No, the title does not refer to one of the best rock albums of all time (Rush), but to four new clips on YouTube, all of #6. For the HD versions of the clips, visit my channel on YouTube. In the first two, Jonas Isaksson has a one of his first encounters with a 7-string guitar. The low action and jumbo frets, which did cause some buzzing with a sitar-like quality, inspired him to some very oriental sounding licks. In the third, Peter Hansson demonstrates some of the features, including different seated playing positions and what the impact on the angle of the wrist is. He was not coached to sit in any special way – it was only when editing the clip that I realized that his wrist was almost straight throughout the clip in seating position 2. The fourth clip has Peter playing some harder stuff. If you are into metal and some drop tunings and want to stand out from the crowd – this is for you. The Alumitones and scale lengths work together in a way that I find works really well, albeit not the traditional...
Learn MoreMany players have contacted me and been curious about how the EGS guitars sound with “normal” pickups. Johan Lundgren of Lundgren Guitar Pickups kindly lent me a pair of Heaven ’57 humbuckers for a test. Getting this done was not as straight-forward as I had hoped. The Alumitones are a few millimeters smaller (36 x 65 mm) than a regular humbucker (38 x 68 mm), and for aesthetical purposes I had cut the pickup cavities as close to the original Alumitones as possible. This meant that I actually had to get the router out to enlarge the holes for the test. Another interesting fact is that the two Lundgren pickups weigh 250 grams and the two Lace pickups weigh 90 grams. With the EGS#1 guitar weighing in at about 2kg, it still results in a fairly light instrument, but the increase in weight is quite large percentage-wise. You will have to judge the results for yourself. The larger frequency response of the Lace pickups allow them to be equalized into any type of sound using tone controls and effects, but the clips are recorded with the same settings on the amp. Some comments from Jonas – his personal views and reflections: The Alumitones have a “sparkle” on the high...
Learn MoreI have added three more clips featuring Jonas Isaksson. They all go through each of the pickup positions first clean and then distorted. The settings are the same on the signal chain across all the guitars. #1 #2...
Learn MoreHere are a few sound/video clips of the EGS guitars. They are recorded with the video camera built-in microphone so not particularly high quality, but should provide some comparison between the different guitars. The clips are all recorded with identical settings of all controls, with very neutral settings. No reverb or effects, except for a bit of overdrive in the first clip. More clips will follow. Demo #1 – Mats Lundberg Demo #2 – Joe Pesce Demo #3 – Niclas...
Learn MoreI have been planning to upload some sound samples for some time. I have also been planning to get some more videos, but was dreading it simply because the effort required was nightmarish and still, after hours of messing around and downloading different programs, came out not wide screen but squeezed together. But I got a new computer the other day that had the latest version of the operating system and suddenly everything worked as expected – smoothly. But now I had not made an effort when lighting the recording properly. But next time… So, I met up with Peter Hansson, who helped me test tremolos before, and we recorded some sound samples. Rather than just putting up mp3s, I used the new software to put them up on YouTube witha single click! Sound has been lined from a Mesa Boogie Rectoverb through a Palmer speaker simulator. No effects boxes except on the distorted sample where we added a Boss Flanger and some echo. Go to http://www.youtube.com/user/olastrandberg to see all the clips. Here is one sample, showing the action of the tuners. Expect more videos...
Learn MoreI have put the EGS demo up on YouTube. Here are some of the vital statistics about the participants: Jonas Isaksson – main instrument is the clarinet, believe it or not. Although he prefers the violin… I, for one, am pretty impressed with his guitar skills. Nisse Blomster – jazz improvization and musical theory student from Uppsala, often appearing with the band Blue Stripe. Daniel Palmqvist – solo artist and guitarist of The Murder of My Sweet. And some vital stats about the guitar itself: Weight: 1850 grams/4 lbs Swamp ash back, stained “Ebony Black”, treated with Watco Danish Oil. Large tone cavities cut both top and bottom. Curly maple top (5 mm thickness), finished with Watch Danish Oil. Black veneer strip in centre. Three-piece wenge neck with cherry veneer strips. Ebony fretboard. Carbon fiber truss rod. Super wide/high frets 25.5″ scale length on low E, 25″ scale on high E string Strandberg EGS fixed bridges Lace Alumitone humbucker pickups 5-position pickup selector (front HB, front SC + rear SC out of phase, front HB + rear HB series, front SC + rear SC in series, rear...
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