Jacob Collier has been playing a custom 5-string .strandberg* lately, and even introduced a production model to the world that’s due out later this year. But what’s up with the five strings? Why is are they tuned to DAEAD? In an interview with Guitar.com, Collier said it all started a few years ago when he sat down and tried to finally make the guitar make sense to him.
“Back in 2016/17, I had figured out a way for guitar to make sense to me,” said Collier. “It was by ripping one of the strings off a six-string guitar and leaving only five. And I tuned it in a very unusual way. I did this for the first time on the day of a gig, and then I played it on the gig, which was a very funny experience because I sat there and found this language in front of all these people. It felt like they were holding me to it. It was like, ‘Okay, Jacob. If you’re going to do that, do it right.’ But it was actually an amazing experience.
“I’ve always enjoyed that – that slight pressure. And I’ve also always enjoyed the realisation that people don’t like seeing you perform something you already know. I can say this as an audience member – I love seeing an artist discover something about themselves before my eyes. And so I always leave room in my show to discover something about myself, whether it’s emotional, musical, or technical.”
On the adventure of a five-string, Collier added: “I’ve handed the five-string to lots of people who have been interested. And the first thing they’ll try and do is make one of the six-string guitar shapes work. It’s just a car crash! And it’s such a delightful thing, watching them disregard things that they thought they knew, and just be a child again.”
The Boden JC 5 Djesse Limited Edition is the first 5-string guitar from .strandberg* and is tuned to DAEAD, while the Boden JC 6 Djesse Limited Edition is its 6-string sibling and is tuned in your usual E standard. Both models feature a neck-thru construction, custom multi-colored .strandberg* EGS Rev7 hardware, custom inlays, an eye-catching all-yellow finish, and blue color Lace Alumitone pickups. This signature guitar is built in small volume batches and will be released in drops
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