Electric Guitars NGD: Strandberg Classic 6

aleclee

Tribe of One
I got a promotion at work a few months ago and promised myself a Classic as a gift to myself. The brown truck dropped it off right as I was heading to a dinner event so I won’t get a chance to play it until tomorrow. Since this is my third ‘Berg, I have a pretty good idea of what to expect, though the darkness of the roasted maple fretboard was a pleasant surprise. I’ll share my impressions and comparison with my other Strandbergs (OS6 & USA Select) later this weekend.

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aleclee

Tribe of One
Oh man, I hate to point this out, but the frets are all crooked?
Maybe that’s why I got it at a discount. MF gave me 15% off and I might’ve gotten double reward points as well.
So what do you think of the fanned frets?
I must like them since it’s my third Strandberg. :)

When I got my first one about 2.5 years ago, it took me about 5 minutes to adjust to the feel. It takes a bit more to adjust to the side dots since they don’t always line up with where your fingers go, but I don’t look at the fretboard much so it’s not a big deal.

I like the easy bends on the plain strings and the piano-like tone on the wound strings. I also believe that it is more ergonomic in terms of having my fingers naturally line up parallel with the frets as I go up the neck.
 

blackcoffeeblues

Student Of The Blues
Have read about them but this is my first "good" view of one. Looks weird but cool. With slanted frets, how do you set the intonation?
 

CaptainMoto

Blues Voyager
Some very interesting features on that.
I never looked at them before.
I'm not in love with the looks of it but, I like the ergonomics and light weight.
(y)
 

aleclee

Tribe of One
Have read about them but this is my first "good" view of one. Looks weird but cool. With slanted frets, how do you set the intonation?
Intonation is set just like any other guitar: compare the fretted note at the 12th fret with the perfect octave. Each tuner assembly can slide forward or backwards for adjustment.
 

zwantedone

Blues Newbie
Johnny Winter played a Strandberg. At least the last time I saw him he was. Always been intrigued by the headless design. They are a bit pricey, but maybe someday...
 

aleclee

Tribe of One
Some initial thoughts:

In terms of looks, I really like the Graphite color. I initially went with the Malta Blue because it's the only option that didn't have a maple board (pau ferro instead) but I'm really glad that I didn't. The fretboard has the same satin finish as the back of the neck so it doesn't have the shiny finish feel that I was trying to avoid. Also, the color is a bit darker, which I prefer.

I plan to replace the pickups. I've already ordered a couple of Zexcoils. Nothing wrong with the single coils besides the hum, but that's intolerable after playing humbuckers all these years. I don't love the humbucker and I'm accruing a ton of MF reward points so I'll probably use some of those to get a DMZ AT-1.

In terms of feel, this guitar is just as solid as my other Bergs. As I mentioned earlier, the satin finish on the neck feels great, giving it a feel almost identical to the USA Select I got last year. The shape of the neck is also spot on with the USA Select, which is slightly different from the OS6 I picked up at NAMM a few years back. Probably the biggest difference I've noticed thus far is that the edges on the head of the neck are a bit sharper on the Classic than the USA Select.

Tone is a very personal thing so I'm inclined to leave it at "this is a stratty-sounding HSS guitar." The pickups are well-balanced so there's not an unpleasant (IMO) jump in volume when going between humbucker and singles. Jamming with my buddy last night through my Atomic Firebox, it sounded nice and responded well to tone and volume changes.

If you're looking to get into a Strandberg at a lower price point (or if you tend towards S-type guitars), this is well worth checking out. One nice thing about Strandbergs is that they use the same hardware across the line so this Classic has the same bridge and nut clamps as my custom shop guitar at three times the price.
 

aleclee

Tribe of One
Now at Sweetwater:
I did not know the fret board glows in the dark:eek:
Just don't look for them to Plek it for you. The system doesn't work with fanned fret guitars. :(

The glowing fretboard (and side) markers are great. They're surprisingly bright.
 

aleclee

Tribe of One
Zexcoils installed. As luck would have it, their magnetic polarity is opposite of the stock humbucker so position 2 is out of phase. :confused: Supposedly the new Zexcoil humbuckers are going to be released soon so I'll live with that out-of-phase honk 'til then.

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