Hagstrom Viking 1N

mine is a small run from 1973, Sweden.

i assume you??ve seen the Viking, so in my description, i consider this guitar as exquisite, in all aspects.

as often seen when it comes from swedish skills.

mine is made of real bubinga body and the neck is by far the most comfortable neck i played in 18 years, super straight with a very low action without any kind of buzzing.

when it come to make music, "mojo" is the word and in my view, there is no gibson or gretsch that singing and tastefully done.

with the lions picture on tail bridge and imperial head tuners,
it looks magnificent designed.

the pickups have that "airy" vintage quality tone, balanced and combining all configurations youll ever need.

guitar solos always came from the blues so..enough said...it always make music in every player hands, all styles, chords and melody perfectly, from blues to country to jazz fusion.

i played it in several kinds of amps and the tone is always more than superb.

i have all the major guitar types, but this is the guitar i like the most to excite the effects board.

i bought mine 4 years ago and still fab condition, very nicely aged.

Sweden have excelence builting mentality and more than quality suppliers, have an excelence taste, here applied on guitar construction.

the all round Hagstrom sites were very helpful when i was searching for info or parts.

this is my main instrument and have a priceless musical value.

made in sweden.hollow body electric with 2 humbucking pick ups,adjustable bridge,rosewood fingerboard,gloss orange sunburst finish,2 tone and 2 volume knobs,a tone switch and pick up select switch stop tailpiece,bolt on neck and laminated top.it was made between 1973 and 1976.

this thing can make sounds that fit any style.i play it through a roland micro cube that is plugged into a peavey encore 65 with 1-12" speaker.it will do warm and sweet to screaming feed back and everything in between

i purchased this guitar at a garage sale for 50 dollars. it was pretty beat up missing bridge screws its intonation was messed up the finish was checked knobs were missing.the neck binding was falling off and it was missing the cover off one of the tuning keys.i only bought it because i played one years before and knew how they sounded.finding parts was hard.

after i fixed all its problems this guitar played great and i've had no problems with the electronics. the neck binding has been a problem and was replaced and the finish on the neck and head is checked. it plays nice and i wouldn't hesitate to play it on a gig.

back in the day the company was good to deal with. the necks were guaranteed for 10 years.now not so good, parts are scarce.i'm still looking for the tuning key cover.

i've been playing about 35 years.i also have a new fender mexican strat., an art and lutherie wild cherry 12 string, an el degas mt 18 (martin copy by ibanez japan). i would definately miss this guitar if it were gone.i've owned it for about 15 years and still love it's sound

Viking 1N, D'aquisto style headstock and S-hole, 2 humbuckers. Microadjust bridge, lots of stuff. Hard to beat.

The price I paid for it wasnt' cheap, but it's certainly not espensive either.

Has a wide range of sounds. I dont really play electric so I can't give a very good opinion from an electric player point of view. But I am gonna give it a try anyway.

I was actually in the market to buy an electric to learn on, but like this for it's looks, and I said "smooth" when I first tried it (I play classical), so I bought this and didn't really ask too many questions.

The pickups are a bit weak, but I really like it for the jazz sound, and with just a bit of overdrive I can get the Santana sound I was originally looking for. Again I bought it for the jazz and the Santana like sound. If you are looking for the super crisp strat or the very full LP sound you are buying the wrong guitar.

It sounds great to me, and that's whats important. But if you turn up the gain on the overdrive, this thing will squeel and feedback like a banshee with PMS. I think this is the part where I am not really satisfied with this, but this is the nature of the beast, since it's a true hollow body (tiny support block under bridge only).

I think this was in the closet for the last 20 years. But overall it's pretty great for a 30 year old guitar. VERY structurally sound.

Cracks in finish is normal, but the tone pots and switches are kind
of cheap; too cheap, is the tuner (awesome design) casting although the mechanism still works great. (points lost for this category)

Wasn't too happy about the bolt on neck, but I guess this is easier to service. Still, with all the trouble of making an thinline archtop, you'd think they can glue that neck in.

The frets has been leveled once, so the action is REALLY low now, and still plays perfect, hopefully the frets will hold out for 2 years, since I dotn really play much electric.

30 years later it's still this playable, i am convinced.

Hagstrom is no longer around, at least the original company is no longer around.

Beautiful 1N specimen! Mahogany finish (they are all birch) w/ clearcoat. Has a 1N serial # and the art deco headstock plus top horn switch (tone control/pickup phase control) that differentiates it from the II. Also has the big step-style tuners which look great but catch on anything and send you into tuning mode :). I don't use the phase switch much--It supposedly puts the pickups 1) out of phase (muddy tone) in the top position, 2) in phase in the mid position (the only really usable, good sound), or 3) in single coil mode in the bottom position. I find the latter of the three too thin-sounding for my liking.

