Hagstrom III

mines a 65 over kill on features I like the old cheese grader with all the switches way simpler to use than push pull slide to the left turn around take your left foot out and wiggle all about guitars they make these days. I just wish it had a tone knob instead of switched on/off which is why I gave it a 9. probably could mod it but for it's age what's the point?

completly underrated, I can easily get a 335 type sound, or a strat. But at the same time it retains it's own sound.

These old hagstrom truss rods are super duper. The neck is still straight after all these years. super low action, a really fast guitar. extra super thin neck. Even my girlfriend can wrap her tiny hand anywhere on the neck and play(if only she could play)

completely awesome, it's my number 1. I actually sold my nocaster reissue to buy this. Backup? sure I've always carried a spare just incase, but I haven't used it since I got this.

man they went out of business before I was born.

great guitar, I'd defiantly buy another, I honestly can't believe they are as cheap as they are I completely over paid(according to lowballers) for mine but I had never seen one before didn't know the going rate, and I've never seen another one out in the world. But if I ever saw another it would be mine! When these eventually when word gets out I can see them running for ridiculous prices. (see airline cheapo + jack white = huge rise in prices)

my III was build in 1969 und its in perfect condition, black sunburst,

well, these single coils got power, much better than fenders
it got just one control knob, volume.
there are some more switches, each for the pickups,
one on/off, 3 for mute, top and tone

i really like the neck, its so thin and fast
like hagstrom ads say "the fastest playing neck in the world"
and they are true, forget the gibsons and fenders, here is where you find the holy grail

sometimes i play this guitar on stage but its old and vintage, so i'd like to keep it in original condition.

well, i got the hagstr??m book which i orderd on the web
so if anybody needs information like dating the guitar i could help you.
just send me an email to parascopes@gmx.at include the modell and serialnumber

the hagstr??m III first was build in 1965, 1000 pieces each year, and they stopped production in 1972, then in 1977 the build another 200 pieces.
on ebay sometimes the III goes up to 1000 dollars,
i got mine 15 years ago paid only a few dollars but they a very rare und underrated.

i have another hagstr??m, a deluxe build in 1961 sparkling red finish

1959 Hagstrom III, made in Sweden. 22 frets, solid top painted white. It's got a volume knob, six two-position switches (three for the pickups (one each) and three for tone), and an on/off switch. I don't know the model name or number of the pickups, but there are three of them and I haven't seen any pickups like them before.

The body style in kind of a hybrid between a Fender Stratocaster and a Gibson SG, and is really thing (only a couple inches deep) and light. I don't know the body wood, but the neck looks to be maple with a rosewood fretboard. The bridge is like nothing I've ever seen before, with the strings stretched over what looks like a tune-o-matic (but most definitely isn't) and stopping on top of the body at the wammy bar.

Speaking of wammy bars, this one is weird. It's just two plates of metal laid on top of each other and hooked together at one end, with the strings attached to the op plate. You push on the bar, the plates separate a bit, and hey! you've got a different sound. When I bought it it didn't have a wammy bar in it, so I took a big old sheetrock nail and hammered that in. It works fine.

The neck is way thin, about two thirds of the depth of the already thin body. I don't have very long fingers, so I like that as it enables me to really wrap my hands around the neck. The headstock once had an exaggerated Stratocaster head, but someone sawed that off at some point a while ago so now it just looks like a triangle.

The tuners are really beefy, and the G and B string tuners don't work very well; sometimes I have to tune up after simply playing a song. But it sounds god when it's in tune.

The guitar doesn't really fit my sound, as it keeps trying to go grunge on me and I prefer a clean sound. However, when I can get it to stay pure it sounds really pretty, and I can get my blues picking on real good.

The sound is not very rich, but one of the tone switches basically makes it sound about twice as big as regular so that's a helpful feature that gets a lot of use. But aside from that there really isn't that much of a different between the switches. I can only get five or six different sounds out of the guitar, six switches or no.

This is not a loud guitar. I usually play with the guitar maxed, and my amp (unless I'm using my Fender Twin) on five-seven. But despite the low volume, this is a good sounding axe.

I have no idea how well this thing sounded straight from the factory; I bought it used and broken. I really can't say anything about the factory settings because I got it forty years after it was made.

