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Since my plan to start living in a van has become reality (we've tried it for 3 months now, we think it works and we're selling the house now), I wanted to replace my cheap Chinese headless guitar, that worked very well ergonomically in the van. I started looking for more jazz oriented headless guitars, but quickly decided I wanted a custom one. My builder Sherah charged my slightly less than I'd have to pay for a Strandberg Salen Jazz and I believe in local business.
The body is slightly wider than the typical Strandberg, but the scale is 24.75, with 22 frets. The body is mahogany, semi hollow, like a thin line Telecaster. The top is maple, as is the neck. It it treated with Odies oil and no lacquer whatsoever. I had two very specific requests: I wanted my tuner to be able to mound on the 'headstock', so Sherah made sure that there's a small 'ridge' for it to clip on. Most headless guitars have a jack-in in the lower back part, but I often play seated in cushions and didn't want my transmitter (for the Boss Waza Air) to stick out. Sherah made the jack under the bridge, which works wonderfully. The F-hole is actually two "J's", a reference to my first name.
Sherah made a pickup based on the Spirit of '59 pickup by Amber (which is a PAF clone). It sounds warm, transparant and rich.
I ordered a sturdy gig bag from Slick Bag in Sweden and the set is complete now. The guitar (we named it 'Rogen' after a magnificent nature reserve in Sweden) will be used for study (with headphones) and the occasional (hopefully more than I think) jam session.
Together with my Romero Creations DHO 6 my mobile setup is complete and I'm a happy camper.
I never owned a custom made guitar, but I'm absolutely in love with the sound, the ergonomics and the playability. What a joy to have such a great instrument!
My living space will be roughly 8m2 for the future (as long as it works for us) but if you do any kind of traveling with a guitar, or you often play on a couch in a somewhat reclined position, a guitar like this works wonders.
This is Sherah's site: Reijaards Guitars
Last edited by Joeontheguitar; 10-09-2022 at 07:13 AM.
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10-09-2022 06:42 AM
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Nice!
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Thanks Kris
Originally Posted by kris
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Congratulations to both you and the builder. Very nice.
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I must say I am a bit of a traditionalist, but I LOVE that guitar.
Beautiful design and ergonomics, beautiful wood grain on the top. The metal parts look industrial yet sleek and complement the overall design well.
A real winner!
Oh, btw, we, well I, have thought of van life as well—semi retiring and doing locus tenens across the US. (Ogled one on the internet this morning as a matter of fact.) I think I could do it with one person. With another person, even someone you love and generally get along with, I’m not sure…plus the dog and 2 cats…will have to give this some thought.
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Thanks Jim. I know you know your guitars, so that means a lot Originally Posted by Jim Soloway
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Thanks Jeff! Originally Posted by Doctor Jeff
We have a small van: it's six meters long. But we have everything we need and we can drive it on small roads and camp with it in (sort of) confined areas. I get along with my wife rather nicely; we also spend 6 months in a tent, so we figured we can do this too. We're not retiring, I'll have to keep working on the road, but I try to keep business to a minimum and living to the max.
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Nope. Nope. Not for me. I would not want to live in a van, not alone nor with my wife. Our house works fine for us, and we have no intention of selling it, even though I've been retired for almost a decade. The guitar, OTOH, I could easily live with. It's very attractive. Play it in harmony with your wife and be happy.
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Very nice guitar Joe! Looks great and comfortable, and I am jealous I must admit. I really should ride up to Uppsala and check the store there that sells Strandberg.
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interesting guitar, looks cool !
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Thanks man! Originally Posted by 0zoro
Or you drop Sherah a note and ask him if he can build you one to your specifications...I'm very glad I went the custom route. The placement of the jack alone makes ALL the difference. Also, the Salen Jazz may have the name jazz in it, it is a modification of a typical rock (or metal) guitar with 24 frets.
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That looks really nice!
What gauge strings are you using on it?
Been contemplating getting a headless for myself, but the tuning precision makes me worried a bit. Have read some reports that it can be tricky with these, especially considering my preference for 14-55 strings.
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Nice guitar and good for you that you found a way of living that suits you and your wife. Congrats.
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Hey Burchyk, this is Sherah (the builder of this Reijaards Headless Jazz Guitar). I understand your worries about the tuning precision with thicker strings but this will not be a problem with this guitar. The saddles have quite the room for adjustment to get perfect intonation. Originally Posted by burchyk
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I'm playing 11-50 flat wounds currently. It could use a little fatter strings on the top end. I guess your top strings will fit, but I'm not sure that .55 strings will fit. With TI strings there's also the webbing that can get in the way. But I'll let you know when I've switched to fatter strings. For now, my fingers like the skinny ones Originally Posted by burchyk
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This is a beautiful, admirable and functional alternative to bigbodied boxes (though I love those for other reasons). Originally Posted by Reijaards
Chris Forshage in the Austin, TX area does similar work in the US with his Orion models. Although his tuners are different, the individual claws in the tailpiece simply grab the ball ends of strings, so fat/taped windings are not necessarily a problem, depending on the bridge and saddles. And like the Reijaaards, the Orion can fit in smaller travel/home spaces.
The model below was converted from a seven string. I greatly prefer classical nut width and string spread for note separation in chord/melody work.
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That is a very nice guitar mr Ferndale!
Looking at my tuners again, I think a fat string with webbing should fit, but I'll let you guys know when I'm switching.
Funny thing is that when my guitar is in the (autumn) sun, you can smell the Odies oil a bit (which is food grade by the way, so no toxic smudge on my guitar). My wife will sniff and say: what are you baking this time dear?
The feel of (almost) untreated wood is such a joy compared to my PU guitars that took a swim in a pool of plastic.
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What a nice guitar.
I bought a Strandberg Boden 7 a year ago.
I like the design, the sound, and love headless guitars, but somehow it it's not my favorite guitar...
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Enter also exhibit B!
Kiesel headless delos model with Honduran mahogany body, 5 piece Honduran mahogany neck with maple stripes, 22 frets, ebony board, custom pickguard with Benedeto B-6, and a trem.
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Keep it going! This will be spooky around Halloween.
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My Forshage. Hollow mahogany with spruce top. 1 13/16" multi-scale Snakewood fingerboard, pickguard, pickup surround, knobs and bridge. Kent Armstrong hand wound pickup. Originally Posted by BigDaddyLoveHandles
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could we hear any of these fine instruments?
Please....
S
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I always need to "double-like" when you post this, Rob, but that function still doesn't exist! Love this one!! Originally Posted by rob taft
My Forshage. Hollow mahogany with spruce top. 1 13/16" multi-scale Snakewood fingerboard, pickguard, pickup surround, knobs and bridge. Kent Armstrong hand wound pickup.
Marc
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Nice! I like that mahogany. Originally Posted by Toat
Enter also exhibit B!
Kiesel headless delos model with Honduran mahogany body, 5 piece Honduran mahogany neck with maple stripes, 22 frets, ebony board, custom pickguard with Benedeto B-6, and a trem.
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I really love that concept. How hollow is it? Originally Posted by rob taft
My Forshage. Hollow mahogany with spruce top. 1 13/16" multi-scale Snakewood fingerboard, pickguard, pickup surround, knobs and bridge. Kent Armstrong hand wound pickup.
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