NAMM 2025: Strandberg, Sweden’s ergonomic, headless guitar champion has finally announced that its leftfield five-string signature guitar for Jacob Collier, the Boden JC Djesse, is available to order.
The luminous yellow electric guitar has been in development for several years, with the well-spoken jazz genius showing off an early prototype on his socials as early as May ‘23. However, after “generating massive excitement in 2024,” with its official announcement coming in July (following much rumor and speculation), it had yet to materialize in physical and online marketplaces.
That has now changed, with Ola Strandberg hitting the big ‘Go Live’ button and propelling it onto the firm’s website while at NAMM 2025, and it’s priced at $2,995.
For those wanting a taste of the signature in a more familiar setting, a six-string model is also available for the same price, but Collier hopes players will be eager to experiment with the five-string, as he reckons it will force you to think differently.
“It’s a unique experience for guitar players to approach something without any rules,” Collier has previously said of the quirky guitar.
“It’s funny, 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.”
A five-string guitar may seem bizarre to the casual onlooker, but for Collier it was a natural level-up from his early guitar playing days, having started on a four-string tenor acoustic tuned to fifths – G D A E.
Collier’s since worked with Taylor Guitars to create a one-off five-string acoustic, which provided him more low-end, landing on an all-fifths tuning of D A E A D. This, he believes, helps him “cover more ground with fewer strings to cross”. That guitar got a market release in October.
Having attended a Jacob Collier show to see what the jazz man made of their futuristic builds, founder Ola Strandberg was drawn to Collier’s five-string acoustic, and talks over an electrified version began and in truth, its a hyper-inventive match made in heaven.
The guitar’s spec sheet – which is the same across both versions – is one free of cost-saving: Built to a 25.5″ scale with a chambered body, solid maple top, and a roasted maple neck-thru EndurNeck design with a 24-fret ebonol fretboard, it’s powered by a pair of passive Lace Alumitone humbuckers.
Its Blue, Green, and Red anodized hardware includes a locking EGS Rev7 bridge and there’s a five-way switch for full-‘bucker and ‘bucker splitting tones, Luminlay inlays and side dots are another premium appointment, and the frets as Jescar 51100 stainless steel (and 57110 for the zero fret).
All that goes a way to justifying the pretty lofty price, which may not help entice those on the fence to dive into the garden of five-string goodness. But it does represent one of the most out-there, against-the-grain guitar builds in recent years. It’s a pleasure to see the norms of the instrument challenge, even if this turns out to be a niche few others catch onto.
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“This unique model captures Jacob’s boundary-pushing musicality with its extended range and ergonomic design,” says Ola Strandberg.
“Everything about the Strandberg design appeals to me,” Collier told Guitar World in 2023 “Not only are they visually stunning, unique and slick, they are also lightweight, supple and feel incredible under the fingers.”
The Strandberg Boden JC Djesse is available now for $2,995.
Head to Strandberg to learn more.
Meanwhile, Collier has explained how Steve Vai made him a guitar player, without even touching his guitar.
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