Show Full Spec Comparison
Strandberg Boden Fusion NX 6 Amber Yellow | Guild Starfire I DC Emerald Green | |
---|---|---|
General | ||
Brand: | Strandberg | Guild |
Year: | 2021 | 2020 |
Configuration: | HSH | HH |
Strings: | 6 | 6 |
Made in: | Indonesia | Indonesia |
Series: | Boden Fusion | Newark St. Collection |
Colors: | Red, Yellow | Blue, Green, Brown, Red |
Left-Handed Version: | No | No |
Body | ||
Type: | Solid Body | Semi-Hollow |
Body Material: | Chambered Alder | Maple |
Bridge: | Strandberg EGS Pro Rev7 tremolo system & string locks | Guild Tune-O-Matic Nickel |
Neck | ||
Neck Joint: | Bolt-On | Set |
Tuners: | At bridge | Guild Vintage 18 Open Gear |
Fretboard: | Indian Rosewood | Indian Rosewood |
Neck Material: | Maple | Mahogany |
Decoration: | Green Side Dots | 5mm Dots - Pearloid |
Scale Size: | 25.5" to 25" | 24.75" |
Shape: | EndurNeck | Modern Thin "U" |
Thickness: | 1st Fret: 1.2'' (30.5mm) - 12th Fret: 1.1'' (27.9mm) | 1st Fret: 0.787'' (20mm) - 12th Fret: 0.886'' (22.5mm) |
Frets: | 24 Medium Jumbo Stainless Steel | 22 Narrow Tall Nickel Silver |
Fretboard Radius: | 20" | 12.5" |
Nut: | Locking | Bone |
Nut Width: | 36mm (1.417'') | 42.8mm (1.687'') |
Electronics | ||
Bridge Pickups: | Suhr SSV+ Bridge (Humbucker / Passive) | Guild HB-2 Humbucker Nickel Bridge (Humbucker / Passive) |
Middle Pickup: | Suhr V60LP single-coil (Single Coil / Passive) | |
Neck Pickup: | Suhr SSV Neck (Humbucker / Passive) | Guild HB-2 Humbucker Nickel Neck (Humbucker / Passive) |
Switch: | 5 Way | 3 Way |
Knobs: | Dome | Bell |
Pickup Mods: | Coil Split | Coil Split |
Volume Controls: | 1 | 1 |
Tone Controls: | 1 | 1 |
Hardware | ||
Strap Lock: | No | No |
Hardware Color: | Black | Nickel |
Reasons to Get
Strandberg Boden Fusion NX 6 Amber Yellow over Guild Starfire I DC Emerald Green
Reasons to Get
Guild Starfire I DC Emerald Green over Strandberg Boden Fusion NX 6 Amber Yellow
Other Key Differences
Strandberg Boden Fusion NX 6 Amber Yellow vs Guild Starfire I DC Emerald Green
Shared Features
Strandberg Boden Fusion NX 6 Amber Yellow vs Guild Starfire I DC Emerald Green
Common Strengths
- Pickup Alter Switch/Knob
- High-Quality Nut
- Expensive Wood
Common Weaknesses
- Stays in Tune (Evertune)
- Compound Radius Fretboard
- From a High-Quality-Standards Country
- Strap Lock
- 21:1 Tuner Ratio
- Active/Passive Preamp
Price History Comparison
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Hand Size Comfortability
After taking into account the scale length, nut width, neck profile and fretboard radius, we can conclude that both favor small hands .
Strandberg Boden Fusion NX 6 Amber Yellow:
Guild Starfire I DC Emerald Green:
Beginner Friendliness
Both meet 5 out of our 8 criteria items for beginner friendliness. This takes into account the type of frets, scale length, nut width, bridge type, fretboard radius, and neck profile to determine the easiest combination for new players. If you're looking for your first guitar to learn how to play, you can't go wrong with either of them.
New Player Friendliness
Strandberg Boden Fusion NX 6 Amber Yellow- Comfortable shape
- Easy-to-use bridge
- Tall frets
- Narrow nut
- Comfortable neck
- Comfortable fretboard
- Short scale
- Locking tuners
New Player Friendliness
Guild Starfire I DC Emerald Green- Comfortable shape
- Easy-to-use bridge
- Tall frets
- Narrow nut
- Comfortable neck
- Comfortable fretboard
- Short scale
- Locking tuners
Sound Quality Comparison
The wood used in an electric guitar or bass is not as important to determine the final tone. However, some people prefer specific wood types, so we'll take a look at those first. Then, we'll take a look at the electronics to determine the versatility and sound quality of each instrument.
