Hagstrom Swede

this is one of the new reissues. i like having the phase toggle in addition to a classic lp style electronics set-up. the resonator fretboard is great, as is the carved mahogany type.

i play indie rock style stuff and it has a great thick sound with a brightness that you don't get with a les paul. i play it through a vox ac15, which sounds thin when the gain is pushed, however it sounds great with my marshall jtm 60 and my mesa boogie blue angel (buy yourself one of these!).

this category is why i thought another review was needed for this guitar. the binding is uneven and dips below the fretboard on the bottom of the heel of the fretboard. the frets needed dressing. the nut is plastic non-fantastic. right out of the box i had to have the action set-up, a bone nut made (definitely what made this guitar sound great) and the p/u's adjusted. next i plan on getting the pots and switches replaced. hagstrom's revival is a great thing, however they need to get on their production facility and teach these folks how to solder and fret these guitars. a few more dollars spent on their part for a bone nut and better pots would go along way.

this remains to be seen, but i see this guitar being higher than average maintenance.

i have a g&l, and a gretsch 5120 as well as this swede. i love it's heaviness, but i didn't anticipate it's shortcomings in regards to construction. if it was lost or stolen, i would get something else taht wouldn't require a couple hundred more to a luthier to make a great player.

Bought the '74 Swede in '75 and replaced the pickups with Dimarzios. Still plays like day one after years of travel and play - it has never failed or needed adjustment (also stays tuned far longer than other guitars I have)?!
Many sounds with different switch settings that range from a mellow jazz souund to a super sustain and crunch sound when the volume control passes "8". Teachers at Berkeley/Boston would always use my Swede when they needed to borrow a guitar and one eventually admitted he loved playing it due to the narrow neck and fast action. This is an increadible buy for the prices I see it selling for. 10-for the price 8-when compared to newer $1,000+ models.

I bought the Arctic White version, and it has a beautiful finish. I wash my hands before I touch it. The tuners are good, the hardware all solid. It's a Mahogany set-neck, Mahogany body, carved Mahogany top. Standard Les Paul pickup/switch/knobs configuration, plus a tone filter swith that doesn't have much effect, except when playing clean (undistorted), it can add a subtle but nice "chimey" sound.The pickups are supposed to replicate 1958 Gibson humbuckers, and I can't compare those, but they are fat and warm, with a nice bite if you attack the strings peoperly.

I am a legend on my own couch; I play mostly classic rock and pop to amuse myself, and this guitar delivers all the classic Les Paul sounds I try to emulate. It can be distorted into super heavy darkness, or fat but squealing bite, and the clean sound can be classic Les Paul to an almost Rickenbacher "Chime" sound. Seems to be quiet through my Kustom practice amp, and absolutely YUMMY through my Hughes & Kettner Attax 200 head and Rivera half-stack.

The action was great, but I did tweak it just a tad, and the intonation required adjustment. There was a little sawdust in the control cavity, and the 1/4" jack had to have a lockwasher and tightening. I had to turn down the pickup poles on the low E and A strings a little. I expect to fix/adjust this sort of stuff on any guitar I buy, new or used, so all in all, no complaints. The finish and fretwork were perfect.

I'm just an amateur player but I have a good taste for quality instruments, and this seems like a very solid and dependable guitar. I've only had it about 2 weeks, so I can't say how the finish will hold up, but it's a very solid, heavy, and serious instrument. This ain't no Epiphone P.O.S. or half-assed knock-off; it's a REAL guitar.

Haven't had to deal with them, so I don't know. They answered my questions before I bought it, so I think They're OK.

I've only played seriously with 4 Les Paul Standards/Customs, and 2 Les Paul Studios, (to compare with the Hagstrom). 2 Les Paul Standard/Customs MIGHT have been better. 2 of them were worse, but that could be set-up issues. The Hagstrom was equal or superior to the LP Studios. And has prettier features. I would absolutely replace this if lost or stolen, and hope to buy a couple more just so I can have back-up and modify at least one, with a Bigsby Tremelo and different pickups (I want to make a sonic clone of Neil Young's "Old Black" Les Paul).

