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The unlikely origins of Strandberg's innovative EndurNeck

The unlikely origins of Strandberg's innovative EndurNeck

Yahoo02-06-2025
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission.
Strandberg's intuitive EndurNeck profile is a divisive design. While its angular approach may put off traditionalists, those who have experienced it themselves are quick to praise its ergonomic benefits. Now, Ola Strandberg has revealed it was partly inspired by the most unlikely everyday objects.
The firm's signature and patented asymmetrical neck design utilizes flat surfaces rather than a traditional round profile. It looks to provide a more restful grip for the thumb and ultimately helps players achieve a more intuitive grip of the instrument, which aids performance and optimizes ergonomic playing.
During a recent guitar health seminar conducted in collaboration with UK music store Andertons, firm founder Ola Strandberg opened up on the makings of the innovative neck design.
'I can't exactly remember when I had the eureka moment, but for a brief period of time, I was collaborating with another builder called Rick Toone who had experimented with the trapezoidal neck,' says Strandberg.
As a builder, Toone stands out for his quirky designs and has even built a six-string for Misha Mansoor. His unorthodox neck concept, however, was symmetrical – something that didn't quite suit Strandberg, who would later adopt a more off-kilter approach that took inspiration from an unlikely source.
'I do remember,' Strandberg expands, 'that we had a remote control at home for my TV which also had this trapezoidal shape. I was messing around with that. I was attracted to the concept of this twisted neck.
'Then I realized that those trapezoidal cutaways gave room for this joint here [midway between the thumb and forefinger] when I held the remote in a certain way. So, I guess that kind of came to me. I made a prototype out of styrofoam and it seemed to work.
'It was it was an easy sell,' Strandberg adds, with the completed EndurNeck helping to transform his six-string experiments from humble garage models into full-fledged business-backed builds now proudly wielded by Plini, Jordan Rudess, and plenty more.
Strandberg's efforts have also kickstarted a headless guitar revolution after Eddie Van Halen and Allan Holdsworth failed to help them win over the public in the 1980s and 1990s.
'Once this was out,' Strandberg then says, 'I think I only ever built one more guitar with a conventional neck.'
Speaking to Guitar World on the same day of the event, Strandberg also cited the oddball Lace Helix guitar – another obscure creation famed for its twisted neck – as a second source of inspiration for the EndurNeck.
'The first ever guitar that I built, the Strandberg concept, did have a conventional neck. Then I read about a bass builder called Jerome Little, who builds basses with a twisted neck to allow playing with a straighter wrist angle,' he explains. 'Lace, the company that makes the pickups, had a guitar in production with this twisted neck, and that seemed like a cool thing.'
It had one major problem, though: 'It would require you to change your playing technique – you can't bend upwards, because then the notes will choke out.'
In his GW chat, Strandberg echoes that the exact moment of discovery has escaped his memory. 'It's just one of those things,' he confesses.
The latest big step in Strandberg's history was the release of its first sub $1,000 via the Boden Essential, which sliced the average cost of one of the company's futuristic axes by around 50%.
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Hollow Knight Silksong: Everything we know so far
Hollow Knight Silksong: Everything we know so far

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Hollow Knight Silksong: Everything we know so far

