviously they can be swapped for passives but the 9v battery route in the back would be there forever, bumming me out. I REALLY wish the US offering was available with Lace's like the Japan market. 

For everyone complaining "Oh, that's so expensive for a Korean guitar"

The way I see it, Strandberg is sort of becoming the Apple of the guitar world. They are allowed to charge a premium because their design is fundamentally different and arguably better. I didn't know what to think of Strandbergs 'till I got to play Chris Letchford's actual guitar at NAMM. It's a totally different world. The instrument as a whole feels much more manageable, natural and comfortable. It's super light, ultra portable and just loves to sit in your lap, which is the only guitar I've ever been able to say that about haha.

As for the specs, show me another guitar that comes with:
Stainless frets
Multiscale
Chambered swamp ash body
Flame maple top
Premium pickups
Weighs less than 5lbs

Not to add the proprietary hardware......for a similar price point, regardless of country of manufacture. Again, Apple computers are built in China & nobody complains about that. Strandberg is doing something totally new with this and I just don't think people get it yet. For how unique these instruments are, I think the OS line is brilliant and priced totally fair........but give me some damn Lace's!!


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## Zhysick (Jan 27, 2015)

Silence2-38554 said:


> Again, Apple computers are built in China & nobody complains about that.



While I don't think this Koreabergs are "that" expensive to not buy them, I have to say about Apple that they are not "built", just assembled in China, as they are designed in california, lots of the electronics components are made in Japan...

OH! Just like this Koreabergs... hardware from Sweden, pickups from USA, wood from lots of different countries but assembled in Korea... uhm...

I would be pretty pissed off if that price was for a "all made in Korea" guitar but considering the hardware is top notch and the design (endurneck and all that) I think the price is really reasonable, but that "extra" they are charging for selling them in the USA is just abusive... I hope for Europe will be different but hey... I don't think so


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## cubix (Jan 27, 2015)

Boden 6 OS coming in May... No word on the pickups yet :O The wait is gonna kill me...

From YT:

"I played this guitar at NAMM next to the U.S.A. Washburn models and I couldn't even tell the difference. It is on the same par with the U.S.A guitars in terms of quality, fit, finish, and playability. People forget to mention that these are also inspected and setup in the U.S.A before being shipped out, so the quality control is amazing."


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## JLesher6505 (Jan 27, 2015)

Dear god &#128563;


----------



## Forkface (Jan 27, 2015)

cubix said:


> Boden 6 OS coming in May... No word on the pickups yet :O The wait is gonna kill me...
> 
> From YT:
> 
> "I played this guitar at NAMM next to the U.S.A. Washburn models and I couldn't even tell the difference. It is on the same par with the U.S.A guitars in terms of quality, fit, finish, and playability. People forget to mention that these are also inspected and setup in the U.S.A before being shipped out, so the quality control is amazing."



might i ask for the video link? (im assuming YT means youtube )


----------



## HeHasTheJazzHands (Jan 27, 2015)

If they do end up living up to that, then I'll take back what I said.


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## littledoc (Jan 28, 2015)

cubix said:


> "I played this guitar at NAMM next to the U.S.A. Washburn models and I couldn't even tell the difference. It is on the same par with the U.S.A guitars in terms of quality, fit, finish, and playability. People forget to mention that these are also inspected and setup in the U.S.A before being shipped out, so the quality control is amazing."



This doesn't surprise me. I think that blindfolded, no one could tell the difference between a guitar built in Korea and one built in the US. People assume that more expensive = better quality, but in reality the overwhelming majority of price difference can be attributed simply to vastly cheaper Asian labor. Assuming Strandberg maintains tight quality control, these are gonna be great. 

Anyway, I ordered my Boden OS in black/rosewood last night, so I'll find out soon enough (yeah, pic-infested NGD to come)!


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## cubix (Jan 28, 2015)

Forkface said:


> might i ask for the video link? (im assuming YT means youtube )



It's just one of the comments on the vid.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KMZPodTVB7k


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## shanerct (Jan 29, 2015)

Posted on Strandberg's Facebook today. 

https://www.facebook.com/strandbergGuitarworks?fref=nf

"The full shipment of Boden OS guitars arrived yesterday after having been held up in Long Beach for a while, and are now undergoing a full QC by our own staff in California (you may look forward to an introductory blog post in the near future). They will start shipping out shortly!"


Looks like they may ship sooner then expected. I'm excited. Shipping will still take a week to get to NY. Damn my place of residence.


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## rapterr15 (Jan 30, 2015)

I noticed on the strandberg website when playing with the custom shop Boden 7 builder, it lists "custom slanted 57/66". Does this mean the soapbar 57/66's that EMG sells would not work as a replacement for the 707x's these come with?


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## StevenC (Jan 30, 2015)

rapterr15 said:


> I noticed on the strandberg website when playing with the custom shop Boden 7 builder, it lists "custom slanted 57/66". Does this mean the soapbar 57/66's that EMG sells would not work as a replacement for the 707x's these come with?



They ones you get in a Strandberg have the poles adjusted to sit under the strings with the fan. The normal soapbar 57/66-7s that you get from EMG will work, but the poles won't line up with the strings. I don't believe there'd be much noticeable difference between the two. However, you should be able to get the slanted ones from EMG, and if not try contacting Strandberg to see if you can get a set for your Boden.


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## Silence2-38554 (Jan 30, 2015)

For everyone bummed about the EMG situation in these (including myself), I've been emailing with Fishman about their new Fluence pickups and they said they will be releasing a soapbar model later this year. They've been getting crazy good reviews so may be worth waiting 'till those are released! 

That being said, I've also been emailing EMG & the slanted 57/66 can be ordered directly from them. May look into a set of those as well!


----------



## Jonathan20022 (Jan 30, 2015)

There is no actual tonal difference between the poles being slightly off center and being dead on. I compared it to my set of slanted ones when my friend bought his set for a non-ff guitar. Aesthetics of course are the only big concern, but I just ordered it because they were the same price so why not lol.


----------



## insaneshawnlane (Jan 30, 2015)

Just got the shipping conformation from FedEx...

THEY'RE SHIPPING! THEY'RE SHIPPING!



Really though I am pretty excited


----------



## rapterr15 (Jan 30, 2015)

insaneshawnlane said:


> Just got the shipping conformation from FedEx...
> 
> THEY'RE SHIPPING! THEY'RE SHIPPING!
> 
> ...



I'm excited about the flood of NGD's that should be incoming over the next few weeks! 

Now we expect no less than the highest resolution pics (include cats if you have them), and a nice detailed write up. How's the overall quality? Thoughts on the 707x's? Satisfied with the size of the fretwire and the quality of the fretwork? Not that you would, but if you were to lick the guitar, how do you imagine it would taste? 

Ok, maybe not the last one, but you get the point.


----------



## Miek (Jan 30, 2015)

rapterr15 said:


> I'm excited about the flood of NGD's that should be incoming over the next few weeks!
> 
> Now we expect no less than the highest resolution pics (include cats if you have them), and a nice detailed write up. How's the overall quality? Thoughts on the 707x's? Satisfied with the size of the fretwire and the quality of the fretwork? Not that you would, but if you were to lick the guitar, how do you imagine it would taste?
> 
> Ok, maybe not the last one, but you get the point.



when i get one i'll lick it, but i bet it tastes like snozberries


----------



## jwade (Jan 30, 2015)

I don't know if I've missed seeing anything about this elsewhere, but is there any word on there being a Boden OS 8 at some point?


----------



## rapterr15 (Jan 30, 2015)

jwade said:


> I don't know if I've missed seeing anything about this elsewhere, but is there any word on there being a Boden OS 8 at some point?



We know a six string is on the way, and I think earlier in the thread it was mentioned an 8 is intended for the Japanese market, but I haven't heard anything regarding the U.S. market.


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## jwade (Jan 30, 2015)

Thanks!


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## shanerct (Jan 30, 2015)

insaneshawnlane said:


> Just got the shipping conformation from FedEx...
> 
> THEY'RE SHIPPING! THEY'RE SHIPPING!
> 
> ...




Same here. Just got my email. This will be my first Strandberg. I look forward to your NGD


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## asher (Jan 30, 2015)

Soooo tempting


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## Silence2-38554 (Jan 30, 2015)

So jealous of you guys that have them en route! I should be placing my order some time this next month. If they all get released, I could see myself owning a 6,7 & 8 string OS by the end of the year haha


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## jwade (Jan 31, 2015)

Yeah if they do a Boden OS 8, I won't hesitate for even a second (provided I have the funds). Slap in some chrome covered 57/66s, oh man.


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## insaneshawnlane (Jan 31, 2015)

shanerct said:


> Same here. Just got my email. This will be my first Strandberg. I look forward to your NGD



Hell yeah man . I'm gonna have to borrow a decent camera so I can take some proper pictures.

Actually it would probably be better to borrow the person with the camera too. I cannot take pictures


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## Jonathan20022 (Jan 31, 2015)

jwade said:


> Yeah if they do a Boden OS 8, I won't hesitate for even a second (provided I have the funds). Slap in some chrome covered 57/66s, oh man.



The only thing that sucks about using the chrome covered ones is that you'd have a gap on both sides of the pickup. I actually toyed with the idea of ordering an 8 string set of covered EMGs since they don't have poles but are just 0.025" larger than the route if you remove the legs of the pickups. You could widen the pickup routes and even route it for pickup legs. But that's all aftermarket work, my tech told me to go home and just play it 

Wouldn't be the first time he told me that, like when I brought my Jackson Broderick and asked him how much it would cost for him to chamber and refinish it to relieve some of the weight*


----------



## jwade (Jan 31, 2015)

Ah hadn't thought of that. Damn.


