Hagstrom Super Swede Reissue

WOODS
Body 45 millimeters of solid mahogany, capped with 10 millimeters of maple and a thin, highly flamed maple veneer. Neck mahogany with Hagstrom's patented H-expander truss rod. Fingerboard looks like ebony, feels like ebony and sounds better than ebony, but it ain't ebony. It's something that Hagstrom figured out and I dunno what it is. But it sure works.

HARDWARE
Hagstrom tuners, work well. Smooth with no slack.
Self-lubricating nut. Well cut, does not strangle the strings.
Matched pair of Hagstrom 58 humbuckers.
Individual volume and tone controls for each pickup.
Coilsplit.
Tune-o-matic style bridge, but with perfectly cut saddles and a wider adjustment range.
Hagstrom-style stop tailpiece on a plexiglass base plate.

ORNAMENTATION
Headstock, neck and body are perfectly bound.
Very nice mother of pearl inlays in neck and headstock.

I've heard people rave for months on end about the quality of the pickups on this guitar. Well, the hype is true. This is easily the best sounding humbuckers I've ever heard in my life. For the record, my benchmarks thus far were the Seymour Duncan Alnico Pro II and the Gibson Classic '57. The pickups in this Hag smoke both of 'em. Blows 'em completely out of the water, in fact. Ain't no contest - the difference is profound and amazing. It's hard to put into words. The buckers are very open sounding, with perfect string to string separation and definition, even at high gain. There are no dominating frequencies. The highs are shimmering but not piercing or shrill. The bass is deep and piano-like, but never boomy or woolley. The coil split (not coil tap, that's different) works very well indeed.

The acoustic, unamped tone of this guitar is excellent. It's got the same tone as I've just described. Amped, it only gets better.

For funk, I prefer the split neck bucker. Very rich, very warm.

For blues and for pop, I prefer the dual pickup setting with the split engaged. Very good SRV-like tones.

For rock, the bridge pickup rules. Split or unsplit, the sounds are happening. It's really suited for old-school rock. It excells at early Van Halen tones, Angus Young, Michael Schenker. You can also go into the n?? zone but that ain't my thing.

Most impressive is how a slight roll down of the volume knob makes the sound clean. Go from 10 to 8 and it's very nice.

Setup could've been a bit better. The action was a bit on the high side and some of the frets are a bit uneven in height, so if you lower the action too much some strings will "fret out". Together with the extra string tension due to the longer scale length, the somewhat high action really makes you WORK.

Neck relief was perfect right out of the box. Pickup height and intonation were also excellent. The factory strings are D'Addarios gauged .010-.046 and for a change they were NOT worn down. Plenty of zzzzingggg. Very nice.

This thing is built like a tank. Period. Workmanship is truly excellent.

N/A

I've got a Gibson Les Paul with P90s and a Epiphone AlleyKat with Gibson P94 pups. Been playing for over 25 years with a healthy interest in the technical side of things (setting up guitars, electronics, etc). Music-wise I'm an old-school rock/blues/funk/jazz guy. This is now my #1 axe. If I lost it I'd weep.

For the money, I don't think you could buy a better Les Paul anywhere. Disregarding the money, this is a totally pro guitar. With the exception of the somewhat uneven fret height, workmanship is 100%.

I'll break my review down into several components. I purchased a Cherry Sunburst from a online retailer. I'll do two reviews due to the circumstances of my purchase.

Fit and Finish (Guitar 1):
Beautiful guitar! The finish and workmanship on this guitar greatly impressed me with one exception. It had fret buzz on the low E. American Music & Sound, (the North American Distributors) wanted to make things right. They took back the guitar and replaced it with a new one.

Sound:
For the money, this is a fantastic sounding instrument. Too bad it had to go back. It had a nice action

Fit and Finish (Guitar 2:
The replacement guitar arrived and like the first guitar, it was beautiful. No fret buzz, nice action, beautifully finished.

Sound:
This guitar, like the first, has plenty of spank, the coil tap is an nice addition. The pickups gave me the sound I wanted. Unfortunately, the replacement guitar has a grounding issue. I've never encountered anything like this. Rubbing the pickguard produced pops and crackles through the amp(s) (Blues Deluxe and Hot Rod Deluxe). The coil tap, when touched produced a loud hum through the amp(s).

I'm not giving up on this guitar. It's most likely a fluke that I've ended up with two defective guitars.

