Hagstrom's first guitars were covered in sparkle pearloid celluloid, an ingenious use of materials previously used in their accordion production. Over the years Hagstrom expanded their line-up to include hollow body guitars like the Viking and Jimmy, electric basses including the legendary 8 string, and the Hagstrom flagship models Swede and Super Swede. Hagstrom also produced a series of acoustic and classical guitars in the early 70‘s. When Hagstrom ceased production in 1983, the guitars became instant collectors items, and the love and respect for these fine instruments by musicians around the world has never waned.
All Hagstrom models rely on a unique sourcing and manufacturing concept. Both the raw materials and parts for this new series come from first rate suppliers and are assembled to create genuine Hagstrom guitars, with tone and quality being top priority.
All designs are approved by Karl Erik Hagstrom, the wood comes from North America, and the hardware is purchased from top US and Korean suppliers, while pickups are developed in Korea according to K. E. Hagstrom‘s exact specifications.
The result is a range of stunning instruments that look and sound almost identical to the originals. This may come as no surprise knowing that they are built using the original machines or exact replicas of the machines used to build the legends of yore. Only thanks to this approach was it possible to keep using those time-tested bridges, tailpieces and even the original Hagstrom logo. Even the machine heads, albeit with slightly smaller and thus handier buttons, are back, as is the legendary H-Expander truss rod. But there are also new features, like the Resinator™-Wood fingerboard whose resonance and sustain qualities are far superior to anything ebony or rosewood can offer. Quality and expertise are fused into exceptional instruments whose price tags are nevertheless bound to come as a pleasant surprise to musicians.
The Basics of A Classic Electric Guitar
All Hagstrom electric guitars and basses include the patented H-Expander™ truss rod. Providing tension at both ends and running the entire length of the neck, the rigid yet light-weight alloy truss rod allows for a very low action and thin neck, two factors that were instrumental in earning Hagstrom its reputation as the world’s fastest playing guitar. The H-Expander™ truss rod does not only provide ultimate stability of the neck, but also plays a hand in providing you with the unique “Hagstrom tone”. Longer sustain and a sharper attack, are a couple of the sonic characteristics that the H-Expander™ adds to the tonal essence of Hagstrom.
There are a number of other specialty parts designed exclusively by Hagstrom, which greatly enhances the playability, stability and tone of our instruments.
We are convinced that such unique specialized parts and construction make every difference to contribute to building a superior instrument.
Such parts as the unique Hagstrom tailpiece units, Tremar system, Full Contact Tremolo system, Customized Hagstrom pickups, are only a few of the benefits found on Hagstrom guitars.
Hagstrom uses only the finest select tone woods and figured wood stocks to enhance the sound and beauty of each instrument. North American Hard Rock Maple, arguably the finest neck wood and used by the best Luthiers world wide, further enhances the playability, durability and bright articulate tone.
Resinator™ Wood is a wood composite material that is homogeneous in nature and is more stable than any standard wood product. It is the perfect fingerboard material in that it eliminates wolf tones or hot spots. It has an articulate sound similar to high quality Ebony, but without any of the problems associated with Ebony. It provides an stable and clear tone, and also adds higher overtones and harmonics which uniquely details each note played. Like the H-Expander™ truss rod, the Resinator™ wood also plays a major part in producing the special “Hagstrom tone”.
Ensuring accurate tuning, Hagstrom’s own 18:1 and 15:1 gear ratio machine heads are each used throughout Hagstrom guitar models.
Beluga, Viking and HB series basses feature a 17:1 gear ratio where the FXB series basses feature a 22:1 gear ratio in an open gear format for accurate tuning.
Hagstrom guitars are legendary among guitarists because of their playability, beauty and durability. This new family of Hagstrom guitars builds on that reputation with the use of several unique innovations in materials and manufacturing techniques that bring Hagstrom boldly into the 21st century.
All Hagstrom guitars and basses exclusively use Graph Tech nuts and saddles for acoustic guitars.
Graph Tech Black Tusq for electric guitars and basses are composite nuts which ensure increased sustain, tone, and energy vibration throughout the entire neck. This is a very important feature that also provides smoother and more accurate tuning of your Hagstrom instrument.
Something else that is completely unique for Hagstrom is that all Graph Tech nuts used are actually custom made specifically for Hagstrom. Each nut has been specially molded and measured so that each string has a perfect distance between each other. Most manufacturers use nuts that are measured from the middle (center) of each string. Naturally, the nuts on Hagstrom guitars makes a difference, as strings are of different thicknesses where such compensation should be made when producing a quality instrument.
This small difference makes a Hagstrom neck feel more even and comfortable to play, especially for players with bigger hands.
The Tones
When creating pickups for their instruments, each pickup offered is specifically designed and built to deliver a specific tone and character that is to compliment the tone of each instrument. Within this general thought, there is a connection between the tone woods used in the instrument, the hardware, and how each pickup shall electrically reproduce the sound and tone of the instrument.
There is a lot more which contributes to the overall tone then the magnet and wire type used in the construction of the pickup. This is something that we at Hagstrom know and understand very well.
Each part of the pickup plays a part in the tone that it will deliver. Such details as the materials used on the base plate, pickup covers, spacers, etc.etc, also play a specific part in the tone of each pickup. Each different material also plays a major part in how the magnetic field of the pickup “flows” where the magnetic field can be shaped and changed depending on which materials are used. This ultimately changes the tone and dynamic of the pickup. Not many of Hagstrom's competitors understand such parameters.
Each material used in the building of each of our pickups is scrutinized. Countless hours are spent testing, listening, discussing, then again, testing, listening and discussing again.
Most could consider their careful consideration as a “waste of time”, however Hagstrom takes extremely special care in building and designing instruments and each component and are continually discovering new tones to suit a musician's passions and tonal ideals.
It is with such detail and consideration that they are able to stand behind the tone and construction of each of their pickups. When owning a Hagstrom guitar equipped with Hagstrom pickups, the musician always knows that the instrument was created as a musical tool, just like an artist would consider a canvas and brush.
No comments:
Post a Comment