Yes it's much better than before. To get a similar tone I found EQ to be my friend. The problem is that it's a 25" scale guitar. So, I cut narrowly at around 100hz (Q16) to bring out the low mids and make the bass less tight. I also cut a little at around 800hz (Q1) and 3.15khz (Q4) where there's too much going on with this guitar for authentic jazz tone. An overall cut at 6kz was applied and 4kz on the delay and reverb. Adding appropriate channel delay on a two- amp setup, the result was a near perfect John Abercrombie clean sound.
Thank you for providing your experience with the Strandberg NX Salen! I enjoyed both videos very much. - And great playing on your Jazz guitar etudes! For me in comparison the stock pick-ups on "All the Things you are changes" sound much more balanced than the new pick-ups on „Stella by Starlight“. However, I‘m looking forward to see you on your next Jazz Guitar Lesson 👍
Thanks for the kind words and for checking the videos out. I think the balance from the stock pickups comes from how compressed they are. It’s hard to gauge after all the processing from UA-cam and recording. It’s very noticeable when you are there with the guitar. A side note, I finally found the right height for the Seth Lovers and they sound fantastic. The stock pickups were just way too bright for what I was personally looking for. They are great pickups for rock and fusion though. Tone is very subjective between everyone’s ears though. I used the same amp sim on HX Native between those two video, so hopefully it was a faithful representation of the differences between them. More lessons coming soon, just crazy busy times right now and no time to record/edit things.
Hi josh ! I follow your channel from France ! You decide me to buy a strandberg salen jazz nx6 I order it Wednesday and receive it Monday 😍 ! You know well this guitar now and you changed pick ups for Seth lover 🙏 nice choice for jazz playing. I’m not a real jazz player, I’m more fusion and blues do you think that the originals pick ups will suits for my style ? I understand why you choose a three way selector but for me the 5 way switch will gave me versatility like « single coil » sounds … thanks for your answer 🙏 and sorry for my English ! Greetings from nice French Riviera ben ! I forgot ! I play with an always on klon centaure (not the real one 😂 ! A French pedal made in Nice called savage from Anasounds ! Have a look nice pedals). My current guitar is a dusenberg caribou 😍 such a beautiful an good sounding guitar but I have multiple sclerosis and the dusenberg is now to heavy, to big and the neck so hard to play. The endurneck is so cool to play with fan frets really most easy for me(I’ve tried one strandberg before) but a prog model not sounding for me. I really hope that you will answer to my question about the new MF classic strandberg pick up suits for blues and fusion jazz ? Cause this guitar is expensive for me and changing the pick ups will be hard for me financially… thanks a lot for reading me !
Hello! That is awesome to hear, I’m sure you will love the instrument once you get used to it. It feels a little different than a normal guitar, but it feels so natural to me now. The stock pickups sound really good, they just weren’t the sound I was looking for. I think they will be great for whatever you want to play. Main reason I went with the 3 way is the Seth Lovers are not splittable, they are oldschool single braided wire. The other reasons are I kept knocking the pickup selector down from 5th position to 4th position unintentionally. I also have a Strat that can do all the single coil stuff if I need it. Maybe one day I’ll get the single coil Strandberg as well 😆. I’m glad I could be of help for you! Thanks for reaching out and for the kind words. Have a good one!
I had this red sälen jazz too. At first i was fascinated by the design and i wanted to play so bad on it in all my free time. After like 2 month of using i started to recognize the lack of quality in the wood, the trapezoid neck began to annoy me and overall there were just too much compromises for 2600$ Its really not for everybody
I’m sorry to hear it didn’t work out for you. I don’t know what you mean by lack of quality of wood. The wood on mine is great all around. I can’t say anything about any other models since mine is the only one I’ve played.
@@JoshParker-Music i mean the corpus. If you look through the F- Hole you see the pressboard wood. I know it doesnt affect the playing (and the neck were built of nice wood) but more and more it felt like a toy to me, like one of the ibanez quest guitars.
Acoustically it’s about as loud as a semi-hollow telecaster would be. It’s not very loud. A full hollow would acoustically blow it out of the water. I can’t compare it to the solid body strandbergs, but the hollowness does add a little bit of depth to the sound. Plugged in, the guitar overall resonates extremely well. You can feel the vibrations through the entire instrument. It’s definitely not the sound of like a 335 for example, but it’s fairly close after I changed the electronics out. There is a high frequency chime the guitar has (I think from the stainless steel frets) that my other guitars with nickel frets don’t have. I wish I could do a direct comparison with other semi-hollow models, but I don’t own any. I’d love to see and hear that.