I think that everything about this guitar will last for a long time, but I wouldn't go live without a backup because the guitar goes out of tune so fast, and if you're on a roll you don't want to stop and tune up, and neither does the audience. So while I'm going to keep using the guitar for a while, I wouldn't take to a gig without a backup.

I don't think I could even understand the customer service representatives if I could get a hold of them; I don't speak Swedish.

I've been using the old Hag for a year or so now, and I have no complaints aside from the tuners. I don't own any other guitars, but a friend of mine has a nice tele and strat that I play a lot. While I like this guitar more than the strat, it really can't hold a candle that guy's tele (but then, neither does any other guitar I've ever played). My personal favorite features are my custom wammy bar and the on/off switch. Love that switch.

If it were stolen or lost, I'd get something else. Much as I love this guitar, I wouldn't be able to find another one.

1965, SG style body in a beautiful powder blue color! Near-mint w/original case. Neck is maple with "strat-style" headstock. Fingerboard is a very nice rosewood with thin frets. This particular guitar has the 'rounded' pickups & the metal control plate. All the switches work nicely with almost no scratchy noises. Very quiet all around. Comes with the 'Guild-Style' bridge with tremelo arm. Trem-arm is held in place with a large screw. This screw is unique to these guitars. If you lose one expect to go through hell trying to find one! If you do they sell for $25.00 & up. Tuners are chrome Van Ghents.

Hagstrom 3's are great sounding guitars. Extremely underrated & overlooked by guitarists for decades, these guitars are finally getting respect. Prices have steadily gone up over the past several years. The Hagstrom name/line has also been revived & are back in the public eye. It's safe to say that [clean/complete] vintage Hags will continue to increase in value. Sounds are plentifull as there are many different combinations available using the toggle switches. Hagstrom 3's sound like a Fender yet has a distinct sound all it's own. I love the sounds from all out distortion to clean 60's sounding jangle. I play through Mesa Boogie 50 Caliber + all-tube amplifier into either 2 or 4 speaker Marshall cabs. I have found absoutely no need for any distortion/overdrive pedals to get this axe to growl.

Action is the lowest you will ever find on the planet! Everything fits well together & the overall balance of the instrument is outstanding. The only fault with these guitars is that they were made from remnants of wood that were glued together. Over time the 'glue-lines' cause the finish to check in spots. Other than that all the hardware is of good quality, etc...

These are strong & sturdy instruments yet not as quite as solid as a Strat or an SG. That's not to say they are fragile. However if 'stressed' there could be problems. They are very gig-worthy & dependable.

Original company is long out of business. However vintage Hagstroms are getting very popular these days & there are several web-sites devoted to them. Lots of good info & contacts for parts if you do a thourough search.

Simply said.... I love Hagstrom guitars & currently own 8 of them. Each one is unique. All are near & dear to me.

Black on black. Lots of switches. King's Neck. Tremar. Maple body. Maple bolt on neck. Rosewood fingerboard. Van Ghent tuners. Nickel plated brass hardware. 3 Hagstrom Single Coils.

More style than a Mod on a Lambretta.

I play everything between here and there. I play all my Hags through my '62 Hagstrom 39 tube amp (yeah, they made amps too and they sound incredible). I either use my Big Muff and/or my Maestro Fuzzstain. It's a bit noisey and sounds excellent. Somewhere between a Strat and a Gretsch-ish-ish. It's got a tone all it's own. Very distinct. Go grab an old Mudhoney album and you'll see. It's vinto to the core.

My Hagstrom III is my very first electric guitar I ever owned. I bought it for $75 and it was beat to hell. Someone had spray painted the neck black and chiseled the headstock (huh?). The electronics were shot too. But guess what? The neck was still straight as an arrow. I refinished the neck and rewired some of the electronics. The action on this guitar is freakin' insane! My Impala is the only other guitar I've played that is better.

Even though this axe was/is so beat the craftmanship is very good.

Durability? These things are bullet proof! B-U-L-L-E-T P-R-O-O-F!! Mine had been so punished when I got it and then I played a zillion shows with it and it never, ever failed me. I flogged that thing and it just said "Bring it on sucka!" I bought it in 1987 and I still own it. Rock solid is an understatement.

