As the newest season of Spark marches on, we’re here to take a moment and look back on some of our favorite creations from Season 4.1: #extendedRange and #thePerfectBerg!
#extendedRange: When the name .strandberg* is mentioned in the context of extended-range guitars, no one is surprised. But what does extended range mean to you?
#thePerfectBerg: What would your perfect .strandberg* guitar look like? Or what would it be equipped with? Carbon, Doubleneck, Burns Tri Sonic pickups? Everything is possible.
Jason Hyde – #thePerfectBerg
One of our early favorite submissions to the #thePerfectBerg topic, Jason Hyde created this wonderful 3D render of a .strandberg* Boden 7-string guitar with a first-ever sculpted body design, reminiscent of the Ibanez S series of guitars. The render is complete with a repositioned input jack, bright sportscar red finish, and a 7-string configuration. From the concept to the execution: all stellar work, Jason!
From Jason:
“Until I got ahold of my first Boden a few years ago, my long-standing favorite guitars were the Ibanez “S” series (aka Sabre – pictured here for reference). The lightweight, sculpted mahogany bodies make them some of the most comfortable and playable guitars on the planet. That said, I’m also an extended range player (mostly 7 string), so when it comes to creating the perfect ‘berg, my only conceivable improvement over the existing Boden design would be adding the heavy body sculpts found on the “S” series, lightening the guitar even further, and effectively giving us the the “Boden S7”.”
Jason Hyde on his #thePerfectBerg submission
You can view Jason’s full submission, see comments, and more on the Spark Community page here.
Anıl Bahşi – #extendedRange
For the #extendedRange topic, Anıl Bahşi submitted an absolutely wild concept that we simply cannot get enough of! This “Extended Tone” Sälen model features sliding pickups that can be reconfigured to create custom bass and treble split outputs, taking “extended range” to a whole other level! Bonus points for the out-of-this-world finish.
From Anıl:
“I designed my pickups as a sliding assembly, where the pickup can be positioned in an #extendedRange
The design of the pickup splits “bass” and “treble” section so you can slide them independently. This is why I called extended TONE!”
Anıl Bahşi on their #extendedRange submission
You can view Anıl’s full submission, see comments, and more on the Spark Community page here.
Jason Schulze – #thePerfectBerg
Another one of our favorite #thePerfectBerg creations was this Hardcore Jazz Sälen model by Jason Schulze! A beautiful mix of both sleek and mean, this guitar looks like it can handle just about everything thrown at it, and while a jet-black, 7-string, tremolo Sälen model doesn’t currently exist, this mock-up gives some serious credibility to the design. Nicely done, Jason!
From Jason:
The only Berg for all your Hardcore Jazz desires.
Seven strings of Sälen fury. #absoluteunit“
From Jason Schulze on his #thePerfectBerg submission.
You can view Jason’s full submission, see comments, and more on the Spark Community page here.
Sávio Rocha Almeida – #extendedRange
One of the most interesting submissions for the #extendedRange topic was this wild visualization by Sávio Rocha Almeida! The whole concept is equal parts wonderful and fascinating, so we’ll just let Sávio do the talking below!
From Sávio:
“So guys, here is my entry to the extended range topic. The rule of the Abstract: I decided to design a graphic ilustrating the Rule of 18 (17.82), the mathematical method/formula to locate the positions of the frets in a certain scale lenght. The graphic I made shows the fret locations and transition from 25.5” scale to 26.5 and 27″(tending to reach the extended range). Then I made the superposition of all of them to illustrate, in an ABSTRACT way, how extended range should be interpretated: as a way to achieve new horizons, planes, and new vanishing points, inviting us to the perception of “tending to infinity” which symbolizes what extended range can make on compositions, by giving us new horizons, new spaces, new perspectives, new worlds, new atmospheres.
From Sávio Rocha Almeida on his #extendedRange submission.
You can view Sávio’s full submission, see comments, and more on the Spark Community page here.
Dennis Bernhardt – #thePerfectBerg
Another wonderful creation submitted for the #thePerfectBerg topic was this customized .strandberg*-inspired guitar design by Dennis Bernhardt! Dennis took the base-.strandberg* Boden body design and added several customizations to suit his own personal playing style, as well as a shift in a more sustainable and environmentally-friendly direction (which is something we can always get behind).
From Dennis:
“I really like the ergonomics and sound of the .strandberg* guitars, but having some mobility and stability issues on my right wrist, I’d love to have some more wood above the high frets as a rest for my right hand while tapping. I’ve seen similar constructions on bass guitars like the ones by Claas Guitars and even on one a bass guitar by Ibanez and really love the idea. Even if I mostly prefer to see the wood grain on guitars and wood in general, I’d prefer a full paint job except for the little wood showing on the angled edge to hide most of the wood. Ihe reason why is that I’d love to see more instruments being build out of less exotic and uneconomical woods and instead go for things like bamboo, which are way less heavy on the economical side. For the same reason I’d normally, design-wise, go with golden mechanics and pick up covers for my dream guitar, but would prefer the black ones economical-wise as well. In general, I‘d really love to see some more sustainable builds in the world of instruments and as I always play sitting, there’s no need for straps here. Same for the tremolo — I really never use it. The color and partly reshaping comes from my love for art nouveau specs and would be a semi-hollow chambered bamboo body with maple topmaple neck (bolt-on) with a maple fretboard and lighter bamboo inlays, 8 strings, champagne colored pick guard, and a switch system like on the Ibanez RG5320 with all black hardware.”
From Dennis on his #thePerfectBerg submission.
You can view Dennis’ full submission, see comments, and more on the Spark Community page here.
Sávio Rocha Almeida – #thePerfectBerg
And last but certainly not least, this amazing 3D printed Custom Varberg was also created by the talented Sávio Rocha Almeida, this time for the #thePerfectBerg topic! Upon first glance, you might not be able to tell that this isn’t a real photo, as Sávio did an impeccable job nailing all the specs and features of the highly-acclaimed Varberg design in probably the most realistic way we’ve seen yet! And his custom “SilverMoon” finish makes it all the sweeter to gaze upon. Amazing work, Sávio!
From Sávio:
“The Varberg SilverMoon #ThePerfectBerg. I decided to design my own version of the .strandberg* Varberg, named SilverMoon Edition, featuring a new suggestion for the bevel/forearm contour.
Specs: Body: 6A Quilted Top + Swamp Ash center + Brazilian Cedar back; Neck: Roasted Flamed Maple; Fretboard: Roasted Flamed Maple — 26.5″, Pickups: Covered brushed; 5 Way Switch; Finish: Transparent grey – SilverMoon.”
From Sávio Rocha Almeida on his #thePerfectBerg submission.
You can view Sávio’s full submission, see comments, and more on the Spark Community page here.
Honorable mention – Sávio Rocha Almeida
Aside from the registered entries for Season 4.1, we couldn’t pass up the opportunity to share another amazing 3D render by Sávio Rocha Almeida as an honorable mention! Another impressive Varberg render, this creation features some bright colors that make the guitar pop in an incredibly exotic way. While Sávio made it clear this wasn’t intended to be counted as one of his final submissions, we just had to include it in this week’s recap. What do you think of this extreme color combo?
Well, that completes our recap of Season 4.1! We hope you enjoyed this past round of topics, and don’t forget to submit your creations for the latest topics: #bringItToLife and #theNatureOfStrandberg!
.strandberg* SPARK is the official Facebook group of .strandberg* Guitars, dedicated to finding new ways to be creative via prompts that are announced every two weeks. You can learn more about SPARK and join the community here.
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