I've got a parts guitar I'm putting Seth Lover's in. How do you like the tone knob with the .047 orange drop capacitor? I'm looking to have a good range of adjustment with the tone knob so I can roll it off a bit to get some jazzier tones.
Thanks for checking out the video! I love both the Seth Lovers and and the capacitor choice. I have other guitars with .022 caps and they stay really bright until you turn the knob all the way down and it’s instantly underwater. The .047 cap seems to have a more usable range, especially in a jazz context. I usually keep the tone knob down to around 4-5 and it’s a good blend of dark, but not muddy. I I also usually run the volume back to about 7-8 which helps darken it a little bit and make it more dynamic without making the amp breakup. I highly recommend the combo for jazz. The pickups are definitely really sensitive with the height that you place them. They get really thin if you put them too low, but really full at the right height.
I do not. The guitar for me is much easier to play the majority of things on. And with the fingerboard so flat, it is much faster and quicker to respond than many other traditional guitars I have. The only position I have a little trouble playing in is at the nut when I need to play a chord that is really stretched out. The fanning at that point isn’t drastic, but just enough to be uncomfortable. I have smaller hands though, so depending on your hand size, it may be different. The higher positions on the guitar are a breeze to play all the way up to the 24th fret.
@@JoshParker-Music thank you so much for your reply! It is encouraging! May I ask which fingers do you use to fret the A min7 at 17th fret with low E string? Plucking all strings but the 5th string?
The stock electronics are garbage, will be replacing mine! The quality control on these guitars is NON-EXISTENT. 3rd world assembly line junk. You could try, but sandpaper only marginally fixes that silly neck.
I disagree that they are garbage, or at least speaking from my guitar’s perspective. I think they are a little on the pricy side, but it’s also hardware that isn’t as regularly accessible and more complex construction methods. The electronics are very good, just not the sound I was after. The endurneck once you get used to it really will help your technique. I still prefer the feel of my normal neck guitars, however it isn’t uncomfortable after sitting with it for a while. My main complaint with my instrument was the sharp edges on the string locks at the nut and the right arm location. The only other thing that really bugs me is the zero fret ping that continually comes back on the higher strings regardless of sanding and doing what Strandberg says to fix it. I’ve rigorously road tested it and recently took it on an international tour and it did fantastically. It’s not a “perfect” instrument by any means, however I completely trust it to be there for me when I need it.
@@JoshParker-Music Garbage was a bad choice of words. The pot are cheap, the output jack is beyond silly, but the pickups are not 'bad' just not for me. The sharp edges all over the nut & locker, the bad edge ending of the neck, bridge saddles that are sharp and stick, the zero fret thing you mention that combines with that to make it ALWAYS a cent or two different after every note...lol. Smack it around and it comes back nicely though. Then tuners that stick and are way inaccurate and hard to turn because of that (check out good ones by NOVA, through 'ploutone'), the wavy back of the neck and fingerboard edge...not finish sanded. The body finish that gets instantly messed if you touch it...almost 'polishing' everywhere you do. Sloppy, bad construction, bad quality control. I LOVE the richlite fingerboard and TT fanned frets. It is nice and light, but the resonance is silly for any 'volume' or 'gain' playing. Makes excellent sustain for desktop playing, but an ES-335 is 'tighter'. The thumb access on top is silly...why? geez! Bulky neck joint too. Then there is the Endure neck. I give. I assume it works for some. A short test was obviously not enough. And then WAY OVERPRICED...even if none of the above issues existed. I could afford it just for chording work with the TT's...most people cannot toss money away like that.
Yes it's much better than before. To get a similar tone I found EQ to be my friend. The problem is that it's a 25" scale guitar. So, I cut narrowly at around 100hz (Q16) to bring out the low mids and make the bass less tight. I also cut a little at around 800hz (Q1) and 3.15khz (Q4) where there's too much going on with this guitar for authentic jazz tone. An overall cut at 6kz was applied and 4kz on the delay and reverb. Adding appropriate channel delay on a two- amp setup, the result was a near perfect John Abercrombie clean sound.
