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Here’s another interesting jazz tele:
Flat5 – Zandveld Guitar Service
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04-13-2021 04:55 PM
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some fellow Members of this Forum have occasionally shared pictures of instruments by the Swedish Company named Strandberg, here in this circle – which, although not formally being exactly "Teles", have the tendency of making an audience quite vocal about them.
a few days ago the Company presented two new models, one of which derived from their "Tele-inspired" line named Sälen, with the denomination of... (drum roll)... Jazz!
if ever i somehow managed to resist the magnetic attraction of this line of theirs, this new model will make it significantly harder from now on, with that traditional-looking f-hole, the mahogany body and neck, and a pair of own humbuckers that seems sensibly voiced for the mission bestowed upon her name...
on the usual social media is hosted a video by UK-based guitarist Oli Pickering overdubbing himself with what was said to be the only existing piece until one week ago:
it sounds indeed convincing to my ear!
having had full luxury and comfort at first-hand knowledge of Strandberg's predicament on ergonomic design, if only i could ever afford a new guitar in the foreseeable future (and not a few facts conjure up to warrant such notion as utterly unlikely), this one would definitely push me in the direction of taking a sabbatic from archtops – even if, myself practising only at home, in light of my general prowess, a broom with one string would be perfectly adequate to my skill, instead.
what's your view on this?
what's your feeling?
jazz guitar aficionados are not generally known as a bunch of avantgarde stylists, always eager to try out new designs, new technology, and daring new concepts... it's almost quite the other way around, for many of us cats here... yet i see some sort of "continuity" between this novel proposition, and – for instance –the famous Klein Electric with mahogany body that Bill Frisell was playing with his "Quartet" on the road in Europe, 1995, before the album of same name was even published.
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The guitar sounds really nice and the guy knows his way around the changes of "another u" , gets a good tone with his fingers.... what I personally don't find so appealing with that type of design is the very small body and
on this particular guitar the traditional f-hole looks really odd - I would have expected a solution in line with the overall design of the instrument and not this "nod" to the past.
I once had the chance to play Frisell's very own Klein model (only for a few minutes, backstage) and I was surprised how comfortable it was. Unfortunately we don't see these more adventurous guitars in stores over here so that was the first and only time that I ever could try out something like it.
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Originally Posted by rbbrnck
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Originally Posted by rbbrnck
Last edited by zcostilla; 04-14-2021 at 10:02 PM.
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Can I just mention that this guitar is subject to at least two other threads. Maybe you‘d like to discuss it there. Droolworthy as it is, it sure ain‘t no Tele.
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i've always had mixed feelings about f-holes on thinline T-likes. so the project that made me some company during lockdown last year ended up being a thinline without f-holes.
it started off a quite heavy alder piece, cab-style, that had all through-holes drilled in the wrong place.
it was hollowed quite drastically, in a manner of speaking:
luthier friend invited to the project is quite skilled with carbon-twill and vacuum-cured epoxy sandwiches. he came up with the idea of borrowing from acoustic guitars a structure like this:
the whole "sandwhiched" body was then wrapped into a stiffer-than-steel jacket:
i chose an Allparts deep-V neck of roasted maple for its stiffness, as it seemed about right for complementing such a rigid and resonant box of a body. the Mastery bridge design made possible to experiment with break angle of strings, helped by placing the tailpiece right at the spot with the desired balance between snap and past-bridge string-length resonance. TV Jones Classic pickups went in as the next ingredient in a best compromise recipe, halfway as they are between the Tele-type single-coil shimmer, and the traditional humbucker mellow tone. overall weight, at the end of build, is 2.6kg, or 5.7lbs, with quite a neutral balance at the strap hang.
picture tries to show the (visible, at least) end result:
in the end, it went to my jazz guitar teacher of ever, given how he seemed inspired by its versatile response; he says it's loud enough to practice without amp, at home, and quiet enough not to wake his missus in the deep of night, which seemed quite an accomplishment to me – but it was the tone that sold him onto it, how he seems to end up choosing intervals that he wouldn't choose on his other Teles, but rather on his archtops.
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Tele from the good ol'times, still there !
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I have an itch to buy a Vintage Era 50s Tele, specifically for things like neck radius, skinny frets, and old-fashioned tuners. I’m looking for a 2-tone sunburst.
I already have a MIM FSR butterscotch blackguard/maple.
Sound? My MIM does the J thing just fine.
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Originally Posted by Bach5G
That's a blonde. Sunburst Teles in the 1950s are rarer
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Originally Posted by Bach5G
Not a big fan of the Fiesta Red, but they’ll bring a 2-tone burst in from the downtown store.
Restrained myself from checking out its head smashing in capabilities when some young dude started pounding away on a drum set while I was trying the guitar.
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Your restraint is admirable. I have been likewise tempted onstage on one or two occasions. I too abstained from a grievous breach of decorum. Barely.
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Originally Posted by rbbrnck
If I'd be a professional musician flying around the world all the time something like this would be a no brainer, as it would probably save me from carry-on-discussions.
