This guitar looks interesting, still guitar-alike, not as silent guitars or other light-weight solution. Cool stuff.
Good to hear it’s also nice to play and offers a lot of possibilities to hold it. Keep my fingers crossed it will also be truely helpful for your posture and neck issues.
Wish you lots of fun together and many joyful hours of playing around. In case you make it out of the rabbit hole occasionally ( ) you can give some update after fully getting used to your new toy.
Happy NGD Michael
Very nice guitar … I hesitated between a Strandberg and my current one (Ibanez Q54) … the unknown of the multi-scale held me back
Have fun with this great lightweight guitar
Greetings,
Happy NGD Michael. That is an interesting looking instrument. I hope it does what you are wanting it too and I look forward hearing it being played sometime, hopefully.
Don’t let it. At the very least see if you can try one out at your favorite dealer. I went to Git Center and let them open a box for me. It wasn’t the model I wanted, but the shape was the same. Sat with it for 10 minutes and knew it was the most comfortable neck I have ever tried. Sat with it another 20 minutes and decided it was worth the very high price. Never thought I’d buy a guitar this pricey.
@Lisa_S, @Malz, @amandaw57, @SgtColon
I do think this is helping with posture. It s also encouraging me to stop looking at the fretboard so much. I am trying to just glance once in a while to re-center my hand.
@brianlarsen
yes - I like wood, lol. Lived in a log house at one time in the middle of a forest. That table and chair were old when my great grandmother had them. If you look at my user summary page, I have a similarly colored Ibanez in the image.
Every store I can go into is my favorite guitar store
But that store which is within a normal (for me) distance, did not have a multi-scale (this brand) … I get the idea/feeling/the itch to try one with a multi-scale, and if I like it, I have something online again to watch now I have that teribble feeling for a while now that I don’t have a guitar in mind and that I was not looking forward to a new guitar for a long time…
so thank y… Nooooo what are you doing??? G.A.S
the .strandberg* multiscale is different if you look at more strings. The neutral fret will move. On the 6-string it is at the nut. Might be interesting to try a 7 or 8 string where the neutral in in the middle somewhere.
Thanks for posting this, Michael, that’s a really interesting, and aesthetically pleasing, guitar. What does Multi-scale mean? Its not a term I’m familiar with
Look at the bridge and frets, they are at an angle - more than just the regular intonation tweaks. The small strings are shorter than the thick strings by about half and inch. This is called multi-scale because the scale length is different on each string.
Multi-scale is supposed to improve intonation - not sure how as my engineering mind considers it tho. It does even out the string tension a bit. I think I need to calculate that just for fun and see how even it is. One more rabbit hole!
Hi, Michael @sequences. I’ve been drawn to this guitar for a while now and have recently been very seriously evaluating ergonomics - which has really brought it to the fore.
For myself, I just can’t find a fully comfortable way to rest the guitar on my thigh. Standing is best, but I can’t stand for 3 hours, and sometimes I’d like to play for that long. Classical position is good in concept, but I haven’t found a way to position my legs to make that work. The Strandberg body design looks like it would sit comfortably between my thighs.
I also think that multi-scale and zero nut make a lot of sense, so there’s even more appeal.
So, after 8 months, what are your thoughts? And would a 90-degree cable connector solve the problem of the bent cable?
If you have more specific questions, feel free to ask. I will somewhat throw out some thoughts here, but may not hit what you need to know.
I have seen other headless body styles that look pretty similar for a lot less money. I liked the engineering that went into this one so no regrets, but if you wanted to look at other brands, there are some.
The strap button is my biggest discomfort with holding this in a classical position. I don’t like the feel of it poking into my ribs.
Be aware that classical position it is also noticeable for palm position for muting and also getting used to a slightly different picking angle. Be sure you are willing to work with that as it will take some getting used to.
I blocked the bridge. I wanted to work with lighter strings because the multi-scale has a unique tension profile. lighter strings were too touchy for the palm on the bridge detuning everything after reducing the spring tension to match the strings. I really like the feel of bends this way! See the tension calculations below:
I don’t see a way around the cable problem. Right angle won’t fit because it would need to poke you in the belly. Instead, I found some rubber cable ties that I can hook to the strap buttons and loop around the cable to keep the bending limited. It still can get a bad bend on my lap but I am mindful and it hasn’t broken yet.
playing in the classical position keeps my head up where it belongs. I tend to droop my head too far down and I eventually start to feel it in my upper back and neck. My fretting wrist also has more range it can cover and tends to be in a more neutral position.
