Strandberg Salen Jazz anyone?

[YOGA64]

Does anyone here own one?

I'm interested in your experience with this instrument,

particularly regarding the multiscale fretboard, and the shape of the back of the neck.

Did you have trouble adjusting to them, or are they really more comfortable and useful than a regular neck?

Thanks for all your help!

[marcwhy]

Not specific to the Salen, but it sounds like you're asking about fanned frets ...

My Novax semi-hollowbody was my main axe for many years, and it had the "XR" (extended range) fan, from 25-27". I also helped Ralph at the NAMM show for several years before he retired, so I've watched hundreds of people try them out. Typically -- if they even notice a difference! -- it takes people a few minutes to get used to the fanned frets. I've seen people have more "psychological" reactions rather than "physical," i.e., "OMG, that looks so weird! I don't even want to try it!" [Bizarre, but true.] I'm definitely a "fan" (cheesy pun intended).

The Strandberg back of the neck shape, however -- which was originally designed by Toone -- definitely has mixed reviews on the interweb. If you're serious about buying a Salen, I'd encourage you to play one first to see if you like the shape (or buy from a dealer with a good return policy). I've played a Strandberg at NAMM, and the neck was "fine" -- I didn't love it nor hate it -- but I think it's a "personal preference" thing.

[Novax]

[nevershouldhavesoldit]

I found a used Strandberg 7 in great shape on the wall at GC last year and really wanted to like it. The neck shape was basically transparent- if I didn’t know the back had flat surfaces, I wouldn’t have guessed it just from playing it. There was a litter less difference in width from nut to body than most, but it felt fine and I’d have been very happy to play it.

Sadly, the rest of the guitar was less pleasing. I couldn’t get a decent jazz tone even through a very good tube amp, and it just looked and felt crude. It needed better pickups. The tuning machines were rough, imprecise and hard to adjust. I thought the woodwork was primitive and didn’t look or feel like the expensive instrument it is.

But the neck was fine and not at all weird.

[raymoan]

I bought one, enticed by the ergonomic possibilities: if you rest the tail end on your right leg, the guitar is in perfect classical position, while you sit normally, with both feet on the floor, without splaying your legs. I really wanted to like this guitar.

Unfortunately, it sounded horrible. If you listen to Youtube demos, there's almost always a lot of signal processing applied, which is understandable when you listen to the few straight-into-the-amp demos available: the guitar sounds really bad on its own. Some people say it has to do with the 24-fret neck length pushing the pickup out of its ideal location, but I suspect there's more to it than that.

I had no problem with the neck and the fanned frets -- rather liked both, in fact. But that has no meaning for anyone else.

Though not a luthier, I'm a fairly accomplished furnituremaker, and I can say that the woodwork on the Salen I bought was just fine.

I found the tuners very hard to work with, but I suspect I'd have the same problem with any headless guitar: there's just not enough space for one's fingers.

My sense is that Strandberg's main market is shred/metal/whatever and they just made some superficial changes to one of those guitars and called it a Jazz. As far as I can tell, the guitar itself has nothing to do with jazz per se.

On a positive note, Strandberg took it back no-questions-asked, free shipping both ways.

[YOGA64]

Thanks everyone!

[pcjazz]

Try a Forshage Orion.

[starjasmine]

Not wanting to hijack the thread, but I've never played one of these axes, so wondering: does fanning affect intonation? i.e. how are guitars like this one for chord melody? Seems like longer scale would increase the difficulty of voicings that require a long stretch. I did note the earlier observation that the primary audience for this type of axe might be the shred-metal crowd who don't care about that ... but it would be interesting to hear from those who actually have played jazz on one of these things.

Happy New Year, all!

SJ