If there is a guitar that smells like the future, this is it. Boss is introducing the V-BDN VG-Strandberg guitar, a new instrument that fuses the designs of Swedish builder Strandberg with the V-Guitar technologies from Boss.
The guitar is based on Strandberg’s popular Boden J Standard model. The V-BDN includes elements like headless design, organic tone, balance, and comfortable playability and features fanned frets, an ergonomic body, and the patented EndurNeck neck profile. Its custom hardware is made from lightweight aircraft-grade aluminum, which provides highly effective transfer of string vibrations into the wood.
The V-Guitar technologies offer a multi-position mode selector that provides quick access to various modeled humbucking and single-coil guitar pickups, plus bass, electric sitar, and acoustic guitar tones. Five synth voices are available as well, including three variations of Roland’s classic GR-300 Guitar Synthesizer from the 1980s.
With a twist of the tuning knob, the V-BDN can go from standard tuning to five different down-tunings—all without adjusting the actual string tension. Tunings include semitone down, whole-step down, drop D, drop C#, and drop C.
The V-BDN has a five-position mode selector knob that provides access to 25 onboard sounds. Each position makes five different sounds available from the guitar’s five-way blade selector switch.
Position 1—Engages the guitar’s normal humbucking pickups.
Position 2—Modeled single-coil pickup sounds.
Position 3—Modeled humbucking pickup sounds.
Position 4—Hybrid sounds: bass; humbucker w/octave down on strings 5 and 6; electric sitar; nylon-string acoustic; steel-string acoustic.
Position 5—Synthesizer: string synth lead; synth organ; GR-300 lead variations (octave down, normal, octave up).
The six-position tuning knob on the V-BDN provides instant access to standard tuning and five virtual down tunings.
Position 1—Standard tuning.
Position 2—E flat tuning (all strings a semitone down).
Position 3—D tuning (all strings a whole step down).
Position 4—Drop D (D-A-D-G-B-E).
Position 5—Drop C♯ (C♯-G♯-C♯-F♯-A♯-D♯).
Position 6—Drop C (C-G-C-F-A-D).
Offered in a limited production run, the V-BDN is available in a transparent blue finish and comes with a padded instrument bag. If you are interested, hopefully the future holds prosperity for you as U.S. Street is $4299.99
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This doesn’t have a vg output so it can’t drive a gp10. Think this is a major limitation
Thankfully Boss got out of the way and let a guy like Alex Hutchings play some cool shit and not corner him into an infamous Boss Top Gun-esque product video vibe. Nice job with the GR-300 sounds albeit Boss will neeeeeever nail that sound again… oooor they could finally relent and put a reissue out. Just sayin’ – ha! This is still a very cool idea. All hail Boss!!