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Anyone familiar with the Hagstrom Swede?

P

patton63

Jun 30, 2008
144
0
Northern Virginia
#1
Bass Player magazine has a short write-up about the old Hagstrom Swede - made in the 70's. Clearly influenced by the Les Paul style of guitars, it's (IMO) a beautiful instrument. Does anyone have experience with this bass? If so, any insight you can provide into quality, playability, value (they appear to run in the $1300-$1500 range if you can find one), etc. would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!
 
#2
I haven't seen or heard anything about a Swede reissue, though the vintage models look pretty cool. I've picked up a few of the other new (non-swede) Hagstrom basses and messed around with em unplugged a bit... wasn't blown away. The 2 or 3 I tried at NAMM has noticeably sharp fret ends, and in person they looked a bit cheaper then I had hoped. Over at Truetone Music in Santa Monica they have an HB-4 and an HB-8, and they seemed a bit better than what I tried at NAMM (whether they've improved them a little or perhaps the shop gave them a little love), but still I doubt I'd shell out for em. I think they were more in the $500-$600 range. They may sound good, and I can't attest to the quality of the electronics, but the bodies felt a bit heavier than they should have and the overall playability wasn't up to my standard. That said, I've also played a number of the new guitars, and while some are kinda whatever, a handful of them (like the Viking) are actually very good for their price range... so hopefully the basses will improve, or a newer model will be released that ups the level of quality.
 
#3
I'm know a guy pretty well who owns a shop that sells them, and he likes them, but they aren't made in Sweden anymore and he believes that with the new models the quality has gone down a bit compared to the models he sold years back. In my experience, ishouldbeking described everything I'd say about them. I like the Hagstroms in general, but I don't think the new ones have the same quality level as the old ones.
 
#4
Thanks - I should have been clearer (and have edited to OP to reflect this). The write-up was on the old Swede (made in the '70s). I don't think that the new Hagstrom is reissuing that model. Apparently the old one was a 31" scale with a mahogany body. All-in-all a good looking instrument. As a reference, here's a link to one that is on ebay now (I have no affiliation with the seller): http://cgi.ebay.com/74-HAGSTROM-SWE...342QQcmdZViewItem?rvr_id=&itemid=400025251342
 
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#5
I remember the old Hagstrom Swedes from "back in the day". They were very well built production instruments. I think that today, for $1300, you could get more for you money with other used instruments.
 
#6
Wow....no idea that they could go for that much. I have a couple of these...yes, a couple of 70's Hagstrom Swedes. As short scale (same as old Gibsons, I think) basses, they play a lot like old Gibson or Guild basses. Sonicly, they are a vast improvement over an EB0 or EB3. They can get the same low down muddy bass (and even more so) then old Gibsons and Guilds, but have a much more useable sound out of the bridge pickup, IMO. Especially since it has not only a three position pickup switch, but also a three position tone switch along with the dual volume and tone knobs. The down side of the instrument is that bridge leaves very little room for intonation adjustment. They are cool, but not great, by contemporary standards. If you want a vintage short scale bass, I would say they are among the more cool ones out there. As we all should know, with contemporary amps and speakers, basses that weren't the greatest back in the day can be made to sound pretty damn good.
 
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#7
kesslari said:
I remember the old Hagstrom Swedes from "back in the day". They were very well built production instruments. I think that today, for $1300, you could get more for you money with other used instruments.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I've played a few older Hagstrom guitars and one (again, non-swede) bass and they were pretty cool and quirky instruments. At this stage the selling point is probably more the kitsch factor than the actual playability and quality, but for some that might make it worth it. Generally speaking, probably not as good or robust as a vintage american instrument (old Guilds and Ovations are pretty stellar...), but probably better than the earlier (meaning '60s and early '70s) Japanese oddball instruments. The one very distinct feature about the old Hagstroms is the ridiculously thin neck, which is actually kinda neat, but can feel strange at first.
 
#8
I have an old Coronado Deluxe, I love the sound and playability and it weighs next to nothing.
Very limited intonation adjustments but it’s close enough, so what the heck.
I’d say Hagstrum’s have a sound pretty much all their own, very rich and open.
The neck makes a ‘50s fender Strat feel down right fat.
It does feel fragile enough that I wouldn’t want to tour or gig with it but for studio work it is a dream.
It has been my secret pleasure bass for over 30 years and it still makes me smile when I play it.

