Hagstrom F-200P

*Note: this is my review for the left handed model.*

Most people that have done reviews of this guitar have accurately described the features, and I don't feel like being redundant, although I do have to say that nobody mentions that it's a shorter scale guitar.

I'm not exactly sure of the measurements (although I'm pretty sure someone has posted them already) but I've been playing a cheap SG copy for years, and this guitar felt at least an inch shorter. My bandmates noticed and commented on it as well.

Another issue I had with this guitar is that the curve where neck starts thickening out to meet with the body starts way too early. By the 12th fret it already starts getting thick, by the 15th fret it starts getting very thick, and anything higher than 17 is almost unplayable without having to move your fretting hand completely to the front of the guitar. I play up high a lot and i have shortish fingers. A bad combo for this guitar.

Now, this is just me, I'm not saying its makes this a bad guitar, in fact I though the guitar felt quite nice, especially that plastic/wood combo neck. It felt not quite unlike a Rickenbacker neck. The guitar just did not suit me. I wish I would have read this in one of the reviews before I went and bought it.

Unfortunately this guitar did not suit my style of playing at all. Don't get me wrong, the guitar sounds very nice, the stock H-90s do a really great job at bringing out a very balanced sound, and the cleans sound ridiculously good. But I don't play clean.

I use a MXR micro amp through a silverface Bassman combo reissue, and I play at a pretty high volume (8/9). This guitar doesn't feed back. At all. I tried and tried to get squeals out of it, but failed every time. The most i got out of it was a very nasty static-y noise that reminded me of a bad input jack, which wasn't the case, since I set it up as soon as I got it.

For me this is terrible, I depend on feedback for my style of music (post-rock/no wave). Also, even at the loudest/gainiest, this guitar still sounded pretty clean. I'm positive that this is because of the H-90s- which are sold as being quieter than their P-90 brethren, but I had no idea they would be this quiet.

Overall, I think it sounds really good, just not for what I play. If I played jazz, or folky music where clean guitars are a must, then it would be excellent

The action on this guitar was ridiculously high when I got it, and even after setting it up and lowering the action as much as it could go, it was still high. I had read something about this in one of the other reviews, but I underestimated it.

If you want your action to be low on this guitar you're going to either have to file down the saddles, or just get a new bridge.

The pickups were as high as they could go, and still, not very hot at all. Lukewarm at best.

The guitar did have a lot of little finish flaws upon close inspection, particularly around the side of the nut, back and top of the headstock, and around the neck/body joint. They weren't huge flaws, just a bit of chipped pain, but this isn't something you'd expect when you get a brand new guitar.

I used this guitar for a week, so I really don't know for sure, but I think it could be a gig-worthy guitar, the finish might be more susceptible to dings and scratches than other guitars I've played.

The hardware seems pretty solid, although I'd change the tuners asap.

Dunno. I bought it from an independent seller, and since I already sold it, I didn't have to deal with customer service at all.

Like I said before, it's a good guitar, just not suited for what I play. Although if I could go back, I would have tried out the guitar before buying it (although I got a really good price on it, so I don't feel too bad).

Also, you're going to have to put some money into the guitar eventually, either because of the pick-up situation, the tuners, or the bridge. Or maybe all three.

Bought second hand but seller in stated guitar was in "mint condition". I think this on is a few years old. White finish has a slight off-white/creme tint, red perloid finish pick guard with creme colored pups and witch tips. Three-way switch, two P-90 pups which have great tone-way way above anything from Epiphone or even a Tokai I had with P-90's. All my guitars have Dimarzio's or Duncans except for the Gibsons which I keep stock.

Pups are not reverse wound so you get hum in the middle position. Aside from that annoiance, this guitar feels and plays great-after a few refinements. Tremolo is simply the best vintage type fulcrum style I have ever played. Compared to a 2000 MIM fat strat and a 1976 Vintage Strat, this thing is simply amaizingly stable and rivals my floyd guitars, evcen with there nut clamps. The Haggy nut was slippery, clean and perfect for 10-46 strings. This nut does not decapitate your shimmering highs like the graph-tech nuts tend to. This one sounds much more like bone IMHO.

