People have been asking for a fanned fret tremolo for years, and I have spent many cycles designing the ultimate modular tremolo, which will scale just like the regular hardware and can be used for any number of strings, and scale length relationship, etc. The really difficult part was cracking how to make the tremolo modular, but still possible to affect all the strings at once with a single arm. As amazing as the Tremologic™ invention is, most people expect a tremolo to behave in the “normal” way. We do need a little more time to figure out if it actually works though. The scores of people who have asked if they can put a tremolo on the regular Boden guitars have been brushed away with “No, a conventional tremolo with a single fulcrum point doesn’t work with fanned frets”, but I never actually analyzed it. The reason for assuming it would not work well is that the lower strings end up far away from the pivot point and are affected with more of an up-down motion than a back-forth motion that causes the tremolo effect. However, as it turns out, the effect is quite similar. First, here is the regular tremolo, in its balance position: And rotated 5...
Learn MoreZero frets have an awesome property: they allow open strings to sound as close to fretted strings as possible. In addition, there is no guess work in cutting nut slots, etc. All in all, they just make perfect sense. When it comes to .strandberg* guitars, the 0-fret serves a secondary purpose as well: namely that it provides string ground for the remaining strings after only the high E has been grounded. One drawback, however, is that it can wear out over time since the string is always resting against it. The more the string can move across it during play, the quicker it will wear out. The original design intent for the EGS hardware was to simply fasten the strings in the string locks and let them pass over the 0-fret, but with fanned fret deployments, the string locks don’t line up at the correct spacing. So to provide this, and also to minimize the possible movement, a correctly cut “nut”, or “spacer”, is needed. Now that we have guitars in serial production, it is no longer feasible to hand-cut nuts, as we have always done. We need an outside vendor to produce them in quantities and at a decent price. But the vendors out there are not used...
Learn MoreOver here at the Strandberg headquarters, Sunday is turning into play day. Leaving the day job turned weekdays into work days, and as all of you on the waiting list and build schedule know, there is a lot going on. But it’s great to be able to free up a little time for new development! I have been planning a bass since 2012. The design was done, and the prototype hardware was manufactured at that time. However, things do seem to stack up and get in the way. I had 9 pcs of hardware made, and in a weak moment, I sold 5 pcs to the amazing bass builder Alex Watson. At this time, I really wish I hadn’t, because the prospect of making the first .strandberg* bass a 4-string hurts. But it might be a blessing in disguise, because if it doesn’t work, at least I know it’s not because it has too many strings. More information will follow shortly, but for now, I’m facing a lot of design decisions. The prototype will share the same materials as the first Varberg prototype guitar: Macassar Ebony top, Swamp Ash core and Mahogany back, with a Rosewood neck and Ebony fretboard. The pickups I purchased back then are Lace Alumitone...
Learn MoreAfter playing an EndurNeck™ equipped .strandberg* guitar at the Uppsala International Guitar Festival last October, one of incredibly talented luthier Thomas Fredholm’s wait-listed customers was able to convince both Thomas and myself that he deserved the first ever acoustic guitar with EndurNeck™. Thomas and I were both exhibiting, so we had a chance to talk things through, and I had no doubts he would make it justice. Thomas does all work using traditional methods, and was a little apprehensive of crafting the “high tech” profile and asked if I could mill the center section on my CNC. Normally, I don’t take on this kind of project, but at the same time, it seemed like a very worthwhile project, so I agreed. I can’t wait to see the finished...
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 MoreProduction of stock models is under way! The current operation of full custom builds will remain as-is, but as most of you know, the wait list is quite long. Here comes your chance to snap up a 100% .strandberg* guitar without the wait! The first model out is based on Tosin Abasi’s #17: 8-string, 28″-26.5″ fanned fret scale Rosewood/carbon fiber neck w/ maple stringers, rosewood fretboard Intersecting Plane Neck Profile™ (Licensed from Rick Toone) Swamp ash body, curly/flamed/quilt maple top 2 x chrome Lace Aluma™ X-Bar pickups Black hardware These will be offered directly to those of you already on the wait list, and to select dealers globally, at a reasonable price point. If you are interested, contact orders@strandbergguitars.com. The current plan includes two variations each of 6-, 7-, and 8-string models, all bolt-on. Last week was spent in Ohio, with Jim Lewis, president and CEO of Strictly 7 Guitars (S7G), as the host. I met with their staff and immensely competent network of suppliers throughout the week and spent day and night doing knowledge transfer to the people who will be building 100% genuine .strandberg* guitars going forward. S7G will do the final assembly and oversee the process. In case you haven’t checked them out lately, you should. Although an...
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