Hagstrom F-300

Bought 2008, 3 Singlecoils, Italian Red came with a gigbag, 270Euros

The unplugged sound is very warm an d convincing
clean sound is not too bad ,allthough a little weak...
when you distort it, it sounds somehow springy like playing on a tin or something, very weak
there is hardly any base, as if the two top strings dont fully swing...

After some frustrating weeks swiching arround and trying to find something positive in this sound, i finally decided that considering that the guitar seemed well craftedi had to buy new pickups.
I chose a set of handmade david barfuss pus and started to completely take the guitar appart. When I noticed that it loooked so horribly crafted on the inside, i decided to see weather the wood was any good.
I took of the thick varnish, but surprisingly the basewood underneth was very nice and had a fine grain. I then polished it an waxed it.
together with the new pus it is agood guitar old sound 5
new sound 8

The Neck and fingerboard are superb, wanted to buy a mim strat in the first place but this detail convinced me of the hagstrom.
vibrato and tuners are very stable and it does hardly ever get out of tune.
finish on the outside is well done but dont look inside... looks like carved out with a spoon or something...
wood is excellent
Pickups are of a very cheap sort, with one big bar magnet across

the cmponents seem pretty durable, but the elecrics are not done very well.

dont know

the reviews for this product are pretty convincing and they somehow convinced me too.
this might be agood guitar for beginners, that cant afford more, but if you have the money, please dont let the looks of it convince you and spend an extra 200 on a quality instrument!

I propably would not buy it again... looked like a bargain, lovely shape and the best neck and fretboart I ever played, but you have to spend too much time and money to improve it

hope this is a more helpful review for you than the ones I read...

2007 Model F300. Made in China. MSRP $450.00 USD

Well built instrument. Cpmparable in style and sound to a Fender Strat. Better bang for the buck than a Strat.

Sounds great. Full Rich Sound. Sounds fantastic with any amp but a tube amp really lets you know that this is a quality instrument.

Perfectly set up and ready to use right out of the box. Intonation was excellent. Strings could stand a little (emphasize little) lowering but that may just be my preference.

Rock solid instrument. Built to last. Could gig without a backup if necessary but that isn't recommended for any pro musician no matter what axe he/she plays.

Had no need to contact them. Lifetime warranty indicates they have confidence in the product. The original Hags were built to last and sound good. This reissue is even better sounding than the old Hags.

Playing through an old Traynor Guitarmate...1973 model. Also tried it on a Crate. Sounded fantastic on both amps. Never again will I pay over $1000 for a Fender Strat. No need. I can buy three for the price of one.

Finish is excellent. Neck is fast. Intonation is deadly. No hum. No fret buzz. Sound limited only by your imagination/ability. A fantastic deal.

Strat/SG mixed shape, tremolo bridge, 18:1 tuners. 25.5" scale hard maple bolt on neck with resintor fingerboard. Three single coil pickups, with vol and two tones. Five way selector switch. Paid $215 US for a blemished guitar but I can't find the belmish.

I am playing this guitar through a Dean Markley K-50 and a Johnson Stage 100 connected in stero uisng the line out feature of the Dean markley amp. The sound is very versatile. I can get any sound I want with a little tinkering of the switch and the tone and volume buttons.

This is a blemished guitar according to the ebay seller I bought it from. Other than a little difference in the way the fret board shadess I can find nothing that I would consider a blemish on this guitar. There is no buzz or hum of at all and the instrument was perfectly intonated right out of the box. Plug and Play.

This guitar looks to be well made. I would compare it with any of the brand name guitars and I'm including Fender and Gibson. The hardware, the finish, the strap buttons, all look and feel like it will stand anything that a well made guitar should stand.

Have had no need to contact the company. It is warranted for life as long as I own it.