Thank you for providing your experience with the Strandberg NX Salen! I enjoyed both videos very much. - And great playing on your Jazz guitar etudes! For me in comparison the stock pick-ups on "All the Things you are changes" sound much more balanced than the new pick-ups on „Stella by Starlight“. However, I‘m looking forward to see you on your next Jazz Guitar Lesson 👍
Thanks for the kind words and for checking the videos out. I think the balance from the stock pickups comes from how compressed they are. It’s hard to gauge after all the processing from UA-cam and recording. It’s very noticeable when you are there with the guitar. A side note, I finally found the right height for the Seth Lovers and they sound fantastic. The stock pickups were just way too bright for what I was personally looking for. They are great pickups for rock and fusion though. Tone is very subjective between everyone’s ears though. I used the same amp sim on HX Native between those two video, so hopefully it was a faithful representation of the differences between them. More lessons coming soon, just crazy busy times right now and no time to record/edit things.
Sounds really good! overall thicker deeper tone
Thanks for sharing! This is quite useful to know 👍
Thanks for checking the video out! Hope it helped!
Awesome, awesome, awesome. Exactly what I was thinking !
Glad I could help out!
Thank you for the great video!
You’re most welcome! Thanks for stopping by and checking it out!
Thanks for the update!
Thank you for checking out the video!
This is great, but playing it on a Strandberg makes it fabulous!
Thank you!
Hi josh ! I follow your channel from France ! You decide me to buy a strandberg salen jazz nx6 I order it Wednesday and receive it Monday 😍 ! You know well this guitar now and you changed pick ups for Seth lover 🙏 nice choice for jazz playing. I’m not a real jazz player, I’m more fusion and blues do you think that the originals pick ups will suits for my style ? I understand why you choose a three way selector but for me the 5 way switch will gave me versatility like « single coil » sounds … thanks for your answer 🙏 and sorry for my English ! Greetings from nice French Riviera ben ! I forgot ! I play with an always on klon centaure (not the real one 😂 ! A French pedal made in Nice called savage from Anasounds ! Have a look nice pedals). My current guitar is a dusenberg caribou 😍 such a beautiful an good sounding guitar but I have multiple sclerosis and the dusenberg is now to heavy, to big and the neck so hard to play. The endurneck is so cool to play with fan frets really most easy for me(I’ve tried one strandberg before) but a prog model not sounding for me. I really hope that you will answer to my question about the new MF classic strandberg pick up suits for blues and fusion jazz ? Cause this guitar is expensive for me and changing the pick ups will be hard for me financially… thanks a lot for reading me !
Hello! That is awesome to hear, I’m sure you will love the instrument once you get used to it. It feels a little different than a normal guitar, but it feels so natural to me now. The stock pickups sound really good, they just weren’t the sound I was looking for. I think they will be great for whatever you want to play. Main reason I went with the 3 way is the Seth Lovers are not splittable, they are oldschool single braided wire. The other reasons are I kept knocking the pickup selector down from 5th position to 4th position unintentionally. I also have a Strat that can do all the single coil stuff if I need it. Maybe one day I’ll get the single coil Strandberg as well 😆. I’m glad I could be of help for you! Thanks for reaching out and for the kind words. Have a good one!
Hi Josh, and thanks for the update. Since this is a semi-hollow instrument, does the guitar balance well, or does it neck dive?
It balances very well. Probably better than any other guitar I have played.
I had this red sälen jazz too. At first i was fascinated by the design and i wanted to play so bad on it in all my free time. After like 2 month of using i started to recognize the lack of quality in the wood, the trapezoid neck began to annoy me and overall there were just too much compromises for 2600$
Its really not for everybody
I’m sorry to hear it didn’t work out for you. I don’t know what you mean by lack of quality of wood. The wood on mine is great all around. I can’t say anything about any other models since mine is the only one I’ve played.
@@JoshParker-Music i mean the corpus. If you look through the F- Hole you see the pressboard wood. I know it doesnt affect the playing (and the neck were built of nice wood) but more and more it felt like a toy to me, like one of the ibanez quest guitars.
I am curious what degree of resonance you are getting from its 'hollowness' compared to a hollow body or semi-hollow?