Waaay out of warranty.

Hagstrom IIIs scream Rock and Roll. It looks fast, it plays fast it sounds like nothing else.

I sold this guitar once when I was hard up for cash. That was in '92. Last year I tracked down the guy and bought it back. I would destroy anyone who stole it. It's got so much mojo in it it's not even funny.

3 bolt maple neck with nicely figured rosewood and small frets, 3 simgle coil pickups, tremolo,1 volume- bunch of switches! body beveled like an SG.

I play rock and blues-based rock. I have some modern guitars, Robin medley, Tokai Love Rock and an Old Japanese Squier strat, but nothing with a funky vibe. It was in a small music store, picked the thing up and was taken by it's slim neck. The guy said the electronics were dead, but my friend who's good at these things promised to make it work if I bought it. I did, and he did, but he couldn't figure out all the swiches, so it's wired for all 3 pickups togeter permanently!

The sound is quite nice, the sound of crispy tele or strat. they make tons of noise, and are so microphonic that you really cant use any amp gain to speak of, but I use this as a practice guitar with a 9volt powered amp the size of your hand.

I got it with a million scratches and bumps, but the action is absolutely the easiest playing you could ever hope for, the neck is thin and the rosewood is the only part of the guitar not dinged-up, and it's got swirls and figures I've never seen before! I love having a light-weight, easy-playing beater to just leave in the living room, or to take to picnicks!

This Hag has obviously seen it all, and I could hit home runs with it and not phase it now. If it fell over, it would take dents OUT of it! I would not hesitate going on a picnick with out a backup. someday I may take the neck off and sand the few remaing spots of finish off it.

I've played since the mid 80's and I've always liked wierd guitars,(I once worked at a little bizarre music and furniture store owned by an old fart who was Dave Meniketti's Uncle, the specialty was Welson Italian guitars, and accordians). I like playing it with no amp or the little battery job, If it was stolen, I'd be relieved they didn't get any of my Real guitars!

Made in Sveeeden (Sweden) in the mid-60's. I have 2 of these. One is black & the other is tobacco sunburst. SG type body with 3 pickups. Neck is a "Stratocaster" copy (sort of). These came with Micro-matic bridges & tail pieces/tremelo that are also seen on older Guild guitars. (Read other reviews for more details)

I've also seen these on "el-cheapo-mystery Japanese guitars" in my research. They are decent pieces of harware but don't think for a minute that you will be able to enter "Van Halen/Steve Vai" land with these trems. Purely for ornamental effect with a bit of warble. You want vvvvrrrrrooooooommmmm? Then get an 80's Kramer, Charvel or whatever with a Floyd Rose.

Old pick ups tend to become microphonic. They also weaken & have other issues. I can't speak for every Hag 3 however both of mine are perfect as far as pickups & sound quality. They absolutely scream!

The tone, mute switches are quite usefull if you experiment with them in conjunction with whatever amp you happen to use. A particular setting may sound dubious in a clean channel but when switched to a distortion channel can sound amazing. Experimentation-as always-is the key to getting a "sound".

Let me say this about the Hag 3 neck. I've played vintage 50's & 60's Strats that cost upwards of $12,000 & I'll tell you what I know now. I'll take a Hagstrom anyday & save the $11,500 Why??? I buy guitars to play not display. Furthermore-in my opinion-Hagstroms play just as well as vintage Fenders-if not better in some cases. That's my personal opinion. However I'm not the only one out there who feels this way.

Well...every Caeser must have his Brutus which holds true for most Hagstroms. We all know about the switches & tremelo pit-falls from previous reviews.

My only major complaint are the finishes on Hagstroms. They seem to get checked very easily. Checking primarily occurs from stress from the bridge posts as well as enviormental challenges.... FYI- Keep your Hagstrom (or any guitar you care about)out of damp or humid enviorments to prevent checking. Damp cellars come to mind.

They don't all end up this way as one of my Hag 3's has no checking at all even though it is somewhat play worn with nicks, etc...

