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OHD. Old Hagström Day!


polara

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I've had two old Swedes in the past, both bought cheap and flipped for double what I paid. However I had truly liked them, and so have kept one eye open for a keeper, as Missus Polara is also a Swedish import. One came up on Reverb, from a guy with no Reverb history, with tiny photos and the condition listed as "Good". However, when I zoomed way in, it looked like it was in nice shape, and he said he'd bought it in 1974 (it's a 1972 serial number), but for 35 years it had been unplayed. We negotiated a price, and here it is. Very clean, just normal play wear like some scuffs and jeans-button marks on the back. The case was in very good shape, and it had the original tools in wrapper, plus an ancient curly cord in the case. One big-ass slab of mahogany, ebony board, great frets, and plays great, with very low action, no buzzes, no rattles. Even the original tuners are smooth, though as with every 70s Hagström on earth, one pickup ring is cracked. I have a source in Sweden.

It did come with the pickguard, which I removed as it gets in my way when I play a Las Paul-ish guitar.

Anyway, it's a cool guitar and I'm glad, in a sort of second-hand patriotic way, to have it to play in our band.

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17 minutes ago, donner said:

Congrats! I have an old Hagström Bass, made in Sweden.

Still wondering, how you'd managed to wring that „ö“ from your keyboard 😉

:D On a Mac, it's option+u, then press "o" to get ö

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1 minute ago, Steve Haynie said:

Now you have me wanting a Hagstrom.  That guitar looks nice!

They are very nice... but have ups and downs

Pros

  1. Solid build
  2. Ebony board, great medium necks, very stable with H-beam truss rod
  3. Clear, ringing sound, more chimey than a Les Paul
  4. Unusual
  5. Affordable compared to an LP (you can get a good one for $1000, and pristine one for $1500)

Cons

  1. Pickup rings ALWAYS crack
  2. Heavy (like a solid Les Paul)
  3. Doesn't do the big Les Paul power thing, more balanced and hi-fi sound
  4. Most have been modded a lot, and that may not be your cup of tea
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Kinda cool that Kerry Livgren of Kansas played one of these; his heritage was Swedish. The short-scale Swede bass was okay; lots of gain on the ones I tried, possibly due to weight but it was  balanced and felt okay if I used a wide strap.

The brand has been resurgent in recent times, and I've noted their eight-string bass re-issue + a new more-modern configuration that has pointed cutaways and a Swede-style headstock.

24. Hagstrom H8-II cherry.jpg

25. Hagstrom HB-8-bass-wild-cherry-transparent-LO.jpg

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1 hour ago, donner said:

how you'd managed to wring that „ö“ from your keyboard

Also on Mac, you can just long hold any letter key that has available accent options and a little window pops up to display them all.  From there you just press the number key corresponding to the desired accent and you're done.

 

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5 hours ago, donner said:

Congrats! I have an old Hagström Bass, made in Sweden.

Still wondering, how you'd managed to wring that „ö“ from your keyboard 😉

Yöü cän get än ëürôpêän kėÿbœard, töö… 

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Congrats!  The Swede was Bob Seger's weapon of choice for quite a while.

In the late 60's/early 70's I had a Hagstrom Model 1, the "golden swimming pool between the pickups" model.  Skinny as hell neck and very powerful pickups. The front was a single piece of molded plastic, ostentatiously bolted to the body (very metal) while the back was covered with Nauga-something.  The best part was the Vege-matic switches that kind of worked usually.

Like this:

Hagstrom 1.jpg

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                          Very Cool guitar! I had one back in the 1970's mine was a natural color they were hard to find..........................................I'm all 'SWEDE' ,both parents. Larry put it to good use and was one of the few artists that used one. Congrats on yours!             

 

 

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I had one exactly like that back in the '70s. Great guitar. I installed a switch to put the pickups out of phase in the middle position. I don't remember why but I did. I also installed a switch to put the coils in one pickup out of phase. That one didn't work. Not sure why but it didn't. But, the thing played amazingly. Except I couldn't play.

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22 hours ago, Willie G. Moseley said:

Kinda cool that Kerry Livgren of Kansas played one of these; his heritage was Swedish. The short-scale Swede bass was okay; lots of gain on the ones I tried, possibly due to weight but it was  balanced and felt okay if I used a wide strap.

The brand has been resurgent in recent times, and I've noted their eight-string bass re-issue + a new more-modern configuration that has pointed cutaways and a Swede-style headstock.

24. Hagstrom H8-II cherry.jpg

25. Hagstrom HB-8-bass-wild-cherry-transparent-LO.jpg

 

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I bought a recent 8 string bass exactly like the bottom one in Willie's post. It was not a high quality instrument.  I had to relocate the bridge to get it to intonate.  Extremely heavy (12-13 lbs), lifeless mid-scooped tone, no sustain.  Made in China.

I was hoping for a bargain short scale B8.  Fail.

It is possible that I got a dog and others are better.

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1 hour ago, BadgerDave said:

I bought a recent 8 string bass exactly like the bottom one in Willie's post. It was not a high quality instrument.  I had to relocate the bridge to get it to intonate.  Extremely heavy (12-13 lbs), lifeless mid-scooped tone, no sustain.  Made in China.

I was hoping for a bargain short scale B8.  Fail.

It is possible that I got a dog and others are better.

I was - and still am - pretty skeptical of the Chinese Hagströms.. However, my quest for a Swedish one was started because I got a Chagstrom this year. It was one of two (I did check around to verify) they made for summer NAMM 2020. Flame maple top, transparent red, a more ergonomic carve on the cutaway, Ratio tuners, and Lundgren pickups with coil splitting. It's very well made, much nicer than I'd expected, up in Eastman territory. I'm sure Chinese builders can make an instrument to any price point, but maybe the production Hags are just "saw, glue, paint, ship" price point.

I prefer the Swedish one for sound, but that's more preference than a "one is vastly better than the other" thing. They feel really similar in terms of neck carve, weight, overall vibe.

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Those are nice. I had one in that colour. Can't remember what the original pickups sounded like. Then I had a Super Swede, which has a set neck. I had both these when I was in between bands, so I never giged with them. If I remember correctly they have double aluminium truss rods. That migh affects how they sound to a slight degree. I am not sure. My memory slips me.

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1 hour ago, Disturber said:

Those are nice. I had one in that colour. Can't remember what the original pickups sounded like. Then I had a Super Swede, which has a set neck. I had both these when I was in between bands, so I never giged with them. If I remember correctly they have double aluminium truss rods. That migh affects how they sound to a slight degree. I am not sure. My memory slips me.

Yes, the truss rod is an aluminum beam. I know this is almost cork-sniffer territory, but I am positive it makes a big difference. Every H I've played has this metallic "zing" when strummed. It apparently also goes all the way to the end of the neck, which allegedly (I tend to believe it) makes it easier to have a straight neck. The high-end emphasis from the partly aluminum neck sounds weird unplugged but adds a nice sort of presence plugged in.

Retroscape H-III by Hagstrom Guitars of Sweden

DC75Bro_In1s.jpg

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On 12/14/2021 at 2:40 PM, Montelovesco said:

Yöü cän get än ëürôpêän kėÿbœard, töö… 

I got a buddy who would be fun to fuck with, having one of those! 😂

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