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...
Learn MoreYou can now purchase a license and download an information kit for the EndurNeck(tm). Go to http://guitarworks.thestrandbergs.com/products/endurnecktm-information-kit/ for more...
Learn More2012 was the year when .strandberg*(tm) guitars really became a force to be reckoned with. With serial production of select models now coming up to speed, and more and more players getting their hands on one, the excellent reputation and momentum keeps growing. Here is a look back at 2012: The year started with the finalization of the bass tuner. The first set of tuners were brought to NAMM and delivered to Alex Watson of Watson Guitars for a trial installation. The next development to be brought to and featured at NAMM was the patent pending EndurNeck(tm): Later on in the summer, we received a preliminary result of the review of the patent, with a favorable outcome! To meet the formal criteria for approval, it needed to be translated into Swedish, so we are now expecting to hear back soon regarding the final review. The NAMM Show 2012 itself was amazing – the photos are on Facebook. So many amazing people and players came by the booth, like Allan Holdsworth, Fredrik Thordendahl, Tosin Abasi, Evan Brewer and Ned Steinberger. It was also in a breakfast meeting at NAMM with Strictly 7 Guitars that the first discussions about serial production started. Only a couple of days after returning from NAMM...
Learn MoreHere’s what’s cooking right now (redwood burl top for #33): Burl and spalted wood is very brittle and full of imperfections. Normally, I cut grooves into my tops along with the bend, then steam the top simply over boiling water for 15 minutes, before clamping into shape and let cool and dry. But initial trials with scrap wood of spalted walnut snapped and broke, whatever I tried. I studied the tips I could locate and ended up soaking the wood in water overnight as in the image above. I did not cut any grooves into the wood since this would weaken the wood further. A nervous wait ensued. I then steamed the pre-soaked top (which was literally soaked all the way through) as usual and it turned out that the top became very easy to bend. I clamped it, and heard no snap! Mission accomplished! But even after two full days of drying, it is still very wet. The shape seems pretty stable though, so now it is simply drying out, taped to another body. Tomorrow, we’ll see how the burl...
Learn MoreHaving implemented my guitars in serial production over in Ohio (see previous post) I finally had a picture of how things were done in larger scale. Two things stuck out, both driven by vacuum, and I brought materials back home with me. Now that I have them running, I don’t know how I could do without them for so long. But it took some experimenting… I find that the biggest challenge in running a CNC is figuring out the ordering of the steps, from a construction perspective and from a tool change minimization perspective (my small hobby CNC needs to have tools changed manually). The next challenge is figuring out how to fasten the workpiece so that any screw holes will be milled away in a subsequent step, or hidden by another part. When I first got it, I broke several bits and ruined several workpieces by running into them and causing all kinds of mayhem. All in all, pretty tricky. Now, the second challenge is much easier to overcome, but having said that, I have revisit the first for every single operation… First, here is the end result: The front of #20 is being routed for cavities and the bridges, held to the table by vacuum. And here...
Learn MoreWe’re happy to announce renewed availability of hardware! Expect delivery to be by 1 September or before. Tremolos and bass bridges are still sold out. To order fixed bridges, go to the purchase...
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