BUT: I'm only gigging locally (before Corona and hopefully after it again) so the headless design has no big advantage for me. And needing an alien key to change a string is not an advantage (I know me). As I already have teles and archtops a guitar like that is not a necessity for me. And the price seems to be a bit high considering the materials, construction and wages in Indonesia – I understand it is produced there.
And I still have to make up my mind wether it looks cool or not. And while being curious about the neck shape I have no problems with traditional necks.
Still curious. I'd like to play one in a shop to hear and feel it.
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thanks for your feedback, it's great to have opinions from long-time associates of this forums, for a newbie like i am.
funny enough, the bit i like less of my Strandberg is its headless design, but it's no Strandberg's exclusivity, and i lean that way toward Steinbergers, too.
the endur-neck shape felt cozy as home like 10 seconds after i tried it for the first time, like it had always been there on any other instrument of mine (which, clearly, is not).
it helps to keep the left thumb where it belongs, but i can't say whether that's really a plus... i already placed mine at the neck's mid-line anyway, or below it, so – comfortable as it is – i can't say i ever felt i needed it before.
if these two elements contribute to how i feel toward the guitar's ergonomics, and toward its sound, then i'm happy to live with them, as with all the rest that my Boden Original sports... the seventh string, or the jumbo frets, being other examples of me adapting to the instrument, rather than the instrument being adapted to my taste (which is what happens with all my other guitars) "were simply just there when i bought it", is my attitude.
the "Jazz" model, though, seemed more like a manifesto to me, Strandberg finally realizing that a portion of their clients and users are not necessarily into math-, prog-, metal- or post-rock genres at all, and yet still find both tone and playability of their instruments fully inspiring for playing (or just practicing, in my case) jazz, too – not part of their most hash-tagged cliché, i mean, but there anyway (though hardly visible).
the mahogany body and neck are indeed a first, in Strandberg offer, though my Boden Original was already chambered without an f-shaped cut-out on its top.
i'm quite fond of active pickups, which solve to me a number of issues that traditional, passive pickups all suffer from (in my application scenario, of course).
being how guitarists are often the most über-conservative-bunch that there is (among players of modern-day cordophones, at least), this (and many other recent Strandbergs, too) now dispensed with them, and come instead with "traditional" passive humbuckers installed... on a "Jazz" model, this shall at least resonate with its prospective panel.
as most praised (and highest-priced) archtops patiently crafted by luthiers of world-renown are often an altar to an utmost elegance that is as eye-catching as (sonically) unrelevant, with the most striking appointments on many of them, ranging from fancy inlays to unlikely curves, all lined up with daring purflings, or scuplted off exotic timbers that might even sound like cardboard, but make your head dizzy if only you look at them for five seconds in a row...
...no, i strongly doubt that this type of Scandinavian aesthetics, with its economy of lines – and lack of bells, tassels and whistles – can appeal to your average jazz guitar enthusiast, hence my curiosity for your opinion in this circle – because (much to my dismay) my experience seem to hint that most guitars are chosen by guitarists on looks alone, regardless of how they sound at the very least, while how they play can sometimes be factored-in at time of purchase, occasionally.
again, thank you for your feedback!
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Well, my first thought about the .strandberg Sälen is that this is a thread about Telecasters and it's not a Telecaster. I would enjoy having a discussion about it in a different thread.
My second thought is that I like the fairly minimalist aesthetic- my wife is of Danish descent and very much a fan of that aesthetic, so I have acquired some appreciation. My own favorite Telecaster shaped guitar is also fairly Scandinavian in appearance thanks to a maple top and hand-rubbed boiled linseed oil finish. I'm not greatly enamored with the starfishy shape of the Sälen, even though that is essential to its ergonomic approach. I also was not particularly enamored with the tone; it sounded quite sterile in that clip. However, that may not be representative of the full range of the instrument, of course, as there are so many factors that go into tone. For example, that might've been recorded straight into the DAW.
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Not traditional but undoubtedly a Tele in its musical soul. It's a joy to play but I forget how different it is playing a Tele neck pickup.
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Playing is stellar as always, although I, personally, like a more mellow tone. You know I'm a Tele fanatic and pretty much a purist (it even makes me nervous to put a humbucker in one) so I'll not get involved in the 'looks' discussion other than to say it is a pretty guitar, notwithstanding the shape.
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Originally Posted by Jim Soloway
I’m going to try to approach that sound on my Yamaha 10c.
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Originally Posted by Jim Soloway
I’m going to try to approach that sound on my Yamaha 10c.
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What sort of neck pick up do you have there?
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Originally Posted by Bach5G
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Came across this builder recently on Reverb; in Nashville: Ricardo Sanchez. Great prices for handmade instruments!
I like this!
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Looks like a great source for nice features and good prices.
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I took my Tele into the master for a new nut and a set up. I threw a set of strings into the gig bag.
I picked it up today. Where did these flats come from? I guess I grabbed the wrong set of strings.
These sound pretty good. Real good.
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my second LSL, my first Telecaster ever ... "Julieanne" - one piece sugar pine body, cryo tuned ...
very sweet guitar, in the house for a couple of weeks only, it had to leave today unfortunately, to make way
for something else, that is even more exciting.
bye bye Julieanne, I will always love you , sad to see you leaving ...
Cheap floating humbuckers
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