----------



## rapterr15 (Jan 31, 2015)

Here's what's basically an awesome blog entry I stumbled upon from the metalguitarist.com forum (speaking of which, those guys over there don't seem to be big fans of Ola's work lol). This comes from the Guthrie Govan forum and was written by a guy named Ed Yoon who is in a corporate position with GC, but it seems also works closely with Guthrie and The Aristocrats and is now working with Ola and will be overseeing the U.S. Boden OS line out of his garage. He and two other of the best techs he knows will be personally inspecting all the OS models coming to the states. Apparently he oversaw the Suhr Rasmus line, which I've heard great things about.

Anyways, it's an interesting read with some great guitar porn.

http://online-discussion.dhenderson.com/GuthrieGovan/viewtopic.php?t=2294

Edit: One last tidbit. He confirms that an 8 string will be available sometime in the second half of the year and 6 string before the middle of the year. Nice!!


----------



## wildrat666 (Jan 31, 2015)

I recieved a mail today. there will be a launch of the Os series in europe april/may


----------



## Schaug (Jan 31, 2015)

wildrat666 said:


> I recieved a mail today. there will be a launch of the Os series in europe april/may



WOOHOOOO


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## wildrat666 (Jan 31, 2015)

gonna be tough to choose colour and fingerboard...what do u think?


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## MBMoreno (Jan 31, 2015)

wildrat666 said:


> I recieved a mail today. there will be a launch of the Os series in europe april/may



This both saddens me, and hugely gladdens me at the same time. 

Becau$e of rea$on$ of course. And because of affordable Strandbergs (that are a considerable amount of money still for me).

I'm curious about the prices they can pull off here


----------



## JoeyBTL (Jan 31, 2015)

That's really interesting with all the Strandberg/Guthrie coincidences. Plus the vid of him playing a Boden 8 and going off the Aristocrats new set list, I believe they have a 7 string song or two. It'd be cool if he something with Strandberg.


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## cubix (Jan 31, 2015)

wildrat666 said:


> I recieved a mail today. there will be a launch of the Os series in europe april/may



Hoping for some good news, but I smell some high prices in the air... It's still going to be better to order it in USA and have a friend ship it to Europe FedEx valued at $100/USED. That's the only way I can get back at the government for the ridiculous taxes!!! Take that!

Just roughing it out it's gonna be $1895 plus 23% Vat is $2330 plus 3.2% Import Tax = $2405. Not including the dealer fees etc. so best case scenario it's below $2500 in Europe.


----------



## Jonathan20022 (Jan 31, 2015)

cubix said:


> Hoping for some good news, but I smell some high prices in the air... It's still going to be better to order it in USA and have a friend ship it to Europe FedEx valued at $100/USED. That's the only way I can get back at the government for the ridiculous taxes!!! Take that!
> 
> Just roughing it out it's gonna be $1895 plus 23% Vat is $2330 plus 3.2% Import Tax = $2405. Not including the dealer fees etc. so best case scenario it's below $2500 in Europe.



I don't think it's very smart to state that you're going to commit fraud on a public platform


----------



## Electric Wizard (Jan 31, 2015)

rapterr15 said:


> *Ed Yoon stuff*


Wow, thanks for the link. Honestly this makes me interested in these again. The price was a bit more than I'd like for something from WMI, but I put a lot of stock in Ed Yoon giving these the thumbs up. The Rasmus stuff was indeed amazing, so if he's calling these a good value as well I am intrigued.


----------



## wannabguitarist (Jan 31, 2015)

I can't wait for these to hit the used market


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## blanco (Jan 31, 2015)

cubix said:


> Hoping for some good news, but I smell some high prices in the air... It's still going to be better to order it in USA and have a friend ship it to Europe FedEx valued at $100/USED. That's the only way I can get back at the government for the ridiculous taxes!!! Take that!
> 
> Just roughing it out it's gonna be $1895 plus 23% Vat is $2330 plus 3.2% Import Tax = $2405. Not including the dealer fees etc. so best case scenario it's below $2500 in Europe.



In theory there is no reason for it to be shipped to american to then ship it onto europe. There are plenty of amazing luthiers and shops in the UK alone that could take on the work and Ola may well have people in Sweden that can do the setup work. I mean the guys doing the work must be getting paid so it's basically just setting up some outsourced setup work.


----------



## StevenC (Jan 31, 2015)

wildrat666 said:


> I recieved a mail today. there will be a launch of the Os series in europe april/may



April/May sounds like Musikmesse!


----------



## cubix (Jan 31, 2015)

Jonathan20022 said:


> I don't think it's very smart to state that you're going to commit fraud on a public platform



Technically the one sending it is commiting fraud, not the receiver  And what if he actually buys it and wants to sell it to me for $100, cause he's a good buddy. Is that fraud if he states the truth ?  You can argue but I kid of course, forgot the smileyface. Noone wants to risk shipping something worth $2000 as $100 junk. I'm waiting for the Europe launch, but even if it doesn't ship to the USA then to Europe it's going to cost quite a bit more.


----------



## littledoc (Jan 31, 2015)

Ha, well I'm a little jealous of you guys who already got the shipment e-mail. A few days after I placed my order I emailed Strandberg to see if they had a tracking #, and Ola himself replied and said the guitars had just arrived in the states for final quality control and setup, and will be shipping out this week.

Super excited!


----------



## wildrat666 (Feb 1, 2015)

StevenC said:


> April/May sounds like Musikmesse!



yeah hopefully. im gonna buy one...cant decide which


----------



## boogie2 (Feb 1, 2015)

So a lot of folks talk about the "slanted" EMGs? I guess the coils must be offset inside the soap bar case? They look like the stock EMGS as far as I can tell.

Are they the same dinensions as the stock EMGs?

I just ordered a Natural w/rosewood board, but I'm not sold on the 707s. Thinking about the x-bars which seem to be the same dimensions as the 707s. Thoughts, comments?


----------



## Sumsar (Feb 1, 2015)

boogie2 said:


> So a lot of folks talk about the "slanted" EMGs? I guess the coils must be offset inside the soap bar case? They look like the stock EMGS as far as I can tell.
> 
> Are they the same dinensions as the stock EMGs?
> 
> I just ordered a Natural w/rosewood board, but I'm not sold on the 707s. Thinking about the x-bars which seem to be the same dimensions as the 707s. Thoughts, comments?



EMG pickups are (as far as I know) bar / rail pickups, meaning that is it not 7 individual coils but 1 big one (please correct me if I am wrong)? Therefore stock emg pickups can be used on guitars with multiscale necks without misallignment of coils to strings.

On the 707s: While ordinary 707s are indeed garbage, the ones on the strandberg OS-7 boden is 707-X, which are supposedly alot better, so give them a chance


----------



## boogie2 (Feb 1, 2015)

Sumsar said:


> EMG pickups are (as far as I know) bar / rail pickups, meaning that is it not 7 individual coils but 1 big one (please correct me if I am wrong)? Therefore stock emg pickups can be used on guitars with multiscale necks without misallignment of coils to strings.
> 
> On the 707s: While ordinary 707s are indeed garbage, the ones on the strandberg OS-7 boden is 707-X, which are supposedly alot better, so give them a chance



Yeah, I'm going to give them a shot, but I'm thinking about plan B. So far it's the Xbars or the Pegasus/Sentient combo. I like p'ups with real clarity. My faves are the high output (H2+) Tom Andersons and the Suhr p'ups. Something where you can really hear the nuances.


----------



## Guitarrags (Feb 1, 2015)

boogie2 said:


> Yeah, I'm going to give them a shot, but I'm thinking about plan B. So far it's the Xbars or the Pegasus/Sentient combo. I like p'ups with real clarity. My faves are the high output (H2+) Tom Andersons and the Suhr p'ups. Something where you can really hear the nuances.



I tried the Pegasus/Sentient combo and was not impressed. The 57/66 or Lace pickups sound the best to me in a Boden.


----------



## fortisursus (Feb 1, 2015)

Just wondering. Has anyone else been having trouble with the strandbergguitars.com? I cannot seem to get past the checkout page. It just sits there loading, but nothing ever happens...

Update: Ordered one. Natural with rosewood board. I assume something was up and the page was timing out. I got through on my phone though. Kind of ironic that the strong computer with all the bells and whistles can't even load a page, but the Iphone has no problem.


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## cubix (Feb 1, 2015)

Definately looking forward to all the NGD with good pics  I'm curious to see how is the quality on these and if it really is as top notch as people say. Mostly curious about the fretwork being those are SS frets on a korean guitar.


----------



## Sumsar (Feb 1, 2015)

cubix said:


> Definately looking forward to all the NGD with good pics  I'm curious to see how is the quality on these and if it really is as top notch as people say. Mostly curious about the fretwork being those are SS frets on a korean guitar.



Same factory as Schecter I believe, so the SS frets should be same quality as KM-7s and newer JF-7s, people have seemed pretty happy about those guitars, so I guess that is a good sign


----------



## AlexKhan (Feb 2, 2015)

Hello, Ed Yoon here. Just wanted to say "Hi!" and chime in. Yes, I am handling the final QC, setup, repairs (with the aid of two very experienced techs with over 50 years of combined experience and who are very familiar working on Strandberg guitars), and shipping from my home in Southern Cal. 

I have been working more as a consultant to Ola over the past few years and am very excited and happy to work with him in an official capacity to develop and grow the Strandberg business. It's still a very small operation but I worked in the boutique sector for 10 years at Tone Merchants and Suhr so I intimately understand what building a small guitar company is like

I also understand how the large scale and high volume sector works due to my 10+ years experiencee at Fender handling their imported guitars procurement and QC/setup operations. I'm essentially doing the same now for Guitar Center for the company's private label brands guitars. So all this experience falls right in line with what Ola is doing to offer new Strandberg guitars at more affordable prices.

