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!

Well on this one there really aren't any options, but that is what makes this guitar so special. Some one took all of the tone switches out of this. So there is one knob for each pick up and that's volume.

This feeds back excessively so I think that I'm gonna buy a volume pedal! I use it throug an old crate vintage club with 3 10 inch speakers. This guitar sounds just as warm as my 71 les paul custom!

This has got to be the best neck ever.

I just got it. I think that I would fully depend on it!

Out of Biz

If this were lost or stolen I go nuts, I'm on a lifelong mission to collect hagstroms

Black body, black pickguard witha white outline and a maple neck, rosewood fingerboard and the look of a cross between a Strat and an SG, this '66 Hagstrom III tripple single coil pickup guitar is actually quite handsome. One volume pot and the rest of the controls are swiches. Made in Sweden.

This was my first electric, purchased for me by my parents. I had no frame of reference back then, so, I suppose I thought it sounded good. And, for early seventies pop-rock, I supposed it did.

It didn't matter what amp I played it through, it was just did not cut it for electric Blues. Weak pickups, ungainly controls.

Excellent fit and a wonderful maple neck: quite thin and well made. Sweet action and feel.

Notwithstanding cheap plastic switches, this guitar seems fairly well built.

Who goes to Sweden?

Since I rewired it like a Les Paul using a PAF mini Hummer and an early Firebird pickup, I love this guitar - great natural sound, good looks, nice fit and feel and a sweet neck. It's actually quite a conversation piece now. I have my eye on another one so I can rewire it as well.

Mine is a "transitional" H III model, dated by serial # as a 1965. This has the rounder "strat" style body similar to the Futurama, as opposed to the later "SG" style that is more common. There is an on-off selector for each pickup, plus tone, mute and top (like bright) switches. It is all original, minus the trem arm (like many). Original tuners, and Kings neck (adjustable). It came with a very battle-work soft shell case.

With individually switchable pickups, plus tone/mute/top, this guitar has the broadest range of sound of any I have ever played. Beats the usual 2 or 3 pickup arrangement with a toggle or 5 way switch. Pickups have that vintage tone, and I can get sound from very high treble to a rumbling bass. Sound does not distort as much as my other guitars, even with gain all up on amp. I occasionally use Dano minis for variety - distortion, reverb, chorus. Has a great range and variety of sound - could not possibly ask for more!!

Excellent action for a 35+ year old guitar!!! Hagstrom used to advertise itself as "World's Fastest Neck" and they were not lying. Neck is extremely thin and flat, but arrow straight. Action is as low as any I have ever played, especially up near the nut; fretting any chord takes no effort. Frets are smaller than jumbos that I am used to, but great action makes this easy to deal with. Finish was another story. A previous owner had made a poor attempt to refinish this one. These models came with a polyurethane finish that is hard as nails, which the previous owner had roughed up with a bad sanding job. Neck had that "sticky" feel of old finish. I refinished the body with candy apple red laquer (close to original color). It looks great, but it is not a "professional" refinish; I am very happy with it though. I cleaned the neck as best as I could, but did not want to risk ruining it, or the original decals. It looks great now, in addition to being a great player. My combined "9" for this category is an average score of 11 for action/fit and a 7 for finish.

This guitar seems more fragile than it is, but it is all original, so I must be tougher than it looks. I am not a pro musician, so dependability is not an issue with me. The original finish was a disappointment though. It's no wonder that this polyurethane shell was never a popular finish. It offers good protection, but does not age well.

Hagstrom went out of business in the early 80's, but I have found several sites maintained by HAG afficianados that were helpful. The best of these sites is: http://www.hagstromusa.com. The webmaster here is a great guy - very friendly and helpful when it came to dating my guitar. He also offered excellent advice about refinishing and restoring my HIII. THANK, YOU KWINN!!!

I began playing as a teenager, but a wife and 2 kids cut into my playing (guitar as well as golf). Now 20 years later, I have rediscovered my interest. I have owned nothing but "made in Asia" copies, and I always wanted to own a vintage guitar. This was an excellent choice. It is a fantastic player, with a great sound. Refinishing it made it a great looking, fantastic player. If it was lost or stolen, I wouldn't hesitate to replace it with another Hagstrom - whether it was the III or another model. These are fantastic old guitars!!!