A range of beautiful sounds, from fat and jazzy to warm and bluesy with the neck pickup (depending on where you pick), to an almost-too-bright, twangy rockabilly at the bridge. Pair it with a tube amp (mine's a DeVille 410) and you will smile every time you strum. Not too noisy, but don't stand near the amp, especially with distortion/overdrive sounds. It will feed, as all hollowbodies do (but not too bad). When playing clean, you get a very musical, natural, full "guitar" sound that is almost like a classical (gut string) guitar crossed with a plank-style solid-body electric. No wonder people like hollowbodies!

Before buying my 1N at a local place, I looked up Hagstrom on the web. I found tons of Hagstrom cult sites and gushing reviews from what I assumed were guitar geeks with too much time and too few friends. Well, if you can get a decent Viking you will be writing reviews like this one sooner or later.

Legendary low, fast action--you don't always find that on hollowbody guitars. But the sustain and tone don't suffer for the thin, bolt-on neck. Some chips, cracks, and scratches but nothing that you can see from 6 feet away. The clearcoat is crumbling a bit around the nicks and scratches, so I'm treating it with TLC. But what do you expect from a 30+ y.o. guitar that was a budget hollowbody in its day?

Built like a tank, yet light and well balanced. Not very serviceable--the pots need cleaning or replacing, and on a hollow-body with no access door, this is thru the f-holes (read: not DIY). Oh, well, I guess I'll keep it at full volume. The only other thing I don't like is that it doesn't stay in tune well. I guess I could have the machines replaced, but I wouldn't want to lose those cool-looking tuning keys (even if they are a bit of a liability).

N/A -- they're kaput. I think Hagstrom lovers actually like that fact. It creates an air of exclusivity to owning one.

I will never sell it. I got renter's insurance for the sole reason of putting this guitar in my apartment! You know when you want an exact replica of something so you have one to usea nd one to keep? That's how I feel.

I would like to say that there is no other guitar on the market
between Fender and Gibson that can compare to the TONALITY
of this guitar. It is very versatile and can be used in a variety
of music situations.
I have the original I N and it is in mint condition. I think there is
only about 2,000 of these guitars around.
This is an excellent blues, jazz or rock guitar. I will give it a 10
for TONALITY.
Ron from Pa.

Early 70's Semi Hollow D'Aquisto Designed 335 style guitar made in sweden. Two Tone and two volume controls. Tonal switch and a switch for the two humbucking pickups. Rosewood fingerboard.

You want blues .. Well this guitar has it with plenty to spare .. in fact I sat in with a band last night this puppy .. and they had me plug into this real POS (peice of sh..t) Amp .. and the bass player came up to me and said "man, how did you manage to get that Great tone out of that amp?" .. all I did was plug this guitar in .. this guitar will do it all .. you want Jazz .. you got it .. you want blues .. man does it give it to you .. you want rock .. this guitar can cut heads with the best .. Run it through a good tube amp .. and you will never go back. With Lead it cranks .. and playing chords .. there is a tonal blend between the Highs, Mids and Lows, that I have rarely, if ever heard on a guitar.

You can't beat the Hagstrom Necks .. they were famous for the smooth action and thin necks .. I did a setup on this guitar and with 10's I can get down to 3/64" on the high E with no buzz .. sweet and smooth .. The moment you place your hand on the neck you know you are going to able to play better. The pickups are hot when they need to be .. and mellow when you want them to be.

For a 30 something guitar .. it has been pretty reliable. I would not hesitate to rely on this guitar.

They are out of business, So this really does not apply .. This is the best kept secret in Guitars .. Hagstrom in its day was giving Fender and Gibson a real run for their money .. if you ever get a chance to get your hands on either a Viking or a Swede .. do yourself a favor and do it ..

I have been playing for over 30 years .. I have over a dozen guitars, Fenders, Gibsons, Martins, Hagstroms, etc .. and my favorite guitars to play are as follows 1. 71 Hagstrom Viking 2. 71 Hagstrom Super Swede 3. 72 Fender Thinline Tele 4. 72 Gibson SG and so on. The Hagstroms are really great guitars .. I will hold my Superswede up to any Gibson Les Paul Custom and it will hold it's own or better with it. I played my Viking side by side with the Gibson 335 and the Ibanaz simi hollow .. and it has blown the doors off of both of them in both tonal charteristics and playability. If this guitar was ever stolen, You better believe I would hunt that sucker down and feed him to hungry wolves!