Acoustically it’s about as loud as a semi-hollow telecaster would be. It’s not very loud. A full hollow would acoustically blow it out of the water. I can’t compare it to the solid body strandbergs, but the hollowness does add a little bit of depth to the sound. Plugged in, the guitar overall resonates extremely well. You can feel the vibrations through the entire instrument. It’s definitely not the sound of like a 335 for example, but it’s fairly close after I changed the electronics out. There is a high frequency chime the guitar has (I think from the stainless steel frets) that my other guitars with nickel frets don’t have. I wish I could do a direct comparison with other semi-hollow models, but I don’t own any. I’d love to see and hear that.
I've got a parts guitar I'm putting Seth Lover's in. How do you like the tone knob with the .047 orange drop capacitor? I'm looking to have a good range of adjustment with the tone knob so I can roll it off a bit to get some jazzier tones.
Thanks for checking out the video! I love both the Seth Lovers and and the capacitor choice. I have other guitars with .022 caps and they stay really bright until you turn the knob all the way down and it’s instantly underwater. The .047 cap seems to have a more usable range, especially in a jazz context. I usually keep the tone knob down to around 4-5 and it’s a good blend of dark, but not muddy. I I also usually run the volume back to about 7-8 which helps darken it a little bit and make it more dynamic without making the amp breakup. I highly recommend the combo for jazz. The pickups are definitely really sensitive with the height that you place them. They get really thin if you put them too low, but really full at the right height.
@@JoshParker-Music awesome, thanks for the response!
Bluesette
You are correct!
Hi Josh, do you have trouble playing an A min 7 at 17th fret with low E string?
I do not. The guitar for me is much easier to play the majority of things on. And with the fingerboard so flat, it is much faster and quicker to respond than many other traditional guitars I have. The only position I have a little trouble playing in is at the nut when I need to play a chord that is really stretched out. The fanning at that point isn’t drastic, but just enough to be uncomfortable. I have smaller hands though, so depending on your hand size, it may be different. The higher positions on the guitar are a breeze to play all the way up to the 24th fret.
@@JoshParker-Music thank you so much for your reply! It is encouraging! May I ask which fingers do you use to fret the A min7 at 17th fret with low E string? Plucking all strings but the 5th string?
The stock electronics are garbage, will be replacing mine! The quality control on these guitars is NON-EXISTENT. 3rd world assembly line junk. You could try, but sandpaper only marginally fixes that silly neck.
I disagree that they are garbage, or at least speaking from my guitar’s perspective. I think they are a little on the pricy side, but it’s also hardware that isn’t as regularly accessible and more complex construction methods. The electronics are very good, just not the sound I was after. The endurneck once you get used to it really will help your technique. I still prefer the feel of my normal neck guitars, however it isn’t uncomfortable after sitting with it for a while. My main complaint with my instrument was the sharp edges on the string locks at the nut and the right arm location. The only other thing that really bugs me is the zero fret ping that continually comes back on the higher strings regardless of sanding and doing what Strandberg says to fix it. I’ve rigorously road tested it and recently took it on an international tour and it did fantastically. It’s not a “perfect” instrument by any means, however I completely trust it to be there for me when I need it.
@@JoshParker-Music Garbage was a bad choice of words. The pot are cheap, the output jack is beyond silly, but the pickups are not 'bad' just not for me. The sharp edges all over the nut & locker, the bad edge ending of the neck, bridge saddles that are sharp and stick, the zero fret thing you mention that combines with that to make it ALWAYS a cent or two different after every note...lol. Smack it around and it comes back nicely though. Then tuners that stick and are way inaccurate and hard to turn because of that (check out good ones by NOVA, through 'ploutone'), the wavy back of the neck and fingerboard edge...not finish sanded. The body finish that gets instantly messed if you touch it...almost 'polishing' everywhere you do. Sloppy, bad construction, bad quality control. I LOVE the richlite fingerboard and TT fanned frets. It is nice and light, but the resonance is silly for any 'volume' or 'gain' playing. Makes excellent sustain for desktop playing, but an ES-335 is 'tighter'. The thumb access on top is silly...why? geez! Bulky neck joint too. Then there is the Endure neck. I give. I assume it works for some. A short test was obviously not enough. And then WAY OVERPRICED...even if none of the above issues existed. I could afford it just for chording work with the TT's...most people cannot toss money away like that.
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Justin from the Philippines
Thank you, Justin! Hello from Kentucky, US!