Latest news with #OlaStrandberg
Yahoo
07-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Ola Strandberg ushered in a new era of headless guitars – but no one is doing it like his own company
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. Ola Strandberg has shared his thoughts on the booming headless guitar market, and made clear what distinguishes his own company from those that have moved to capitalize on the trend in recent years. Headless guitars have experienced a surge in popularity over the past decade or so, and Ola Strandberg – the mastermind behind his eponymous electric guitar brand – is largely to thank for that. While the likes of Steinberger experimented with headless designs in the 1980s, such attempts were largely ill-fated, and it was only until Strandberg officially arrived on the scene over a decade ago that players began taking the concept seriously. With some game-changing innovations and a roster of all-star players in tow, Strandberg established the prestige of headless guitars, reinventing the novelty format and optimizing it in order to deliver a guitar purpose-built for the modern player. Since Strandberg's arrival, the likes of Ibanez, Kiesel, Balaguer and Schecter have all entered the headless space, offering their own take on the ever-popular design. However, Ola sees these efforts as entirely distinct from his own, owing to fundamental differences that can be found in their respective approaches. As he explains to Guitar World in a new interview, 'In terms of what you are as a brand and how you communicate your values, you can do that on tradition, or craftsmanship… we do it on innovation. We focus on creating tools that will create inspiration and not harm you in the process. 'A lot of other brands are making headless guitars, but it's just a model in the lineup,' he continues. 'I sometimes say with some level of seriousness that other people make guitars without headstocks, we make headless guitars. It's a small distinction but that's generally what they do.' As for what separates 'guitars without headstocks' from 'headless guitars', Strandberg says it's all about inception: Strandberg was distinctly created to solve a problem. 'They take conventional construction techniques, they buy some headless hardware off the shelf, and they change the design to accommodate that headless hardware,' Strandberg comments, 'so they have a guitar without a headstock. 'We really designed everything from the ground up to work together as a whole. I think that the result is greater than the sum of the parts.' Regardless of these differences, Strandberg sees the increasing popularity of headless guitars – and, by extension, the growing presence of other brands tapping into the trend – as a good thing. 'I think honestly we're still on an upward trajectory in terms of the headless guitar becoming more mainstream. I think we're all still helping to grow the market,' he notes. 'Certainly I do think the headless guitar is moving more into the mainstream and I think that's a good thing, not just because we make headless guitars but I think it's truly a better construction.' Elsewhere in his Guitar World interview, Strandberg has recalled the unlikely origins of one of his greatest innovations, and confirms he's working on a headless acoustic.
Yahoo
02-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
The unlikely origins of Strandberg's innovative EndurNeck
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%.