MM
 
#9
I had an immaculate specimen 3 years ago. Still had the warranty card and the key to the case. I got it for $850 and that was only because it was a closet classic. Specimens with some wear were going for $500-$600. Hagstroms have come into their own in the last few years and are quite desirable to a lot of people. The current prices reflect that collectability. I don't feel a Swede, as nice as it is cosmetically, is really worth the current rates. By that I mean, as a player, it's not where I personally would put that money if I was looking for an ass kicking bass. If it's something you just want to have because it's cool (and they are cool), then you go right ahead. The same can be said for lots of other 70's basses. All in the eye of the beholder.

The mahogany was to die for - absolutely stunning. And it also absolutely was an anchor, just as one would expect from all that wood. As mentioned it's a short scale (30.5") with the trademark thin neck that Hags are renowned for. Though I'm a big fan of Hags I found the tone in this bas lacking. I didn't care for that pickup/wood combination - I was always tweaking it and it never quite lived up to my expectations, unfortunately. I thought it always sounded "compressed" and not as open as other models I've played.

I have 2 other Hags, an HB-1 (with the swimming pool foil in the middle) and a Coronado IV with Bi-Sonics (these are what Dark Stars are modeled after). The HB-1 was one of their cheapest models and it sounds quite impressive. The Coronado IV is simply amazing.
 
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#10
I had a late 60's Hagstrom for many years but it was neck heavy and was not nice to play for any length of time, the sound was nothing special and the frets wore very easily I would not bother with another one as I had problems with the controls playing up and being very unreliable. But they do look nice.
 
#11
Dave Rea said:
I had a late 60's Hagstrom for many years but it was neck heavy and was not nice to play for any length of time, the sound was nothing special and the frets wore very easily I would not bother with another one as I had problems with the controls playing up and being very unreliable. But they do look nice.
Click to expand...

yeah... oddly enough the one thing i've noticed about every vintage hagstrom I've tried was how little there was left of the frets! I assume they must have been pretty small to start with, but as someone who owns a handful of vintage (or at least old) instruments, the hags were always consistently more worn in the fret department than anything else I've encountered.
 
#13
I've had a vintage swede laying around for a few years that I'm sort "rediscovering" now, and I'm impressed by the sound. it's big and deep, but the bridge pu solo'd can get quite a nice jazz sound. Also, I've used it with my peavey mark III for doomy music and it is brutal. It sounds like greasy, morbidly obese women come out of your amp to mudwrestle with your wang when you pluck it, it's that good.

I actually got it for free. It used to be the bass they had in our music class in highschool, and when they were overhauling the room they bought all new instruments too. I kinda casually suggested that, you know, it'd be a shame if they'd just throw it out. If they weren't planning on doing anything with it, I'd be prepared to take it off their hands for them. :D My music teacher agreed and I've had it ever since.

The thing about it though, is that at one point before I went to that school the head was broken off. No idea how that happened. It was repaired by our school's janitor I think and he just put a big metal splint on the back of the head, bolting the neck and head together. It looks very ugly and sooo cool :D. Playability hasn't been affected that much, but the head was attached in line with the neck, whereas it used to have an angle, to make the angle at which the strings go over the nut more acute. This way, the a and d strings used to pop out when I picked. Fixed that with a tiewrap acting as a string tree.

The only actual problem I've encountered is the intonation. The bridge is maxed out so to speak, and it still has to move a little bit to intonate it perfectly. Guess I'll take it to a shop or a luthier someday.
 
#14
They are really great recording basses, very full sounding. I think my buddy has one...he's a collector with over 400 basses. I have been listing some of them here in the sale thread.

Patton63, if you are interested I can see if my friend wants to sell his. You can PM me if you'd like.
 
#17
The only Hagstrom (Swedish made) basses that were long scale were the Scanbass (also known as the Jazzbass) along with the Super Swede Bass and the Coronado IV. The rest were all 32" medium scale (except for the Swede Bass and the H-II-B-N which were both 30.75" scale.

TD.

PS - PM me your serial number and i'll tell you when it was made.
 
#18
Thornton Davis said:
The only Hagstrom (Swedish made) basses that were long scale were the Scanbass (also known as the Jazzbass) and the Coronado IV. The rest were all 32" medium scale.

TD.

PS - PM me your serial number and i'll tell you when it was made.
Click to expand...

See!? Here we go again! One guy says he knows "for sure" his Swede was 30", the next guy says they were medium scale. Wait for it, the guy with the 34" Swede will chime in any moment now... :hiding:
 
#19
gm2_in_co said:
See!? Here we go again! One guy says he knows "for sure" his Swede was 30", the next guy says they were medium scale. Wait for it, the guy with the 34" Swede will chime in any moment now... :hiding:
Click to expand...

Your comment made me rethink my comment, so I double checked the scale of the Swede Bass, and it is 30.75" not 32" as I had previously mentioned. The Swede bass and the H-II-B-N were the only 30.75" scale basses they made.

TD
 

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