Hagstrom Swede Bass

Bought mid 70's, made in Sweden. ALL 1,479 Swede basses are as follows:

:Solid mahogany body with white binding, short scale neck, H bar truss, ebony fret board with MOP rectangle inlays, sealed Schaller tuners.

:Passive Hagstrom double humbucker pickups; upper and lower bout 3/way switches for pickup selction and phase, all passive two volume and two tone controls.

:Height adjustable two point bridge with micro adjust intonation machine screws; stop tailpiece.

This bass is my sound, for better or worse. It's been likened to Rics (I can hear that) and Steinbergers (I wouldn't know). Bandmates seem to either love it or hate it. With flatwounds it can be thumpy, but I've always used Rotosound rounds on it for THAT tone and sustain- plucked hard over the bridge pickup it gets a convincing "My Generation" tone.

Right hand technique yields a lot of tonal variety on this bass, but if you're a slapper look elsewhere, this bass aint about slapping and you'd only break the pickup surrounds anyway. It will do the tic-tac thing and even passable McCartney/Hofner thing with the tones rolled all the way down (even with rounds) playing towards the neck and muting, but if you're looking to nail a P bass or J bass sound get one of those instead. A Swede won't sound like a Fender, but then the opposite is true too.

The action is incredible on Swede basses. All Hags were supposed to be fast, and the Swede might have been the fastest. Very comfortable, no straining to reach the first fret, and the trans finish on the neck is no impediment if kept clean.

I had my pick of the litter on these, and though it gets the highest marks on the important bits the one area the Swede basses seemed weak was the neck inlay work. Not total crap, but could have been better. This is picking nits though, and the headstock inlay is beautiful in any case. Hardware has stood the test of decades in the northeast U.S., only the small screws oxidized, all other hardware looks as-new.

The Swedes' are built like tanks and will easily hold up to gigging and gang warfare (I never use a backup) and the finish is top notch, but this is the heaviest bass ever built by man and you should replace the strap buttons and screws to counter that lest you find yourself in need of a podiatrist and replacements for whatever else it fell on. No lie. The neck probably never needed an adjustment but I was billed for one when it was re-freted. Totally rock solid.

Albin Hagstrom is dead and gone, and so is his company, but he built quality instruments to last and they have. Swede guitars and basses were Hagstroms all-time top-of-the-line instruments and if repairs would ever be needed they are certainly worthy of the attention of the best luthier you can afford.

I've been playing on and off since 1965. Other basses are a Moses Graphite custom and DeArmond Ashbury. Rig is 2 Kern IP-777 pre's, QSC RMX850 and Carvin DCM1500 poweramps, and Music Man HD210 and HD212 stacks (stereo). For effects a ART Nightbass SE pre, Lexicon Vortex, Akai DeepImpact and UniBass, Fulltone Bassdrive, Zvex Wholly Mammoth and Aphex 204 seem to have things covered.

I am looking for another Swede bass in mint condition as this one has been a player and it looks it. Still pretty though. The best thing about it is the neck and tone. The weight isn't an issue if you're either young and dumb or old and in shape. I can't really play other basses the way I can the Swede; I tried Fenders and others but the higher string tension and neck length of long scale basses has never been to my liking, and while other short scale basses might approach my comfort zone they're either along the lines of the comparitively muddy Gibson EB's or they're hollow bodies, which are another animal alltogether. No knock on any other bass, the Swede is just on another level in my book and it always has been.
Your milage may vary, etc. etc.

Unknown year of manufacture, because I got it used. Black top, body, and neck, with ebony fingerboard, MOP block inlays, chrome or stainless hardware. Les Paul type single cut body, short scale, modified set neck (two bolts). Pretty darn fancy for a bass, with a really flashy headstock inlay, and yet the appointments have an almost industrial look to them, maybe due to the Swedish origins. Bridge adjustable for spacing and height, not for intonation. Two chrome humbuckers with adjustable pole pieces, each with volume and tone control, switch for pickup selection, and a switch apparently for tone selection. Very fast neck, just as the old ads used to say, but fatter than expected, and the strings are spaced just a little wider than other basses I've played (but they are centered over the pole pieces). 20 frets, which are low. Very heavy, but balances well on a strap.

