Hagstrom Hagstom I Bass

It's a bass, Hagstrom I (has one rectangular pickup). 21 frets, one tone, and one volume. I'm not sure what the neck is, it's painted over, and there are a few chips, but it doesn't look like maple. I think the fretboard is rosewood. The back is three peices, and the front is five. I opened it up once to check it out, and clean it (when I first bought it), and it's not shieded, or even cut out very well. I don't know how old it is, but it seems like it was chiseled out, and not incredibly well either. I can't identify the tuners, but I've never seen them before on a bass. They hold fairly well, I usually don't have to retune for a long while. I don't like the string alignment thingy above the nut. It's just a bar with two screws holding it down, and the strings run under it. The pickguard looks nice, like a pick, it's that dark brown swirly/mixy stuff (makes me think of what a Fender "Really Really Heavy" pick would look like) The screws that hold it down are old, kind of corroded, and are liable to scratch me someday... I'll probably replace those. I'll give it a five because they are sturdy parts. I can't identify them really, but I can tell that they work, and will for a long time. they aren't going to break.

This sounds like a bass. It's the kind of instrument that the amp makes more of a difference. At first I tried running it through the Harmony (see where I bought it) because it couldn't hurt it any more, and I had (and still have) no bass amp. But I've run it through the one at school, and it sounds pretty good. The little Harmony really just couldn't take it, and it kind of sounded scratchy, kind of synthy... But it sounds pretty good through a real bass amp. It got a good full bass sound, that has no real preference to high or low, it sounds good all over. The only thing I can really change is the tone, and that makes a big difference. At zero it has the typical dull no0tone sound, and at 10 is sounds like a guitar at tone-10. It's fairly nice. I'll give it a 7, because I've heard guitars that sound like crap, and though this has nothing _incredibly_ special about it, there's nothing the matter with it.

I don't know how this bass came out of the factory, or if it even had a factory. But when I got it, most of the screws were kind of green tinted, and there's some rust on it. It looks good for it's age though. It didn't really have any finish that I was aware of, but I put some wood stuff on it, and it looks as good as a counter, which is about the most I could expect out of something that looks like a, well, a counter. The pickguard's not really shiny like some I've seen, but it doesn't really matter. It's the neat looking one (see above)I love the way this thing plays though. It's much better than any other bass I've played (Fender Mustang, late 60's), and I'm not the onlyone that thinks so, I was aking several other people about it, and they had tried it, and I found out that if they'd had the money, they would have beaten me to it. The neck is skinny, and the back is painted gloss black, it's really quite slick. because this section is supposed to include finish also, I can't give it the nine I'd like too. Also the intonation is a bit off, and it's already as far as it can go, so I'll settle with a 8.

This guitar is _solid_ As I said, it's chiseled out (I think), and they didn't lose any more wood than they needed too. I'm confident that aside from dents, this thing could survive pretty much anything. But, since it is old, and the intonation is shot, the strings do kind of pop off if you pluck too hard. They still play that way though, no buzz or anything, but it might cause the intonation towards the high fret to go a bit more out. Or it might make it better. But the string spacing when that happens is a little off. But otherwise I think this could stand up to anything. It's an easy 9.

I'm pretty sure they went out of business, and I have to wonder if "A.B. Albin Hagstrom" is still alive. (That's it says it's made by.) Can't see any reason I'd ever need to call them though.

I've been playing for almost a year, and I play all sorts of stuff, and this baby works for me. I got to try the guitar out for the weekend before I bought it, and I deemed it fine. He seemed like he would have take in back had I wanted a refund, and he asked me if I wanted a reciept, but for the price, I would keep it no matter what. If it were stolen, I'd be angry, but I'd probably consider something else, just because it's getting kind of old. I've had it for a couple of months, and though old guitars can be great, I can tell this one wasn't kept in 'great' condition. I kind of wish I could change the pickups, and it doesn't seem like I can without messing with is seriously, the metal box really isn't user friendly... But if you're looking for a bass, Hagstroms are a good name. And within them, I think that the II or III might be better, only for the different tones of the pickups... One _is_ kind of limiting, even if it is good tone. I'll answer any questions about this, and for a good price I might be willing to sell, but a trade is more likely. Feel free to email me, but don't get your hopes up too high, I like this thing a lot!