I have been playing for too long to mention. Longer than many who visit this site have lived yet. I have owned or been in groups that owned every brand name guitar that there is. I now play only for my own amusement and own a Jay Turser....also a great instrument for the price. A Vantage VS25 acoustic, an Epiphone AJ200 acoustic and a Washburn BSCE Acoustic Electric.

There is nothing that I dislike about the Hagstrom. It is as good as any Fender Strat for a fraction of the price. Fender and Gibson had better get it together because once word gets around they will have stiff competition.

it is a really nice guitar to play

i love the sound

the finsh was really nice

i had it for 3 years

the warrenty is 10 years

i've been playing for 3 years

I've got the F-300 SBL -- tobacco sunburst basswood body, strat/sg mixed shape, trem bridge, 18:1 tuners. 25.5" scale hard maple bolt on neck. S/S/S, with vol and two tones. Made in China.

The hag is versatile in the way you'd expect of a Strat. I can see it going for blues, rock, punk, etc. I've run it through a sovtek mig-50 and fender deville, and it sounds fantastic. The pu's are relatively hot, and do a fantastic job of reproducing a great deal of the bell-like overtones of the instrument. I don't find it to be any noisier than any of the other guitars I own. The pickups have a rich low end which (unlike my Univox hi-flier) never becomes booming. The highend is very sensitive and powerful...have to be careful with the tone controls. Personally, I find it refreshing to play a guitar in this price range in which the 1st tone knob genuinely affects the sound. I'm giving it a 9 based on price...it's not quite at the level of an American Strat, but I would say it exceeds all Fender guitars I've played below that price range. There's a great deal you can do with this machine.

The hag was pretty good out of the box. Action needs to go up a little maybe, but it's consistently low across the fretboard. I think it could use some thicker strings. I got a discounted blem model...and the blem consists of 3 pseudo-visible scuffs on the back. The construction is fantastic, especially the neck. Sort of medium neck width, and a wonderfully thin thickness. I may take sand paper and oil to the back of the neck just to cut down on sweat-stickiness. But it's fast and easy and great. The price for a guitar this well put together and with these materials is pretty ridiculous (re:low) I think.

This is a heavy, solid guitar. The tuners look like they may be the most easily damaged part, but to the touch they feel quite solid. The finish seems resilient. I would gig without backup if not for fear of the rogue string popping. So maybe with backup pack of strings and a high-speed guitar tech.

Got this from e-bay..no idea on warranty or helpfulness. Informative website though.

I've been playing for about 11 years. Happened to see this on ebay going for a $145 buy-it-now due to the blemish, and bought it on impulse. It's hip looking, it plays great, and sounds wonderful. I was hesitant to believe what some people were saying about these, but it lived up in every count. As far as Strat-Style guitars for under $1000 go, this can't be beat.

solid body,3 single coil-5way switch,strat-sg hybrid,trem bar.
see website fopr more details

This guitar got a nice tone but the pick up are wery noisy.for that price its ok.

Good action,nice tremolo bar,stays rather in tune.The finish have some fails on the sides of the neck,thicken glue exedents,unegal sanding...but for that price and its made in china so...

it rock

never had to deal with that and its my second Hag.

Its a cool guitar,no doubt about it

December 2004 (new Hagstrom F300)
21 Frets, bolt on neck
Solid body with white pearl pick guard
1 volume, 2 tones, 5-way selector
Pickups: S/S/S passive
Hagstrom pickups, CTS volume/tone controls
Body is Bass wood, neck is maple with patented H truss
Finish is a Jet black
Body style: strat
Bridge: full contract tremolo
Tuners: 18 to 1 geared tuning machines
Neck: thin, 25.5" scale
Hard shell case

Vor kurzem habe ich meine 60 es classic strat mit Custom Shop Abigail Ybarra 69 Pickups versehen, die Hagstrom klingt trotzdem besser, viel offener, mehr Transparenz und Output.