Very nice tone. Excellent for rock, and even some blues, where the sustain lets those legato runs just hang forever. Not as loud as other basses (the pickups have to be at least 25 years old), but the sustain is incredible -- it just rings and rings. Lots of tonal variation between the pickups and the pots. I don't get as much out of the tone switch; I looked at it, and I think it's using two different value caps to alter the amount of bass that gets through the tone pots. I don't use this switch much. I run it through a Traynor Bassmaster with a 4x12 cab, and an old Ampeg B-15N. It sounds more like a Rick than anything else, but with the humbuckers it really sounds unique. The bass sounds absolutely noise-free, no matter where I'm playing; it was well-shielded at the factory.

Excellent action for me -- low and fast, with almost no string noise with hammer-ons. I doubt that slappers would like the set-up, but for classic rock this is excellent.

This thing seems to be built like a tank; there's nothing flimsy here. It stays in tune forever, and it's needed no setup adjustments in the eight months I've had it. I did change the strap buttons to Dunlop Straploks, because I have to use a big wide leather strap with this monster, and it's a pain getting the end over the factory button.

Never had a reason to try, but I think they are long gone. I see parts for Hagstroms on Ebay pretty often.

Been playing for more than 20 years, professionally for off and on only about 6 out of those years (I have to eat!). I had wanted a Les Paul bass, saw this, and fell in love. It weighs a ton, but sounds great, is REALLY easy to play, and no one else in town has one.

1978 Black Swede Bass with mother of pearl neck and head inlay. Two dual coil pick-ups and standard two toggle switch set-up, one tone, one pickup (neck/both/bridge) and two independant volume and tone controls. Unbelievable tone variations, I'v used it for everything grom gospel, to country, to hard rock to metal. It is rather heavy (15 lbs. I believe), giving it unbelievable sustain. It has a 34 inch scale neck with standard tuners. It has a very low, fast action due to an aluminum I beam in the neck that cradles the truss rod. Purchased new from Butz Music House, Greensburg, Pa., now closed, for $400.00.

I currently play through a Boss Bass chorus, Peavey Accelerator/overdirve and Cry-baby Wah into a Hartke 1400 (140W) head and a Sunn 215B (mid 70's) cabinet. I previously used (and prefer to) a SUNN Concert Bass Head. The Hartke has an internal compressor, with the Sunn I used a Peavey Compressor/Sustainer. I prefer the sound of Rotosound RS 66 Sing Bass strings, but they're to reough on me and the fretboard. Alot of the time I use Boomers because theyre cheap and I can change them often. I always use a medium gauge set. As far as the sound goes, I'm a real big fan of Chris Squier (Yes) and Geddy Lee (Rush) and can dial they're sounds up pretty easily, but by changing the switches of adjusting the tone or volume controls can pretty much go from a flat 60's to a heavy metal to a full boomy country without touching my amp. The only draw backs are the weight if you're not used to it, and the neck/body set up is not conducive for splapping/plucking.

The plain and simle fact is that over the past 24 years I've played it VERY hard. I even snapped the head off of it once, luckily I found a good luthier, and you can't tell. It does need a switch replaced, but proper replacement parts can be found on the internet (I found mine in Sweden where Hagstroms were made). The neck is narrow, the action is low, and it (Hagstroms in general) were billed as the fastest necks on earth. If someone else were to look at it they may frown a bit, but knowing what it's been through and how well it still plays and sounds, I'd have to correct them. When it was new, it was perfect.

I've played it live since it was new, and it was the only bass I ever carried or owned since. It has never failed, except for that neck thing. It stays in tune for days on end. It's a beast I tell you, a BEAST!

The company is now out of business, however you can still find parts 20 some years later.

I've been playing about 28 years. I have an old gibson guitar amp, odds and ends pedals, effects, pa equip (mixer,amps,x-over,etc), a bunch of stuff collected over the years. When I got it there were Ricks, but they were too expensive, and I have never been overly fond of P and J basses (I know I'll get boo's over that). But the Hag just felt and sounded right for me the first time I played it. If it were stolen, I'd buy two. The only draw back is it may be a little heavy for a light weight to play, but the tone and sustain are worth it. You may think I'm bragging, but just ask any Hag owner, they'll tell you.......