Hagstrom Viking Reissue

I have read what some other reviewers say about the resinator fretboard. I cannot find any problem with it. It is true that it is manmade. It is supersmooth though - kind like a hard maple neck but it feels warmer. If someone likes the softer fretboards this one is sure a bit different but it is superfast and I peronally like it a lot.

The guitar sounds good, I have a Gibson ES 335 too and I wanted a second one for my office but without the $tag. I will keep the Viking original and not change the pickups, the overall sound is not 100% Gibson-like but it has some great own personality.

Plays great and very well made. I love the fit of the ES 335 models in general. They are the perfect ergonomic guitars when playing sitting, because the right (upper) arm comfortably rests on the side of the guitarbody.

It is a solid and very well built guitar.

Never needed it.

My Viking, after I adjusted everything properly has an EXCELLENT INTONATION!! Yes - it is actually one of my cleanest intonated instruments (I have 30 guitars in total). Fun to play, great feel and tone.

Some have mentioned that the wood composite neck is bad quality. It is apparently a "homogenous composite" made of one or more woods??? I'm not sure because I can't find its exact makeup. At any rate, an acquaintance of mine, who went to luthiery school, thought it was ebony. Even though it isnt, its not bad and you won't dislike it unless you are very picky. The pickups aren't all that. The finish and the neck look and feel great. Made in china, but you can hardly tell. Overall , Great

The humbuckers weren't for me but they sounded decent. I installed seymour duncan phat-cat p-90s in this and it now sounds like a very expensive guitar. It was ~160 dollar upgrade but this guitar now sounds $1000+. Definitely worth it!

the finish and the feel of this guitar are great. you WILL NOT get this feel in other guitars of this price range. Gets a 10 considering the price.

Appears to be rock solid, going about 2 years strong, no problems. Can't go ten because we're only talking two years!

dunno, never had any problems.

It's an awesome guitar, I've played live with it, it sounds great. It won't sound quite as good as a very expensive american made axe but it's damn good for a 400 dollar guitar. I've never been able to make that investment into one guitar that costs 2 grand. I'm a lefty and this is the absolute only way for me to own a decent 335 style guitar. If you pair this with a quality amp, you almost can't tell its cheap and made in china!

Mine is a tobacco burst made in China in 2007. It has an arched semi-hollow maple body with absolutely gorgeous paint job and polyurathane finish; maple set neck with "resinator" fretboard looks great with binding all around. The H-Expander truss rod is supposed to be extra special. It has two of Hagstrom's HJ-50 humbuckers, a 3-way toggle pickup selector and nicely made tune-o-matic bridge and a uniquely styled trapeze tailpiece that has the Hagstrom symbol on it. Controls are pretty standard for the Gibson 335 style guitars ... 2 volume and 2 tone controls

Nice as a blues or rock guitar -- I am very satisfied with both clean and overdrive sounds. The pickups are brighter than your typical humbuckers - so maybe it's less suited to jazz players. I play it through my Fender Blues tube amp, and sometimes through a cheaper solid state Fender.

Nicely done all around and well-suited to my purposes: I did not have any need for making more than minor adjustments to the string heighth. I have not noticed anything that the average joe would ever complain about. The "f holes" on are fine, unlike what some of the rest of the reviewers have said.

I've owned this baby for about a year, and it's been very reliable. Everything from the tuners to electronics are dependable and show little wear and tear. I have gigged with it (I never play it alone, but always have at least another electric and acoustic when I play).

Have not had to deal with them.

I'm in my late 40s and have been playing since I was in high school. I've owned a lot of guitars over the years, and even a few semi-hollow bodies such as an Epiphone Casino (sold) and Riveria (still own). This is, by far, the best semi-hollow I've ever played. I love the pickups and the general feel of this guitar. It is nicely balanced and comfortable to play. It also looks really cool too!

This guitar was made in China in 2007. It is a 335 style semi-hollow body guitar. It features a laminated maple body, 2 Hagstrom HJ-50 passive humbuckers, two volume controls, two tone controls & a 3 position toggle switch that allows you to select the neck pickup, both pickups, or the bridge pickup. Features a 'set' hard Maple neck, 24.75" scale, with a "resinator" fretboard, 22 well-finished frets, Hagstrom 18:1 tuners (made by Schaller)with chrome Art Deco knobs. The finish on this guitar is Gloss Black with cream colored binding on both the front & back of the body & the neck. It is
gorgeous! It came with a great Hagstrom semi-solid gig bag.

I am using this guitar with a Fender Hot Rod Deville 410 & a Line 6 POD XT. The Guitar is very quiet & the block running down the center of the guitar eliminates feedback while enhancing sustain. I can achieve a wide variety of sounds with this guitar. It is on it's way to becoming my favorite guitar!

The guitar was pretty well set up from the factory. The action was a bit low. So, after checking neck relief, I raised the bridge enough to eliminate string rattle. I may eventually fit this with 10-50 strings which I believe would allow me to lower the bridge. The action is still very low & is easy to play.

Fit & finish is near perfect. I have seen some $3000 Gibsons that have more flaws.

I believe this guitar would easily stand up to live playing although it's always a good idea to have a backup guitar available. The hardware looks very durable & should last a long time.

This guitar comes with a two year limited warranty. I have no experience with Hagstrom customer service but would guess they are as good as any.

