![Array]](https://backingtracksfullcollection.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/1779850244_Array.svg.svg+xml "Periphery's Jake Bowen unveiled as a Strandberg artist 18"){kind=small}
Periphery’s Jake Bowen has officially been announced as a Strandberg artist, with the Swedish headless guitar specialist promising that they are now working together on something – stay tuned for more, “artist-driven projects” are underway.
Bowen has been a long-time Ibanez artist, with three signature guitars in the current catalog, all high-performance S-styles (the JBM9999 a particular favourite around these parts). But of late he has been playing various Strandberg’s onstage.
Periphery superfans who have been barnacled on reddit threads, monitoring the progressive metal institution’s movements and gear choices, would have told you this was coming – Bowen’s bandmate, Misha Mansoor, said as much. But still, this is a big coup for the brand, and it is fascinating to see what comes next.
Strandberg does not have a large artist roster. It has the Australian prog virtuoso Plini, Swedish metal stalwart Per Nilsson, and of course that bright yellow five-string that it co-developed with Jacob Collier. Bowen is pictured playing the Sälen Jazz NX 6 semi-hollow in Strandberg’s official announcement, but has been playing other six, seven and eight-string models.
Presumably he would want to bring his signature DiMarzio Mirage humbuckers to the Strandberg platform – would a modified Boden be in the works? The internet is already calling a prospective signature model the Strandberg Bowen. It’s just one consonant of a difference, an easy lift for the Strandberg marketing team.
The market for headless guitars has been heating up in the past few years. This is not the ‘80s. They are a mainstream option. They’re just so light. Strandberg has plenty of selling points: including the body shape, hardware, the super lightweight, but especially the EndurNeck profile, which exemplifies the brand’s ergonomics-first approach to electric guitar design.
But when more brands are making their own headless models, maybe Strandberg needed to add a high-profile player just to keep things interesting. Strandberg describes it as “a natural alignment between Bowen’s creative requirements and Strandberg’s design philosophy”.
Bowen says it was love at first sight.
“A great guitar should be inspiring the moment you pick it up – they almost beckon you from across the room to play them – and when I picked up a Strandberg for the first time I knew it was going to be special,” he says. “As a guitarist for 34 years, I’ve had a lot of time to discover what works in the studio and on the road. Strandberg guitars offer a lightweight, ergonomic solution without giving up tone, playability, and most importantly that instant source of inspiration.”
Watch this space. In other Periphery signature guitar news, Jackson released Misha Mansoor’s EverTune-equipped eight-string Juggernaut in May, an extended-range monster that evolved out of a Custom Shop build.
“It’s just a very useful tool to have,” Mansoor told MusicRadar in 2025. “I have a Custom Shop one that I use live. It allows me to dig into the guitar a bit more… It does allow me to have a little more fun onstage.”
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