FAQs

Why? Why not?

What does Rantaberi mean? The design is very much based on the Strandberg guitars. Strandberg is a Swedish company. “Strand” in swedish meand beach or shore. I live in Finland however. The word for beach or shore in Finnish is “ranta”. Finnish people often pronounce the swedish ending “berg” as “beri”. Hence Rantaberi.

What’s the shape? This is an ergonomic guitar, with the shape optimised for playing seated. This presents the neck in a very easy to reach position, with no shoulder or wrist pain required.

Why are the frets wonky? On most guitars, all six strings are the same length, so the frets are parallel. On mine, each string is a different length, with the bass strings being longer than the treble strings. The frets therefore need to be angled to put the notes in the right place.

But why are the strings different lengths? Short version: To make the bass strings tighter and less flappy, allowing for more precice rhythm playing and to make the treble strings feel lighter and easier to bend, for easier lead playing.

Does this actually make a difference? It’s marginal at best, but I like it.

Couldn’t you achieve the same effect by just using a different gauge of string, with heavier bottom strings, and lighter treble strings? For example the Ernie Ball 2216 Skinny Top Beefy Bottom set? Yes.

How much does it weigh? Less than 2.5kg. My Fender strat by contrast, is 3.6kg, and my Gibson Les Paul is 4.6kg.