Sweetwater just unleashed the best guitar deal of Black Friday so far – save $300 on the 5-star Strandberg Boden Essential

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It might look strange, but once you've played a Strandberg it's hard to go back to a normal guitar

A Strandberg Boden Essential headless guitar on a concrete floor
(Image credit: Future)

For the guitarist who isn’t interested in traditional instruments, I’ve got a super Black Friday guitar deal for you. In the Sweetwater Black Friday sale you can get your hands on a Strandberg Boden Essential with a gigantic $300 reduction. It’s a mega discount on a guitar that’s all about comfort and playability, eschewing traditional design in the pursuit of technological advancement.

I’ll admit I was skeptical before I first got my hands on one, so when it came into the office for review I wasn’t really expecting much. Flash forward five minutes and I found I couldn’t put it down. I’ve honestly never played anything like it, and while I get that headless guitars aren’t for everyone, you’ll be doing yourself a disservice not trying one.

I’ve been playing guitar for over twenty years now, so it’s pretty rare that a piece of gear completely takes me by surprise. That was exactly the case with the Boden Essential though. At first I found the EndurNeck profile quite alien in my hands, thanks to the wide flat strip that runs down the centre of the roasted maple neck.

It’s like playing a really extreme ‘V’ profile, but cleverly, it gives your thumb a platform to always be placed flat, which encourages better playing technique. This design reduces strain on your wrist by forcing you to keep your thumb as the anchor for your fretting hand. Once I got over the initially strange feel, I was soon flying across the fretboard with three-note-per-string legato licks aplenty.

Strandberg Boden Essential
Save 27% ($300)
Strandberg Boden Essential: was $1,099 now $799 at Sweetwater Sound

With a cool $300 off the regular price, this 5-star rated Strandberg Boden Essential is well below a grand in the Black Friday sale at Sweetwater. With a level of comfort you’ll have to play yourself to believe, the EndurNeck profile is optimized to reduce strain on your wrist and fingers, while the ergonomic body is lightweight and can be played in a variety of positions.

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The body is different from anything else I’ve tried too. Again, the shape looks very strange, but it's actually cleverly designed so you can place the guitar on either leg, or in the classical position for proper shredability. It’s lightweight too, so you can easily chuck it in a gig bag and take it to shows with you, or bring on a train or plane.

When wearing it on a guitar strap you can hardly feel it’s there, and the lack of a headstock means there’s far less chance of stabbing your singer or bassist, even when playing on a tiny stage. For me the size and weight add to the overall performance of the guitar, tying in beautifully with the playability to make one of the most all-round ergonomic experiences I’ve ever had playing an electric guitar.

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Matt McCracken
Matt McCracken
Junior Deals Writer

Matt is a Junior Deals Writer here at Guitar Player. He regularly tests and reviews music gear with a focus on guitars, amps, pedals, modelers, and pretty much anything else guitar-related. Matt worked in music retail for 5 years at Dawsons Music and Northwest Guitars and has written for many music sites including MusicRadar, Guitar World, Guitar.com, Ultimate Guitar, and Thomann’s t.blog. A regularly gigging guitarist with over 20 years of experience playing live, writing, and recording in bands, he's performed everything from jazz to djent, gigging all over the UK in more dingy venues than you can shake a drop-tuned guitar at.