Hagstrom Hagstrom I

I got my red Hagstrom I in 1967 complete with chipboard case for $100.
It is still in my closet.

I played this guitar during my formative years and wore the paint off the back of the neck. After a few years I realized I preferred humbuckers and moved on. The neck and briged PU give a good contrast with each other. It has a brighter single coil sound. It is hard to keep in tune.

The neck is great, thin wide and fast. Low string action. For a $100 guitar it met my expectations as a 16 year old beginning guitar player.

I played it for about 5 years with no problems. The tremelo, as was the case back then, worked great as long as you were careful not to use it. A nice little axe.
(A friend of mine had a black one. One night at a gig he smashed it just for fun. Mine is safe in the closet.)

never used

This was my first electric guitar and served me well. I don't play it but don't think about selling it either. It needed better tuning keys and a better bridge.

Brought in 1969 was a few years old then, it is a 1962 I think.
Good features for it's day....

Sound is good, with 9 or 10 gage strings...no 8 's unless you surf..
Good tone with both pickups on...bright, cherry,clean, not good for metal, but all other styles fair to OK.....Works good with fender amps, turn bass all the way, middle, middle, treble on 3 or 4 only,,,,

Action super good, strings are low, neck is thin, super good action if you have small to medium hands...narrow neck.. big fingers don't work here well..

Still plays got it in69'....
never not worked..........

NA

I own 2 of these, red & black....looks are not great but a good overall guitar... price is rising on these too.... some go for $900 plus.....very 60's sounding......the real deal too.....
would never sell, you would have to pry my dead hands off the guitar----------...........................****************
If you can find one BUY IT>>>>>>

BOB
Genesis Recording Studio Orlando FL (www.genesisrecording.com)
check us out for pixs.....

1965 model, my first electric guitar and I still have it. 40 years! It is an obvious copy of a Strat, and has the plastic top and vinyl back. I wanted a Jaguar soooo bad, but at $399 1965 dollars, it was out of the question. The Hag was only $135. Trem arm just isnt angled enough to be of much use, doesnt have enough travel. The whole thing was kind of made on the cheap, to get a foothold in the marketplace. Unique tone switches. Fine, thin, Gretsch like neck.

Still pretty decent. With both pups engaged, nice and sparkly. Sounds to me like a Fender from that era.

Not too bad considering the price. Still hanging together, everything still works. The vinyl back is cracked a little, but overall is ok. Greatest thin style neck around, needs new fretrs but wont bother.

Its taken a beating, especially in its first few years. I couldnt begin to estimate how many hours of play it has, in the thousands and thousands. Wore out many Beatles albums with it.

What can I say? it has survived many moves across the country, one marriage, three kids, and it is still going. And now, they are becoming somewhat collectible! I know it is a less than perfect design, but I wouldnt sell it for any reason.

The red one. Volume, and four goofy switches. Lame Tremolo.

Sounds cheap. Bought it as a toy. Always was a toy. Still is. Unless your re-living some retro fantasy, keep your money. Poor output. Limited tones.

It was completely covered in plastic with an extra "jewelled" panel glued on the front. What a joke! Neck played good though. It was fun.

Kinda fell apart over the years. Maybe my fault, as I never took it seriously.

Too bad they're out of business. They've left a charming legacy.

I also had a red plastic alligator-hide Hofner bass which was stolen from my home. I put a picture up at the corner store: "No reward for this piece of junk." Same goes for the Hagtrom I. (By the way, I also have a Hagtrom Viking, which is more like a REAL instrument!) However, this thing is just silly. Give your money to World Vision.

I have an early production Futurama, serial #555889 with red plastic top, black plastic covering on neck with the hagstrom blue crown sticker on the back of the headstock. I found this guitar as it was being tossed into a dumpster by some knucklehead. The glued-in rhythm pickup was smashed inward without breaking the plastic top and I have replaced it with a Fender telecaster chrome pickup which fit the hole perfectly. I rebuilt the bridge posts using thicker threaded posts and added a Gibson ABR bridge which matched the neck radius perfectly. I've refretted the neck and installed a new nut and istalled Fender deluxe tuners. All the switches work but I've found no purpose in using them except to switch pickup selection. The 2 mute switches serve no purpose for me whatsoever.The tremar unit is kind of hokey so I tend to not use it. The neck, on the other hand,is a masterpiece!