Out of biz since the early 80's (such a pity) However there is quite a bit of info out there on the web. Check out some of the cool web-sites devoted to Hagstrom. John Haskin's Hagstroms is one of the most informative sites I have seen thus far. Having said that I will give this section a 5 rating.

I've been playing for 25 years. I say to anyone contemplating any Hagstrom guitar to do some research first before buying one. Hagstroms often have missing knobs, trim rings, trem arms & other issues. Parts can be found but are often expensive. If you find a complete Hagstrom that feels right in your hands & sounds good to your ears....buy it.

This is a red 1965 Hagstrom III. It has a curved 1 3/4" X 5" white metal plate which holds the pickup switches, the tone switches and volume knob. The plate is attached to a black pickguard. The plate is trimmed, lettered and numbered in black. This gives the guitar an odd and very unique retro look. The "Tone" and "Mute" switches are useless to me. They simply dull the tone so I leave them in the off position. The "Top" switch does present some useful options but I find the tone much fuller in the on position. Each of the 3 single coil pickups are controlled by their own on and off switch. This is more awkward than a single toggle switch system but is in keeping with the overall design of the switch plate. The volume knob is not accessable for swells.

The neck is a favorite feature on this guitar. It is ultra slim and fast. The truss rod is adjustable and though it is at the base of the neck, it is accessable without having to take the neck off like most Telecasters. The only thing I did not like was the micro-frets. I am not a vintage purist. I re-fretted the neck with jumbo frets. Now I can bend the strings like an upside down left hander. The re-fret necessitated a new nut to raise the strings a bit. I installed a graphite nut, which I prefer for string bending anyway. For me, these mods have greatly enhanced the playability of an already fantastic neck.

The bridge is adjustable for intonation but the system is, again awkward to deal with. The trem system goes a step down and a half step up. This is not "dive bomb" territory but it is functional and gives a nice, if somewhat sedate whammy effect. The vintage tuners still hold the strings in tune. I read an interview with Karl Hagstrom in which he states that they really didn't know how to build an electric guitar when they first started producing them in the 60's. He feels that they where too isolated in Sweden. This is not entirely true. Some of the Hagstrom III's features are a bit awkward by Fender or Gibson standards but overall it is a well built fully functionable guitar. The super fast neck is Hagstrom's crowning achievement.

This is an area where the hagstrom III really shines. I would describe its sound as a cross between a Telecaster and a Stratocaster. It is more spacious than a Tele but doesn't have the complete fullness of a Strat. I would say the Hag has a bell-like sweetness. The neck pickup is rich in the middle and high end with a weaker but still quite good low end. The bridge pickup is limited to a very trebly high end but works well with the neck pickup, adding a touch of twang. The middle pickup is unique. It has a strong midrange with a little "quack" in it. The sound of the middle pickup and neck pickup together is jazzy, similiar to a Strat in the second toggle switch position. The Hagstrom III's strength is in the clean to moderate overdrive range. This makes it a fine Blues axe. When compression is added it can to a credible Mosrite impression as well.

As I am not a vintage purist, I painted the body cavity and the pickguard with conductive shielding paint from Stewart-MacDonald. This greatly reduced the the inherent noise that others have complained about. I would add that I play this guitar through a Fender CyberTwin which is highly configurable for any particular guitar. My impression is the the Hag will sound great through any vintage Fender Blackface or Tweed amp. Other amps may not bring out its best qualities.

The nut and neck are VERY narrow. This makes the guitar great for small handed players. The action can be set as low as you want it. I like loose strings that sit up just a tad for bending so I tend to loosen the truss rod on my guitars. The strings bend easily into Albert King land. I have never owned another guitar that could be set up to bend the strings so far and still have them sit comfortably close to the fretboard.

The body finish is still quite decent with a few nicks and bruises. The neck definitely needs to be refinished. I'm planning on refinishing the neck this summer with a touch of Fender amber and an olympic white headstock face. The body will get olympic white with 8 clear coats.

The chrome pieces are still in good shape but I'll probably have them re-chromed someday. I did not purchase this guitar as a vintage investment, so I see no reason why it shouldn't look as good as it sounds.