Woods Used in Both
Maple is one of the most popular necks for good reasons. It is a strong wood that is relatively cheap to make and looks beautiful. The highest quality maple is the hardest that comes from North America. Find out more about Maple.
Rosewood is an almost purple-looking wood that is used mainly for fretboards since it's heavy, rare, and expensive. It's sometimes used on acoustic guitar bodies to create stronger warm tones. Find out more about Rosewood.
Woods Used in the Strandberg Boden Fusion NX 6 Amber Yellow
Alder is the most popular wood that Fender uses in most of their guitars nowadays. Even though they say it's because of its balanced tone with an emphasis in the upper midrange, it probably is because it isn't too expensive, and it's also pretty lightweight—more than Mahogany. Find out more about Alder.
Woods Used in the Guild Starfire I DC Emerald Green
Mahogany is a fairly rare wood nowadays. It's used mostly for bodies due to its relatively lightweight. Gibson popularized it with their Les Paul guitars during their golden years, so this wood has a lot of good reputation behind it. The most expensive type comes from South America and it's still used by Gibson even today. Find out more about Mahogany.
Winner: Guild Starfire I DC Emerald Green.
Pickup Configuration
The Strandberg Boden Fusion NX 6 Amber Yellow has an HSH configuration while the Guild Starfire I DC Emerald Green has HH pickups.
HSH is a versatile pickup configuration that will give you the high output, full tone, and quiet sound of humbucker pickups, but with the possibility of using a single coil for cleaner tones. The disadvantage is that the middle single-coil pickup will have a noticeable lower volume, so you might want to adjust the height of the pickups. Another problem is that if you set the middle pickup too high, it might interfere with your picking hand.
On the other hand, Double Humbucker (HH) is the choice for people who want a fuller, more round sound with tons of mids and lows. Humbuckers also get rid of the hum noise that plague single-coil pickups. They can work out for almost any genre going from Djent to even Jazz.
Pickups Quality
The Strandberg Boden Fusion NX 6 Amber Yellow has pickups from a more specialized brand than the Guild Starfire I DC Emerald Green. Its pickups should simply give you a better, fuller sound, although it all depends on what type of music you're going to play. We recommend these pickups for Heavy Metal and similar genres.
Both use Passive pickups. This is what's used for most music genres. They have a regular output and will serve you for both high-gain and clean tones. The alternative (Active pickups) offer a higher output that is mostly used for heavy music.
Winner: Strandberg Boden Fusion NX 6 Amber Yellow.
Versatility Comparison
Some instruments offer you more ways to explore your creativity than others. Below you'll find how both compare when it comes to versatility.
Switch Options
The Strandberg Boden Fusion NX 6 Amber Yellow gives you 5 switch options while the Guild Starfire I DC Emerald Green gives you 3. This means that the Strandberg Boden Fusion NX 6 Amber Yellow gives you more options to find the right pickup combination for the type of sound you want to achieve
Both offer you the same type of pickup mod: Coil Split.
Coil Split lets you disconnect one of the pickup coils. When used with humbuckers, it turns them into single-coil with lower output and cleaner tone.
When evaluating versatility, we also take into consideration bridge and neck joint type, number of frets, switch options, amount of pickups and more.
Winner: Strandberg Boden Fusion NX 6 Amber Yellow.
Final Sound Quality Scores
Build Quality Comparison
When it comes to build quality, we like to take into account everything used to build the instrument. This includes materials, hardware and the quality control expected depending on the country where it was built. Let's see how the Strandberg Boden Fusion NX 6 Amber Yellow compares to the Guild Starfire I DC Emerald Green.
Country of Origin
The manufacturing country can tell a lot about the build quality of an instrument. Both in this comparison where made in Indonesia.
Indonesia is becoming the most popular country for guitar building because they can make good instruments for a low price. Some people think that they're 'the new China' when it comes to build quality. But the truth is that Indonesian guitars are more consistent, although Chinese quality has improved a lot in the last few years.
Winner: Tie
Nut Material
If you want your guitar to stay in tune and sound good, you need a well cut nut. Nut quality can be inconsistent even when comparing two copies of the same model. The best way to make sure you're nut will be well done is by getting a nut made by an expert company like TUSQ or Micarta.