The main thing in an operation like this is having clear and constant communications with the manufacturers in Asia. It's something I have done for many years and what I continue to do. Believe me, I'm quite the QC ass-kicker when working with the factories and I work very hard on making the factory floor managers and the workers understand our QC standards.

With the Boden OS line, I'm applying the highest QC standards possible and it is indeed a challenge working with managers and workers there who have not had to build to such high standards before. They need to be guided, managed, educated and trained constantly. What works here is that I'm of Korean descent and speak the language fluently when dealing with World and the factory managers and workers. I have known World's CEO and the key managers since the early-90's when I was at Fender and I can assure you that they aspire to produce the highest quality guitars possible and to become a world-class factory on par witht the very best factories in the US and Japan.

Ola and I also want to provide the best customer service possible and I will draw from my experience at Tone Merchants and Suhr to be easily accessible, be fast to respond and take care of any issues as quickly as possible. I am a firm believer in what Ola is doing and always like to work with a sense of passion in all my endeavors in this industry - whether it's my job at GC, working with Guthrie and the Aristocrats (I'm Guthrie's US manager and I manage the band's label business), or with Ola and Strandberg.

Again, I'm very excited to be working with Ola and presenting the new Boden OS line of instruments for serious open-minded and forward-looking musicians. Having been in this industry for nearly 25 years, I understand that a Strandberg isn't for everyone but that's cool. That's what makes the guitar industry so interesting. All I hope to do is provide the very best instruments possible at their respective price points (whether it's a $100 beginner acoustic or $3K+ Strandberg) and make people happy as they create music. The world needs more dedicated and serious guitar players and I look at growing that number as my overriding goal in the line of work I do. Thanks for your time.


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## asher (Feb 2, 2015)

Thanks for stopping in!

Though, per forum rules you'll need to pop your associations in your signature


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## AlexKhan (Feb 2, 2015)

asher said:


> Thanks for stopping in!
> 
> Though, per forum rules you'll need to pop your associations in your signature




Thanks. Just added the disclaimer in the signature but it isn't showing up. Does it take a little while for that to get updated?


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## asher (Feb 2, 2015)

AlexKhan said:


> Thanks. Just added the disclaimer in the signature but it isn't showing up. Does it take a little while for that to get updated?



Doesn't retroactively apply to posts. Good now


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## Pablo (Feb 3, 2015)

AlexKhan said:


> Thanks. Just added the disclaimer in the signature but it isn't showing up. Does it take a little while for that to get updated?



Cheers Ed! I was very happy to hear of your involvement with Strandberg, as I have the utmost respect both for the work that you did with Tone Mechants and Suhr and for your continued support and work for The Aristocrats.

Now get the Boden OS6 to Europe ASAP, and I'll get off your back ;-)

Cheers

Eske


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## rapterr15 (Feb 3, 2015)

So Ed (I really hope you read this), are the OS models sold in Japan built by the same team as those who make those for the U.S. market? I'm in Tokyo now and have the opportunity to have one ordered to my hostel, but that means I can't play it first. Should I expect the QC of these to be to the same standards you are setting for the U.S. models?


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## AlexKhan (Feb 4, 2015)

rapterr15 said:


> So Ed (I really hope you read this), are the OS models sold in Japan built by the same team as those who make those for the U.S. market? I'm in Tokyo now and have the opportunity to have one ordered to my hostel, but that means I can't play it first. Should I expect the QC of these to be to the same standards you are setting for the U.S. models?



Yes, it's the same factory (World Musical Instruments) that's manufacturing the guitars. A Japanese distributor who imports from Korea has its own staff that does the QC/setup work before shipping to the dealers. I'd imagine that the Japanese distributor also has very high standards as well although I don't know them personally.


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## rapterr15 (Feb 4, 2015)

Thanks a lot for the reply! 

I just ordered a Red/Maple one and should have delivered to my hostel in a few days. Super stoked!!


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## cubix (Feb 4, 2015)

I've got one question I would like to know about the OS line - are the maple fretboards laquered along with the whole neck? I've seen a Strandberg with a raw maple fretboard that was extremely dirty - some people like the wear on the maple fretboards, but I don't. Would love to know if there is poly coating on the fretboards aswell.


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## rockstarazuri (Feb 4, 2015)

They're definitely not lacquered, satin finish all the way.

To Ed,

I hope these don't disappear like the Suhr Rasmus line! I have a GG and I regret that other people barely had the chance to know how good they are!


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## cubix (Feb 4, 2015)

Yes but there is such a finish as satin poly laquer. Every Ibanez neck is laquered in satin poly, but it's still a laquer finish that protects the wood.


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## rockstarazuri (Feb 4, 2015)

It's like that I guess. I don't think it gets dirty easily especially after wiping it down after you play it.


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## Inceptic (Feb 4, 2015)

AlexKhan said:


> Yes, it's the same factory (World Musical Instruments) that's manufacturing the guitars. A Japanese distributor who imports from Korea has its own staff that does the QC/setup work before shipping to the dealers. I'd imagine that the Japanese distributor also has very high standards as well although I don't know them personally.



Could you please comment as to why the Korean guitars for Japan have Lace Aluma X-Bar pickups, but the ones for the US have EMG 707X?


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## AlexKhan (Feb 4, 2015)

cubix said:


> I've got one question I would like to know about the OS line - are the maple fretboards laquered along with the whole neck? I've seen a Strandberg with a raw maple fretboard that was extremely dirty - some people like the wear on the maple fretboards, but I don't. Would love to know if there is poly coating on the fretboards aswell.



The finish on the Boden OS necks is satin urethane. It's definitely not raw wood or oil finish. Feels fast and smooth. It may still wear over a period of time depending on how often you play it.


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## AlexKhan (Feb 4, 2015)

rockstarazuri said:


> They're definitely not lacquered, satin finish all the way.
> 
> To Ed,
> 
> I hope these don't disappear like the Suhr Rasmus line! I have a GG and I regret that other people barely had the chance to know how good they are!



As mentioned earlier, it takes a long-term commitment to work with the factories in Asia. One can't just send them some drawings and a few sample guitars and expect them to duplicate things that they were not trained to see, hear and feel.

Ola and I have made a very strong long-term commitment to work closely with World in the future. Both Ola and I will be visiting the factory on a regular basis and I'm also looking into hiring an independent QC inspector/tech in Korea whom I've known and worked with since the early-90's. We are extremely serious about this and will do whatever it takes. Ola and I are very confident that the Boden OS line will be successful and we have many more projects in the works.


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## AlexKhan (Feb 4, 2015)

Inceptic said:


> Could you please comment as to why the Korean guitars for Japan have Lace Aluma X-Bar pickups, but the ones for the US have EMG 707X?




We decided that the EMG's are a known quantity to most people in the US and that they know what to expect. EMG does have many adherents. I have the 808-X on my Boden 8 and was surprised how good it sounded for a variety of playing styles and sounds. The Japanese distributor specifically asked for the Lace.

It's possible we may offer the Lace pickups for the US market in the future if we find there's a strong demand. So far, most people here seem quite content with the EMG's as orders are coming in at a brisk pace.

We are at the beginning of this launch so we'll see how things go. Guitar SKU count based on options can quickly get out of hand so we have to gauge the demand thoroughly before committing to more options like pickups, different colors, etc. We are definitely watching and listening!


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## insaneshawnlane (Feb 4, 2015)

soon

https://www.dropbox.com/s/x5ew3jlbiagdwqk/IMAG0409.jpg?dl=0


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## cubix (Feb 4, 2015)

AlexKhan said:


> The finish on the Boden OS necks is satin urethane. It's definitely not raw wood or oil finish. Feels fast and smooth. It may still wear over a period of time depending on how often you play it.



Thank You! Does that mean the FRETBOARD is laquered aswell? Because when it's rosewood it's masked off during the laquering process, if it's the same with maple then it's a shame because unlaquered maple captures sweat stains really fast...


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## AlexKhan (Feb 4, 2015)

cubix said:


> Thank You! Does that mean the FRETBOARD is laquered aswell? Because when it's rosewood it's masked off during the laquering process, if it's the same with maple then it's a shame because unlaquered maple captures sweat stains really fast...



Yes, the maple fretboard is finished as well in satin urethane so you're covered.


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## Forkface (Feb 4, 2015)

Wow, this thread just got 10 times better! I wanna thank Mr. Yoon for stepping in and answering our questions, thats goddamn customer service right there  and its awesome to hear that the project is designed in such grand scale. I'm definitely getting a sixer once they release them.


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## Haun (Feb 4, 2015)

Dammit. Now I have to get a 6-string boden. Well, I could be worse off.


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## shanerct (Feb 4, 2015)

Mine just came in. I'll be doing a NGD with better pictures after I get out of the office. I got to played this beast during my lunch break. I don't want to jump the gun on this but I think this is going to ruin the rest of my guitars for me. Can't wait to go home and plug it in.

Here is a tease:


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## AlexKhan (Feb 4, 2015)

shanerct said:


> Mine just came in. I'll be doing a NGD with better pictures after I get out of the office. I got to played this beast during my lunch break. I don't want to jump the gun on this but I think this is going to ruin the rest of my guitars for me. Can't wait to go home and plug it in.
> 
> Here is a tease:



Hey Shane, glad to know that the guitar arrived safe and sound and that your intial impression of it is positive. We're putting a lot of effort into the QC and setup work here in CA but please do check the neck bow setting again as it may have moved a bit during transit and now that the guitar is in a much cooler and probably drier environment. Thanks!


