× NOTE: For up-to-date information on .strandberg* guitars, please visit our site here. This site remains available as a “museum” only for historical purposes. It has not been updated since 2015, and will contain information that is no longer valid or accurate.

Design Licensing & Permissions

NOTE: we are no longer able to offer licenses to use designs under Creative Commons. This page remains for historical purposes only. For up-to-date information, please visit strandbergguitars.com.

More and more of you guitar builders out there are asking for permission to use my designs, which is encouraging. More and more completed builds are also starting to surface on YouTube, on forums, and even as commercially available guitars. And most of you handle the intellectual property side of things well.

Starting July 2013, my designs are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial Share Alike license. “Attribution” means that you have to state that you are using the design with permission from me, and (at least) provide a link to my website. “Non-Commercial” means that this applies only for self-builds. You are not allowed to use it for commercial purposes. (Historically, the license did not include this restriction, but unfortunately, I had to impose it in order to keep the trademark situation under control.) “Share Alike” means that you have to make your own enhancements/modifications available under the same license, so your website/YouTube video description/forum post should clearly state that others may use your modified design.

For more information, visit the Creative Commons site and you will get a page like this:

The guitar shape that is available under Creative Commons is called “Boden”, and it, along with the .strandberg* EGS bridge system, are components of the Ergonomic Guitar System. So when you use these designs and write about your guitar on Facebook, YouTube, or in other forums, you should write something like this:

This is my version of a Strandberg Boden guitar, designed by Ola Strandberg, available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike license. It features an original .strandberg* EGS bridge (assuming that it does), and <list your specifications here>. My modifications to the original design are <list your modifications here> and these are free for you to use under the same license, please contact me <i.e. you, since it is you who are writing this> if you have any questions.

For a lengthier description on how to do attribution, please see this blog entry by Molly Kleinman

.strandberg* is a registered trademark owned by Strandberg Guitars AB. You should never use this except when referring to the guitars that are in fact built featuring this brand. When you are referring to them, you should always use it though.

Other trademarks owned by Strandberg Guitars AB are EndurNeck, GrooveNeck, Ergonomic Guitar System, and EGS. If you ever feel the need to refer to these names, you must also state that they are trademarks belonging to Strandberg Guitars AB. EndurNeck is patent pending so is subject to a separate license agreement and is not licensed under Creative Commons.

Thanks in advance for respecting these rules and for contributing to the ergonomic guitar community!

14 Comments

  1. it was the best of Modern playability guitar..
    simple but explorer…
    graet

  2. I am a big fan of your work. I would be pleased to incorporate some of your design ideas in the making of some instruments.

  3. Hi Ola I would like your permission to build a copy of the Strandberg guitar. This guitar will be for myself.
    Thanks for your time.
    Alan.

    • Hi Alan, you have my permission to build one – the “rules” are above. My preference and advice is to not build an actual copy. If you are anything like me, you will have much more fun making it your own and adapting it to your unique needs.
      Cheers,
      Ola

  4. Hi Ola
    I am in process of designing the guitar which outline of the body is based on your ergonomic design. Though other technical aspects may be different.
    I would like to ask for your kind permission to make that stating on my facebook page( only page at the moment) , that the “Outline of the body comes from the desing of Strandberg Guitars AB”.

    Please let me know if that is ok with you.
    Very best regards.
    Przemek Druzkowski

    • Prezemek, thanks for getting in touch. Your request is quite timely, since I recently had to revise the license to only be for self-builds. There has been massive confusion about how to refer to my trademarks, etc. Having said that, if this is a one-off for a single customer, I will allow it if you describe to me in your own words how you will refer to it. I would also ask/suggest that you change some aspect of it to make it your own and not a straight copy. The EndurNeck(tm) require an actual license and the instructions can be downloaded after paying the fee.

  5. Hello there! I’m interested in ordering from my luthier a strandberg design guitar. I wanted to know if this is possible? Can i have a license for this since i’m paying him? Thank you very much!

    • This is possible, but I will ask that you get in touch with me and describe to me how you will live up to the licensing rules, and especially so that I can assure that there are no misunderstandings regarding the use of trademarks, etc.

  6. Hello Ola!
    yesterday I was playing one of your Babys, AMAZING!!!
    I would like your permission to build a copy of the Strandberg guitar for my self
    Please let me know, if that’s possible
    Ciao!
    Fernando

    • Hi Fernando,
      please send an e-mail with your request.

      Cheers,
      Ola

  7. Ola Hello, I wanted to know where I can find the projects of the guitar “Boden” to build one for me personal, I have seen on various forums that you can have your projects ..
    waiting for an answer
    greetings from italy Alex

  8. Hello Ola, i want to ask you for your permission. I want to build a guitar or bass (not sure yet, will decide that in near future) with your design. This guitar/bass will be for myself.
    Are there any measurements i can relate to, when i build this guitar? Like neck-radius, fretboard-radius, body-height or something i can relate to? Thanks very much!

    • Hi Pascal,
      Please check out some additional instructions on how to get permission at https://strandbergguitars.com/faq/. There are plenty of great resources online with information about the dimensions you are looking for – you should do what meets your needs.