At the 24 3/4 inch scale, trem is smooth, light on the touch and heavy bends do not cause other strings to dive. I am a total slut for trem guitars at this shorter gibson scale length. The guitar came set from the seller with the bridge flat on the body. I like to float all my vintage trems for that "harp like resonnance" you get when the strings and springs are suspended against each other.

This means though that the bridge when floating positions the strings higher away from the frets. To counter this, I had to file down the bottom of the E, A, B,and high E string screw/saddles in the bridge to get them to screw lower into the unit, thus lowering the strings. No Problem. The bridge pivots not on two or six screws, but on a continual shelf along the front of the trem which screws solidly into the body. This is the "full contact" bridge Haggy talks about and man does it transfer tone nicely. Also the set neck helps.

Oh yeah, someone below feels the tuner knobs may be plastic. The tuner knobs on this guitar are not plastic. These are metal stair stepped tuner knobs affixed to grover like machines. Tuners are smooth, do not slip, feel solid and have a very comfortable turning ratio-16:1 I think.

The stock P-90's are great even with the noise inherent to P-90s in general. Infact all the hadware on this guiatr is of excepitional quality. Again, the hum does not cansel in the middle position with both pups on, at least on this one. The tone is girthy and meaty with excellent P-90 Growl, the type which puts them on a level plane with humbuckers of much higher output. The tone can be brutal, but really cleans sweetly when backed off. Highs are articulate as are the lows with no flabby bottom end. This has alot to do with the body shape and materials I think as well. Just an extremly resonnant setneck instrument.

I play this either through a Mesa Stereo Quad Pre with a G-major in the loop out to a Marshall 20/20 tube amp stereo into two custom exclosures or straight into a low watt Matchless head into a single or two cabs with no effects. Sometimes I'll use a few tomps on the front end.

For those interested, I swapped the pups out with Dimarzio Virtual Vintage P-90s in both positions. I replaced the pots with CTS 500Ks and a five way super switch wired to do the coil paralel split in positions 2 and 4. A Switch-craft jack fit niceley into the routed body as well. I suggest following the Dimarzio suggestion and use the Virtual in both positions as the body ihas a darker tone. I still get great authentic P-90 tone with no hum and a few more tonal options-(Tele on 4 and Strat tones on position 2).

Color-wise, I went black for the pups and switch-trem tips as well as using Gibson black tophats knobs with chrome inserts labeled volume and tone. The guitar has a more "Chicago Blues" or Motown/Jazz vibe than the Country R&B look of the creme appointments. This thing can now generate Jazz tones, Blues, TX Blues, and Stoner Rock all the way to metal and shred tones.

This is probably the most vulnerable part of the Hagstrom manufacturing effort currently. You know Haggy opted out of Asian production in the late seventies/early eighties due to fears about quality control. In the end, the company had its clock wiped by it's two real rivals, Gibby and Fender. Now even with their dedicated factory in Indonesia, they seem to still be facing these deamons. The conmponents are qualitatively way above Epiphone or other Chinese imports: full size pots, great pups, excellent layout and design. It is on the factory floor where the production takes a hit. As a result there is a flood of Haggy "Factory Blems" anyone searching eBay will soon discover.

This neck on this feels alot like my 60's slim taper LP classic though maybe a bit thinner but more meaty than my Charvel. Neck width is a nice 1 11/16ths inch. This one had the fret ends not filed really, only roughly shaped. Kind of a shame as the Haggy neck profile and shape is simply amaizing. An easy fix if you have the files needed. I went fret by fret and reshaped and smoothed the fret ends. The frets came nicely leveled and crowned from the factory which helps the action to be set very very low with little to no buzz. With the set-up described above, this thing has as good or better action than my Charvel, Smartwood LP or Classic and leaves the Fenders in the dust.