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## AlexKhan (Feb 4, 2015)

I want to add that, for those of you who haven't owned or played a Strandberg before, the tuner may feel stiffer than you may have imagined. I certainly thought so when I first got mine. It can hurt the fingertips somewhat if you spend a lot of time tuning as I do.

I normally use a 6mm Allen wrench and that works really well and also offers a great degree of control when getting the tuning just right. Also, when stretching the strings, I recommend that you do a lot of bends across the range of the fingerboard instead of pulling the strings upwards off - especially the high strings - since doing so can have the strings slip out or break at the lock clamps behind the nut.


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## AlexKhan (Feb 4, 2015)

Forkface said:


> Wow, this thread just got 10 times better! I wanna thank Mr. Yoon for stepping in and answering our questions, thats goddamn customer service right there  and its awesome to hear that the project is designed in such grand scale. I'm definitely getting a sixer once they release them.



It's my pleasure to answer questions and provide useful info that can be helpful. It is a different kind of guitar and there was some learning curve for me as well when changing strings and doing the setup work. I broke a good number of strings and struggled with getting things just the way I wanted it but, like anything else that's new and different, it takes time and repitition to get used to the point of it being second nature.

Yes, we've got some exciting things in development. The Boden OS 6 isn't far off and the OS 8 is in development as well. We are also working on developing more manufacturing sources in Japan, China and Europe to develop products to cover a wider range of price points and serve their respective regional markets. We are also busy setting up a limited number of dealers and distributors around the world to complement our direct-to-consumer model.

I think our business model is and will be quite different from most high-end guitar brands and manufacturers as it's mainly about the design and the unique features and capabilities of the Strandberg instruments. The key for us will be choosing and working with the right manufacturers all around the world and then staying on top of the QC at the source as well as before final shipment to customers. Compared to all the Strat/LP knockoffs and various flavors of the superstrat, a Strandberg is quite different and also difficult for manufacturers. But Ola and I expect to be very deeply involved in working with them so that they thoroughly understand the concepts and the QC standards. My 20+ years of experience working with the manufacturers in Asia and the US will certainly be leveraged to the tilt to assure we meet this goal.


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## Jonathan20022 (Feb 4, 2015)

^ Also Strandberg tuners break in really well, they smooth out quite a bit and are much easier to use a few days after tuning and using the guitar.

Awesome that these first ones are coming out so well, props to you guys!


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## fortisursus (Feb 4, 2015)

The wait for mine to ship out is killing me! I'll be sure to check the action when I get it and compare it to the factory specs( whatever they are) for reference


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## MBMoreno (Feb 4, 2015)

As I said on another thread

Man, this thread is giving me chills. In a good way. Until I remember it will be a while until Europe...


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## boogie2 (Feb 4, 2015)

shanerct said:


> Mine just came in. I'll be doing a NGD with better pictures after I get out of the office. I got to played this beast during my lunch break. I don't want to jump the gun on this but I think this is going to ruin the rest of my guitars for me. Can't wait to go home and plug it in.
> 
> Here is a tease:



Damn, I've got a natural maple w/rosewood board on order. I hope it looks like that. Very nice. Waiting anxiously for the review.

PS: if anyone's keeping track, I'd rather have the Lace p'ups as well.


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## fortisursus (Feb 4, 2015)

boogie2 said:


> Damn, I've got a natural maple w/rosewood board on order. I hope it looks like that. Very nice. Waiting anxiously for the review.
> 
> PS: if anyone's keeping track, I'd rather have the Lace p'ups as well.



Good choice! I too went natural/rosewood. Don't think you can go wrong with any of the combo's though. I've never actually tried Lace pups before. How do they compare to some of the conventional pups out there?


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## boogie2 (Feb 4, 2015)

fortisursus said:


> Good choice! I too went natural/rosewood. Don't think you can go wrong with any of the combo's though. I've never actually tried Lace pups before. How do they compare to some of the conventional pups out there?



From the clips I've heard, they are on the bright side and extremely clear and defined. Those are the things I love about Tom Anderson's pickups. Seems like they'd be a good fit for me.


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## littledoc (Feb 4, 2015)

AlexKhan said:


> Ola and I expect to be very deeply involved in working with them so that they thoroughly understand the concepts and the QC standards. My 20+ years of experience working with the manufacturers in Asia and the US will certainly be leveraged to the tilt to assure we meet this goal.



Ed  with my OS 7 due to arrive day after tomorrow I'm very happy to hear this, but I'm also curious if you have any comments on the apparent QC issues here:

http://www.sevenstring.org/forum/4295064-post12.html


I mean these are the first batch of guitars, so of course we can't expect them all to be perfect. But, good to know where some course corrections may be needed.


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## Inceptic (Feb 4, 2015)

I appreciate how forums like these almost serve as a second layer of QC. I'm definitely looking forward to all the upcoming NGD's!


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## AlexKhan (Feb 5, 2015)

littledoc said:


> Ed &#8212; with my OS 7 due to arrive day after tomorrow I'm very happy to hear this, but I'm also curious if you have any comments on the apparent QC issues here:
> 
> http://www.sevenstring.org/forum/4295064-post12.html
> 
> ...



This is the very first shipment of the Boden OS guitars to the US and I have seen various little issues which we are addressing with the factory. Being that these guitars have a thin satin finish, there are little flaws (especially with the CNC cuts on the routs) like chips, dips, dents, etc. that are simply not fixable. Little flaws on gloss finishes can be buffed out with a buffing wheel but there's not much we can do on satin finishes.

It is a judgment call on our part on what we feel are acceptable and what aren't. A lot of it is the visibility factor from an arm length distance and from various angles or where the flaws are located (back, front, side). Perfection is very difficult to achieve with this kind of thin satin finish on soft porous woods. On gloss finishes, we can at least wet-sand, buff and polish the flaws but, unfortunately, we cannot even try to fix little issues on satin because things will most likely get worse if we tried.

So I admit that there are very small flaws that we have no choice but to send out and hope that it's not too bothersome to you. If it is, we will gladly take the guitar back and try to find a better unit or offer a refund but, as stated, completely flawless finishes are very difficult to achieve on a finish like this. Believe me, I have already sent dozens of photos to Ola and the factory and I already have quite a few units that will never get shipped. Those units will end up as discount units to artists or for demo purposes at dealers and/or trade shows. 

I will check with Ola about the neck heel matter. The Boden 8 I have also has an extended neck butt that protrudes over the pocket so I'm not sure if this is by design or if the factory didn't cut it properly. Being that the first Boden OS shipment to Japan was made in October (Ola himself visited the factory at the time) and we hadn't heard of any major issues, it's difficult to imagine that the factory got that wrong. 

Being that the minor visual issues are not fixable and we can't scrap otherwise fine guitars, we focused mainly on the setup and overall playability, which included removing the strings and sanding/polishing the frets and putting on a fresh new set of strings with an extensive playability test. We feel that the overall design aesthetics, functionality, playability and sound are the key features but we will continue working with the factory to have the managers and workers there pay more attention to the minute details.

Right now, that's the key - getting the factory to get the last 2~3% right. I went through this with the Rasmus line at Suhr as well. Getting them to go the last mile and get the little details right is the biggest challenge moving forward but I'm confident that we'll get there. And any issue that's even a bit more than very minor have not and will not get shipped but we can't guarantee absolute perfection at this point in time. We do guarantee great playability, functionality and sound. Please be assured that we do see all the little or tiny visual issues and have addressed them to the factory. The nature of the finish just makes it impossible to repair, touch up or buff out. We are not trying to push these things by you but hope that you can accept these little imperfections and enjoy all the other benefits the guitars offer. If the imperfections are too bothersome, we will gladly take the guitars back and offer a full refund or try to replace it with a "perfect" unit but I have to admit that absolute perfection is not possible at this point in time.


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## littledoc (Feb 5, 2015)

Damn Ed, you deserve a huge virtual high-five. Let me just say that if that were my Boden OS in the other thread, I absolutely would not have cared about such barely-visible imperfections. I mean, are we gonna forget the USA Jackson custom that came missing a whole fret, or the Blackmachine with misaligned tuners? I've seen way worse QC issues on vastly more expensive guitars. 

The heel protrusion is interesting because searching around, it seems to be sometimes there, sometimes not; even the stock photo of Per Nilsson's 'Singularity' shows a protruding heel. So as with the minor blemishes I don't foresee that as being even a quasi-remote issue should my guitar arrive as such, and I can't imagine it affecting playability to any significant degree. That said, I'm curious as to why some Strandbergs have the protrusion and others don't. I did a Google image search for the OS and there are a couple of pics of ones that have no protrusion. But, it's clearly a variance not limited to the OS line. Even Fred Brum's mtm appears to have it.

Anyway I greatly appreciate your diligence and dedication, and I'm super excited for my OS 7's arrival on Friday!


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## wildrat666 (Feb 5, 2015)

Ive got even more GAAAS now. the natural with maple board......wow


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## rockstarazuri (Feb 5, 2015)

See, this is one of the reasons why I love my Rasmus and Strandberg OS7.

Stringent QC PLUS excellent customer service ^^


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## cubix (Feb 5, 2015)

Thank You for all the detailed explanation Ed! It's rare and trustworthy what you're doing, joining the forum and actually talking to the customers. I'm following Strandberg very closely! Please don't take the wrong way the fact that I pick on the details - I don' do that and walk away, I definately want to be a customer in the nearest future possible. The heel is actually what impressed me the most on most of the Strandberg photos I've seen. While I understand the problems with the wood, it shouldn't be a big issue to decrease the step in the neck and I'm sure you agree it looks more professional and clean that way. On an instrument that pure and simple in its form these things really stand out. I for one am extremely happy You went for the EMGs and hope that Boden os6 will be offered with them aswell. Would love to see flamed tops as nice as the first Japan batch aswell! Thank You again for the work you're doing!