The Strandberg Boden Fusion NX 6 Amber Yellow has a Locking nut. Instead of a regular nut, this guitar has a locking system that will lock down the strings at the nut, preventing it from getting out of tune. It removes one of the disadvantages of tremolo bridges, tune stability.
On the other hand, the Guild Starfire I DC Emerald Green comes with a Bone nut. It's a type of nut found in high-quality instruments. They sound similar to Ivory since they give a lot of sustain and a bright sound (at least when striking open strings). The only problem they can run into is that you may get a bone piece that simply doesn't sound as well as others because that's just how natural materials are.
Winner: Tie.
Fret Material
Most fret wire is made of nickel silver. This material eventually wears down after a lot of use and most instruments end up needing a complete fret replacement. However, some expensive models come with stainless steel frets. This is what you should aim for if you can afford it.
In this comparison, the Strandberg Boden Fusion NX 6 Amber Yellow is the only one that has stainless steel frets. These frets will basically last for the entire life of the guitar. They will never need polishing nor replacement. And not only that, but some people also notice that bending and vibratos are much easier to perform when they upgrade to stainless steel.
Winner: Strandberg Boden Fusion NX 6 Amber Yellow.
Bridge
The perfect bridge for you will depend on your playstyle because they all have advantages and disadvantages. However, some bridges are more expensive—like Floyd Roses and Evertunes—and thus add more value to a guitar.
The Strandberg Boden Fusion NX 6 Amber Yellow's brige is a Tremolo. Tremolo bridges give you more versatility than fixed bridges. They let you perform the intense vibrato effects that would be impossible with a fixed bridge. However, since the bridge floats and there's less contact with the body, the strings lose sustain slightly faster. They can also be a bit harder to restring and set up correctly than fixed bridges.
On the other hand, the Guild Starfire I DC Emerald Green's is a Fixed. It's a simple bridge that is very beginner-friendly since it doesn't require any set-up. You can swap strings easily. It might also give more sustain since it doesn't have complex moving parts that make the strings lose vibration. However, it doesn't have the same versatility as a tremolo bridge.
Since we need to be objective, the most expensive type of bridge will be the winner of this section. In the end, this doesn't matter if you're not going to use the bridge for its original purpose, so choose the bridge that fits your playing style better.
Winner: Tie.
Tuners
In this case, the Strandberg Boden Fusion NX 6 Amber Yellow has no machine heads because it is a headless guitar. Instead, the strings are tuned at the bridge. This gives the guitar a better balance and will prevent neck dives. It also makes it more travel friendly.
Winner: Tie.
Neck Joint
Contrary to popular belief, the difference in sustain and tone that some neck joints give to a guitar is simply unperceivable—if they're all well built. However, some of them do have advantages over the others.
The Strandberg Boden Fusion NX 6 Amber Yellow has a Bolt-On neck joint. This neck is joined to the body by 4 bolts that you can simply unscrew. This allows you to replace the neck or take it off for travel. It's the most common and cheapest way to build a guitar.
On the other hand, the Guild Starfire I DC Emerald Green comes with Set neck joint. This neck is tightly glued to the body. They give you the least versatility because you can't swap them for a neck that fits your hand better if you want to, unlike bolt-on necks. Some people think this gives more resonance and sustain, but there's no real difference if the bolt-on joint is well built.
Winner: Strandberg Boden Fusion NX 6 Amber Yellow.
Here is the list of features that were considered when choosing the winner in the Features subcategory:
Strandberg Boden Fusion NX 6 Amber Yellow
- Stainless Steel Frets
- Expensive Wood
- Locking Nut
- Top Brand Pickups
- Coil Split Pickups
- Weight Relief
- Luminescent Inlay
- Tremolo
- Made in Indonesia
- No Neck-Through Build
- No Compound Radius Fretboard
- No 21:1 Tuner Ratio
- No Strap Lock
Guild Starfire I DC Emerald Green
- Expensive Wood
- Bone Nut
- Coil Split Pickups
- Cheap Fret Wire (NS)
- No Locking Tuners
- Made in Indonesia
- No Top Brand Pickups
- No Neck-Through Build
- No Luminescent Inlay
- No Tremolo
- No Compound Radius Fretboard
- No 21:1 Tuner Ratio
- No Strap Lock
Final Build Quality Scores
Playability Comparison
Let's now compare their playability. Bear in mind that the instrument will feel different depending on your hand size and play style. That's why you should always test before buying. But if you can't or want a second opinion on it, we can still take a look at each of the important measurements of the instrument for you. This way, we can predict how easy a guitar might be to play, or how different it will feel compared to the other.