Maintenance is lower because I don’t need to oil this fretboard. I just wipe it with cleaner and I’m done.
One change I think I’ll make to my initial assessment on sound - The heavy strings seem to lack higher harmonics, where the lighter strings seem to have more. This can make the lower strings seem lost when playing with the thumb and make the thin strings sound too shrill with a pick. This guitar takes a very different EQ shape than others I have.
tremolo is harder with this neck. I seem to do best with a wide thin neck, and this is average thick. the trapezoidal shape means there is not much room to wiggle the fretting hand because it fits so cleanly on the back.
Final thought is that this is a LOT of money for a guitar. You really need to sit with one and decide if you like it. It feels different, sounds different. I like mine.
Thank you. These are great follow-up observations. I was primarily wondering whether you were still happy with it in terms of ergonomics and sound. It appears that you are.
I am curious about exactly how you hold it. I envision having the lower point (by the bottom knob) between the legs so that the curve marked in red (below) is resting on the right thigh. Is that how you’re positioning it? If not, would it work?
Am I seeing correctly that it’s a half-inch difference in the scale lengths?
How did you choose your string sizes? Was that a set that you found, or did you have to scavenge from several sets? What is “DY?”
I’m a puzzled by the loss and gain of higher harmonics. I’d thought the longer scale length and lighter string was supposed to add harmonics to the lower strings. And 25" and shorter is common, so I wonder why the higher strings would have more. There’s a lot I don’t know about all of this.
Does it have the Suhr pickups? How do you feel about those?
The cable thing is disappointing. I’m really surprised that, with all of the thought that went into the design, this isn’t better.
Thank you for all of your great input. I haven’t found any Strandberg’s near me that wouldn’t require a full day to drive there and back, so it’ll be a while before I can see and feel one myself.
I hold it both in standard position and “half classical” position:
in standard position, the neck is only a few degrees above parallel to the floor. the body is sitting on my right leg. My right shoulder needs to be pulled back bit and my right forearm just above the wrist is locking the body in place against my torso and leg. My right foot is on a short lift.
in “half classical” position, the neck is about 45-50 degrees angled from parallel to the floor. My right shoulder is pushed forward a little now and my forearm is still locking the body in place against torso and now mostly the left leg (where you drew the red mark). I sit up straighter. Left arm is extended away a bit more for the reaching the same frets. The cable is sitting on my right leg, just a little inward from the top. It is not uncomfortable, but it does stress the cable a little. My left leg is now on the lift.
Yes, the scale changes 0.5 inches across the 6 strings. I really don’t notice it except for the tension or long stretch chords on the 5th and 6th strings.
The strings are what I labeled on the left hand column. I got close to the stock sizes simply by measuring them. I know the diameter of the Willy strings, and the solid cores won’t really be any different between manufacturers. The wound strings are again just an estimation because those will be different due to core shape, diameter, and sometimes the winding alloy. I ran several string options thru my spreadsheet and saw the odd tension and decided to try them. I didn’t like the bridge problem the first time I had them on, went back to standard 9s, and then decided to block the bridge and try the Willy 8s again. I may keep that as my preferred set for that guitar.
The higher harmonics MAY be due to the scale length, but I suspect more due to the saddle height guides. I suspect this because when they are not straight, I get a clear chime that is very odd compared to other guitars.
I don’t see a brand on the pickups. I could record some sound samples if you give me some idea what you want to hear - open chords, clean fingerstyle…? Pickups are so personal, that you wouldn’t benefit much from my opinion.
I bought a short cable end that I plan to use when I need to repair the cable. this should give better length so the bend is not happening right at the solid part.
I found a Strandberg Boden at my local Guitar Center, tried it there, but bought this one from Sweetwater because they had the exclusive walnut finish that I really like. I’m irritated with Git Center anyway.
) you can give some update after fully getting used to your new toy. 
)
G.A.S 