I'm sure it will go back and be replaced with a guitar that has the quality this guitar should have.

Mine is the reissue, looks like a les paul, mahogany body, maple cap, 2hb pu's, coil tap, etc etc....I won't bore you with the details, they are well documented here. I think it's made in China but it didn't say anywhere on it so it's just a guess. It does have a serial number however and that's not always the case with inexpensive offshore guitars.

First off, I'm a Fender guy...have a stratocaster and thinline tele but I really like this guitar. I especially like the tap (I'm not sure why some folks don't think it makes a difference, on my guitar it's a markedly different sound when the tap is used) It allows me to get something close to a Fender sound as well as the fatness of a Gibson with the coil switch. I use it with a Kustom HV 65 and it has a beautiful warm clean sound as well as killer overdrive when needed. Mine is very quiet and I like most things about it. It's a bit heavier than my Fenders but it's not to bad at the end of a gig. I play in a 60's tribute band and it is very easy to get most of the sounds I need out of this one guitar.

It was very well set up but I had to file the corners of the nut as they were very sharp. The action was perfect, PU's perfect, all hardware and controls solid and reliable. Pots have a nice heavy smoothness to them, the finish is beautiful...I mean really beautiful...the binding is perfect, fret ends are smooth...I think if you bought a Gibson with this quality, it would cost a couple of thousand dollars. It really is a nice instrument.

It's as solid as a rock! Everything is heavy duty and looks like it will last for years. I would not hesitate to take it to a gig without a backup (except of course I always do because you never know) I have a feeling it will be around long after I'm gone.

Don't know anything about the current company. It's hard to find information on the net but I always liked swedes in the early days. Not even sure about the warranty.

Been playing about 25 years...I'm an average rhythm guitar player that likes trustworthy equipment. I own a vintage modified stratocaster and a 69 thinline tele as well as a Kustom amp. I like the fact that the neck is the same scale as my Fender necks so it doesn't seem weird to make the switch if I need to. I really do like this guitar and would buy another if it was stolen. I'd think that anyone looking at a les paul would do themselves a favour to try out one of these swedes first. If you're not worried about a name, you can really do OK with this fine instrument.

the super swede i chose is a mahoghany body, with a matched flame maple top, with an amber finish. it is of the les paul style body, with tune-a-matic bridge. nice style tuners, not cheap. made in china, i believe the sticker said, but i peeled it off...lol. has 22 frets, jumbo frets, which i love. 2 volume controls and 2 tone controls, like your usual les paul style. 2 humbuckers, with coil splitting switch.

so far, i'm surprisingly pleased with the tone of this guitar. i play blues/southern rock, and some classic rock, and i use a marshall tube 1/2 stack, along with the usual assortment of effects... i noticed a hum, when i turn the volume knobs all the way down, but seeing how i never really need to do that, i'm not going on a wild goose chase into the electronics / soldering, to track it down. not losing any sleep over that. this guitar has a full, rich, ballsy tone. i've read a few reviews where people have complained about the coil splitter switch not working. mine works fine. which leads me to believe there might be a few people out there that have unrealistic expectations of what a coil splitter sounds like. the one thing i'm not crazy about, is the ease of access (or lack there of) to the highest frets, because of where the neck joins the body. i've always played strats, so i believe this might be something i will just become more accustomed to as time goes on.

the set up was very very good. all i did was slightly raise the action on the high E side, so i'd have more to grab onto for bends during leads. pickups are fine, haven't adjusted them at all. to be honest, i've had to do the least amount of tweaking to this guitar, than any i've ever owned. so far, i haven't found any major flaws. soldering isn't the prettiest, but everything works. cosmetically, it is beautiful. the flame maple top, amber finish, binding and inlays, all look great.

everything seems roadworthy, guess time will tell. giving it an 8, only because it will take quite some time to determine this accurately

haven't needed to

i've been playing for 33 years. i own a couple strats, a schecter tele, marshall 1/2 stack, peavey combo amp, wah wah, and assorted standard boss pedals.i looked into these guitars for a month or 2, reading reviews, and playing a few, before buying it.i would buy another one if it got stolen. i like it. i guess what i love the most, is how beautiful it is. the fact that it sounds and plays great too is a plus, lol. i bought this guitar, because i feel the sound,workmanship, and finish, far exceeds anything else out there for the $$.