When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. Hollow Knight: Silksong is easily one of the most anticipated new games. In fact, the level of hype surrounding the long awaited sequel has only grow with each passing year. And the big summer summer of announcements only left us wanting more Hollow Knight Silksong, with Team Cherry's new roguelike getting a brief mention during Summer Game Fest Live 2025, before it was followed up by the reveal of the new Deadpool VR game. Then, it popped up during the reveal of the Asus ROG Ally, which was shown during the Xbox Games Showcase 2025. Alongside a massive Steam update just before the Summer Game Fest 2025 schedule kick off, we've only been fed small crumbs, but that hasn't made any of the excitement surrounding follow-up to one of the best Metroidvania games die down. We're still awaiting a major update from Team Cherry and that all important release date, but while we await further news, you can find a recap of all things Hollow Knight: Silksong below. 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Originally Silksong was set for an early 2023 target, before getting pushed back. Team Cherry's Matthew Griffin confirmed the initial delay back in the day, noting in a statement that while "development is still continuing," the scope of the project requires more time. "We're excited by how the game is shaping up, and it's gotten quite big, so we want to take the time to make the game as good as we can," added Griffin. In March 2025, we also heard word from a brief teaser from Xbox that Silksong is still counted as one of its upcoming games to look forward to. In this statement, the game was next to a collection of 2025 titles. So, while we don't have a firm date yet, it seems like Silksong is still on its way and the Nintendo appearance seems to reinforce the year window. Fingers crossed we get a late-2025 release window in the future. Hollow Knight Silksong platforms The Hollow Knight: Silksong platforms have been confirmed as Xbox Series X, Xbox One, PS5, PS4, Nintendo Switch, Switch 2, and PC – via Steam, GOG, and the Humble Store. Following the Switch 2 Direct in April 2025, it was clarified that Silksong will be coming to Nintendo's current and next-gen consoles, which is certainly exciting for those planning to get their hands on a Switch 2 this year. Additionally, Team Cherry has confirmed that a Hollow Knight: Silksong Xbox Game Pass release has been secured, meaning it'll be available to all subscribers on the day of release. Will Hollow Knight: Silksong be on PS4 or PS5? Ever since Team Cherry announced this sequel back in 2019, PlayStation owners have been left asking the same question: Will Hollow Knight Silksong be on PS4 and PS5? And for the longest time it looked uncertain, especially after Xbox owners learned that the game would be coming to Xbox Game Pass. Thankfully, PlayStation has since cleared up any confusion. The platform holder took to Twitter to confirm that Hollow Knight: Silksong will be available on PS5 and PS4. Hollow Knight Silksong trailer Above you can watch the debut Hollow Knight: Silksong reveal trailer, which Team Cherry used to announce the game to the world for the very first time all the way back in February 2019. The two-minute trailer began with Hornet's kidnapping, showing her breaking free to explore lush meadows and dank underground passageways. The trailer showed there are new enemies to conquer, new bosses to fight, brand new friends to meet along the way, and new towns to explore, complete with NPC characters and their associated quests. And now we have this second Hollow Knight: Silksong gameplay trailer to pour over from E3 2022. More gameplay sneak peeks, more bosses and bad guys, and more from our old pal Hornet – who's been promoted from friend and foe of the original game to playable hero. 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Additionally, there's also going to be side quests for Hornet to take on. These sound a lot more fleshed out than in the original Hollow Knight, as Silksong actually allows you to keep track of all your side quests in a journal. Perhaps this is an opportunity to tell more stories outside of the main plot of Silksong. Hollow Knight Silksong development Hollow: Knight: Silksong actually began development as another DLC chapter for the original Hollow Knight. Set to star Hornet, developer Team Cherry quickly realized the scope of the DLC was far bigger than they anticipated, so they actually carved out the space for a full-blown sequel starring Hornet instead. Looking at the sequel now, it's not hard to see why. Hollow Knight: Silksong's debut trailer boasted of over 150 brand new enemies, including new bosses to fight in addition to this. In fact, there's brand new features for the sequel, like the ability to craft weapons, tools, and traps from materials gathered off of fallen enemies. If you liked the music of the original game, then we've got good news for you. Original composer Christopher Larkin has returned to collaborate with Team Cherry to score Hollow Knight: Silksong, which means the new adventure promises to have memorable tunes for punchy moments. Can't stand the wait for Hollow Knight: Silksong? Then you might want to check out one of the best roguelike games, or even some of the fantastic games like Hollow Knight that are out there just waiting to be played today.