1964 Hagstom III sunburst I bought new when I was a teen. Had a exceptionally thin high quality neck and great action and sound. Many controls and 3 good pickups, could ge all kinds of sounds, plus a sway-bar. I loved this guitar. I would still have kept it to this day if it had been stolen from me years ago. I wish they still made them, I would buy one. The price was very good for the quality of the guitar.

The dound was "flexible" we played everything from pot, to country to Rolling Stones type rock.

thin neck. great finish. great action.

unfortunately, I did not have the guitat long enough to know it's long-term durability. But for the short/sweet time I had it, I had no problems at all.

I have been playing for over 40 years.I was atuned to values of the time and this guitar was recomended to me as a good guitar for the price, comparable to some better know domestic guitars but much less expensive. I would still have it, but it was stolen. If they were still made, I would buy another. It had everythying I needed and could ask for.

Not sure of the year on this one, sometime in the sixties, but I haven't researched the serial number or anything at this point. Tobacco Sunburst (really just black w/ a tobacco colored inside), 3 single coil pickups (all original or at least true to the guitar)One volume knob, one on/off switch for each pickup (labelled "L," "M," and "H," for neck, middle, and bridge, respectively, plus three additional tone switches, "Tone," (like a bright switch on an amp" "mute," (just what you would expect), and "top." (not able to make out a difference in either position on this one, so it may be broken. When I bought it the guy said never to use it anyway, because it didn't really do anything for the sound, so I didn't worry too much about it." Also has an on/off switch for the entire guitar, which works about half the time. Luckily, when it doesn't work, it just means the guitar is still on with the switch in the off position. It'll probably need to be rewired someday, but it's fine for now. I'm not sure what type of wood these are made of, but it's a VERY lightweight guitar, both because of whatever wood it is, and because it's got a very thin body. It sort of looks like a strat, but with shorter horns, kind of like an asymmetrical SG. very cool looking, in an understated way. The finish on mine is really shot, so it adds to the whole effect of the look. It just plain looks old, and not too showy, and the fact that it weighs next to nothing means you can really swing it around, which counts toward the overall appearace in my book. It has non-locking tuners, which again look to be original, but hold it in tune really well. I don't havethe arm to the tremar, which seems to be a really commong thing, and they have a weird way of setting it up, so you can't just throw an arm off another guitar in there, which is kind of a drag. I went to the hardware store & bought a length of 3/16" steel, and cut it down to about a foot or so, and then bent it to shape, which was kind of tricky, because you have to curve the arm out away from the strings in a funny way. I haven't been able to find a set screw that will hold it in yet, so I don't know if it's going to work without draggin the guitar out of tune. It seems to stay un pretty well right now, and I play pretty hard, so I'm not too worried, and it sounds really nice even without the trem, so i haven't exactly broken my neck replacing it. it has a nice thin neck, which is fairly narrow and very easy to play, although the finish on mine is badly worn, & needs to be redone at some point. The scale feels a little short than a start's, but not as small as my Silvertone. The frets are small, but easy to play, and worn, but there's a minimum of buzz to the thing. basically a workingman's guitar. it's been around a number of blocks, and wound up with me, and I think it'll be staying a while. The only deductions I could think to give it would be the weird trem that you have to sink extra effort into to replace, which is outweighed by the whole being different factor, and, and the switches, which don't seem to be too reliable even at their best. The tone switches are more or less worthless as far as getting new usable tones, but the pickup configurations are nice, and I'm not one to switch pickup midsong, so the fact that they're really small doesn't bother me. It's a simple guitar, but very good, and who needs a bunch of junk that gets in the way, anyway?

I play a lot of turned-up-too-loud, slightly dissonant pop, and noise rock, and it's perfect for both styles. It has a sort of stratty sound when it's played through an ultra-clean amp, and I'm not too into that, but add distortion, through a pedal or just amp overdrive, and things get interesting. It's a very very bright guitar, but with a surprising amount of bass to it for something that weighs so little. You're not going to get death metal out of it, but you wouldn't expect to by looking at it. Anything that lets all te strings ring sounds really gloriously and messy, sort of like a jazzmaster, but brighter and not quite as on the verge of disaster,and with a thick distortion on it, you can get really nice beat frequencies between all the strings for a big, full sound. Single note stuff is neither really great nor terrible. I don't notice a lot of noise when I'm not playing, but there's definitely a lot when you do play. It's not a guitar for someone who's looking for distinct separation and interplay between notes, but if you're someone who really likes to hit a guitar hard, you';ll be really won over by what you get back. It sounds a lot cheaper than it plays, so you can get that sort of garage sound out of it, but still depend on it to stand up to what you do to it, and stay in tune. the pickups are not super hot - I played one show with it where I was using our guitarists rig (I only play guitar on one song), and he uses a new telecaster. I should have turned the amp up before I started, because I got a little bit lost compared to the volume level he was at, but it's the same sort of thing - it's a guitar you want to play through a loud amp. There's doesn't seem to be much in the way of mids out of this guitar, but you won't miss them. I really can't say enough how happy I am with the sound of this guitar.

It's a 35 year old guitar, and it looks it. The finish is very badly worn, and doesnt look like it was ever really much to sing about. It's (the finish, not the wood) is cracking in really long straight lines running from the base of the body toward the neck, and it's a pretty cheap sunburst. The pickups sit perfectly in the body, but who knows whether they did off the production line. All the parts are the ones that came with the guitar, or appear to be, so the most you could say is someone got into it and touched stuff up quite a bit, though a look at the back of the neck seems to indicate that's never happened, so I'd have to say it was constructed really well originally. It's a poor-man's Fender, and it shows, but it's not a shabby guitar by any stretch of the imagination. it's my band's new back-up guitar and I feel totally comfortable carrying it around and bringing it up on stage. It's very solid & dependable, and the only question mark I can think of would be the switches. Since they're not really designed to be flipped in-flight, you can basically pick the configuration you like best and stick with it, and sort of avoid the problem at all. (I personally either leave them all on all the time, or go with neck and bridge, but most configurations sound good, as long as you have at least two pickups switched on at once. Any single pickup sounds kind of weak). Oherwise, though it's obviously not a top of the line instrument, it's a very sturdy and well built axe. Compare it to a Teisco or Harmony (the tone is the same kind of vibe as either of them), and it suddenly feels like a very very fancy guitar. Besides, Swedish Guitars, man!

I have no fears about taking this guitar anywhere, or playing it any time. I would never hold back on my playing style out of concern for its safety. The finish is whipped, and is bound to get worse, but that's the way it is with old guitars. If you want a really cherry looking one, you can probably find it, but why concern yourself with the extra worry or taking care of it. This is a guitar for rocking, and it will put up with much rock.

They haven't guitars in 18 years, which is really sad, and the fact that they're in Sweden seems prohibitive, so I honestly wouldn't know. The store I bought it from is really good though, if that's anything.

I've been playing guitar for about five years, and this is by far the greatest instrument I have ever owned. I really really mean that. I honestly can see myself buying nothing but Hagstroms from now on (though the oddball Japanese guitars are fun and cool, and a jazzmaster is always a nice dream to have)& being totally happy with that. If you're into loud, off-kilter music or big wiry distortion, this is definitely a guitar you should seek out. I put it through a 25 or 30 watt Musicman amp with one 12" speaker, and it sounds absolutely gorgeous. I rarely use any effect beside amp overdrive, and rarely feel any need to. Excellent high pitched crackle across the high strings, and good but not obnxoious bottom end. You have to turn up loud, and you have to put all your deep and bright switches on the amp on, but you'll get such a huge, warm, real sound, and the guitar is so easy to play that it's a small concession to make. This is not a guitar for virtuosos, in my opinion, so if you're of the Yngwie/Vai &c vein, you'll probably want to keep walking, but Pixies/Helium/maybe even MBV sound is very possible. This guitar makes a big mess sonically, but it has a huge, beautiful, warm heart. If it were lost or stolen I would cry my eyes out for days, and then I would start looking for it or another right away, and i wouldn't rest until I found one. It's the kind of guitar that lets you know right away whether you're a match or not. It took me a total of three chords to make the decision myself. I'm not saying that will happen to you, but I have never bought anything else where there wasn't the slightest degree of buyer's remorse. None at all. Play one, and if you love it in the first few minutes, you will love it forever.

I had it dated by serial number, with some help at the Hagstrom Discussion page. 1967, black, 3 pickups, with individual on/off switches (3) and low med. and high tone switches. One volume knob and trem arm. This guitar is complete, fully functional and plays very well.

I get a wide range of sounds, power output is not as much as my strat pickups but it is still clear as a bell. I have disabled the trem because the guitar was constantly going out of tune. These older models also have a single piece bridge with little saddles for each string sitting on top of the bridge. Adjusting the intonation is difficult and painstaking.

Thin neck is nice but it also has very narrow frets. I did a fret job on the neck after staining it a deep modern mahogany. It was originally maple with a rosewood fingerboard. The fingerboard shows wear on some frets. Maybe the previous owner(s) never clipped fingernails before. But the action was great last time I checked.

Despite cracks running from the pickguard and input jack mounting screws the guitar is still solid as a rock. The finish is extremely thick, and I can't see wood yet in any of the chipped areas. Sure the guitar can handle live playing, just don't drop it on the concrete, but that goes with anything, right?

Never dealt with the company, they stopped making guitars in 1982. But there are websites that have valuable info about "Hags".

I've owned this same guitar on 3 separate occasions. I first bought it in 1984, the previous owner was in a country band. You could tell by the fretwear in the areas where the more common "country" chords are played. I played it for a few years, then sold it to a friend for $75. He had it for about 8 months until I dropped by and found it sitting in the corner, covered in dirt with strings missing. After much verbal abuse (from me)I bought it back from him for the same price. I then sold it to another friend in 1989 and he converted it over to left hand playing. He then bought a lefty Kramer and actually GAVE the Hag back to me with a hardshell case. So, after 3 separate occasions I figure the guitar was meant to be with me. I have severely modified it since then. It now sports a solid maple Ibanez neck and flat wounds with high action for slide guitar playing. I had to drill the body to reset the bridge to get the proper intonation. I still have the old neck with new frets and the guitar can be put back into its original condition anytime. I figure its a good all around guitar. You can select ANY pickup combination adding to its versatility.

This guitar is from the mid 60s and was built in Sweden. It has three single coil pickups and a bunch of slide switches that are actually usable. It also has a weird tremelo thing called a Tremar, but I am missing the arm. The body shape is like and SG but with a touch of strat shaped. It is very tough and 60s looking

This is the guitar I have been looking for. It is perfect for garage punk, surf and rhythm and beat music. Basically it is good for raw type sounds, ala Link Wray and Billy Childish. This guitar goes from ear piercing treble to deep bass sounds. The only qualm I have is that the pickups are microphonic, but It doesn't bother me. It is, after all over 30 years old and it still works and sounds great. It may not appeal to the hi-fi "musican" types.

Hagstroms are known for really thin necks, which I didn't think i would like but I do. I am missing the original bridge and currently there is a plastic one just jammed under the strings, but it works and stays in tune. There is hardly any fret buzz and it plays really well. I have been looking for a original bridge for it, but no luck yet. It didn't work electronically when I first got it, but i just openend it up and sprayed contact cleaner on the pot and slide switches and voila! it worked.

This guitar will be my main guitar fron now on. I am retiring my 68 SG which is about to completely fall apart. It seems solid enough. It is a vintage guitar so their is some worries I suppose.

Hagstrom is out of business, however there is an official Hagstrom website that is run by Albin Hastrom and supposedly you can order spare parts from him. I emailed him but havent heard back yet. The address is www.albinhagstrom.se

I have been playing for a while. I also own a 68 Gibson sg and a 60s Teisco Del ray. I play through a Vox AC-15. My only wish is that I had all of the original parts. It suits me perfectly though.

Made in Sweden, 1965. The body is shaped like a SG guitar, but the headstock is strat-shaped. The 22 fret neck is ultrathin, while the distance between the two E's is smaller than normal. The electronics feature a volume controller and seven(!) switches. First there is an overall on/off switch. Secondly three switches (H, M and L) that correspond to the three single coil pickups. There are three switches that allow you to colour the sound further: the TOP switch, that gets all of the power present in the guitar out. The MUTE switch, which cuts some high frequency. And finally the Tone switch, that creates a warmer tone. The guitar is equipped with an original Hagstrom tremolo, with a range of approximately 3 halftones down.

The most beautiful thing about this guitar is the enormous range of sounds you can get out of it. With all the switches on, its sound is warm and Jazzy. On the other side of the tonal range is a super-crispy sound, when only the L and the TOP switch are turned on. This is my personal favorite. Not many guitars can sound like this. The only drawback is that the signal is very weak in comparison to other single coil guitars.

It is difficult to tell what the state of this guitar was when it was new. The only thing I can tell, is that it can only have been even better then it is now. There have never been any extensive repairs or alterations. So I guess the guitar was in a rather good state when it first saw light in the 60s.

The guitar certainly scores high on the durability. In 33 years of intensive playing it hasn't needed any big repairs. There are some signs of old age surfacing, however. The finish on the body still looks great, but the finish on the neck has deteriorated a bit. The pickups turned 'microphonic', i.e. they pick up vibrations too. You can actually talk into the pickups and they will pick a bit of it up. This is qute, but playing loud with lots of distortion is allmost impossible because the pickups are now extremely apt to give feedback. I can live with this flaw because of the unique sound of the pickups. The tremolo doesn't respond as well anymore as it would have back in the 60's. I've played Jazz on this guitar for years now and it has never let me down during gigs, so I never bring backup. Despite of the flaws that time has brought in, the overall experience of playing this guitar hasn't suffered much.

The factory doesn't exist anymore. I suspect the warranty would be over after 30 years anyway...

In general, this guitar is unique in allmost everything. The shape of the neck, the tremolo arm, the electronics. It offers a huge variety of sounds. Some of them really beautiful. It can't handle loud distortion anymore. For that purpose I use a Stratocater. The Hagstrom III is irreplaceable for me. I've never seen another guitar like it. I wouldn't trade it for any other guitar.

The features are what makes this guitar stand out from the rest. on the part of the guitar closest to yor chest there is an on/off switch, which can act as a standby switch. Near the jack is a volume control. Next to that is a switch labled TOP. I am not sure what this does, but I think it acts as means of switching to the neck pickup or all three pickups at once. When on the guitar is much louder. There is no 5-way selector. Next over is MUTE, this soften things a little, and seems to take out some treble when on. Next is TONE, this helps to add warmth. Next over goes your H, M, L switches. If all of these are off, the guitar turns off as well. There is a tremolo arm attached to the metal palte where the string notches are. The body is SO SWEET. It looks like an SG as far as the but end of the guitar, but the bass end cutout is further up the neck. As for wood?? The neck is probably maple, but the fret board is Rosewood. I love how thin the neck is, i even think that the distance from high E to low E is less than you standard strat, which is a plus. 22 frets. Red body w. black pickguard that is pointed like the cutouts, top and botton. The headstock is strat-like.

Tone, great tone!! It suits my music perfectly, blues,rock. I use a Peavy Blues Classic, and it can get an awsome full warm sound, ( with all the switches ON ). I have recently found that this can give a sweet "Albert King tone", with only the H(igh) and TOP settings on. I like to go from all the switches on to this setting if i am changing from a rythem part to a lead, where I just want to cut trough with some high end.

If this were brand new, it truely would be a work of art. However i have put some chips in the paint. The finish is still shinny!

I have yet to gig with this guitar, although hopefully I will soon. I t might be good to have a backup for this guitar, but I wouldn't think it's needed. I have been playing this guitar for almost 4 years, and the only thing that has been fixed was some wiring and tone features needed replacing. This no doubt was due to the fact that I found this guitar in a basement of a building, and who knows, it might not have been played on for 30 years. Oh yeah, the pickups have been a slight problem. When looking at the pickups what you see are actually seeing are metal caps that were glued ( i suppose) to a contact going to the coils. In playing to hard on the strings, the caps would be lifted magnetically, and I have lost 7 already. As far as i can tell this doesn't seem to alter the sound, because that contact is only about 2mm more away from the strings

The company had gone out of business

Great guitar all around. The switching can take you from a full warm sound to a great blues sounding high end. Maybe it would have been cool to see the H,M,L as pots, but its ok.