Fender scale neck, solid tuners, nonfunctional coil tap. good pickups. I give it an 8 only because the coil tap seems completely extraneous.

Pickups sound quite good clean but really shine with the gain turned up. As others have said, the coil tap is sort of a waste of time. Leave 'em bucking and you'll be very happy.

I have been interested in the hagrstom line for some time but was wary of the quality. Then I got a chance to check out the whole line at my local dealer and all concerns evaporated. I did a little research and it seems that the first run of the reissues were, in fact, poorly put together. They have since figured it out, though. This thing definitely could stand up to the best korean gear, no question.

It's a tank.

Haven't had to deal with the company.

I've been playing for about 10 years. I have become something of a guitar collector, I don't really know why, but it's something of an obsession for me. Over these 10 years I've managed to own about 20 guitars, from borderline toys to top shelf stuff like a Gretsch and a couple of American Reverends. I definitely did not need this thing, it was just sort of a whim. And what a whim! I am really pleasantly surprised with this guitar. You should definitely get out there and check it out, if you can.

2006 Super Swede, made in China ( says so on a little silver sticker right at the back base of the neck ), 2 humbuckers, 25.5 scale neck, which gives it a different feel from my Les Pauls, coil splitter switch ( more on that later ), nice thin neck. Two volume and tone controls. Mine is cherry sunburst on a nicely flamed maple top with a mahogony body, about 8.5 pounds. Pretty good quality tuners with buttons like the old Epi archtops of the fifties. Visually pretty stunning guitar, catches your eye right out of the case. Some people don't like the headstock shape, I do, and it's fully bound.

Ok, here's where it gets interesting. I already own a couple of LP's, a Classic goldtop and a supreme and I've had other LP's in the past, another Classic and a Standard. I also have three strats so I'm definitely looking for a different sound from this guitar, a thicker humbucker tone and creamy high gain lead sound. I started playing with this guitar about ten minutes after I got it, only took that long to tweak the intonation a bit and adjust the bridge. I started out playing it through my GT-6 on some of the custom higher gain settings I've saved. The tone was pretty damn impressive. Originally I thought I'd check it out and then swap out one or two of the pickups for Duncans but now I'm not sure. I got the satisfying LP bite and growl out of the bridge pickup easily enough but it also had a nice full tone. These pickups don't seem to be super high output so I think my LP's are a bit hotter, but they also didn't pick up a lot of string noise that I occasionally get when I play fast. The neck pickup dialed in some nice blues tones with moderate gain settings. Now here's the interesting part, I would rarely use this guitar for clean guitar parts, I think of it ( and my Gibsons ) for leads and thick, full rhythm parts but I snapped over to some nice clean amp tones and was shocked out how nice it sounded. A nice, bell like clean off the bridge pickup and a little mellower tone off the neck. Just to check this out I dragged out my MB Mark IV and set it to clean and plugged in, yup, very, very nice tones and it even sounded good finger picked.
Hey, I might still swap out the bridge pickup at some point but for now I'm pretty damn happy with the way it sounds.
Ok, let's address the coil tap. Everyone says it's useless and makes no difference but I don't agree. At least on the guitar I've got it definitely made a tonal difference when I flicked it back and forth. Now it doesn't have a real hum to single impact like the splitters on some of my other guitars, the tonal difference wasn't super pronounced, however, it defintely changed the tone from a full, thick hum to a more single coil type of thinner more trebly sound. Will I use this a lot? No, I want this guitar for it's humbucker sounds and because of it's neck scale, easy to switch from a strat to the Hag.

For the most part the guitar was very well built and finished. However, ouch, some really sharp frets. I'm surprised no one else mentioned this, these frets could gouge an eye out where they meet the binding on the neck. In addition some were higher than others. This guitar is definitely a keeper and a great value for the money but it needs to go to my repair guy for a fret dressing before I'd want to play it a lot.
Everything else seems fine, the case is nice and for the price the overall value of this guitar is astounding.

Seems really well built, everything seems solid, the finish is well applied, the binding well done, everything well fastened, no loose pots or strap buttons.

Haven't had to deal with them, bought it from Best Price Guitar on eBay and they were very pleasant to deal with and shipped it to me really fast.