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## Inceptic (Feb 5, 2015)

So are these shipping with cases?


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## Zinter (Feb 5, 2015)

Should be the normal .strandberg* gig bag i think, has some padding for travel


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## Silence2-38554 (Feb 6, 2015)

Inceptic said:


> So are these shipping with cases?



The .strandberg* gig bag is half the reason I want to buy one! They're so much small & more functional than a typical gig bag. I'm gonna bring this thing with me everywhere!


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## TauSigmaNova (Feb 6, 2015)

Seeing Ed up here in this thread answering questions really says something about their level of CS and involvement. Awesome to see. Never really cared for headless guitars but I'm gassing pretty hard right now.


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## boogie2 (Feb 6, 2015)

WhooHooo! I have a fedex tracking number  <starts pacing anxiously>


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## insaneshawnlane (Feb 6, 2015)

Not sure to if this had been announced already or if it was common sense or something but on the back of the pamphlet that came with my boden os it says that the os 6 string will be 25.5"-25" scale and the 8 string will be 28"-26.5". It also says pickup options are emg or lace but at this point I imagine its referring to the Japanese models


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## jwade (Feb 6, 2015)

Completely down with those specs. I'm guessing the 8 will be around $2400, does that seem reasonable?


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## fortisursus (Feb 6, 2015)

Out of interest for those of you who have received shipping notifications, when did place your order? It's been a week now and no shipping notification for me yet


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## Zinter (Feb 6, 2015)

fortisursus said:


> Out of interest for those of you who have received shipping notifications, when did place your order? It's been a week now and no shipping notification for me yet



Took 9 days, I emailed and Ola responded with my tracking. It was shipped 8 days after I ordered.


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## rapterr15 (Feb 6, 2015)

jwade said:


> Completely down with those specs. I'm guessing the 8 will be around $2400, does that seem reasonable?



If the seven is $1895, I don't see how the 8 would demand a $500 premium. I'd say $2k seems more appropriate.


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## jwade (Feb 7, 2015)

Oh my mistake, I thought I'd read that the 7s were $2000


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## AlexKhan (Feb 7, 2015)

cubix said:


> Thank You for all the detailed explanation Ed! It's rare and trustworthy what you're doing, joining the forum and actually talking to the customers. I'm following Strandberg very closely! Please don't take the wrong way the fact that I pick on the details - I don' do that and walk away, I definately want to be a customer in the nearest future possible. The heel is actually what impressed me the most on most of the Strandberg photos I've seen. While I understand the problems with the wood, it shouldn't be a big issue to decrease the step in the neck and I'm sure you agree it looks more professional and clean that way. On an instrument that pure and simple in its form these things really stand out. I for one am extremely happy You went for the EMGs and hope that Boden os6 will be offered with them aswell. Would love to see flamed tops as nice as the first Japan batch aswell! Thank You again for the work you're doing!



Thank _you_! Even after nearly 25 years in the guitar industry, I feel that I'm still always learning new things and I sincerely appreciate the feedback. I really do want to work on the details with the factories and your input is very valuable. Like playing the guitar, there is _always_ room for improvement. It's a never-ending battle and the standard that we strive for always moves higher away from us. That's cool because it'd be boring if we ever achieve "perfection"! Haha. You can be assured that Ola and I will keep striving for it no matter how difficult or challenging it is. Cheers!


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## XxXPete (Feb 7, 2015)

Hey Ed...I dont want to speak for all the US guitarists..but some guys like my self would love the LACE pickup option.Some guys are NOT BIG fans of active pickups..


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## insaneshawnlane (Feb 7, 2015)

XxXPete said:


> Hey Ed...I dont want to speak for all the US guitarists..but some guys like my self would love the LACE pickup option.Some guys are NOT BIG fans of active pickups..



I'm fairly sure he said something like 'Lace/other pickups will likely be an option in the future' earlier in this thread 

Edit: Found it on the previous page a few posts down - "It's possible we may offer the Lace pickups for the US market in the future if we find there's a strong demand."


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## Rich5150 (Feb 8, 2015)

I'm ordering a Red w maple this week, I've personally wanted to try a strandberg but not necessarily at the custom shop prices. For me this is a perfect alternative.


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## asher (Feb 8, 2015)

Rich5150 said:


> I'm ordering a Red w maple this week, I've personally wanted to try a strandberg but not necessarily at the custom shop prices. For me this is a perfect alternative.



Yup. Giving in. Doing that exact thing tonight, I think (the red with maple really pops to me, and reminds me of my old Dinky too ).


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## jemfloral (Feb 8, 2015)

asher said:


> Yup. Giving in. Doing that exact thing tonight, I think (the red with maple really pops to me, and reminds me of my old Dinky too ).



Congrats, I've seen that you've been looking for one for a while now. Glad to see you're taking the leap!


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## littledoc (Feb 8, 2015)

You guys will not regret the purchase.


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## asher (Feb 8, 2015)

asher said:


> Yup. Giving in. Doing that exact thing tonight, I think (the red with maple really pops to me, and reminds me of my old Dinky too ).



Done.


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## kevdes93 (Feb 8, 2015)

ughhhhh this or a vader????? my hair is on the verge of falling out over this.


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## littledoc (Feb 8, 2015)

kevdes93 said:


> ughhhhh this or a vader????? my hair is on the verge of falling out over this.



I'll chime in on this as a longtime Carvin fan. I actually parted with a DC700 to afford my Strandberg, and I definitely debated the two.

Both are lightweight, both have chambered bodies and carbon-fiber reinforced necks. The Carvins are neck-through, which is a minor plus to me. Carvin also has the advantage of being cheaper and/or offering a bigger variety of very nice finishes, woods, and fret sizes.

I went with Strandberg though for a few reasons:

&#8226; The multiscale. To me, doing an ergonomic guitar without a multiscale is just kinda going halfway. It definitely makes a difference in tone and playability. Plus, I think the bridge hardware on the Strandbergs is nicer.

&#8226; The Endurneck. It's legit. It really does get you to anchor your thumb in a way that relaxes your fretting hand. It's weird and awesome.

&#8226; The contours. The Strandberg is designed for multiple playing positions, and I don't care for the convex curve on the bottom of the Vader. 

&#8226; Seriously, the arm contour on the Carvin where the top wood just... stops. Why why why? Ugh. Kills the aesthetic for me.


I absolutely love Carvin and I think they've made a great axe, but the Strandberg was designed from the ground up to be something really unique, and it is. The Vader to me seems more like a twist on their regular guitars than something really innovative. Of course your mileage may vary!


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## Inceptic (Feb 9, 2015)

shanerct said:


> Mine just came in. I'll be doing a NGD with better pictures after I get out of the office. I got to played this beast during my lunch break. I don't want to jump the gun on this but I think this is going to ruin the rest of my guitars for me. Can't wait to go home and plug it in.
> 
> Here is a tease:



So did you eventually leave the office?


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## cubix (Feb 9, 2015)

Just a question - what are the actual string saddles made of? Is it stainless steel? One of the many reasons Im interested in Strandberg is the aluminium hardware - no rust! I rust away any bridge within a month and oxidize the Ibanez Cosmo Black coating within 2 days... So if the saddles are indeed stainless it's another amazing feature for me!


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## insaneshawnlane (Feb 9, 2015)

cubix said:


> Just a question - what are the actual string saddles made of? Is it stainless steel? One of the many reasons Im interested in Strandberg is the aluminium hardware - no rust! I rust away any bridge within a month and oxidize the Ibanez Cosmo Black coating within 2 days... So if the saddles are indeed stainless it's another amazing feature for me!



I read somewhere that all of the parts that may experience wear are stainless, including the saddles


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## Rich5150 (Feb 18, 2015)

Ordered my Red w Birdseye today shipping out Fri can't wait to finally try a strandberg


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## SpaceDock (Feb 22, 2015)

Any word on when the OS6 or OS8 will drop. I've got my money in hand waiting on the OS6!!!!


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## Econ (Feb 22, 2015)

How low can you set the action on these guitars? I also wonder how good the access to upper frets is. I really want to get on of these badly!!!!


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## Zinter (Feb 22, 2015)

Econ said:


> How low can you set the action on these guitars? I also wonder how good the access to upper frets is. I really want to get on of these badly!!!!



I've got about 1mm treble side, 1.5mm bass side at the 24th fret. You can lower it into the fretboard so the range is there for whatever you'd like. It moves in bigger steps than I'd like sometimes but it plays very well. The action is a bit high from the zero nut for me so I may lower it and recrown, etc. Upper fret access is all the way to the 24th fret, I can rest my hand against the cut away and my pinky lines up straight to the 24th fret, the stretch to the 24th on the bass side is pretty big like any 7 string really. Take the jump, if you're into the design of the body and ergonomics you'll enjoy it


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## Econ (Feb 22, 2015)

Zinter said:


> I've got about 1mm treble side, 1.5mm bass side at the 24th fret. You can lower it into the fretboard so the range is there for whatever you'd like. It moves in bigger steps than I'd like sometimes but it plays very well. The action is a bit high from the zero nut for me so I may lower it and recrown, etc. Upper fret access is all the way to the 24th fret, I can rest my hand against the cut away and my pinky lines up straight to the 24th fret, the stretch to the 24th on the bass side is pretty big like any 7 string really. Take the jump, if you're into the design of the body and ergonomics you'll enjoy it



Thanks for the detailed response!!!! I really really want to buy one. Would have prefer a Boden with the Masvidalien tremolo, but I guess this is not possible. My dilemma now is to choose between the Boden and the Masvidalien.


