Electro-Harmonix Pitch Fork

June 2015 Guitarist 133
QUICK TEST
MISCELLANEOUS
Quicktest
Thanks to the rise of ‘djent’,
seven, eight and even nine-
string guitars are becoming
more and more widespread.
Often mistakenly perceived as
a novelty, these guitars are fast
becoming a mainstay in the
realm of progressive metal.
A company that has catered to
the prog-metal community for
quite some time is Strandberg,
based in Uppsala, Sweden,
whose impressive user base
includes Periphery’s Misha
Mansoor and Animals As
Leaders’ Tosin Abasi, and the
Boden 8 reviewed here has its
specs taken from the made-to-
measure Strandbergs of those
very two players.
Visually, the vast majority of
us guitarists will be taken aback
by the space-age appearance,
including fanned frets, no
headstock, and the strikingly
unusual body shape. Yet
perhaps the most unsettling
feature aspect of all occurs
when flipping over the guitar to
reveal the trademarked
‘EndurNeck’: a neck that has
a back surface made up of three
intertwining flat surfaces
instead of a round profile.
This ‘EndurNeck’ system is
no novelty, however: it has been
borne out of extensive research
into hand posture at various
points on the neck, and the
knowledge that your hand is
much stronger when gripping
something thick than when
gripping something thin. So,
when your fretting hand is in
a position where the first finger
needs support, such as the
higher end of the neck, you’ll
find the appropriate girth
underneath to provide it, and
vice versa for the thumb at the
lower end of the neck. After
playing it, you’ll soon realise it
makes perfect sense, and
enhances playability on an
already challenging
eight-string.
Guitarist ratinG
Guitarist says: If you’re serious
about eight-string instruments
this is one of the most innovative
and intuitive designs out there
Don’t close your eyes… open your mind!
CONTACT: Strandberg Guitars WEB: www.strandbergguitars.com
Strandberg Boden 8 From $3,350
Sounds
Those who have dabbled in
lower tunings will already
appreciate that the greater the
scale length, the better the
tension and intonation of the
lower strings. Because the scale
length is increased from high
to low, the frets fan out, too.
There are numerous pickup
options available when custom-
ordering a Boden 8, and our
review model has Lace Aluma
X-Bars installed. We find them
just a tad underpowered for
immediately capturing that
progressive metal sound that
this type of guitar demands, but
after a few amp tweaks, we’ve
got a very well balanced sound,
with enough power to project
ultra-low riffs without
overpowering higher strings.
Verdict
However unsettling the
appearance of the guitar, rest
assured that every seemingly
radical feature is a triumph for
function over ‘style’, and none
more so than the unique
EndurNeck neck, which really
is an ingenious feat of design.
While the thought of a non-
elliptical neck shape will be
horrifying to most of us, it’s
precisely on such a wide neck
that this system offers some
serious benefits.
For players who creatively
demand the sonic benefits of
an eight-string instrument,
but are perhaps still feeling
apprehensive about swapping
to a much wider neck, the
radical, innovative Boden 8 may
prove to be the ultimate
platform to finally make the
transition. [DC]
http://bi t.ly/
guitarist39 4
VIDEO DEMO
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