I've been playing, sometimes more than others, for over 30 years, I've been a gigging musician, a session guitarist and a home recording enthusiast lately. I own a lot of guitars, currently I think I have over 25, PRS, Gibson, Fender, Gretsch, small builders, custom guitars and I can't even fathom how many I've owned over the years, so I know guitars. I think this guitar compares favorably to my Les Pauls and in fact it's build quality surpasses them in some ways. I choose this because I'd read reviews about it, liked it's looks, thought it was a good value and when I do play out I don't always want to take one of my LP's. Because I have so many guitars I'm not sure I'd run out and get another one if this was lost or stolen but maybe I would, I sure enjoy playing it so far.

My Super Swede has a beautiful ebony finish with cream pickup guard and cream binding. I bought it brand new with case in early 2006, though I?m not sure what year it was made, or where it was made. I suspect it was made in China because of the low price, but not sure. This guitar has the Fender style 25.5-inch scale neck (Gibson necks are 24.75-inch scale) and comes with a coil tap switch, which I think of as a really cool extra feature. In single coil mode, both pickups go into single coil mode to get ?Strat? type sounds. The ?block stop tailpiece? is unique and gives the guitar a great look. This tailpeice combined with the graphite nut helps to deliver maximum string vibration into the body. I give it a ten for features alone.

The 58 Custom humbucker pickup in the bridge position would squeal like a pig when I would raise the distortion level on my amp just below where I would normally set it, but a friend of mine with the exact same guitar did not have this problem on his. I suspect they didn?t do a good job waxing the pickup, but again, not sure. Could?ve been just a bad pickup. I immediately had the bridge pickup replaced with a Seymour Duncan SH-JB 4 and this eliminated the feedback problem. I later realized that the Super Swede uses F-Spaced pickups (Trembuckers for Seymour Duncan users) because of its 25.5-inch scale neck, and I had installed a standard spaced pickup, but the guitar still sounds great using this pickup. I will change it to the Seymour Duncan TB 4 pickup when I have extra cash to blow to see if it improves the already killer sound. I didn?t play with the coil tap until after the pickup was replaced and I have had no problems with it. It functions as designed and you can clearly hear the difference, especially when the amp is in clean channel mode. Before I bought this guitar, I was ready to buy a used Gibson Studio LP for $600 when a friend of mine told me about the Hagstrom Super Swede. I had never heard of Hagstrom before, so I was like ?A Hag what?? He owns a $6,000 custom built Gibson Les Paul, but prefers to play his Super Swede. Now who in the hell am I to argue with a guy who owns a $6,000 guitar! This is the best guitar I?ve ever owned hands down. I play hard rock, old school punk, basic power chord metal, and some simple clean playing ala ?Fluff? from Black Sabbath. This guitar has absolutely no problems covering all the sounds I need and sounds great, even with the wrong spaced pickup installed. Of course, pickup, amp, cabinet, etc., have a lot to do with your sound as well. I?ll give it a nine because of the Custom 58 bridge pickup feedback problem, but with the new pickup I would give it a ten.

The set up out of the box was good. I only needed to adjust the intonation after changing out the pickup and strings, and was able to do that with ease. I lowered the bridge ?just a tiny bit? to my liking and the neck feels great. This guitar is well balanced and is a bit heavy, just how I like it!

The Super Swede appears to be very well built. I tend to play a bit aggressive during live performances because of nervousness and adrenaline flowing, and my fingers will tend to catch more of the strings than I would like from time to time (that?s totally my fault, not the guitar) and yank the crap out the top two or three strings, but for the most part this guitar stays in tune, which is something I could not say about my other guitars. I don?t foresee having any more issues with its reliability/durability than a guitar priced in the thousands.

Have not had to deal with them.

I would dare anyone to find a better guitar for the price. I wasn?t crazy about the look of the headstock or the tuners at first, and was thinking of changing the tuners, but they have really grown on me and I love the look now. The tuners are of high quality and they feel like it when you turn them. I've been playing guitar for 15 years, but I don?t claim to be an expert. I can only compare this to other guitars I?ve owned and played. The Gibson LP?s are great guitars also, and there are many other companies that make great guitars, but why pay thousands more for a guitar that everyone else is playing when you can get something unique and just as good or better for this low price, WITH A CASE! And it?s a Hagstrom! The more I look at this guitar, the more I like it! I would make love to this thing if I could (haha). I have to give a shout out to my buddy Jerry in Houston, TX for turning me on to the Hagstrom Super Swede. Thanks man!!!