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## olejason (Feb 22, 2015)

I'd love to see them offer the OS7 with an ebony board. I like rosewood okay but definitely prefer the look of ebony on a black guitar.


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## insaneshawnlane (Feb 22, 2015)

Zinter said:


> I've got about 1mm treble side, 1.5mm bass side at the 24th fret. You can lower it into the fretboard so the range is there for whatever you'd like. *It moves in bigger steps than I'd like sometimes but it plays very well*. The action is a bit high from the zero nut for me so I may lower it and recrown, etc. Upper fret access is all the way to the 24th fret, I can rest my hand against the cut away and my pinky lines up straight to the 24th fret, the stretch to the 24th on the bass side is pretty big like any 7 string really. Take the jump, if you're into the design of the body and ergonomics you'll enjoy it



This is my only gripe with the bridge. If the threads were just a bit finer I could find that _perfect_ sweet spot. Still, I am in no way complaining 




SpaceDock said:


> Any word on when the OS6 or OS8 will drop. I've got my money in hand waiting on the OS6!!!!



I believe the OS 6 is supposed to be around this summer and the 8 should be here before the year is over.


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## Andromalia (Feb 23, 2015)

When those are available in Europe I think I'll have a budget problem.


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## Econ (Feb 24, 2015)

If you wanted to replace the EMG's that come in the US model version, would you need special slanted pickups?


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## oremus91 (Feb 24, 2015)

Econ said:


> If you wanted to replace the EMG's that come in the US model version, would you need special slanted pickups?



I believe this was addressed in this thread already, but the routes are slanted for you. If you turn your head sideways you will notice those are, in fact, regular 707s!


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## Slaeyer (Feb 25, 2015)

Econ said:


> If you wanted to replace the EMG's that come in the US model version, would you need special slanted pickups?



When changing to passives you should also think about how to ground the bridge....


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## HighGain510 (Feb 25, 2015)

Slaeyer said:


> When changing to passives you should also think about how to ground the bridge....


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## rapterr15 (Mar 4, 2015)

So I've had mine for a couple weeks now, and I'm mostly happy. My one big issue has been that the high E string is extremely difficult to play cleanly, because if the low B isn't totally muted, then playing the high E on the 7th fret or lower somehow causes feedback from the low B even without touching the string. I never had this kind of problem playing my brothers seven string Carvin, so I don't think it's my muting that's the problem. I've had to adjust my playing style a bit so it's manageable. I should add that the neck has been given quite a bit of relief, so I know that's not the issue. A a result, super low action isn't really attainable though I'm not super picky about action height. Medium/medium-low height is fine and the guitar is still very playable.

Buuuut, today I just noticed that already, the high B string is creating a small divot in the zero fret. I had heard about this problem with some Carvin HH2's, but never with respect to a Strandberg. It's certainly doesn't make the guitar unplayable, but I can't bend on the 3rd fret or below without an annoying clicking sound of the string going out and then back into the divot. It's incredibly disheartening, as I imagine the string will continue to dig into the zero fret in the long term, seeing as I've only been playing it for a couple weeks. Sucks.

Plus I feel like the resale value of this thing has already dropped a substantial amount, because of these imperfections, in case I just decided to cut my losses and go back to my Ibbys. It's a shame cause I love so much about the guitar. Not sure where to go from here.

Btw, mine is from the Japanese market so I wasn't lucky enough for it to undergo the QC of Ed Yoon and co.


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## ikarus (Mar 4, 2015)

^ maybe a tech can replace the zero fret with a stainless steel fret...


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## Haun (Mar 4, 2015)

Well, it should already be stainless steel.


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## marcwormjim (Mar 5, 2015)

Stainless steel zero-frets wear out, too. Vigier makes theirs replaceable (and in string-by-string segments, at that) for just that reason. 

Since 2012, I've owned six guitars with zero-frets: A Vigier with stainless steel frets, two Steinbergers with stainless steel frets in carbon-graphite necks, a Klein copy with nickel frets, and two Steinberger Spirits with nickel frets. With every one of them, the zero-frets wore in under the strings in a matter of months. And when I buy a Strandberg OS 6, I'll be expecting the same - It just seems unavoidable.

But I'm not soured on them - It's still something I prefer to have.


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## Inceptic (Mar 6, 2015)

Is the zero fret on Strandbergs glued on to the fretboard? Do you need a luthier to replace it?


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## cubix (Mar 7, 2015)

If it's as easily replaced as on the Vigiers (when it's not glued down and pressed very hard) it shouldn't be a problem HOWEVER, a few months is detinately short lifespan let alone a few weeks... Makes me think the nut might have something to do with it - maybe it's not cut right and allows too much movement on the zero fret. Thinking logically, it should be cut so the break angle between the 0 fret and the nut is minimal (almost same height, so the string lies on the 0 fret but doesn't press too hard), but I might be wrong on this one. Having to replace a zero fret after only a few weeks is ridiculous :/


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## Zinter (Mar 7, 2015)

The zero fret was far too high on mine, I've already redone the fretwork to fix some high fret spots so I lowered the zero fret and recrowned it. 5/7 strings had small indents in the zero fret when I got it, causing the same clicking noise described by others. In my opinion they probably hit the zero fret with a file while working on it, there has been no aging or indents on my zero nut in over a month with EB Cobalts on it (harsh string supposedly). I also replaced the wood (ebony?) nut with Graph Tech Black Tusq XL and sized it so the strings rest on it, reducing noise and regulating the string spacing. My long-term plan with this is to possibly remove the zero fret and install a compensated nut instead


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## cubix (Mar 7, 2015)

Nice that's what I was thinking, if there are problems replacing the nut might fix it, but hopefully the Washburn shop does a better job...


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## Chiba666 (Mar 8, 2015)

I really hope this comes to Europe, would sell most of my collection to have one


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## Silence2-38554 (Mar 10, 2015)

Forkface said:


> credit goes to this guy > https://www.facebook.com/BNphotog?fref=photo
> theres a whole album of pics from all brands  and he takes pretty nice pics



I just bought this exact guitar from Ed. So rad, NGD soon!!


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## Silence2-38554 (Mar 10, 2015)

rockstarazuri said:


> NGD teaser. I feel like I just won at life.



I just realized it looks like the Japanese market OS's are being shipped with MUCH nicer gig bags than the US market ones as well.....


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## nistley (Mar 10, 2015)

XxXPete said:


> Hey Ed...I dont want to speak for all the US guitarists..but some guys like my self would love the LACE pickup option.Some guys are NOT BIG fans of active pickups..



Yes. I just registered on this forum to say that I added the guitar in my cart yesterday and the only thing stopping me were the pickups. I listened to all the reviews I could find, and I was just not liking them, too hot and trebly. I feel like for the price, adding the price of figuring out the pickups, shape, wiring and replacement puts it over the edge for me. I'm pretty sure the moment there is another option, such as versatile CL7 style EMG57,66 or passive lace pickups, I'm going to order


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## mmahan40 (Mar 15, 2015)

nistley said:


> Yes. I just registered on this forum to say that I added the guitar in my cart yesterday and the only thing stopping me were the pickups. I listened to all the reviews I could find, and I was just not liking them, too hot and trebly. I feel like for the price, adding the price of figuring out the pickups, shape, wiring and replacement puts it over the edge for me. I'm pretty sure the moment there is another option, such as versatile CL7 style EMG57,66 or passive lace pickups, I'm going to order



QFT, same here.


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## StevenC (Mar 15, 2015)

Silence2-38554 said:


> I just realized it looks like the Japanese market OS's are being shipped with MUCH nicer gig bags than the US market ones as well.....



Please elaborate. Are they not both shipping with the regular Strandberg gig bag?


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## Sumsar (Mar 15, 2015)

Slaeyer said:


> When changing to passives you should also think about how to ground the bridge....



Slab some of this on the bridge?


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## insaneshawnlane (Mar 15, 2015)

StevenC said:


> Please elaborate. Are they not both shipping with the regular Strandberg gig bag?



Nope. The ones for the Japanese market look like the same bags that come with Washburn Bodens. The ones that come with the American market guitars have only one pocket and no leather


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## StevenC (Mar 15, 2015)

insaneshawnlane said:


> Nope. The ones for the Japanese market look like the same bags that come with Washburn Bodens. The ones that come with the American market guitars have only one pocket and no leather



Huh, that's odd. Does anyone have a good picture of the American OS bag? From another thread I was able to see that the bag was different, but it wasn't detailed.


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## HighGain510 (Mar 15, 2015)

StevenC said:


> Huh, that's odd. Does anyone have a good picture of the American OS bag? From another thread I was able to see that the bag was different, but it wasn't detailed.



Yeah my Washburn Strandberg came with the gray gig bag (thicker, more pockets, more padding, nicer handles) and my OS came with a much thinner, black gig bag with a single pocket. I was a little sad that for $1900 the gig bag got skimped on since the PRS SE's ship with those nice, thickly-padded gig bags and ship from the same factory and all. Not the end of the world but I would have preferred the nicer gray bag that came with my other Boden personally.


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## HighGain510 (Mar 16, 2015)

I'll have to get pics up of my bags but since I don't have any handy, there was one semi-full shot of the Boden OS bag in littledoc's NGD thread:

Triangular, black case coming with the USA OS guitars:






vs

the bag that all the other Strandbergs have come in previously:






Like I said, much thicker, more padding, nicer handles, more pockets etc. Just an all around nicer bag. I was a little bummed that nearing $2K, they skimped on the bag.  The gray bag I received with my Washberg feels substantially nicer, again just IMHO.