Since I've bastardized this Hag a bit it still has that surf sound on the bridge pickup and a typical tele sound in the rhythm. The two pickups together have a nice "Crowded House" sound that I like especially when chorus is used. Shifting to the rhythm pickup alone has a great "Pink Floyd" Gilmour sound that I use a lot--better than both of my Strats or my Tele!

I've found that the original bridge setup to be extremely lacking in strength and ability to be properly intonated. Since tossing out the bridge and the posts and going with thicker, stronger steel posts and a Gibson ABR bridge the tone has improved greatly. The tremar unit leaves a lot to be desired in a tremelo unit but it works fine if you don't use it!I leave the arm on as a "decoration".

I would classify this guitar as a novelty to be used on a few songs but it would never hold its own if I had to use it as a main guitar. Although when I'm learning new material it seems like I'm always grabbing this guitar first(I have 14 guitars to choose from!)

I've been a guitar player since 1969 and have played and owned lots of guitars. Although I've only had my Hag for 2 years now I wouldn't think of getting rid of it. The mods I've done to it have probably nullified any collector value----but what the hell. It plays nice, sounds nice, looks nice in a kind of Bride of Frankenstein way, and people are always scrathing their heads when they see it.

Hagstrom l in white. The first 2 digits of the serial # are 66 so I think it was made in 1966? The body is "strange". It reminds me of a Fender Mustang or Bronco. It has a plastic top with the rest of the body covered with vinyl or "pleather". On my example this vinyl has shrunk a bit near the neck pocket & needs to be stretched & reglued. Not a major problem.

The whole body is screwed together with the screws visible from the front.It has 2 single coil pick ups with "fake" poles on the covers. Bridge has a tremelo that is more ornamental than funtional.
There is 1 volume knob and instead of tone knobs there are pre-set tone "switches" & a mute switch also. The neck is smokin! Its a Fender copy with the best action you will ever play! Rosewood fingerboard with thin frets. I'm assuming the neck itself must be either maple or mahagony. Not sure since the necks & headstocks are painted black on these models. The neck sits high above the neck pocket but this does affect playability whatsoever.

This is a 60's surfy guitar in reality. Since the action is so easy & low you can play many styles on this guitar! Allan Holdsworth (British jazz fusion guitarist)used to play a Hagstrom back in his early days. He plays a slur style (pull-offs & hammer ons). After playing this neck I can see why he liked Hagstrom. The pick ups are very hot on this guitar & very prone to unwanted feedback. To minimize this issue back off on the volume knob. Using a volume pedal is advisable also. Other than that this thing screams...Chords are well defined & solos...well...just read the above.

Everything is put together very well. Stays in great tune! *Read the above

As much as I LOVE my Hagstrom l I wouldn't take it out very much. Don't get me wrong. It is built very well but I don't take chances with vintage stuff. Use it for show case gigs or local stuff. This axe is also excellent for recording!

Hagstrom is out of business since 1981 so there is no "customer support" anymore. However Hagstrom is beginning to get popular now so if you search around you will find lots of info out there on the web.

I've been playing for nearly 25 years & wish I had this guitar a long time ago! It looks like a "Mad Scientist's Fender Knock-off" & may not appeal to everyone but I love it. I plan to buy several in different colors. You could buy a new axe for $400-$500 but it ain't gonna be vintage 1960's & won't play or sound like the Hagstrom l. That's my opinion of course but I 'll stick by it.

This is a vintage Hagstrom I, red, same features as all the others. Only one volume knob, and a tone "switch" instead of a knob. Kind of a hassle, because it severely limits your tonal options. However, the amazing neck makes up for it.