Checkout my website www.myspace.com/triplesixers for some audio clips using my Hagstrom Super Swede.

I bought an early 2004 instrument, made in China. Harstrom will be hand building some custom SS's in the States but they will cost 4 or 5 times as much. Mine is beautiful. Amber burst. Ebony like Fretboard, 2 custom 58 humbuckers (no specs)coil tap etc. The guitar is as good as any Les Paul I have every seen or played. The case is incredible too. I don't know how they do it for the money. The coil tap is a bit funny though. I agree with the other reviewers, the single coils sound the same no matter which one you select. The action is very fast, the neck is substantial and beautifully contoured. I like the 25.5' scale much better than 24.75 as I have big hands. This instrument is an unbelievable buy. It would be perfect if it wasn't for the coiltap.

Great sustain and clarity. In humbucker mode it's rich full and produces beautiful Jazz, Rock and Blues tones. In single coil mode from either PU it's very bright and a little squawky but I've been able to adjust it to minimize that quality by adjusting the bridge volume as low as possible. There's a lot of tonal range in this guitar.

The set up was pretty good. I had to adjust the bridge and adjust h=the harmonics but that's to be expected. As mine is one of the first produced, the join on the back of the body is not sanded perfectly flat. I noticed it at the store but after playing it, I didn't care. Everything else was fine.

The Super Swede is a tank. It will be playing long after I'm gone. Solid. The tuners are very high quality and very accurate. This instrument stays in tune. I never gig without a backup but if I did I probably wouldn't worry.

I had a few questions (about the tap) and they got back to me right away. The SS comes with a 10 year gaurantee.

I've been playing bass and guitar for 35 years. I own a '78 Gibson SG and a '58 Epiphone Century archtop, a Czech double bass, a Fender Jazz fretless and a Gibson Grabber. I use an Ashdow rig for bass and a twin reverb for guitar. I would buy another if this was stolen. I plan on buying a black SS when one comes available.

Great neck, great tone ! Two humbuckers sound great in humbuker mode but the coil tap switch is not wired correctly, it sounds the same no matter what pickup configuration you have, out of phase ? Mohogany body with flame maple top les paul style with a few improvements IMHO. 25.5 scale length is great for strat players ! Fingerboard looks like ebony, it came with a gig bag no case.
Minus one point for coil tap switch because the rest of the guitar makes up for it !

Killer for all styles of music unless you need a wang bar. Rich full sound, you can get a great jazz tone, rock tone, blues tone, etc. When I get the coil tap fixed I'm sure I can cover it all !

I had a few high frets that I had to tweek but over all this is just a fantastic guitar and it looks killer too ! Big bang for buck here !

I had an old Swede and it held up pretty good over the years I expect this one to to the same.

I called them about the switch and they said they would get a replacement switch out to me soon, I'll let you know if it comes and if it cures the problem in a later review.

Get one before the list prices start an upward swing

2004 Super Swede. Hagstrom has been resurrected! This is a reissue of the fabulous Super Swede, an LP type that differs in a few ways from the standard Les Paul plan... First, the 25.5 scale is very rare for an LP. Additionally, there is a splitter for the coils. Otherwise, pretty staight forward features, 2 humbuckers, 3 way, 2 vol, 2 tone. Set neck with medium jumbo frets, 12 inch radius, medium full C back contour. It comes with the Van Gendt looking tuners which give it a classy look.

The Humbuckers are sweet, not overpowering. Nice harmonics are easily pulled with small gain. I am not in love with the single coil tap, but I will change that to series/parallel so I am happy the mini toggle is there.

The setup was fine from the factory, I tweeked to my liking but overall pretty nice. Fit and finish gets a high grade, I see absolutely no problems anywhere. Everything is well aligned and properly set.

I am confident this is a sturdy beast, but I have only had it a shrot time so I am only guessing at this point. I have not been given any indictaion that this would not be a 1 guitar at ther gig type of instrument. As it stands right now, I would feel confident with this as my only guitar at a job.

Very friendly, fast responses to questions. So far, A+.

I have been playing for 38 years. I have owned perhaps 100 guitars, mostly strat like. I have recently begun to appreciate the semis and LPs, and was on the search for a 25.5 scale. I had entertained the idea of having a 24.75 scale changed to accomodate me, but that was going to be 3-400 dollars for the modifications. This guitar has a tremendous tone and playability and has ended my search for a 25.5 LP type.