It would be nice to have the coil-splitting ability of the Super-Swede, but then again why not just get a single coil guitar if you want that sound?

As I said, I'm a horrible guitarist, but I do for a fact have a good feel and taste for what makes a great instrument rather than a mediocre or crappy one. I do set-ups for Pros.

Transparent finish on Mahogany. Les Paul type body. Fixed bridge. Good tuners. 22 fret ebony composite neck. Laminated Mahogany top. Mahogany body and neck.

Suits blues, rock, metal (fast neck). Real growl here. These pickups are very good. Not as hot as most Gibson pickups, but they distort very nicely. Sound is very rich and warm. Not a great variety of sounds are possible though.

Excellent playability. The best Les Paul type guitar I have played. The fretboard is a dream.

I bought a factory blemished guitar, but the defect (dust in the finish) is very small. You would never notice without it being advertised as such.

This a very beautiful and stylish guitar.

Seems to be very durable, but it doesn't have the gigging experience to confirm that. The hardware all seems very durable.

Ebay.

It was a good seller.

I've been playing for 2 years and I mostly play my dads guitars (Martin, Paul Reed Smith, Stratocaster). This guitar can stand up to any of them. The PRS has more tonal variety and features though. If this guitar were stolen I would probably buy another one. I would definitely buy another Hagstrom.

I have a 1974 Hagstrom Swede, LP-style. I contacted the factory in Sweden on the S/N and they confirmed the roll-out date. It's black, one of only a few made that color out of the 4000 or so that Hagstrom turned out in the '70's. The Bottom switch is the pickup select, the top switch is a three-position, center-bypass tone switch which I never use because it doen't apply that much of a difference to the sound, which is pretty awesome. The original tuners for these are made by Schaller, but mine has Jacksons, only because I bought it that way from a pawn shop. This axe is a two-inch-thick solid block of Mahogany with a mahogany neck reinforced with a metal H-Expander Truss Rod. I've had this guitar for twenty years and never had to adjust it. It's got a 21-fret neck with ebony fretboard. This mo is heavy, make sure you get a padded strap, but the incovenience is worth it. Pony up and get some shoulders already. Very durable finish. The inside cavities are all shielded, which makes this guitar dead quiet when you're not playing.

I play rock, grunge, punk and metal, and the Swede takes it and dishes it out on its own better than a dozen other models could. The general sound is very bottom-heavy but I EQ it out a bit on my amp (a Marshall MG100DFX) and get a beautiful full-spectrum tone when clean. I use a Danelectro Fab chorus as my only stompbox, and the Hag sings when clean. When I play distorted, I usually put it in pretty heavy, and this ax changes character instantly from a clean, gorgeous jazz sound to a full, gutteral roar that some say rearranges your chromosomes. Rhythm playing is super-easy and Every one I know who has heard it say it out-performs the Les-Paul

The action is super-low. The covers for the cavities (on the back) have a couple of small gaps, but that's secondary. The pickup rings disintegrated a long time ago, and I replaced those with Gibsons. The Schaller machines that these came stock with hold the guitar in tune extraordinarily well. The neck binding is another common issue with Swedes. It tends to separate. Mine is missing altogether on the bottom of my neck.

You could drop this guitar twenty-three times, pick it up, kiss it and play it without missing a thing. The only issues I have wer mentioned already: The pickup rings and the neck binding. Other than that, this is a real road warrior. You could play it without a backup, but who would?

Although Hagstrom quit making these in Sweden in 1983, I was easily able to get in contact with them about questions I had. They are now being made by a company in CA, I understand. My experience with the original factory has been great.

I've been playing for thirty years. I have three guitars, a Hagstrom Swede bass, a Hagstrom Swede guitar, and a '79 Fender F-65 acoustic. I wish all my axes were Hags, I would get another in a heartbeat. The hard part is convincing my wife I need a twelv-string Viking.

2006 build made in China. All the things that you find in the other reviews, i guess there is not so much variety. There is also another switch, that is not typical for other les paul type of guitars.
I also got a nice Hagstrom Gigbag from the previous owner.

