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I'm curious as to what the differences will be to the 'full fat' Strandbergs - can't quite work it out from all the marketing stuff. I suppose they need to differentiate from the more expensive versions, and are trying to expand the market to people who can't or won't shell out £1700 - £3000 for the current ones?
Solid meranti body, fixed zinc cast bridge, OEM pickups, no fanned frets and a roasted maple neck with unbranded stainless frets
And love it mostly to see if the neck would help with the Arthritis and it does to the point where I would like my other guitars to have Enduro neck. They really are a nice innovation of the guitar, comfortable and they sound good. Cant say enough good things about it.
They use PT Cort for most of their production and I believe it was a collaboration to make a Strandberg for a bigger market. Looks like they have not really left anything out the neck is roasted maple no CF laminate. I think they have just jiggled the recipe a little to make it affordable. So making a 3 piece neck with CF is a hand production process roasted maple is just slap wood on cnc let rip. The essential only comes with conventional scale and it has new hardware but they seem to be saying the new hardware is an evolution and will be on all Bodens going forward.
As for the multiscale thing after 24hrs you barely notice and the whole thing seems totally irrelevant by the end of the first week I was all guitars should be like this. lol
- The light weight is a joy.
- Transporting it in the supplied gig bag is also a joy. But it's not as protective as a hard case or flightcase.
- It is very resonant when played unplugged.
- The Endurneck is a very good thing for my left hand. I'm generally classical dropped wrist, but thumb over works well too.
- The fanned frets are a non-issue regarding playing it. Really. But there is a better tension balance between the strings.
- Intonation is perfect.
- Restringing is the easiest I've ever had.
- Tuning is easy, it stays in tune when playing, and you can tune up to pitch or down to pitch, it works both ways - unlike most headstock-based guitars.
- People continue to come up and ask me what it is at a gig - and I enjoy the interaction!
- Mine has passive Suhr humbuckers, with an unusual (to me) wiring system. I'm reviewing it right now and may change the switching. Or just buy another Boden with different pickups as an alternative... :-)
- There is a flat spot on the volume and tone knobs that is at the top (and parallel to the ground) when fully on and perpendicular at the side when at 75%. That is so noticeable when playing, so rolling the single coil from 100% to 75% for the humbucker using your little finger is so easy without actually looking.
- On my body, the guitar tends to stay in place with a strap. No neck dive.
- You don't see how it looks when you're playing it. :-)
- Oh, and the fret markers are luminous. Great for dark stages when you're looking for the 15th fret in a hurry...
Currently, the pickup switching works like this...1 - neck humbucker
2 - coil split of neck humbucker (noticeably quieter at home, not so much at gig volumes)
3 - coil split of neck humbucker and bridge humbucker (either outer or inner col, can't remember)
4 - coil split of neck humbucker and bridge humbucker (opposite of 3, they do sound different, this one is the "quackiest")
5 - bridge humbucker
There's quite a lot of tonal variation, but I tend to use 1, 2 and 5 most of the time.
https://www.thefretboard.co.uk/discussion/254403/ngd-headless-chameleon-strandberg-boden-standard-nx6?new=1
(It's basically positive - no regrets!)
I've been successfully ignoring Strandberg guitars for a very long time - instantly dismissed as "too modern" - but in the last couple of days I've been feeling faint stirrings of GAS. Or it may just be IBS.
Positives:
Extremely comfortable to play: The endurneck is fabulous and the body shape amazing.
Nice big frets also.
Weighed practically nothing.
Negatives:
The fact that it weighed so little made it feel a bit like a toy. Very different to what I was used to (i.e. "normal guitars"). I couldn't decide if I liked that or not.
Very poor top - supposed to be flamed, but practically none. I think they've upped their game here subsequently?
Some fit and finish issues. That's fine if it were a PRS SE, but it wasn't. Suhr prices for a Korean guitar (at the time).
It sounded OK. Not bad, but not great. I wasn't djenting all the time...
Seriously stiff bridge tuners. Stiff. Did I say they were stiff? And it was the trem version, and I like it floating. Nightmare.
I would buy another in a heartbeat if they were as well made as Suhr/PRS (at the time I bought mine, prices were similar; USA more expensive now). It was such a joy to play. But, also made me dread having to tune the thing.
The Essential is interesting because it's half the price I paid.
Just my 2p. YMMV. You owe it to yourself to try one.
I play a Silver Sky now, so I must be a conservative blooze lawyer...but it's an immaculately made guitar, that feels and sounds great, and way under 2K used.