Strandberg Guitars teams up with Mason Cycles to build the futuristic Boden Meloria Travel Guitar

I keep saying that I’m done with NAMM for the year - while there was no way I was leaving this one out. I’ve always liked Strandberg Guitars - including their unique and proprietary EnduNeck. I was disappointed recently when they stopped engraving the brand logo into the wood - now it’s just a surface print.

My nearest Strandberg dealer is GuitarGuitar in Camden - and I’ve been so tempted on several occasions to pick one up. These were the original and are still the best headless guitars in my opinion - with every part of the guitar custom engineered to the highest leve and with the very best ergonomicsl.

And with this new Boden Meloria (Price TBC) they’ve raised the bar further - teaming up with award-winning Mountain Bike Specialist Mason Cycles. There are lots of hi-tech Mountain Bike technologies, materials and constructions used in the manufacture of this prototype.

Key Features

• Custom Headless Endstop
• Richlite Fretboard
• Mountain Bike Composite Body & Neck (Carbon Reinforced)
• Removable Neck
• Future Neck Joint with Digital Content Area and better self-centering
• Transformable Titanium Frame
• Mountain Bike Through-Axle Construction to channel Guitar Frame
• Magnetic Rear Locking Mechanism from Mountain Bikes
• Lace Alumitone Pickup
• SIngle Volume
• Strandberg EGS Tuners
• Weight : 1.5kg / 3lbs
• Dimensions : TBC
• Pricing : TBC

The actual transformable frame action is slick and secure with solid and magnetic rear locking mechanism. All major parts are incredibly robust as well as being easily replaceable.

The lack of a Tone control might pose challenges for certain types of pedals - while this is as solid a Travel Guitar Construction you can get. The Protitype’s frame is pricey Titanium - and that will likely be switched to aluminium for the production model.

Strandberg Boden Guitars start at around $1,645 USD - while we don’t yet have a price on the Meloria. It depends on the final specs really and if the frame stays Titanium (more rigid / but pricier) or switches to Aluminium, Original Bodens are at $2.295 and up - and I would largely expect the Meloria to come under that.

Will be cool to see what the overall packgage - is Gig Bag etc and how quickly you can disassemble the whole thing (including neck) or if you can mostly leave the neck on.

I personally travel between family homes in different countries and it’s always tricky to travel with a full size guitar - so this kind of Travel Guitar would certainly be right down my street.

I really like the futuristic looks of this prototype - and feel that the final production version will be even more sleek. 

Ola Strandberg also feel that he can shave further wieight off the top - so this will be a super-light, transformable and superior travel guitar - probably best of this type I’ve seen yet! And I really love the inclusion of so much hi-tech mountain bike technology!