Hagstrom Ultra Swede SL-2

Bought Apr '08 from Guitar Center through Musicians Friend. 22 frets. Nordic Blond quilted top. 2 58 Humbuckers, 3-way, volume, tone, coil tap. Thin mohogony neck. Tune-O-Matic bridge.

I was working on a demo when it arrived. I had laid down a couple of Strat tracks, and a Harper track (two 58 humbuckers). The demo was an indie rock number - heavy distortion, thin leads, lots of parts that had to be heard. I was plugging directly into the mixer (no amp) and using VSTs for effects.

It is not a twangy guitar even when in single coil mode. But it's tone is bright enough. And it is definitely warm sounding. Like hot butter. I was able to replace 90% of the demo tracks about an hour after I grabbed it out of the UPS delivery man's hands.

There are few knobs on the guitar. But because it has such a full sound, you can EQ it a half zillion ways from Sunday by just dropping a frequency here and there. The output levels are hot, which makes getting the right sound so much easier.

I tend to play a little harder than most, so when I play strats or teles I tend to get a little bit more twang than the next guy, so having a guitar that I can pound on is a definite plus.

I played it through the '65 Bassman (no effects) and it sounded extremely clean. My brother said it almost sounded acoustic. I barely had to touch the strings and it was singing like a stoolie in a Bogie film.

I had ordered a case which was arriving seperately, so a large box announced it's arrival. It came tuned which made me a little nervous at first, but it was packed carefully. As far as I could tell the intonation was perfect all up and down the neck. This is the fastest guitar I've ever played. Flat out. And I'm not very fast so I know what slow is, and this guitar ain't. The pickups were hot, the switches were noiseless and worked as expected. Bridge, top, et al., were top notch in my opinion.

However, this does not indicate how absolutely beautiful this guitar is. I was a bit apprehensive after looking at some of the Nordic Blonde photos, because I had originally wanted the white. The pearl inlay, the quilt, the paint color, the finish, the design, the weight...this is my dream guitar. I suppose after time flaws will begin to surface. But as far as "Action, Fit, & Finish" are concerned if I had bought a more expensive guitar I probably would not have noticed the difference.

I'm pretty sure this guitar could stand up to a lot of abuse. But it's so damn good looking that I think I'll be treating it with kid gloves for a while to come. Not that I don't think the finish couldn't stand the abuse. I mean, I may not have spent a lot of money on it, but it's a pretty classy piece of axe, and I want to keep her that way.

So I'm not afraid of it falling apart. It just makes me want to treat it like it will.

The instrument itself was guaranteed to not be crappy, or they will fix what is. It ain't.

I've been playing guitar for 38 years. I own a Strat, a Fernandes Tele, a J.C. Harper (from Apple Valley), 2 Yamaha acoustics, an Elloree Irish bouzouki, an Elloree 12 string electring, an electric bouzouki, 2 other Irish bouzoukis, a Fender P Bass, a Hofner Stenberger bass, and a Washburn acoustic bass. If this guitar were lost or stolen I would have a fit; I might hurt someone. It's extremely easy to play. The tone is rich and full. It has a nice weight to it; it doesn't feel like a toy. After spending hours at Guitar Center trying out the various Gibson and Strat models at its comparable price and reading the reviews I took a shot and the Hagstrom. Glad I did. Did I mention that I look awesome playing it?

Blackburst maple flame top with a light blue cast on the delicate body made my eyes fall in tove to her.
Very thin maple neck made my fingers run and smile.

One selector switch the humbs to singlecoils.
One selector for pickups: neck, both, bridge.
2 knobs only for tone and volume - thats quite sufficient for me !

Sound in some way extends my smooth old Gary Moore hummer (Washburn MG-44) to more lucid tones up to strat like sounds.
It can have a crisp tone with heights up to bells ringing. It has strong middles and can do humming lows.
I tested the Ultra Swede against Super Swede, Swede Select, Epiphone LP and Gibson LP Studio.
I kept her.

Extremely good. (The dealer lowered the strings even some more)

Onwn it since yesterday

We have some dealers around here in Frankfurt, so I think the support will be good.

I know the Gibson Paula with its full mahagony body that I tested is much more precious - not only because of the 900 Euros it costs.
But I could not help myself, I had to stick onto that Ultra Swede !

has all the features I need.

very nice and full. Excellenet pickups and sustain.

Extremeley well finished guitar and lightning fast action.

Looks and feels like it's really built to last!

haven't needed them and don't think I will but I may call them to congratulate them on the best guitar I have ever owned.

This is by far the best guitar I have ever owned and I've spent a lifetime of buying used guitars to try them out for a few months and then selling them. I bought this one new and am glad I did. I just can't get over what a quality guitar this is!

Flame "burgundy burst" top. in the style of the old swedes, like an LP sort of body. body is light. Dual humbucker (hastrom 58's) Maple body, i guess. Made in China. Two selector switches (hagstrom, even in the old sweden days, has always had a penchant for switches) two volume knobs. If you like the les paul set up with two volume and two tone, it does not have that. I thrive on less options and i deal with switches better. I guess the maple flame could be better but they did a good job.

Damn good. Pick harmonics, no prob even with the humbucker 58s. Ill probably put seymour duncans in at some point, but its sounding good. ALOT better than vintage hagstroms sound

You have to be kidding me. Ive played guitar for 15 years. Owned more than i can count. Seriously, this guitar is un-freaking-beleivable. I dont care if it was made in china. this guitar can outplay anything hands down. the neck is soooo thin, but seems very sturdy (its heavy enuff) The neck is ungodly fast, its much faster than any strat or vintage hagstrom ive ever had. Check out the french dude on youtube. He'll show you. It is bar none the fastest guitar ive ever played. The new super swedes are not as fast.

Havent tried breaking it yet, dont plan to. It has held up nicely in its guitar stand.

Who knows. Who cares. at the price I can afford another one

this is the guitar I will play until i die. I may buy a second one just so i can have an extra one. And i basically hate most of the guitars Ive owned. But this , this.....

Compact LP style body, basswood with maple top. Nice pearloid binding on body and neck. Very thin maple set neck w/synthetic fretboard. Covered stop tail piece, tune-o-matic style bridge. Hagstrom 15:1 tuners. 2 Hagstrom custom 58 humbuckers, three way switching w/coil tap. 1 volume, 1 tone. Made in China.

I've only played this through my Korg Pandora and Line 6 Pocket Pod but WOW! I'm playing mainly blues based rock stuff and some quieter jazz and folk influenced music. Crunch and grind galore as well as beautiful clean tones. I'm very impressed.

Don't let the made in China sticker fool you. This is an extremely well made and finished guitar. The Burgundy Burst finish is flawless and the top is book matched extremely well. All other aspects of fit and finish are top notch. The set up was very good right out of the box, although the intonation was off a slight bit. The switches and knobs have a quality feel to them and are not noisy. The tuners are OK, but not the best. They have a nice art deco appearance but don't feel like Sperzels and the like. This guitar is neck heavy.

I've only had it for a few days and can't comment on the longevity. I will say that it feels every bit as solid as any other set net guitar I've owned and whole bunch better than some that cost a lot more!

I've never had any dealings with Hagstrom.

I've been playing for over 30 years. I've had my share of guitars over that time but this one has a tone that just works with my ears and fingers. Even had I played this with a strap before I bought it, I would have forgiven the heavy neck because of the sound and the finish. This guitar just looks right to my eyes.