I'm running this through a Fender Ultimate Chorus for cleans and a Gibson Discoverer for dirty stuff. It sounds excellent through both amps. Here's a rundown:
-The neck pickup: sounds very nice. Fairly bluesy, good stuff.
-The bridge pickup: Far too trebly to use on its own. Lacked enough bottom end.
-The two together: The bridge adds a nice bit of janglyness, which complements
-With the tone switch engaged: Thud. It can help tame an extremely trebly distortion pedal, but that's what tone knobs on stompboxes are for. Clean, it's useless. You'll probably never touch it.
-With the "mute" switch engaged: The sound is a little quieter. Not really a true mute. You'll probably leave this one alone too.
-Master volume knob: Regulates the volume nicely without losing tone.
You can only get about two useable sounds out of it: neck pickup and neck + bridge. However, they are great sounds.

Plays beautifully. At the first couple of frets, it's a little uncomfortable to play barre chords. But it does make it really easy to play more complicated chords, especially those requiring long stretches.

Here's the problem: the input jack is wonky. It cuts out sometimes. It may be hard to fix, because it's hard to get to. Also, the strap buttons came out easily, so I had to put a dab of glue in there and screw it in well. But because it's lasted 40 years, I'm willing to give it the benefit of the doubt once I get the jack fixed.

HA!

This is a pretty great guitar, if you can find one in good condition. Although its sounds are pretty limited, they're good ones, and it plays really nicely.

Early 60's Hagstrom I, Made in Alvdalen, Sweden. 22 Frets, 2 single pole pickups, Red, Acrylic Strat-shaped body and headstock. The back is covered with red vinyl.This guitar is becoming a 1960's ICON! Featured in many guitar history texts and on the cover of at least one, Hagstrom created a very hip and unusual guitar that is really starting to gain collector interest. The body is made of plywood; the top is acrylic with integral pickguard molded in...a "swimming pool" with metal accent trim is located where a soundhole would be. Four switches control the pickups with one volume control; much variety in the sound is possible with all the switch combinations. A Tremar (Hagstrom's Tremolo Unit) is present on all Hagstrom I's; it is a very high quality trem that was used by Guild, Domino, and others in the 1960's.

Very "surf" sounding with percussive single-pole pickup "pop." This is a great guitar to break through the mix with its strong mids and highs. It is not a good choice as a crunch guitar as the pickups are not particularly high in output. Very nice balanced Tele sound is possible with the wide variety of adjustments from the four switches and single volume knob.

The star features of the Hagstrom I are:
1. The excellent Hagstrom neck. It is very thin, fast, and ALWAYS straight. Hagstrom used a very well engineered truss design borrowed from Volvo Aviation (the absolute truth!) to insure that the neck would stay straight. I have seen dozens of Hagstroms and have never encountered a warped or twisted neck!
2. The awesome retro look of the Acrylic top. The pickguard is molded into the top as well as the raised quarter-inch phone plug access. This guitar is an archetype of the most radical of 1960's guitars. Very cool!

Considering the body is made of plywood and is covered with vinyl and Acrylic, this guitar is a tank! The necks are always top quality.
The Acrylic top is prone to cracking by the mounting screws so handle with care on stage!
Avoid buying an incomplete Hagstrom. Original parts are hard to locate; parts for the bridge, the tuners, the "swimming pool" metallic inlay, European switches, and Tremar are scarce. Modern replacements (with non-original appearance) are readily available though...check out the restored Hagstrom I at www.flatearthguitars.com for a good example.

Quite a few Hagstrom collectors are out there. For information or part information, email Kwinn at www.hagstrom-usa.com or email me at www.flatearthguitars.com

Prices for Hagstroms are rising and the Hagstrom I is one of the coolest retro guitars in existance. Chances are, you'll want to kiss a Hag!

This guitar was marketed under several names in different countries - in America it was the Hagstrom I, U.K., the Futurama. Strat style body made in two parts. The bottom half is a think piece of (strong) wood covered in vinyl and the top half is molded fiberglass. These guitars are distinguished by several unique features, among them: a raised, straight plug input jack that automatically leads your guitar cable away from the guitar (think of the reverse of the concave strat jack mounted a little higher), a piece of gold or silver textured material under the strings between the pickups (has raised bumps about the size of window screen material, sometimes called a "swimming pool" and slide switch selectors and a single knob for volume. The slide switches are marked Hi, Low, Mute and Tone. These all came equipped with a pretty useable whammy bar, Fender style headstock with in-line tuners, two single coil pickups, a rosewood fingerboard and the slimmest, fastest neck anywhere. Mine came with the original case. 22 frets, rosewood board with dot markers, generic but decent tuners

