I have had a few Strandbergs in the past, all Indonesian-made, and they were fantastic guitars. This is my first dive into the Swedish-made Strandbergs.
I decided, since I didn't end up going with a custom shop piece (from another builder) I had ordered, that I would get a 7-string and 8-string Strandberg that could become my daily drivers. I was originally going to get the production Archetype TT7 and TT8, but right on time, the pre-production and rarities collection dropped. I snagged this beauty and a pre-prod TT7, which is still in transit. I am a sucker for unique and rare builds and with this being a pre-production to the futur, i couldn't help myself.
I absolutely adore this guitar and it will be in my collection forever. I did want to speak to one thing that many may wonder...
How does it play?
To be honest, it doesn't play all that differently from the Indonesian models I remember, which is a great thing! If you've played a standard or Original, this isn't really that different from a playability standpoint. There are differences, obviously: the quality of the setup, the skill of the Swedish craftsmen, the Lundgrens, the materials, etc. But I think that difference amounts to maybe 10–20% of actual utility/playability. Don't get me wrong, this thing is a shredder, and it FEELS like a guitar of its price point. I guess all this to say I'm honestly impressed that they're able to realize the vision of "Strandberg" across price points. Haven't had that experience with any other brand truly.
EDIT: I don’t know how I forgot but - the “ancr:d” neck joint!!! It’s awesome and I hope this makes its way to all the Strandberg models. Adding that, I would say it’s the biggest “difference” between the Futur and others!