This guitar is just perfect for my style. I play alternative rock, grunge, Tool -influenced kinda rock primarily, with influences from jazz, funk, and others. It is true that you cannot possibly get the typical sigle coil sound, but in any case you have to be pretty messed up in the head to expect this from a guitar like that.
Also I make good use of the lower switch, which i find especially useful at high gain for creating more... cutting kind of sound...dunno how to explain it, really. The switch itself is some sort of filter, the lower position with a higher passing frequency. However thats about all I can say from just listening, and I cannot find any info online about what exactly each position does.
I am using it so far with a GNX1 for effects and one stomp box, a copy of Tech24's Sans Amp. Sounds awesome as far as I am concerned. I havent got the chance to use it with my amp, which is far away from me for now.
I got the chance to sit down in a music shop and compare the Swede with a Gibson LP, and I dare say that my preferences tend drift in Swede's direction. Contrary to what the previous reviewer said, i found the Swede to be slightly brighter than the LP. But in any case to me the Hag is not a soo much an attempt to copy Gibson, I mean if every guitar that has this shape and PU configuration is a LP rip-off, the the majority of the guitars ever done should be a Fender rip-off, right. The Swede in my eyes has a really cool character that sets itself apart from being a LP wannabe :)

The guy that sold me the guitar had put the action waaay too low, and quite naturally there was some fret buzz. I put it a bit higher and it feels perfect, without any noise. It might not be really the fastest neck on the planet, but sure feels damn good. And in any case, I do not consider this a shred type of guitar.
Finish is awesome. I'm in love. My girlfriend is even jealous :D

I am not a gigging musician at this point of time so, I cant say, but i'd be very surprised if something goes wrong. The guitar appears very solid.
I would not use it without a back up, as I would not use any guitar without a back up.

Haven't dealt with them

This guitar rocks. Hagstrom in general are a very cool brand in my eyes, as they build world class instruments rivaling the quality of the top players for a fraction of the price. I am very much looking forward to become a little bit richer so that I could buy myself some of the other models.
I have been playing now for over 15 years, but not professionally (i.e. I dont make a living from music).
I have owned a Epiphone LP standard and I have had also friends leave with me for a long time a cheap Yamaha and a US Fender Stratocaster.
If the guitar would get stolen, I would buy another one for sure.

Made in China.
Singlecut LP body style.
Mahogany Body with Carved Mahogany Top and rear body contour. A little lighter than an LP and easier to hold/better balanced.
Set Mahogany Neck.
Resinator Fretboard with Hagstrom Pearl Block Position Marks. It is a wood composite made to look like ebony.
H-Expander Truss Rod.
Hagstrom 18:1 Die Cast Tuners.
24.75??? Scale.
2x Hagstrom Custom 58 Alnico 5 Humbuckers. "Matched covered Humbuckers optimized for a fat, warm Vintage tone".
3-Way Toggle.
Long Travel Tune-O-Matic with Hagstrom Stop Tail Piece and 6 Individual Brass String Blocks. It is not a standard stop tail piece.
2x Volume / 2x Tone / 3-Way Tone Filter Toggle (center bypass). This provides some passive mid-boost and cut for a little more tonal variety.

I've been playing single-coils but I've been adding some heavier rock and a little jazz to my repertoire so I wanted to get a basic humbucking guitar with the classic rock tone and a passable neck tone for the jazz. Even though the Swede is lighter than an LP there is still enough body mass to give that classic lead tone with all the broad, fat, chunk and long sustain that you expect from this style guitar. Much heavier sounding than the Epi LPs I tried. But that's about the only sound you can get out of it. Otherwise the sound is all bass and mid, no top end. I tried 3 samples of the Swede with a few different amps and they all sound the same. I also tried the Hagstrom Deluxe-F and F20 which use different pickups and they have more variety of tone although they are they are nowhere near the chunk monster that the Swede is. This is darker than the typical LP dark. The darkest sounding LPs (I'm thinking the ones with all-mahogany bodies) have more top end than the Swede. There is very little difference in sound between pickup settings. There is basically no difference in sound as you spin the tone pots. The volume pot has no taper; goes from silent to full volume by 3 on the dial so it is tough to work the tone by blending the pickups. The only noticeable change in tone comes from the toggle switch but that is centered around the mids so it won't add any brightness.