Die F 300 perfekt verarbeitet, Ebenholz Griffbrett, Graphit Sattel, einteiliger vunderbarer Hals. Und das Tremolosystem ist zum verlieben.
Hagstrom hat schon immer sei 60 er Jahre die besten Tremolosysteme gebaut, bei F 300 auch ein pefekt arbeitender, und sehr simmstabiler Tremolo macht das Spielen zum Genuss. Anschlussbuchse ist auch sehr bedacht angebracht, man braucht das Kabel nicht mehr wie bei Strat uber den Gurt fuhren. Schone Hagstromtypische Kopfplatte, perfekte Lackierung, sehr gut funktionirende orig. Hagstrom Mechaniken verleihen der Gitarre den perfekten Schliff. Der KOrpus ist etwas kleiner als Strat, aber dafut auch leichter.

Ich besitze momentan 7 Gitarren, spiele am liebsten mit F 300. Die Gitarre ist fur den Preis fast geschenkt, vergleichbar mit USA Strats die weit uber 1000,- Euro kosten.

Bisher habe ich keine Erfahrung mit Hagstrom Gitarren gehabt, von daher kann ich keine Meinung eussern.

Ich spiele seit 37 Jahren Gitarre, seit einigen Jahren habe ich mich auf Instrumental Musik spezialisiert. Spiele Stucke von Shadows, Spotnicks, Goldfingers, Ventutes usw. F 300 passt sehr gut zur Surfmusik, Klarer brillaner Klang der Gitarre kommt gut an. Ich bin damit sehr zufrieden.

December 2004 (new Hagstrom F300)
21 Frets, bolt on neck
Solid body with white pearl pick guard
1 volume, 2 tones, 5-way selector
Pickups: S/S/S passive
Hagstrom pickups, CTS volume/tone controls
Body is Bass wood, neck is maple with patented H truss
Finish is a Jet black
Body style: strat
Bridge: full contract tremolo
Tuners: 18 to 1 geared tuning machines
Neck: thin, 25.5" scale
Hard shell case

I use this guitar to play classic rock and roll. It sounds
significantly better than the American Fender Strat. The notes
have a bell like quality probably because of the H Truss and
composite fingerboard and quality of the pickups.

The set up of the guitar was perfect out of the box.
The action is low and almost as good as the original
vintage 1970's Hagstrom III (which I also owned).
If I over strum it let's say up the neck then then
tremolo tail plate buzzes slightly about the top surface
of the guitar. But there is no fret buzz whatsoever.
The fingerboard is probably the most outstanding feature
on this guitar. No dead spots that I have found.

I've owned the guitar for a week but I had the
vintage F300 and this feels as rock solid as
the vintage I previously owned. Hagstroms
have a reputation for incredible durability
on the road, basically indestructable.
I would use this on gig but I wouldn't let
it out of my sight for a second. This guitar
as the most beautiful sound of any Fender strat
I've ever played on and I've been playing since
the late 1960's.

The dealer was very friendly and I drove two states
to find a dealer that carried the new Hagstrom line
since there were none closer. When I arrived around
8:30pm the owner had left instructions with the clerks
to call him. He came to the store to complete the sale
and followed up with emails to see how satisfied I was
with the guitar. I'll be going back in another month
or so when the new Hagstrom Viking arrives (I also owned
the vintage Viking previously).

I've been playing guitar since 1965. Owned too
many guitars to remember them all.

If this guitar were stolen I would immediately order
another one. I love the quality of the intonation,
the finish/look of the guitar and the neck action.
I like this guitar more than any other I have ever
owned including the vintage F300. The vintage had
a faster action neck (slightly) but the new has a nicer
finish, much better fingerboard and better sound and
pickups. The new F300 is basically a $1000 strat for $300.
I like the sound and the neck much better than the strat.

My only dislikes are the slight tremolo plate buzz I mentioned
above and the tone controls don't have as much range as I would
have liked. But the 5 position lever gives you more than adequate
tonal range for a "strat".