Debatable. I suppose it's a matter of taste. When these guitars first came out in the late 1950s/early 1960s (sorry to say i was around then and starting to play) they were considered the "poor man's fender," so nobody took them seriously. You could buy one for a hundred bucks or so vs. the $250 and up it cost for a strat or jaguar, so these guitars were viewed as "beginners" instruments. Fact is, it's a damn nice little single pickup guitar. It doesn't have the full-bodied punch of a Strat and it sounds trebly, but hey, that can be an advantage. If you play jangly sixties pop, surf, punk or psychedelic stuff you could get a LOT of cool sounds from this guitar. There's a significant difference between the sound of the front pickup, the bridge pickup and the combination of the two. I have no idea what upgrading the pickups would do for sound quality. Certainly it would have some effect, but don't forget, the body is a slab of plywood with a hollow space under the top mounted fiberglas face, so it ain't gonna resonante. The intonation is perfect, all 22 frets accessible, ergonomic set up, whammy bar that stays in tune (Hagstrom made these for Guild and someone else in the 1960s). Two weirdnesses: 1. The "mute" switch really does SORT of mute the sound, knocks off all the sustain and some high end, but nowhere near as effective as hand muting so sort of a worthless feature (I never use it) 2. the "tone" switch knocks off high end so as a true tone control, it's not of much value (because it weakens the tone too much), however, for open chord strumming using the tone switch can mimic an acoustic strum to some degree, so not entirely worthless

Action? Amazing. Hagstrom used to use the slogan "the world's fastest playing neck," and it's true. I own 14 guitars including fenders, gibsons, danos, epiphones, steinberger, a harmony rocket and more, and i've been playing since '63 and have played damn near everything there is to play including PRS, Rickenbacker, Gretsch, etc. etc. and I have NEVER found a thinner, slimmer faster neck capable of handling such low action without special set up. You might think that a thin neck would be prone to severe warping and twisting but here's my 1966 Hagstrom I, the neck as straight as the day it was made. I've often thought of buying one of these just to put the neck on one of my other guitars. The guitar is very well built, solid, no sharp edges on the frets which are all set nicely. And what can you say about a half textured vinyl, half fiberglass guitar? The fiberglas still looks beautiful and is easy to maintain and the same goes for the vinyl. (The two areas that devalue these instruments are cracks or chips in the fiberglass and tears in the vinyl).

First let me say i bought this on line sight unseen and the shop was VERY helpful, fast email response, bought it on Tuesday it arrived on Wed. Endurance? Well, it's a 1966 guitar (dated by the serial number)and it's in really good shape so that says a lot, doesn't it? No twisting or bowing or warpin of the neck, no raised frets, slide switches and whammy bar work fine (except that some doofus replaced a screw in the whammy bar with a pan head self tapping sheet metal screw rather than the machine screw that was OBVIOUSLY supposed to be there...hint: if you don't know squat about guitars DON'T MESS WITH THEM! Any fool with a basic knowledge of hardware would have been able to put the correct screw in there). The slide switches have some wear around them indicating the guitar has certainly been played, but there's no fret wear to speak of, no tears in the vinyl backing so this thing has been used but held up well. Given that it's still in original condition and working fine after all these years i'm giving it a 10.

Doesn't exist with vintage instruments, obviously. Well, maybe that's not entirely true - i suppose really big companies like Fender or Gibson or Rickenbacker might be able to help you with some repairs and restoration and spare parts for a vintage guitar (but don't count on it). However, Hagstrom owners take heart: I've seen a number of people advertising vintage parts for sale in Vintage Guitar magazine, sometimes for all old guitars and a couple of ads exclusively for Hagstrom parts.

OK, it's not for everybody and I admit it, I bought this guitar because when i was 12 and playing in my first band I had a piece of crap Japanese guitar and the cool guys had Hagstrom I's and I always wanted one. That being said, it's collectible and sounds fine for some things. I'm not going to trade in my Les Paul or my Tele, but if I was recording a surf tune, I'd grab this or my Dano first! By the way, these came in three colors: red, black or baby blue