This is a solid guitar that has a more stout body than I expected. Acoustically the body has amaizing chime and depth. The body edge bevels up into a sort of raised plain which sits at an angle to the back and facilitates the neck being pitched back a few degrees in the design. Entirely road worthy. Very dependable-always bring a back-up.

Never had to deal with them.

Been playing since 75. My very first guitar was an early Hagstrom III from the late 60's that I found in the back of a friend's closet and bought. Of all the Haggy line-up, this one reminded me most of the spirit of the old Hag III. I was looking for something different with a quarky/vintage vibe that had some history behind it's design. I love the look and feel of this guitar. I play this in rotation with two Gibson LP's, an Epi-Floyd Rose LP, two Vintage Japanese LP's (Electra and Washburn), a Charvel Fusion and two Strats. I always look forward to playing this one. Its light, easy to wear for hours, well balanced with heavy tone when needed and does not look like yet another strat or LP clone.

You can pick up Haggy's real cheap these days I thnk because the word is not out on how great this line is with the new generation of players. IMHO Hagstrom designs are as innovative and original as the legenadry designs from Fender and Gibson that others copy. Grab one of these for cheap-spend a little time customizing and falling in love with it and you'll have your own signature axe that kicks *** with the best thats out there.

This is an update to the review I did a few days ago.

I mentioned that the guitar wouldn't stay in tune when the tremelo arm is used. I seemed to have fixed it. The bridge has these odd saddles that crest to a point. I filed the points off so they were round and put a drop of oil on each one. I also lightly filed the nut slots and added a fouth spring on the underneath assembly. It now stays in perfect tune, even when dive-bombed. Cool! I still may change the saddles to Graphtech String Savers because these just weird me out. I think I'd need to get the thinner Tele saddles with the long screws.

Chinese made, mahagony body, nato neck, 2 P-90's, volume and tone controls, nice polyester creme colored finish, SG shaped body, strat style tremelo bridge. All the features I want.

Great tone! For an inexpensive guitar these pickups shine. Nice full chimey P-90 tone with strong bass response. They absolutely blew away the pickups on an Eastwood Sidejack I compared kit with. P-90's are typically pretty noisy, but my Boss Noise Supressor really helps. My amps are a '64 Vibrolux, a '71 Princeton, and a newer Peavey Classic 30. It sounds really good with all of them. The neck piokup is outstanding, and I love the tone of both in combination. Kinda reminds me of a Fender Jazzmaster. I may swap out the bridge pickup with a Lollar, but maybe not. It's just a little midrangey.

I got it slightly used, and it was pretty well set up. I just had to set the intonation and adjust the individual pole pieces for proper string balance. Nice finish, straight fairly slim neck with excellent action, frets very even. Looking down the neck of the Eastwood, the frets looked like a bumpy road. The tuners are pretty good but not great; and I may change them to Gotohs, my favorite. The tuners on the Eastwood were terrible. I'm a long time Strat player and know most of the tricks to keep the tremolo bridge in tune. I can't get this bridge to stay in tune. Next I'll try lighting filing the kind of weird bridge saddles. The controls all work fine.

Seems solid and dependable.

Been playing 45 years. I play strats and teles and was looking for a decent inexpensive P-90 equipped guitar. This is way more than decent. The bridge is my only complaint, and if I can't get the temelo in tune I'll replace it with a Gotoh. As I said before, the tone is great, and it blew away the Eastwood Sidejack which has gotten such great reviews on this site. I paid $260 for it used, and it's the best $260 I've ever spent. I'd definetely buy another.

F-200P. White with turtoise shell pickgard. P90 loaded. 3 way switch. Volume and one tone controle. Made in China. Bought in 2008.

I bought this Hagstom as I'd heard good things about their older guitars and at 249.99 CDN there wasn't much of a gamble. I was very impressed with this guitar when I tried it at the shop. Played through a Fender Deluxe this thing sounded pretty damn sweet. Compared it to a Highway One strat and the F-200P had more bottom but a comparable bluesy twangy tone. Stock pickups are defintly not bad for blues...the clean channel of a quality tube amp is a perfect match for this guitar. A little less noisy then my strats but there is definetly a hum. The downer is that the stock pickups dont sound too good when doing the higher gain stuff.