Remember that, even though the difference might seem small, every inch counts when it comes to feeling of the instrument in your hands. Any variation can completely change how comfortable a guitar feels in your hands.
Nut Width
The nut width will affect the separation between strings at the nut. In this comparison, the Guild Starfire I DC Emerald Green has the wider nut with 42.8mm (1.687'') vs 36mm (1.417''). This is a 6.8mm (0.27'') difference
This means that it will be more difficult to do bar chords on the Guild Starfire I DC Emerald Green, especially closer to the nut. However, it's also easier to play without muting strings accidently. This favors people with big hands.
Scale Length
The scale length is one of the things that influences playability the most. This is the distance between the nut and the bridge and will affect everything from low action allowance, difficulty to perform bends, fret separation, and even tone.
In this case, the Strandberg Boden Fusion NX 6 Amber Yellow features a multi-scale of 25.5" to 25" while the Guild Starfire I DC Emerald Green has a regular scale of 24.75".
A multi-scale fingerboard incorporates two scale lengths at the same time. This is present in some instruments with long scale to give a different tension to the lower strings than the higher strings. The thickest strings need more tension to avoid fret buzz (especially when tuned low), so the scale is longer for these strings, while the thinnest strings will need less tension (because they have a lower gauge), so they have a shorter scale to reduce stiffness for bends.
It can feel awkward if you've never played a multi-scale because the frets will have more separation for the higher strings, but a lot of people love their versatility.
On the other hand, the Guild Starfire I DC Emerald Green's 24.75" regular scale means it has a fixed scale for all the strings.This is the scale length that Gibson uses for most of its Les Paul guitars. It's a smaller scale than the typical Stratocaster's 25.5''. Short scale lengths like this make it easier to bend the strings, which is pretty important if you have a fixed bridge. They also have a shorter fret separation, which makes it easier to change position fast at the fretboard.
On the other hand, a shorter scale like this one will make fret buzz more likely, which can affect you if you want to use thicker string gauges.
Lastly, remember that you can also affect the tension of the strings by changing your string gauge. You can use a thicker gauge for more tension and a lighter one for less tension.
Neck Profile
No single neck shape is better than others. However, most people tend to prefer a thinner necks because it doesn't get in their way when playing fast and most hand sizes can adapt to it pretty well. However, some people still prefer thicker necks for a better grip, especially if they have big hands.
In this case, both have different neck shapes:
The Strandberg Boden Fusion NX 6 Amber Yellow has a C type of neck. This is what you'll find in most modern guitars. Most people feel like the thickness of a C neck is simply the less intrusive one for playing fast, while at the same time allowing you to grab the neck easily for resting if you want to.
The Guild Starfire I DC Emerald Green, on the other hand, has a U neck. This is also referred to as ''baseball neck'' because of its shape. It's usually thick, which is why some people with big hands like it. However, they can also be thin, similar to a C shape, but with more shoulders for a better grip.
Fretboard Radius
Most guitar fretboards are not flat; they usually have a curve or arc across their width. A curved fretboard will make it easier to perform chords without muting strings, while a flatter one will make it easier to play single notes, which is good for bending and soloing in general. The best fretboards have a compound radius that varies across the fingerboard, but they're not common since they take a lot more work to build.
In this case, the Guild Starfire I DC Emerald Green's fingerboard radius is smaller, which means it's more curved than the Strandberg Boden Fusion NX 6 Amber Yellow's. This extra arc will make playing chords easier in this model. You won't be as likely to mute the strings, especially if you have big hands. However, playing single notes and bending will be easier on the Strandberg Boden Fusion NX 6 Amber Yellow.
Fret Size
The Guild Starfire I DC Emerald Green has Narrow Tall frets, which should be taller than the Strandberg Boden Fusion NX 6 Amber Yellow's Medium Jumbo frets.
Some people prefer taller frets because they result in more sustain since the strings get pressed cleanly without interference from the fretboard. However, if they're too tall—like Jumbo frets—, you might change the pitch of the strings accidentally if you press too hard because you won't be touching the fretboard with your fingers. This is also why some guitarists with a heavy grip prefer smaller frets. They like to feel the fingerboard to avoid pressing down too hard and getting out of pitch.