NAMM 2026: Ever-innovative Swedish guitar firm Strandberg has turned to Jamstik for its latest collaborative release, and the Strandberg x Jamstik Chameleon puts its electric guitar design on a collision course with full polyphonic MIDI functionality.
The firm behind the dramatic reversal of fortunes of headless guitars, Strandberg, with its ergonomic body shape and peculiar-but-addictive EndurNeck – inspired by a common household object no less – has already left its mark on the industry. But it doesn’t want to stop there, with the Chameleon crafted to go beyond the typical realms of the guitar.
See it as a best of both worlds guitar, with all the usual features of a Strandberg bolstered with the power of MIDI. Through USB-C, Bluetooth, and TRS-MIDI connectivity, the guitar can control software instruments, from lush violins and synths to harpsichord, choirs, and whatever else may take your fancy.
Latency is described as being as low as possible, offering near-seamless integration into a world usually reserved for other tools. Granted, Jamstik's MIDI guitars have been around for a while, but have only ever come in Strat-like formats, so this is a pretty tasty meeting of minds, especially given Strandberg's celebrated ergonomics.
The guitar itself has a meranti body, presumably for its tonal neutrality, although others deem it closer to mahogany. Elsewhere, there's a bolt-on roasted maple neck, 24-fret rosewood fingerboard with 20” radius, stainless steel frets, and white plastic inlays.
Strandberg Custom humbuckers with Master Volume and Tone controls and a five-way switch, and its sturdy Arc hardtail bridge with aluminum Knob NX 6mm tuning knobs also feature.
And that is, of course, before we talk about the extraterrestrial Chameleon Burst gloss finish. This writer usually likes a guitar to look like a piece of wood, but given the context, this looking like it was stolen from an alien spacecraft is pretty cool.
The MIDI magic, meanwhile, comes via the Zivix Jamstik MIDI module and hexaphonic pickup, which sits between the treble pickup and the bridge. That means this can do everything you expect from a Strandberg, and then some. It's not a case of either or.
“The Strandberg x Jamstik Chameleon is the perfect instrument for the modern adventurous musician longing to expand their definition of what a guitar can do while retaining the feel, sound, and functionality of other Strandberg guitars,” says the firm.
“Venture into a world of alternate tunings and non-guitar sounds with the lowest possible latency to break new musical ground.”
With this being a Strandberg, its $2,199 should come as no great surprise, more than doubling the outlay of the Jamstik Standard, even if the own-brand pickups might not inspire all.
Still, with a guitar that has proved to perform like no other, as per Guitar World’s reviews of the N2 Original and N2 Standard, and the added functionality, the price can be argued.
Check out Strandberg for more info.
It’s the first major announcement from Strandberg during NAMM 2026, while we wait with bated breath to see if its long-since teased headless acoustic is about to follow in its wake.
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