All of the Hagstroms I looked at were put together very well, on a par with some of the best imports that I've seen. They are better looking and more substantial feeling that the equivalent Epis. I like the neck a lot, it is a real player. The electronics were spotty on some samples I tried - sound cutting out, switches not working, that sort of thing.

I emailed Hagstrom a couple of times to see if they had anything to say about the tone and switches. Maybe they want it to sound like this or maybe they had a run of bad parts overseas and my dealer just got stuck with a bad batch. It is common to have parts issues when you first set up manufacturing offshore. Figured I'd give them the benefit of the doubt. They didn't answer.

This has the potential to be a great budget LP-style guitar. It has a lot going for it but I couldn't get past the limited tone and spotty electronics. If you are the type that looks at budget
guitars as a platform for mods then definitely check it out, it might be better base guitar to work with than some others.

2005's Swede,made in China.I am so surprised that Hagstrom never sell its guitars in China but now China become one of its OEM base. You can hardly find a single Hagstrom in China. But mine is an exception, it was stolen from the factory(the owner said so).Well, I don't care too much about its origin.
22 frets(someone says 23?),mahogany carved top,Set Mahogany Neck,fully bound everywhere,24.75? Scale,2x Hagstrom Custom 58 Humbuckers,2x Volume / 2x Tone / 3-Way Tone Filter Toggle (center bypass) which made me really in trouble with absolutely no accessories. However, it's worth a 9.

I generally play Brit-pop and some guitar master staff for practice.The sound is too fat and round for some clean staff,but I just like it. I have Strat and Tele to deal with those clean staff so it doesn't need to be that versatile.
I only have a Marshall MG10CD as my main amp and Berhringer V-amp2 and Guitar Rig2 as multi-effects.
As an old Chinese saying goes: It's silent like a virgin! Yeah it keep reasonablly quiet when not playing no matter how heavy the dist is especially when only the neck PU is selected.
It can be bright if you need, but generally very rich/fat/full/round sound. It's good at Slash's sound when using the neck.The sound can last forever and easily trigger a warm and smooth feedback sound.
It's no sharp enough for some staff. And I just dream of a push-pull!

The set-up is just so so. The tune-o-matic bridge is a little bit too high and so is the bridge. Frets are sharp.But the finish is perfect and all the tuner and selectors works well. It's comfortable when you play it standing but it will break your neck when sitting.

I just bought it less than a week. All the hardwares look sturdy. I'm sure it is a last-for-ever guitar!I totally and utterly can depend on this tough boy when practising and having gigs.There's no need to take any backup with it except that I want to play some light and clean sound.

It was stolen from the factory, so I guess I don't have the chance to deal with the company. And I don't have any warranty.But I have some items agreed on the contract with that seller.According to the contract, I can repair/change/return it if the problem is caused non-environmentally and non-artificially in 3 years.

I have been playing for 7 years. I have a Strat and a Tele.I wish I had asked how to use its 2?3 way toggle and whether it has a push-pull.If it were stole or lost I will surely buy it agian! I can't put it down once I stand up and play it!It has a profound sound which attracts me to explore endlessly.It's one of the best buy at its price and you will never regret buying one!

'72 all original - bought from original owner so no questions there. 23 frets on bound ebony fingerboard with pearl block inlays. Solid cherry finish bound mahogany body LP style etc., etc. Tune o matic bridge that is orig. but seems weird cause of
shallow seating indentations [per posts adjstmnt/heighth issues.
Very unlike Gibson tune o matic cause of knurled knob lack.
Tuners are classic 'stairstep' classy buttons with what I assume were/are "Inhouse " machines. All metal is chrome. Pups are 2 humbucker and controls are as expected.

I blush to say...I hav'nt wrung this out yet 'cause recently aquired,so I'm assuming the previous opinions apply to mine in this category. After all, It's so mint, it just can't be a dog! I like the fact that I bought it for a song , but dislike the fact - I had to!