This is why I bought this guitar. For 250$ you CANNOT find a cooler neck. The action on this thing is amazing. Intonation was spot on. Finish is very nice. When you look at all the parts individually nut, tuners, bridge etc you understand the guitar...it's an inexpensive guitar. Plastic nut...hagstom tuners, hagstrom bridge...nothing fancy. BUT it works...the neck is a miracle...the instrument stays in tune...no headaches with intonation...fix the tremolo if you don't use it and you've got no issues. I think it looks pretty cool too....very SG...but it's got it's own style too.

Time will tell...

Time will tell

I'm planning on popping in somesort of humbucking P90s in this guitar. I want red hot ...high output...no hum in this guitar....in other words...everything my Fenders are not. Im very satisfied with the F-200P. This is not a high quality guitar...but I can't tell when Im playing it. If you're looking for a good guitar to expirament with pickups or a cool guitar to leave hanging around the studio for a change of scenery this is it.

Double p-90 pickups with a mahogany body and set neck. Got mine in black. Excellent neck that has the slogan "fastest neck in the world". All around a simple but effective design.

It has a wonder full clean sound and the single coil pickups complement it very well. The stock P-90's are remarkably quiet compared to other single coil pickups I have played on. I doesn't have a lot of output like so many guitars today so it doesn't play very well under high distortion and palm muting comes out a bit weak compared to my GSA-60 on my Marshall half stack. However it plays my fender blues junior better than any of my other guitars. So in my opinion its not for every style, but it does blues/jazz and melodic music very well.

When I got it from the store it had great intonation, action, and trussing. I haven't had to change a thing, the action was great and there was no fret buzzing. I don't believe that it was setup like that in the factory because the store owner said the it was one of his favorites, so he probably adjusted it.

Looks solid, time will tell.

Fantastic guitar, not a jack-of all trades, but what it does it does so well that I expect to see a huge price tag on it. I have had it now for three weeks and I play it more than my other guitars, I can't stop playing it, the thing is giving my insomnia it's so good! If you like the cleaner side of guitar playing and like soapbars, you owe it to your self to play this guitar.

Cream F200p, everything as written below.
Pretty standard setup, apart for the p90s.

I play alternative rock.
I have to admit that I'm astonished of how well this guitar sounds.
My main guitar is an american fender jaguar, so I have some experience in good guitars, and I all I can say is that since I purchased this Hagstrom my jaguar is getting quite dusty on her shelf...
The p90s are great, very defined and with a great bite, expecially on the clean channel. The bridge pickup is really twangy, but not as much as a tele one (wich is not a bad thing, in my opinion). The neck pick up is also good, not muddy neither too bassy. But where magic happens is in the middle position! I've never encountered a combination of tones like the one this two p90s put togheter can create: spanky but full, defined, punchy and really "alive". And really sensitive to dynamics, too.
The tone and volume knobs are really good too, really sensitive and with a really wide range. It's easy to switch between clean and crunch sounds just playing with this two little knobs. With a good tube amp, you're not gonna need an overdrive pedal anymore.
Finally the tremolo: it's not the best out there, but even the worst. It tends to mess up a bit with tuning, but being gentle with the tremolo harm helps.

The action was perfect out of the box. I couldn't say if the neck is the fastest of the world for real, but It is fast for sure. And of a good size, too.
The finish is really pleasant, with some minor flaws here and there, but you can't ask too much from a chinese made budget guitar. Overally, I think is on the average for Its price range, or maybe a little better than average.
The electronics are good, the wirings are well made, the neck is straight and the tuning heads are smooth and precise.

only time will tell!But to be honest, I think that my jaguar will stand best to the test of years. But it costed four times more!

This is a good, if not great, guitar. Put a gibson or fender stick over it and you'll be able to sell it for 1000 dollars with no problems!
It sounds great, looks great and costs less than an epiphone or a squire, brands wich are, on the average, far inferior to hagstrom.
And, above all, It's the only p90s guitar available on the market for a decent price! and p90s are, imho, the best pickup you can get.

