NGD Strandberg USA Boden CL7

[ihunda]

OK, I’ll admit this is pure GAS, I had to try a Boden, my friend Olisdead saw a used one (what are the odds?) in a local French website and I quickly pulled the trigger!

This thing is like no other guitar I played or own, I won’t say it’s a home run but boy, it’s something else.

Pics… before rant

Specs:
25.5"-26.25" scale
African Mahogany body chambered
Flame maple top
Cocobolo neck
Maple fretboard
EMG 57-7H/66-7H pickups
Stainless frets

How do I feel about it?

The good

• Tonewise, this is pure EMG 57/66 goodness, I love those pickups and they do not disappoint here. Pristine cleans and powerful, grinding distorted tone with clear chording and no flub.
• The body is very light and very ergonomic, nothing but goodness here
• The fan is not in the way, it’s surprising how natural it feels
• Fret zero, I am a big fan of those and action and intonation at the first frets are perfect because of it.
• Any regular string can be used, no need for double ball end strings like my good old streinberger GR4.

The bad

• The endurneck is killing my left hand knuckle and articulations. Maybe I am not positioning my hand properly but the neck is much thicker at the nut and it just feels awkward to me. It’s only in the bad section and not in the ugly section as I feel it maybe it’s coming from my position as I am new to those. I emailed Ola to know more.
• No hardshell for that price? Really??

The ugly

• High E strings breaking at the bridge. The strings are resting on top of very small metal height screws, no graph tech or anything like that here, just a piece of metal and unsurprisingly I get string breakage right there. I will try softening it with sandpaper but so far, I changed high E string 2 times in 3 days…
• Sorry but using my thumb and index fingers painfully trying to make a small cylinder turn clockwise to tune is not a step forward. 1 It’s not accurate, 2 I keep moving other tuners as I am working on a string and 3 it’s slow and physically painful. Compared to schallers on an EBMM for example, I am not looking forward to changing string or doing a full setup. What about modifying the tuner holes to fit a hex key for fine tuning? That’d fix most of my issues there.

This is a quick NGD, only 3 days of playing but I’ll add more comment as I get familiar with it.

Family shot!!!!

 

[GSingleton]

yes

 

[Watty]

God damn that looks FINE! You got an awesome quilt top. Kind of makes me want to pull the trigger again.

 

[Stereordinary]

Jeez, that's pretty. I'd love to get my hands on one of those.

 

[77zark77]

Félicitations ! belle trouvaille !

Sure it's a different instrument, another method is needed to tame it

 

[ramses]

• High E strings breaking at the bridge. The strings are resting on top of very small metal height screws, no graph tech or anything like that here, just a piece of metal and unsurprisingly I get string breakage right there. I will try softening it with sandpaper but so far, I changed high E string 2 times in 3 days…

That should not be the case with this hardware. You should email the original dealer, or AES for help. I currently own a Boden 7 and I abuse the first string with bends, and it's never broken.

 

[OlisDead]

Awesome one Gio! At least look wise. Hope you'll get used to those little things cause this is a killer axe!

 

[Dawn of the Shred]

Congrats man! I hope you get the string breaking fixed.

 

[ihunda]

That should not be the case with this hardware. You should email the original dealer, or AES for help. I currently own a Boden 7 and I abuse the first string with bends, and its never broken.

Thanks for your feedback man and sharing your experience.
I forgot to email AES, I'll do that tomorrow.

Today I put a 10 instead of a 9 and I polished the screw head with sand paper, let's see it that changes anything.

 

[ihunda]

Thanks all for the positive comments!

 

[tssb]

Sorry but using my thumb and index fingers painfully trying to make a small cylinder turn clockwise to tune is not a step forward. 1 It’s not accurate, 2 I keep moving other tuners as I am working on a string and 3 it’s slow and physically painful.

I've always wondered if that was the case. I have yet to lay my hands on one of these, but i always imagined this would be the drawback with that bridge design.

Edit : HNGD

 

[lewstherin006]

Congrats bro! Chris Letchford, who the strandberg is actually his sig guitar, is a super awesome guy. I talked to him forever at one of his concerts.

 

[Shawn]

What a beautiful piece of art. That finish too. Wow.

 

[ramses]

What a beautiful piece of art. That finish too. Wow.

Yup. That cocobolo neck is just amazing.

 

[Aris_T]

HNGD! Look great with the Steinberger! Evolution!

Congrats and enjoy!

 

[TemjinStrife]

Nice! That is gorgeous, and is still the model I'd go for if I were to snag a Washberg.

I agree completely with you on the Endurneck and on the stiffness of the tuning mechanism, though.

 

[GSingleton]

My strandberg build has actually come up after 5 years of waiting. Hope I can afford it haha

 

[Syriel]

I'm surprised you're complaining about the small cylinder tuners when the Steinbergers have the EXACT same mechanism.

Have you tried lubricating them?

Other than that, HNDG man. Sexy. I want one so bad.

Edit : You better Email that idea about the hex key for fine tuning to Ola.

 

[Daf57]

It's a beauty!! I hope you get it tweaked like you want it! Congrats!

 

[Hollowway]

That's an EXCELLENT idea about those tuners. It wouldn't take much to put a hex opening in the end of those.