Action is wonderful...Set neck and ebony with neck radious seem as good or better than my '71 LP Custom! Blasphemy, perhaps, but it doe's feel solider[heavier]. Pup adjustment might be overated in most cases unless you're anal. This has one of the most bombproof AND refreshing construction simplicity of designs of this era that I'm aware of. NO plys in neck or body-
just a well made inst.

Very subjective - 'cause of 1st owner's 1st electric and yes it was gigged...but very moot, because of that. I imagine when I sell It -
it might not be appreciated as much; but reading previous reviews, I believe this inst. has a bit of starting over. A true mint
example of TLC.

Don't know, but if I'm unhappy, my buddy will remedy. That's nice! - Don't Ya think?

I've own/ed countless classics, and can't pass up deals that invariably will haunt you if ignored. I love provenance and mint condition of this and the LP aura just might help me excuse my recent '71 LP Custom up for sale thing. I mean...I'm not a lead player and have several quality acoustics for rhythm...OK! I'm no great shakes at that either, but a electric is always a neccessity...especially if you have an Amp.

Mine is a 1973 Swede in natural mahogany finish, with bolt neck,ebony board and the rest. When I got it, I was told it had belonged to Chet Atkins' second guitarist, Paul Yandell. This wasn't substantiated except by word of mouth. The tech told me the "tone" toggle was disconnected, phase and coiltap switches installed and the pots exchanged for centralab audio taper 500k pots, apparently at the behest of Mr Yandell. The case was original and serviceable. I bought this axe to back up my Les Paul deluxe in 1988. When I got a 74 LP special to replace it,I sold the Hag to a freind in 1991 for what I paid...150 bucks. During the time I owned it, I had it refretted, put on schallers and straplocs, and changed the treble pickup to a Seymour Duncan JB. All in all a pretty sweet guitar....and get this...I just bought it back 3 weeks ago for 300 bucks!! Inflation, but still a bargain!

Truthfully, I only used the rhythm pickup for recording a few solos back in the day, and I bought it back for nostalgic reasons. I play hard rock originals as I did then. Then I used it thru a Music Man HD130 head into a Fender 2-12 with JBL speakers. I used a proco rat,crybaby wha, and a solid state echoplex.I hated its tiny frets and altho the tuners were pretty, they were useless. The lead pickup was anemic so in went the JB.Oddly enough, after all the work it was sweet, but I sold it when I got the Les Paul Special. The sound is quite good thru my current JCM 800 and Vox AC30 and after using it I can say it suits me way better than it did all those years ago. The neck is quite fast and it does play nicely with no noise and many good tones. It sounds very similar to a Les Paul,but with more clarity and less midrange snarl. I thought it sucked a bit in 91....now I think it awesome to play. It has always been very nice looking! I'll grade it according to how I liked it then, how I like it now, and take off a bit for work done to it as it was pretty poor in stock condition playing and tuning-wise

Tiny frets and sucky tuners, crap lead pickup....but the fast neck and low action are there. The finish is quite good and has lasted well. The wood is quite pleasing and workmanship is clean and neat. Outside what I've mentioned already, this is a fine guitar.

It is pretty tough and quite heavy at 11 pounds. I know it holds up well as the fellow I sold it to used it onstage for many years as his main axe. The finish looks as it did when I sold it and the hardware is good. I will gig with it, but since I use several tunings< I require several guitars at performances and that gives me backups. That said, outside of a string breaking, this guitar is very reliable. In the 16 years I've been around this Hagstrom it has been a real trooper!!

It was used and Hagstrom had been defunct 8 years when I bought it the first time...'nuff said!

I have been playing for 25 years and have been a "gear whore" at times!! I've had everything but currently I own this Hagstrom, several Gibson electrics, a Martin 000-28, a Gretsch Nashville, Ric 330-12, several Fender guitars and a Pbass, Marshall, Vox, and Fender tube amps, too many effects pedals, and a Hammond b-3 organ. This axe is one I would not replace if stolen, but I would be very pissed off and saddened if it was. It has come top be like an old friend after all these years.