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## andawe (Mar 16, 2015)

Looks like the OS6 is confirmed https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?...&set=a.3732039691950.159601.1004733366&type=1 gotta say, im pretty excited for this.


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## cubix (Mar 17, 2015)

Really hope it's gonna have the Alumitones... So that it doesn't tempt me when I wait for my Washberg LOL


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## Silence2-38554 (Mar 18, 2015)

As far as gig bags go, it's still pretty dang nice. That being said, it's nowhere near as nice as the standard gray one. The OS bag:


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## HighGain510 (Mar 18, 2015)

Silence2-38554 said:


> As far as gig bags go, it's still pretty dang nice. That being said, it's nowhere near as nice as the standard gray one. The OS bag:



Ah thanks for posting that up, meant to do the comparison shots of mine last night and spaced out as I was tired as hell.  Yeah as I said before, it's not a crappy bag or anything, just that BY COMPARISON it's not nearly as nice as the gray ones.  I'll get some side-by-side shots of both tonight uploaded for everyone so they can see all dimensions.


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## Inceptic (Mar 18, 2015)

cubix said:


> Really hope it's gonna have the Alumitones... So that it doesn't tempt me when I wait for my Washberg LOL



I read somewhere that the OS6 was going to have Seymour Duncans.


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## ikarus (Mar 18, 2015)

Inceptic said:


> I read somewhere that the OS6 was going to have Seymour Duncans.



Yep, the Boden OS 6 will come with Seymour Duncan Jazz/JB pickup. (at least the European version)


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## HighGain510 (Mar 18, 2015)

ikarus said:


> Yep, the Boden OS 6 will come with Seymour Duncan Jazz/JB pickup. (at least the European version)



They will all be getting JB/Jazz pickups from what I was told.


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## MBMoreno (Mar 24, 2015)

Is it Musikmesse I should look forward to?

I've got to get my hands on one of these


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## fantasyl (Mar 24, 2015)

Are the koreaberg sold out in Japan or is there a chance I'll find one in Tokyo (possibly Ochanumizu?)?

I'll be in Japan in 3 weeks, I'd like to try out and eventually buy the OS7, I'm checkin' out digimart ishibashi etc. but no joy


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## da_ue (Mar 25, 2015)

fantasyl said:


> Are the koreaberg sold out in Japan or is there a chance I'll find one in Tokyo (possibly Ochanumizu?)?
> 
> I'll be in Japan in 3 weeks, I'd like to try out and eventually buy the OS7, I'm checkin' out digimart ishibashi etc. but no joy



I can find only Washberg(too expensive!) in Japan now.
I found used Koreaberg on digimart two month ago though...
Good luck on your trip!


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## HighGain510 (Mar 25, 2015)

fantasyl said:


> Are the koreaberg sold out in Japan or is there a chance I'll find one in Tokyo (possibly Ochanumizu?)?
> 
> I'll be in Japan in 3 weeks, I'd like to try out and eventually buy the OS7, I'm checkin' out digimart ishibashi etc. but no joy



I believe there was only a small handful of the Japan market spec Boden OS line built first and they all sold out quickly. I know because I tried to find one myself.  No idea if/when more will pop up, but the current spec seems to be what we received in the US (active EMG's instead of passive Lace pickups) and those are still available from the Strandberg site. I haven't seen anything posted by the Japanese dealers saying they had more on the way, perhaps you should email some of them (Ishibashi and Ikebe-Gakki both had some, not sure who else was selling them?) and ask if they have more coming?


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## fantasyl (Mar 26, 2015)

HighGain510 said:


> I believe there was only a small handful of the Japan market spec Boden OS line built first and they all sold out quickly. I know because I tried to find one myself.  No idea if/when more will pop up, but the current spec seems to be what we received in the US (active EMG's instead of passive Lace pickups) and those are still available from the Strandberg site. I haven't seen anything posted by the Japanese dealers saying they had more on the way, perhaps you should email some of them (Ishibashi and Ikebe-Gakki both had some, not sure who else was selling them?) and ask if they have more coming?



Will do, thanks! If someone sees an OS7 or a good deal on a washberg in Tokyo or Kyoto please PM me


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## rockstarazuri (Mar 26, 2015)

strandberg

To save you some time and frustration of searching, these are about the only strandbergs you can find in Japan now.


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## fantasyl (Mar 28, 2015)

rockstarazuri said:


> strandberg
> 
> To save you some time and frustration of searching, these are about the only strandbergs you can find in Japan now.



Yeah, I'm a daily visitor of digimart these days  , hope some special deal will come out just at the right time!


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## Aaron316 (Mar 31, 2015)

Hopefully this will lead to Washburn custom shop to stepping up there game. I speak from first hand experience from the S7G alone with Washburn models I have bought. Both was taken care of customer service has ALWAYS been on point. I 100% believe in Ola's work, with Mr. Yoon in the picture. I think things will only get better Strindberg* I wish I could be part of something like this. I see really really big things down the road for the brand.


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## Jonathan20022 (Mar 31, 2015)

The Washburn shop has been fantastic for a long time, dude  All the builds I've had from them have been fantastic and it's made me jump on board and get my 7th from them. That should say enough


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## Guitarrags (Mar 31, 2015)

I've been playing my Washburn since Oct of last year. Still flawless and will own it for life!


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## HighGain510 (Apr 1, 2015)

Aaron316 said:


> Hopefully this will lead to Washburn custom shop to stepping up there game. I speak from first hand experience from the S7G alone with Washburn models I have bought. Both was taken care of customer service has ALWAYS been on point. I 100% believe in Ola's work, with Mr. Yoon in the picture. I think things will only get better Strindberg* I wish I could be part of something like this. I see really really big things down the road for the brand.



Despite your post being incredibly hard to read/follow, if you're trying to say the Washburn CS folks aren't putting out quality Bodens, my current CL7 would beg to differ. I won't whitewash it and say they've ALL been perfect as there were neck alignment issues with some of the earlier Masvidaliens (which appears to have been sorted out?) and some folks had issues posted on here, but mine is one of the recently-built guitars and it's absolutely fantastic.



Jonathan20022 said:


> The Washburn shop has been fantastic for a long time, dude  All the builds I've had from them have been fantastic and it's made me jump on board and get my 7th from them. That should say enough



Agreed. I pulled the trigger on another Boden 6'er CS built by Washburn so obviously if they sucked, I wouldn't be so eager to grab another build from them as well. 


Also while I love my Boden OS a ton, I still feel the overall quality of the Washboden is higher. I'm sure the guys set on the OS line can prove it to themselves that it's not worth the cost difference, but IMHO I don't feel like I paid extra for nothing.  It's a nicer guitar, not by a landslide, but the quality difference IS still there.


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## Guitarrags (Apr 1, 2015)

From a tone perspective you notice any differences?


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## HighGain510 (Apr 1, 2015)

Guitarrags said:


> From a tone perspective you notice any differences?



Well a little hard to say since the specs a touch different on the two.  The USA build is a CL7 so it has a Maple Top + Mahogany body and a Cocobolo neck plus I upgraded the pickups to passives (BKP Juggernauts). The OS 7 is the standard Maple Top + Swamp Ash body and a Maple neck and fretboard with Lundgren M7C's. The tone on the OS 7 is a bit brighter as expected for that wood combo, the attack and tightness are substantially improved beyond the CL7 but most of that is the Lundgrens. I've found they are some of THE tightest pickups under high gain imaginable. That low B on the OS just sounds incredibly defined. The Juggernauts in the CL7 are no slouch, but by comparison they are slightly rounded in the low end and part of that could absolutely be the body and neck woods. 

The finish on the Washboden seems a bit nicer too, I don't know if they're spraying the exact same stuff on the OS line but it doesn't feel the same to me. The grain on the mahogany feels a bit smoother to the touch and appearance, almost like a quality oil finish but you can still see it's protected. Conversely, the OS finish looks almost like it was sprayed with clear and then buffed to satin if that makes sense? I don't know if that affects things as well but the CL7 seems to resonate like crazy, and while the OS7 obviously still reverberates quite well itself (think most of that is the chambering) I feel like the CL7 rings out/vibrates a bit more. The edge of the fretboard and the fret ends both feel a bit smoother on the CL7 too (the fret ends are rounded and polished superbly on my Washboden).


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## Aaron316 (Apr 1, 2015)

HighGain510 said:


> Despite your post being incredibly hard to read/follow, if you're trying to say the Washburn CS folks aren't putting out quality Bodens, my current CL7 would beg to differ. I won't whitewash it and say they've ALL been perfect as there were neck alignment issues with some of the earlier Masvidaliens (which appears to have been sorted out?) and some folks had issues posted on here, but mine is one of the recently-built guitars and it's absolutely fantastic.
> 
> I apologized if my post was hard to understand but I'm not saying that.. They are indeed quality, just needs to be higher and it's getting to that point. Now I do plan on ordering my third one just waiting to hear back from true temperament.


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## fantasyl (Apr 16, 2015)

Spent the day searching for the OS7 today in Shinjuku and Shibuya (Tokyo) 
...I was almost sure to find it in Guitar Land KEY in Shibuya but they will arrive next week, and of course I won't be in Japan by then  

I had a very little little taste of the Mansoor specced Washberg and it felt nothing short of amazing.
If a SSO forumer sees or knows of an OS7 in Tokyo please post or send me a PM ASAP. I'm seriously GASSING for the OS7 but don't want the EMG version.