Solid Body, Set Neck, P-90s, 3 switch, volume and tone knob.

Warm as you can get with single coil pick ups. Retro vibe, loose and happy compared to humbuckers, but not so bright as to go texas twang. Different.

Comfortable. Made in China, but the guys at Ontario Music take their time to set up guitars right.

Simple design. Should last for years.

Bought it on impulse. Went online to see what the heck it was. Sounded AWESOME on a peavey 30 classic when I was testing it out at the store. Played it on a Marshall AVT20 and it sounded cheap. I need to buy a new amp. *Sigh* It sucks to be me.I'd give it a 8 for being a cool piece. Got the creme colored model. It's all mine baby.

2006 Hagstrom F200p
SG style mahogany body
Tremelo (Hagstrom full contact)
Chinese mad
3 way tone controler, 2 vol 2 tone pots
Very simple, but had everything I was looking for

I play alternative rock / classic rock and I love the vintage sound of p90 pickups. I own an SG classic with p90's and the Hag is not quite as bright sounding. The trade off to that is I don't seem to get quite the amount of buzz that comes standard with p90s.

I can't believe how wonderful this guitar felt in my hands the moment I picked it up. The neck is fast, comfortable, and smooth. The finish was flawless, the action was right where I like it.

I've had the guitar for about 4 months and gig out a few times a month. When I first bought it, it was suppose to be a backup for my SG classic p90, but it's really become my workhorse. I've had no problems yet, and hopefully I can say the same in a few years from now.

Haven't had to contact the company yet.

I've been playing for 22 years and after many guitars have found my home with the SG style body. I love my Gibson SG Classic, but I love my Hagstrom just as much (and it was half the price). I play it through a Peavey Classic 50 and it has a lot of definition and chime.

If it was stolen, I would cry, then see a shamen about putting a curse on the curmodgeon that stole it. But rest assured, I would not seek out any other type of guitar to replace it - only another F200P! This guitar is worth more than I paid and is now a mandatory member of my guitar ensemble. I tried out the Epi SGs before buying the Hag, and the Hag is a far superior instrument.

Specs
Body : 45mm Contoured Mahogany Body
Neck : Set Nato Neck
Fingerboard : Resinator Fretboard with Hagstrom 6mm Dot
Truss Rod : H-Expander Truss Rod
Tuning Keys : Hagstrom 18:1 Die Cast Tuners
Scale Length : 24.75??? Scale
Pickups : 2x Hagstrom H90 Single Coil Pickups
Pickup Selector : 3-Way Toggle
Bridge : Hagstrom Full Contact Tremolo FCS-1
Controls : 1x Volume / 1x Tone
Colors : Cream with Tortoise Pickguard

I try my best to play the blues. I have been looking for a round, soft well ballanced sweet tone with sustain for a loooong time.
Been around a lot of different other guitars. I used an ES335 for a while and a Strat.

Finnaly I found that tone I was looking for. Pleanty of deapth in a clear way. High tones and lots of overtones but no screaming . A natural ballance from 1E to 6E.

I use it with different class-A low Watt tube amp??s. I prefer a modified Epi Valve Jr 5 Watt. WIth this it gets rich warm tone

The guitar was well set-up only small adjustments was needed. Need to change the stings and adjust the intonation.

The craftmanship and finish is absolutely wonderfull for the price. You can not fine a guitar under a 1000 $ with at better finish.

Controls and eletronics has no noise and work very well.

Action is a matter of opinion. The neck is slimmer that a Strat but as wide as a Les Paul. Due the trussrod design the neck is much slimmer than on most other guitars. The stifness allows very low action. Like it or not. The finger board is flat and not curved, also a matter of opinion.

It has a strange Vintage feel to it...Can not explain.

No idea - but looks solid as a rock..

