Strandberg Guitars and Grammy-winning multi-instrumentalist Jacob Collier have announced they will finally release their innovative five-string signature guitar, the JC 5 Djesse, this summer – having teased the internet about the collaboration for over a year.
Word that Collier and Sweden’s ergonomic luthier were collaborating on a five-string guitar began bubbling last May, thanks to an Instagram post that saw the British musician putting a prototype through its paces.
Collier was first introduced to Strandberg guitars while working with prog metal instrumentalists Arch Echo. Ola Strandberg, the firm’s founder, admits that “we did our best to impress” the musician, when they linked up, bringing along a mix of true temperament and extended-range guitars for him to try out.
The musician was suitably impressed. “Everything about the Strandberg design appeals to me,” Collier told Guitar World, in August 2023. “Not only are they visually stunning, unique and slick, they are also lightweight, supple and feel incredible under the fingers.”
However, as Ola explained in the same piece, Collier was “curious to know whether it would be remotely possible to make a five-string Strandberg.”
For those unfamiliar with Collier's colorful songwriting, he's played five-string guitars throughout his career. Typically, he tunes to D A E A D: a strangely symmetrical setup divided into 4ths and 5ths, which he believes helps him “cover more ground with fewer strings to cross”.
Thus a partnership between the two sets of innovators was born and the limited edition Djesse – which also comes in a more familiar six-string setup – is the result.
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The JC 5 Djesse will of course take all the headlines. Strandberg says it “offers musicians new chordal voicings and fingering patterns,” thanks to its Collier-coined tuning.
The five-string model and its traditional counterpart, the Boden JC 6 Djesse, feature unmissable luminous yellow finishes, blue Lace Alumitone pickups, and mismatched Tone and Volume controls.
There are also Green Luminlay inlays and side dots for their ebonol fretboard – a a synthetic material that aims to emulate ebony – while roasted maple has been chosen for its EndurNeck. They comprise chambered basswood bodies with solid maple tops.
Lace says its Alumitone humbuckers “utilize a technology completely different from any other pickup on the market”, and that its “passive design yields active pickup performance with absolutely zero noise and no need for a battery.” They've been a key component of the signature model from the get-go.
Underneath those headlines, though, are two guitars that embody everything unique about Strandberg designs, including lightweight, ergonomic playability, “lively acoustics,” and its trademark, sleek neck-thru construction.
“This collaboration with Jacob Collier has been an extraordinary journey,” Ola Strandberg reflects. “Together, we have created instruments that not only challenge traditional norms but invite musicians to explore new musical landscapes.”
Collier, meanwhile, hails Strandberg as “total masters of their craft… welders of the most delicious shreddable guitars known to man! This five-string electric guitar is a literal dream of mine – a singular instrument that lends itself to guitarists of all ages and stages. I’m so proud to have been a part of it, and so looking forward to it keeping me company forever!”
Noticeably, it’s the first time Collier’s quirky guitar has seen a production run.
Taylor Guitars made him a custom acoustic “with exactly the same range as a normal guitar, but just with a different set of intervals”, but that never saw a production release.
Strandberg, then, gets the honor of introducing this alternative approach to the beloved instrument to the masses.
The Boden JC 5 & 6 Djesse Limited Edition guitars are built in small volume batches. They will be released in drops, with the first landing later this summer.
The instruments will be available exclusively on the Strandberg and Jacob Collier websites, with a waiting list open for registration. There is currently no mention of price.
Head to Strandberg to learn more.