I will be out of Japan Saturday, but my Strandberg search just started, hopefully Ola will release the European version with Laces and the nicer case


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## HighGain510 (Apr 16, 2015)

fantasyl said:


> Spent the day searching for the OS7 today in Shinjuku and Shibuya (Tokyo)
> ...I was almost sure to find it in Guitar Land KEY in Shibuya but they will arrive next week, and of course I won't be in Japan by then
> 
> I had a very little little taste of the Mansoor specced Washberg and it felt nothing short of amazing.
> ...



While it doesn't help you on the nicer Strandberg case, you CAN still get the standard OS7 model available and convert it to passives if you have someone add a ground wire for you (or do it yourself if you're so inclined, it was a bit of a PITA IMHO so I was happy I had my tech do the work on both. ). The pickup routes will still be the same so the only thing that is different is the gig bag.


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## fantasyl (Apr 16, 2015)

HighGain510 said:


> While it doesn't help you on the nicer Strandberg case, you CAN still get the standard OS7 model available and convert it to passives if you have someone add a ground wire for you (or do it yourself if you're so inclined, it was a bit of a PITA IMHO so I was happy I had my tech do the work on both. ). The pickup routes will still be the same so the only thing that is different is the gig bag.



Thanks, could see me doing that, but I still hope to find a Japanese OS7 in ochanumizu tomorrow   ...then will wait for OS European version (April May so it's almost here)...and as last chance I'll buy the active OS7 or better yet a used washberg if a killer deal comes this way


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## HighGain510 (Apr 16, 2015)

fantasyl said:


> Thanks, could see me doing that, but I still hope to find a Japanese OS7 in ochanumizu tomorrow   ...then will wait for OS European version (April May so it's almost here)...and as last chance I'll buy the active OS7 or better yet a used washberg if a killer deal comes this way



Unless they're not advertising online, I think most dealers sold out of the Japanese run of OS 7 models, that's why I was suggesting that option.


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## guitar4tw (Apr 17, 2015)

Thinking about purchasing a Strandberg OS7 soon. I was just wondering, how long does that Zero Fret last before it needs changing, and does Strandberg sell spares? And is it glued to the fretboard, or is it as easy to change as on a Vigier for example?

I'd want to be able to change it myself and not have to rely on a tech to do it. 

This is the only "deal breaker" for me so far, so hoping for positive answers.


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## cubix (Apr 20, 2015)

+1 to that, I'm also curious about it. From the information I gathered the wear on the 0 fret really depends on the string break angle between the 0 fret and the nut. The nut should be very slightly lower than the 0 fret because then there is no real pressure put by the string to the fret. I've read about the CARVIN headless where the problems occured with standard strings (clamped behind the nut) but there were no problems with excessive wear when using double ball end strings (they mount further away from the nut making the break angle less drastic). If the 0 fret on Strandbergs is indeed just a light press fit then replacement shouldn't be an issue.


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## Zinter (Apr 20, 2015)

I'm not sure if it's glued in as I haven't tried to remove mine. It had scratches from the factory so I recrowned mine when I got it. It hasn't aged since early feb. In regards to what Cubix was saying, they come with nuts that more help with the spacing and stop them from bending too far, but there isn't much contact. I replaced mine with a nut that has the strings resting on it, you often see the Washburn ones with that. Probably helps with the life like he said. 

Given that they sent out an entire new bridge assembly to asher you're probably in good hands if you asked.


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## guitar4tw (Apr 21, 2015)

I sent Strandberg a mail asking about this very question I posted here a couple posts up, and got a response just hours later from Ola himself! 

Here's what he had to say about it:




> Hi "my name",
> thanks for your message.
> 
> You raise a good question, but unfortunately, it's not possible to give a good answer. If you wouldn't do a lot of bends, it will last a long time. But if you do put a lot of strain on the strings "sideways", it will wear out eventually. What I will say is that the frets are stainless, so they last a long time.
> ...




*I then responded:*



> Hello!
> 
> Thanks for the quick reply, and from the main man himself! Not bad!
> 
> ...




*And his response:*



> Hi "My name",
> thanks for the video! I wasn't aware that Vigier had this capability. I'm sure we can replicate it.
> 
> I look forward to seeing you as player.
> ...


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## asher (Apr 21, 2015)

Yep.

Ola and Ed are super awesome dudes. They will take care of you!


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## HighGain510 (Apr 21, 2015)

guitar4tw said:


> Thinking about purchasing a Strandberg OS7 soon. I was just wondering, how long does that Zero Fret last before it needs changing, and does Strandberg sell spares? And is it glued to the fretboard, or is it as easy to change as on a Vigier for example?
> 
> I'd want to be able to change it myself and not have to rely on a tech to do it.
> 
> This is the only "deal breaker" for me so far, so hoping for positive answers.



Ola already answered but just to clarify, if you're trying to swap it yourself and you're not familiar with fretwork (glued in or otherwise), I wouldn't suggest replacing a fanned zero fret to be the first time you have a go at it as it's not going to be a straight drop-in deal like replacing a nut.  It's cool that Vigier does it the way they do, but it's not apples to apples for the fretwork approach Strandberg has taken so bear that in mind. If you're competent with handling fretwork yourself, you can remove glued in frets with heat but just realize any zero fret can need replacement if you use heavy strings and/or bend a ton. They're going to last a *lot* longer since they're SS, but they're not invincible or anything like that.


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## marcwormjim (Apr 22, 2015)

I apologize in advance for swooping in on this before DJ from Vigier can, but I want to add that Vigier's zero frets are actually replaceable in segments, now - Meaning that, if your playing tends to wear out the zero fret under just one string, you can just buy a few replacement segments for that one string. They've really knocked it out of the park.

Here's some non-essential, anecdotal trivia that everyone can skip:

I first talked with Ola at the 2013 NAMM. Then and now, I consider Vigier to be the best production instruments on the planet. At the time, I was playing a 2012 Shawn Lane model (Anyone who's played one will assure you that it's the _cat's ass_).

When I was by the Strandberg booth, I tried a Boden with TT frets and a gold trem. I was smitten, and asked the man how long it would take for me to get one. "At this point, three years", he told me. "Three years to build?" "No - Three years before I can start on it."

I nodded, and hoped that he would eventually outsource a production-series. Later, I learned that that particular Boden was built for Allan Holdsworth.

I've since sold the Vigier to fund other guitars, but am waiting for the time that a Boden OS 6 with a trem is made - That's the only thing that can replace Vigier at the top of that heap, for me. And with the latest revision of Strandberg's hardware on the horizon (3D-printed/adjustable nuts?), I'm eager to see what else is brought to the table.


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## cubix (Apr 23, 2015)

Zinter said:


> I replaced mine with a nut that has the strings resting on it, you often see the Washburn ones with that. Probably helps with the life like he said.



That's great news, if Washburn does this correctly then there is no problem. I really hope that this issue is solved with the new 3d printed nuts. As for the zero fret, too bad that it's not easy to replace, some people don't have a good guitar tech on hand that can do that sort of thing :/ Hope they apply the Vigier method to the later products!


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## Dayviewer (Apr 25, 2015)

EU is next:





From Strandberg's FB page


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## pott (Apr 25, 2015)

At last! $400 shipping for the current OS7 really kills it.


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## blanco (Apr 26, 2015)

I've already apologised to my missus about the fact i'm buying one. My idea is that she won't mind when the money leaves the account as i've given her notice haha.

But yeah about time, no $400 shipping, no 20% import fees and by the looks of it we are going to get the 6 string as well!!! Just have to wait for a confirmed prices.


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## rockstarazuri (Apr 27, 2015)

Shops in Japan are beginning to stock Strandberg OS7's again. Anyone coming to Japan, better grab your OS7's soon before they run out again 

And yeah, they have Laces too 

Also, the next batch seems to be coming after 6 months, with a price raise. (according to a distributor I talked to)


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## jemfloral (May 2, 2015)

rockstarazuri said:


> Shops in Japan are beginning to stock Strandberg OS7's again. Anyone coming to Japan, better grab your OS7's soon before they run out again
> 
> And yeah, they have Laces too
> 
> Also, the next batch seems to be coming after 6 months, with a price raise. (according to a distributor I talked to)



rockstarazuri, I PM'd you with a question yesterday. Give me a shout back when you get the chance, please. Thanks!


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## insaneshawnlane (Jun 20, 2015)

So after awhile, I grew tired of the active pups in my OS and decided to make the switch to passives. I took the high E saddle off to try and figure out how I want to go about grounding the bridge and wound up making an awesome discovery...










Turns out they drilled a hole in the factory! This came as a huge relief as I was pretty nervous about taking a drill to my strandy  

Now if UPS would stop sending my Nazgul/Sentient set to the wrong post office


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## jemfloral (Jun 21, 2015)

insaneshawnlane said:


> So after awhile, I grew tired of the active pups in my OS and decided to make the switch to passives. I took the high E saddle off to try and figure out how I want to go about grounding the bridge and wound up making an awesome discovery...
> 
> Turns out they drilled a hole in the factory! This came as a huge relief as I was pretty nervous about taking a drill to my strandy
> 
> Now if UPS would stop sending my Nazgul/Sentient set to the wrong post office



That's awesome news! Good sleuthing, sir.


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## m_cheung (Oct 2, 2015)

Rakuten in Japan has this listing for the Boden OS 8 now 

¡Ú³ÚÅ·»Ô¾ì¡ÛStrandberg / Boden OS 8 MB (Maple/Black) ¡ÚS/N W1508025¡Û¡ÚÁ÷ÎÁÌµÎÁ¡Û¡§¥¤¥·¥Ð¥·³Ú´ï¡¡£×£Å£Â¡¡£Ó£È£Ï£Ð

Worth checking out for the photos

Priced at ¥242,000 so same price mark as the OS 6 and OS 7 models


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