This guitar is 38 years old and is still fully intact and operational. There is no corrosion anywhere except on the fake "pickup poles". I recommend lightly lubricating the switches with WD-40. If you've got a switch that doesn't work they do show up periodically on Ebay. Ebay is a good Hagstrom parts source. The body is thin but sturdy. The neck has a super strong truss rod. If you treat the old Hag well it won't fall apart in your hands.

The Hagstrom guitar company is long gone. You can email Karl Hagstrom at: karl.e.hagstrom@telia.com for questions. I've heard he may still have some parts available.

In addition to the Hagstrom III I own 10 other electric guitars: Teles, Strats, Gibsons, a Hagstrom I add some other oddballs. My two Hagstroms and a homemade Fender Broadcaster relic with vintage hardware are my favorite guitars. The Hagstrom I sounds more like a Tele. The Hagstrom III sounds more like a Strat but they both have their own distinct character. I've spent a lot of money looking for the tone that I hear in my head and the Hagstrom III comes the closest by far. If it were stolen I'd would buy another one. Vintage purists will cringe at the thought of me modifying another of their beloved Hagstroms but with a few changes this guitar can be as good and in some ways better than any reasonbly priced guitar in production today.

Ah, yes indeed, the mighty Hagstrom III. Built in Sweden in the mid and late 1960's by some lunatic. The guitar with the tobacco sunburst finish that cracks and peels off in big thing strips. The guitar with an on/off switch for each of its three pickups, and holy smokes, for the entire guitar, too. The guitar with tone switches instead of a tone knob. The rightful claimant to the title of "World's Fastest Neck" & the proud owner of a moderately functional vibrato arm unique to itself and a handful of cheap knock-offs. Ah, yes indeed, the Hagstrom III. The poor man's Fender.

Very unique sounding guitar. You'll love it or you'll hate it (and if you love it, you'll end up hating other things, which I'll get to in a minute). The sort of base you're looking at is a bright, trebly, kind of strat-like tone, but with a little less sustain and low-end. You can get a fair number of tones out of different pickup combinations, but really the best sound comes from the bass (neck) pickup along with either the mid or high (bridge) pickup. Other combinations are ok, but do less for me. The tone switches do very little at all to change the tone -- enough that you'll wonder if they're working (and there's a good chance they're not - see below), though the "top" switch does seem to make wah-wah a little more responsive.

The vibrato arm really is for that and only that -- a little bit of vibrato, or for making the entire guitar sound like it's slightly out of tune, My Bloody Valentine style. It sounds great, but don't expect to torture it into much in the way of esctatic, heavenly bliss.

The pickups, despite appearances, use a single bar magnet, not individual poles (what look like individual poles are actually just little pieces of steel glued into the plastic pickup housing), and they are INCREDIBLY microphonic. We're talking being able to hear the leather in your strap creaking as you walk around. ANY noise your guitar is subjected to will be transmitted to the amp -- every bump, every squeak as the vibrato arm jiggles around (and it does - a lot), even the sound of the pickgaurd buzzing due to string vibration. If you're into that, cool, if not, steer way clear.

**Easy Modification Tip: To better exploit this phenomenon, take the pickgaurd off and cut the single wire running to the on/off switch, then take the switch out and reinstall the pickgaurd. In just five minutes, you've turned your Hag into a semi-semi-hollowbody with the world's smallest non-f-shaped f-hole.

This is an absolutely killer Country guitar. I'm sure it would make a fine Rockabilly guitar. It makes a pretty darn great Art Punk guitar. Distortion (lots), reverb (even more), wah, and maybe tremolo would be the only effects I would ever think of using with it. If you're into the heavily processed kind of sound, you're going to be really disappointed by the muddiness of all the microphonic noise. Metal players will shudder at its lack of low end and sustain. And not the kind of shudder because the ravens are dying that makes metal good, either.

I love this guitar. I'll never part with it, but it's just about the mostly poorly designed and haphazardly built thing I have ever seen. It's hard to even know where to begin:

The pickup and tone switches are so small that it's hard to use them while you're playing. But since the odd of them working are severely stacked against you, it may not be too much of an issue.

