Any love for the Hagstrom guitars ?

[jonno64]

Bought one recently a Hagstrom Tremar Super Swede LP , the styling is beautiful great action , super feel . So I have two now as I also bought a Hagstrom Viking deluxe 12 String ES 335 , awesome .

 

[Byron Blue]

Just found it: The guitar was a Hagstrom XL-5 UltraLux. I think I'll find another...
EDIT: Apparently I cannot find one for sale.

 

[Margaret Rome]

The Dlx Viking gives me a serious case of GAS! Damn, and I just had to buy a new laptop too.

 

[kakerlak]

I dont own a new Hagström so my opinion is just based on the models I've tried at the music store. They felt, looked and sounded just like the other guitars in the section which were Epiphone, Ibanez and some other brand dont remember. There wasnt anything special about them at all.

But I do agree with you that the new asian ones play better than the original swedish-built guitars. Alot of those old guitars were 'novelty instruments' that just sound weird and are impossible to adjust. And the quality control might have been a bit lax at times aswell.

But these new ones dont have an ounce of the mojo that the originals have. You might have to be a fan of Swedish proggressive rock from the 70's to see it, but it's there.

I'm gonna disagree with you on the vintage ones, lol. They're way funky (and often hideously ugly), but every one I've played has been a really nice playing guitar. I owned one of the old electric XIIs, funky super thin pointy horn body, bolt neck, UGLY opaque tri-color burst, etc. It sounded fantastic and played flawlessly with as low an action as you want. I sold it years ago b/c it was so ugly and the neck was shredder thin and classical guitar wide. I also spent a long time playing one of the old Corvettes and almost bought it -- it was a cool orange sunburst with a set neck and it, too, was dressed well and played great. I've picked others up over the years, but those two stand out in memory and they were just fine. Sweden was making pretty good instruments (the old Levin/Goya stuff was great, though a lot of the old acoustics have suffered old acoustic aging issues w/o the inherent value to prompt the repair and maintenance over the years that vintage Martins, Gibsons, and Guilds have seen).

[EDIT] just realized I replied to an eight year-old post, LMFAO

 

[Benjammin]

I love mine, I can honestly say its the best guitar for the money I have owned in 20 years of playing

 

[Burst Boy]

I've had a new Viking Deluxe 12 for about six weeks. I bought it as result of Gibson ES335 GAS and decided on a twelve string for something new and different. I think I've had it long enough to make some valid observations.

The ever so slightly negative (so minor I have to emphasise these issues are literally nothing):

- the F-hole plastic finishing liners have slight tool marks on the black inside surface. This is only noticeable when playing and looking down at the body. From the front all that can be seen is the white edge and you wouldn't even know there are tool marks (I didn't notice until sometime after purchasing the guitar).

- At the top edge of the headstock above the 'strom' part of the logo, not at the front or the back, are three very thin blue/green lines that cross at angle from the red part and across the binding; very small and it took me a while before I noticed. They are under the finish and certainly aren't cracks but I'm thinking it's residual glue or bonding agent remaining from manufacture.

The good (if not awesome):

- Attention to detail is incredible. No structural issues whatsoever. The following review from 2010 highlights what appears to be early quality issues. Mine have none of these: https://patrickfinch.com/2010/03/14/hagstrom-viking-my-review/

- The pickups are awesome. Clear, articulate, no muddiness, no harshness. I'm fussy about humbuckers but these are perfect to my ears.

- Tuning stability is rock solid. I expected, becasue it's a 12 string, I'd be stuffing around with tuning all the time. No such problems. Even during the recent swing from summer to winter all I do is a tuning check with a tuner (becasue non of the strings sound out of tune), may be a slight tweak here and there and all done.

- Playability: no problem. good neck width, no feeling cramped. Action is perfect with no adjustment required. No buzzing or any other unwanted noises.

- The finish is awesome. Nice looking wood. The H expander truss rod seems like a sound concept.

In summary, the quality, finish, playability and sounds of this guitar is right up there. It encourages and inspires me to play. Great guitar.

 

[lpfan1980]

I would like to own A hagstrom some day. They look nice and hear nothing but good things about them.

 

[lpfan1980]

I love mine, I can honestly say its the best guitar for the money I have owned in 20 years of playing

View attachment 445358
Look at that shine what a classic looking guitar!

 

[lespaulfreak93]

I own a Hagstrom Swede which I got in 2014 when my first LP copy had the frets worn so badly it was unplayable and a re-fret was not worth it due to the value of the guitar.

It's the one guitar that's great, but I can't seem to fall in love with it since I got it. The quality is mind blowing for what it cost and like previously mentioned great attention to detail. Some very good wiring options with the additional switch, too.

I just can't bond with it for some reason. It's a great guitar, just... makes me go "meh".

Excellently designed instrument, that's what I can say. The European made modern ones were probably the best value-for-money I've ever seen, but also all of the ones I played were agonizingly heavy. They were made in the Czech Republic, which is a country with strong guitar-making traditions.

Either way, it's 1000 times the guitar any Epiphone I've ever played is.
Nothing needs changing on fixing on it.
The composite fretboard is nice to the touch and feels very wood-like.