I have been palying on and off for the last 25 years and currently own only a few guitars
-Hagstrom F200P
-Fender Big blok Stratocaster
-Showmaster (not for long..)
-Ibanez Jazzbox George Benson
Amps :
-Modyfied Epiphone Vale Jr. (I just love it)
-Fender Deluxe
-AC15
-A Fender champion 600 on its way.....

The Hagstrom is my first choise in block guitar. Wouldnt swop it for any other. ??Get a new when stolen.

The P90??s a fantastic, the way she looks...

this is an update to my last review
finally gigged with this guitar and it f**king rocked! I know its kinda cheap and Hagstrom afficianados will say it doesn't compare, but i don't care. This guitar really sounded awesome at the gig. really super punchy. i had to adjust my o.d. settings a little higher than normal but once i found the sweet spot it was real sweet.I broke a string and had to use my les paul on the second night and getting the right sound was a nightmare. this ax will probably never be my main work horse on stage but only because my strat has a hipshot. can't beat hagstrom for total value.

dual p-90's, short scale set neck, solid mahogany, came with a hard case, tone and volume control with a 3 way selector, spring whammy bar

this is my first p-90 platform so i can'tr compare it to other guitars with p-90 pick ups. suffice it to say i very much like the sound of this guitar. it is not terribly noisy and it sounds really cool when pushed by an o/d pedal. i run through a traynor ycv40wr with slyvania power tubes and mullard pre-amp tubes, complimented by a celestion vintage 30. i very much like the sound of the guitar with this amp (O/D=punchy, clean=thick). stupendous for rock, ilove it.

needed a set up, i had it intonated for heavy strings 12-52.
the input jack needed a little tweaking. i have a hard time playing the small neck, but i'm sure i will get used to it. i think it is kind of ugly (think a bastrd child of a strat and an sg) but ugly in a cool kind of way. the tuners work fine but if i ever came into money i would put mini grovers on it just cause i like the look of them better. the whammy bar pops in and out as it is not threaded a little annoying. other than that no issues

still new, haven't had a chance to gig with it yet as we are on a 6 week hiatus, but very much looking forward to it. expect few problems.

i traded an sg faded for this guitar. i consider it a very equtable trade (even though i lost a bit of money on it i'm satsified). the sg looked very very cool, but i hated the tuners, the neck had a twist in it wich required me to adjust the truss rod every few months. the pickups were very bad (low output and way too bright), it came with a bag. had the hagstrom been available at the time i would have bought it over the gibson for sure. it is a much better value even though it is made in china. would be the best beginner guitar you coud get right now.

made 2005, in china. 21 frets, 1 vol, 1 tone, 3-way switch. two hagstrom made p90s, "H90"s pickups.contoured mahogany body, set neck, body style in between SG/jaguar. Hagstrom Full Contact Tremolo FCS-1. Hagstrom 18:1 Die Cast Tuners. graphite nut, "resinator fretboard" (website), looks ebony-ish. cream color with tortoise pickguard.
kinda basic, but all the essentials.

the clean is exceptionnaly warm, even the bridge pickup. a little bassier than a normal p90 would sound, but overall similar. the sound distorts well, too. good for rock, blues, jazz, funk and more, but absolutely not for metal. the sound is the reason why I bought the guitar, but I have to admit it was on impulse. distorted, there's alot of noise, more than expected for p90s. on clean, there's very little noise, but it's still there. hardly noticeable, unless you're actually listening for the noise.

played through a marshall jcm30 tube amp for OD and a roland blues cube 60 for clean, slight od and distortion. with several pedals: boss, rv3, dd3, ds1 (all those in between guitar and amps) and ce-2, ge7 and mxr phase 90 (on effects loop).

low action set-up, good pickup height from factory setting, etc etc, but the graphite nut and the edges on the fret metal tingy (forgot the name) are pointy. seriously. they should've smoothed them a little bit, 'cause it scratches the skin and makes it plum. At first I thought I was developping eczema on each side of my left hand, but then I realised it was because of this.

feels solid and all, but haven't gigged with it. and I don't have the habit of beating up my guitars so... dont really know if it can take a beating or not.

haven't had to deal with hagstrom.