You see, for some strange reason, Uncle Alva decided to use a switch that contains more moving parts than a 2-stroke Saab engine. There's a ball bearing inside each one, a little spring for the ball bearing to rest on, a little see-saw for the slider to push back and forth, a little track for the see-saw to rest in, and the little plastic peice you push back and forth. And they're all (except for the plastic part) made of really really cheap, highly corrosive metal. And well, corroded metal doesn't work real good for making electrical contacts, and the more parts move, the more likely they are to eventually fail. What's more, they're a special width and depth, so replacing them with non-retarded switches entails moving capacitors and transistors out of the way, filing down contact poles, and all that kind of really minute, annoying detail work that makes you just wish you'd bought a Charvel (well, maybe not a Charvel).

**Switch Failure Tip: If one of your switches seems to be on its last legs, try pushing the slider down into the body of the guitar while you switch it. You may have to do it a couple of times until the switch finally catches. Once you've got it, LEAVE IT THERE.

The vibrato arm is plagued by similar troubles. Read any one of the reviews below to learn more about the tremolo arm that can't be replaced. Luckily, if you have no vibrato arm, at least you can still play the thing through an amp, which you can't really do if all your switches fail.

The ground wire is held in by a nail. Just so you know. It's held in with a little (once again steel) nail.

The pickups are held into their mounts with glue. Glue gets old and dries up. Old dry glue doesn't hold things as heavy as pickups in their mounts very well. Pickups that fall out of their mounts pull their wiring with them. Really old, thin wire, when pulled, often breaks.

IF YOU ARE GOING TO OPEN UP THIS GUITAR FOR ANY REASON, TAPE THE PICKUPS TO THE PICKGAURD FIRST, AND MOVE SLOWLY! The wires tend to want to break flush with the bottom of the pickup, which makes it really hard to solder them back in.

The pot for the volume knob is deeper than any of the other electronic components, so it gets its own little cavity, separate from the pickup and switch cavity. The wires to the pot run through a teeny-tiny little tunnel between the two cavities. So if you break a wire in there, get ready for further aggravation as you struggle to push wires through a little hole about half the width of a BB.

The "hot" wires, at least in mine, are blue, and the ground wires are red. Except for the ones that are just bare metal.

If it ain't broke, don't fix it, and if it is broke, god bless you.

It's not going to fall apart in your hands if you pick it up, but if you play it like you're trying to break it, odds are you'll break it. It's pushing 40 years old, for heaven's sake, and there are tons of little design flaws all waiting to go haywire and ruin your day. The hardware and construction are good and sturdy, but the electronics and the finish are just a nightmare. Finish problems I can live with, but I really have a hard time trusting the wiring.

It all depends on how friendly, helpful, and knowledgeable the guitar tech in your area happens to be.

I love this guitar. It's the only real electric guitar I own, and the tone, looks, and playability are unbeatable. I wanted a Hagstrom for years before I finally found this one, and I don't regret buying it, or the price I paid for it. I would buy other Hagstroms if I had the opportunity and the money at the same time. Before mine broke, I would have given it 10s across the board, but knowing what I know now, I have to say I'm a little let down.

I guess it kind of reminds me of my old VW Bug. It's totally cool and fun and unique, but not incredibly practical. You don't see Volkswagens anymore pretty much unless they've been restored, and they're not usually daily drivers. Which is totally a sad thing, but the way it goes. Things wear out and you stop being able to get parts for them. Old beaters that still run get more and more rare as they sacrifice their parts to better restoration prospects. And like the Volkswagen, the Hagstrom was an economy model. Cheap in both price and construction compared to a Strat, but still road-worthy. Still great, just not quite as solid.

This bruzk guitar has some bruzk switches for each bruzk pick up. then are there some prjiv switches for tone character.... one mute switch and a volume tuner.... tha bruzk 3 pickups are some singlecoil and mothafuckin weak...... tha bruzk rosewood fingerboard and 22 medium frets..... manufactured very fine... everything that is bruzk fits well...... nice guitar for a mid-60's .....

sound rules.... can make every sound..... quite cool.... no noises, but weak.... very warm sound...... bright, dark... what ya want acually.... so.... need to get some hash man....

this rules

durability? its 2003 man and this guitar was built in tha 60's?

out of business..... anywhy, where the heck is sweden?

this thing rocks.... ! hell yeah, kurt cobain lives!