.strandberg* Salen

I am a big fan of headless guitars as they have a lot of advantages in terms of portability (size), ease of string changes, zero-frets, ergonomics, etc. When I saw a Klein back in the 90s, I knew I had a seen a glimpse of the future. It’s still way ahead of its time. But that time is starting to come around.

.strandberg* has been a recent leader in this space, with many, more affordable models. It’s been showcased here before, but the recent Salen model caught my eye because of the modern take on the Tele shape. I have always been more of a Strat guy, but the modern takes on the Tele shape seem more organic, less alien looking. I really like it.

The Salen model is made overseas to save cost, but I like the fact that it has great hardware, SS frets, multi-scale, EndurNeck, and everything else that makes a .strandberg* but without the higher made-to-measure price tag. I am not sure you can find any guitar today that has the modern features of this guitar, but that is made overseas (in reputable, well-known, high quality factories) and thus has a lower price tag.

I would love to see more pickup options (currently only Tele-like). With such a modern body shape, I see no reason why you could not drop in a Strat-style pickup configuration. But I understand why in the beginning they are sticking with the Tele-like configuration.

The Deluxe version is chambered and has a cool f-hole. Either Standard or Deluxe, these are modern takes on the super-traditional Tele, so it remains to be seen how popular these could be. The Tele crowd is pretty conservative, so you wouldn’t expect them to accept this. But for ones living in the present and towards the future — who respect the traditional but don’t deny the future — this looks like a great hybrid of traditional and modern — with many practical appointments.

Here are the specs: