Product: Hagstrom Kent
Price Paid: US $20.00 used
Submitted
12/21/1998
at
11:19pm
by
Miles
Email: meo<at>rru dot com
Features
:
6
Early to mid 60s Strat shaped solid-body from Sweden. The entire front is plastic or plexiglass, painted on the underside for a cool look. Two pickups, which were very wimpy. I replaced them with DiMarzio SDS-1s, and new switches which I wired for phase switching and parallel/serial switching. The bridge didn't quite tune right, so I swapped it for a Badass. The neck is very slender, with a rosewood fretboard. I lost the tremolo bar.
Sound
:
10
I play all sorts of stuff, and the Hagstrom does a good job with all of them (now that I replaced those wimpy pickups). I've used it with a number of amps. Currently I have a Peavey Heritage VTX series, and it sounds great. The best sound I ever got from it was through a Lab L5, which I wish I still had. I occasionally use a Ross flanger, Big Muff Pi fuzzbox, or Orange Squeezer compressor. The original pickups were not noisy, but didn't have that much bottom or top end. With the new ones and the switching setup, it's flexible. 8^) I initially disliked the body, thinking it was too light for a good sustain, but I was quite wrong! Other than the original pickups, I love it.
Action, Fit, & Finish
:
9
It was pretty beat up when I bought it, so this is hard to say. But based on how well it cleaned up and other Hagstroms I've seen, they probably came from the factory in great shape, and if cared for will still be in great shape.
Reliability/Durability
:
8
The only likely problems are the strap buttons and the switches. I've had to replace all of these because they were dying. The back of the guitar was initially covered in vinyl, which requires a bit of care, and will probably wear out (mind had been abused). Since I cleaned off the vinyl and staine dit, no problems. The front is all plastic, so you have to be careful not to bash it into things, but mine has held up quite well, despite clobbering a few mic stands, being carried a few thousand miles sans case on a motorcycle, etc.
Customer Support
:
No Opinion
I never dealt with them. They are now defunct.
Overall Rating
:
9
I played a couple years in high school, a few years in college. Then I quit for a decade, now I've been playing again for maybe 5 years (off and on). I'd buy another one in a heartbeat. I'd probably make teh same mods, and true believers would hate me, but I'd rather play it than collect it... That neck is just soooo fine! I've yet to find another neck that fits my hands as well, or that I can play as easily. Of course, I haven't tried any of the custom builts, but IO'm happy!