"Anything related to Silksong releasing would be the doom of the project," lead on gorgeous Hollow Knight fan game once worried, but after 2 years of work it looks like it will launch this year
"Anything related to Silksong releasing would be the doom of the project," lead on gorgeous Hollow Knight fan game once worried, but after 2 years of work it looks like it will launch this year

Yahoo

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"Anything related to Silksong releasing would be the doom of the project," lead on gorgeous Hollow Knight fan game once worried, but after 2 years of work it looks like it will launch this year

When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. Hollow Knight Silksong madness may have reached a new peak. For years, "Fine, we'll make our own game" has been a jokey motto – one of many – for the Skong faithful, fed up with waiting for Team Cherry's long-anticipated sequel (finally coming later this year) and pondering the feasibility of making one for themselves. But, thanks to a devoted team of fans, a convincing Hollow Knight fan game is now very real and shooting for a 2025 launch, and it looks and sounds so much like the genuine article, you'd be forgiven for initially thinking it's a new Silksong showcase. That game is Godgrounds, an unofficial Hollow Knight fighting game that started with the work of just two people back in 2023. Lead developer Rockm recently shared an update on the team's progress with the Hollow Knight Reddit community, and I immediately had to learn more about it. "For quite some time, I had the belief that our project mainly profits off the fact that the [Hollow Knight] fans are starved, so anything related to Silksong releasing would be the doom of the project," Rockm tells GamesRadar+. "I moved on from that belief. It was wild back then. Although, even today, on every single ]Nintendo Direct], I follow one gold rule: always bet on nothing happening." "r/silksong should be considered an institution," Rockm observes. Correct. The Godgrounds team has grown considerably, especially after production ramped up in 2024, with programmers, artists, animators, composers, voice actors, SFX engineers, and even "popular figures in the Hollow Knight community" answering Rockm's call for aid. Around 20 people have touched the project so far, with most being artists. The work of composer Davide Trivella, a sample of which is available on YouTube, is a clear standout to me. "I have to admit, I am impressed by the team I've managed to build over time, it's full of very talented people," Rockm says. Previously, Rockm considered both an arena-type map taking inspiration from "traditional fighting games like Street Fighter or platformer fighting games like Brawlhalla" alongside a more open map showing off character mobility, but "production turned out to be slower than anticipated and this approach was inefficient, so we decided to go fully on the combat system." However, Godgrounds will combine elements of both types of fighting games. The team is hoping to have local multiplayer for two players, a lobby screen, a complete map, and perhaps additional characters eventually. The cast started with Hornet, a side character in Hollow Knight who was promoted to protagonist for Silksong, but more characters are planned. "We are very, very confident that Godgrounds will release its first version/demo this year," Rockm says. "The game will receive updates from there forward." "Fighting other players is the overall objective of the game. We have brainstormed about adding progression systems in the future to make the game more engaging. The game is mainly aimed at Hollow Knight fans and players who like fighting games. Of course, not all Hollow Knight fans are fighting game enthusiasts, so we will make an effort to make the gameplay feel similar to Hollow Knight." All of the assets in Godgrounds are original, Rockm says, pointing to a clause in the terms of service for Team Cherry, which reads: "Making and selling original items that you designed and made yourself, based on the world or characters of Hollow Knight, is extremely fine. However, we don't give permission for anyone to use graphics from in the game or official marketing materials created by us – even if you add a scratchy texture to it in Photoshop or whatever. This includes character art, wallpapers, spritework etc. etc. created by us here at Team Cherry." "Therefore I made the decision to make every asset from scratch and 100% original, whilst aiming to imitate the original art style of the game as much as possible," Rockm says. Team Cherry PR and marketing led Matthew "Leth" Griffin "mentioned in the [Hollow Knight Discord] server that small fan games were completely fine, however, if they [were] monetized [...], he would have to intervene," Rockm adds. "I assume the project is completely fine," Rockm says about Godgrounds, "as long as it's free and contains no monetization practices. I've given thought on the prospect for some time, and while, yes, it would be great to be able to make profit out of the project, sell it for a price, or be able to publish it on Steam (even if it's free), so we have access to achievements and overall a wider audience – it's something we can't do due to their policies. "I've had the idea of contacting TC or Leth in the future once the game's more advanced in development to see if we are allowed to continue development, and if so, if there could be a sort of "exception" or "official-approved collaboration" and have the project reach a new stage in terms of what we can do with it. But this is more of a distant possibility rather than an actual goal of the project." The future of Godgrounds is still malleable, but it has a lot of momentum behind it and some incredible art to show for it. You can follow the project on Twitter. Hollow Knight: Silksong dev deals psychic damage, hinting at future "DLC" for the Metroidvania which fans aren't convinced won't "turn into a full-fledged game that takes 8 years to develop."

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