I have been playing 3 years. I also own a Fender Deluxe American Stratocaster, Epiphone LP Elitist, & a Taylor 214. The Hagstrom filled my needs for a semi-hollow body guitar.I would replace it if stolen. I may buy a second Hagstrom. It is a great guitar & is VERY competitively priced.

2008 model. Had it for a week. Well finished, bit dodgy around one of the F holes, but otherwise very clean. I would have liked smaller frets. As for the resinator fingerboard, I wouldn't have known it was anything out of the ordinary unless I had read about it here.
I have worn dents in the fingerboards of some of my older guitars. Perhaps this one will fair better.

I immediately discovered I could play things flawlessly that had been troubling me for some time; jazz stuff, difficult chord voicings.
I am using a Fender Princeton 65 amp and I think I will have to change this. Using the neck pickup, with all the treble rolled off at the amp, the bass cranked right up, I still have to roll the tone off at the guitar. This is the amp, nat the ax.

Played it straight out of the box. One F hole poorly cut, a few light tooling marks on the fingerboard.
I sweat a lot when I play and rest my right hand on the bridge for muting snd stability etc. It will be interesting to see how this hardware holds up.

No Idea

I have had Les Pauls, USA Strats and teles, My main guitar at the moment is an Aria Pro, sort of an L5 copy. It is every bit as good as a Gibson.
I have long gone off buying the genuine genuine article when there are so many brilliant copies around. I have played on numerous big stages around the world and would have no problem taking this guitar on any of them.

The features of this guitar have been gone over. The most prominent feature is the "resinator" fretboard. Hey guys, It's Epoxy Resin! I can't hardly beleive there haven't been more comments about this which almost makes me think some of the other reviews are spam. The name of the fret material should give you a clue, "Resinator". Not resinate like a note on an acoustic guitar, more like -MADE WITH RESIN. It's a man made composite that sort of looks like ebony. That all being said it plays OK. It's just a little too smooth and there is something just "wrong" about having a plastic/epoxyish fretboard. It screams "cheap" and they are trying to put some spin on it like it's better or whatever.

This guitar sounds amazingly good. Acoustically or Electrified. I've got, and had a lot of guitars and I was surprised by the pickups. The sound made it hard to send back but ultimately it was a a little sterile and without character. In my opinion related to that composite fretboard.

Here is where a lot of this guitars problems arise. I bought this guitar based on positive reviews here and elsewhere. It's not a bad guitar but there are better for $550 to $600. This is more like a $400 guitar. This guitar is made in China and it shows the signs of rapid mass production. In general the workmanship is good, frets are ok, but the F-holes in my unit had pour routing and the work was equal to a B-stock or cheapo. I'm not saying they are all like this but this one was and I've seen a lot on ebay that are seconds that makes me think there are a lot of seconds. Or the second are something someone wouln't accept as a first.

This really could have been a great guitar with a little better quality control and a real wood fretboard. The pickups really are great for a stock instrument in this price range. Too bad about that "resinator". A decent value for sub $400 but overpriced at higher.

Gloss Poly finish, 335 style body with tuneomatic bridge. Tuners are Hagstrom's own art deco style and work very well. 2006 model in vintage sunburst. Superb finish, I really can't fault it for the price.

It is brighter than my 335 but still has a superb tone. I play mainly blues with this guitar and it does the job superbly.

This was pretty much perfect straight out of the box. The action is superb, the neck was set up with just the right amount of relief and overall it looks and feels just as it should do. The only adjustments I've made are to balance the pole pieces on the pickups.

I'd never do a gig without a backup! The finish and hardware look sturdy enough to withstand the rigours of regular use but I imagine that I'll be changing the pots and switches at some point to CTS/switchcraft.

Can't comment here as I've never had to use them.

I've been playing professionally for about 25 years and own or have owned pretty much every style of guitar over that time. I own 5 Hagstroms now and would rate them as high as my custom shop Gibsons! No I kid you not, the Hagstroms are superb!

Hagstrom Viking, made in China. Semi-hollow, 2 humbuckers with dual volume, dual tone, trapeze tailpiece, and a tun-o-matic bridge. Slightly smaller than an ES-335. Very comfy maple neck and body. Not sure of the year (2006?).

Played lotsa' alternative, shoegazer pop, but now into more of a raw, cleaner punkish vibe ala early Cure, or even Interpol. I run the Viking thru a Crybaby Wah > Modded Ibanez Tubescreamer > EH Small Stone Phaser > EH #1 Echo > Digitech RP50 (mostly for tuning) > Morley Black Gold Volume, ending at a Fender "Evil" The Twin tube amp.
Probably the most quiet guitar I've run thru this chain. Love the sound of this girl, sorta like a 335, but with more brightness and bite. Not dark, like my Casino or Dot, which makes for a nice contrast. The cleans sound great thru my Twin, but this baby roars when I step on my Tubescreamer! This is where the Viking truly shines. Very controlled feedback (I love feedback). The louder I play, the more I fall in lust with this bitch..

Bought this at an unbelievable price thru ebay, with the very sexy Hagstrom case to boot. Was shipped naked and stringless (but I knew it would be), so I had to reset intonation and action. Probably woulda' done that anywayz. After slapping some 11's on it, I checked the intonation and was pleasantly surprised to find only 1 string was slightly off. Got some great action on it too. I bought a Swede shortly after the Viking, and, as I wrote in my review for the Swede, Hagstrom necks are simply awesome!
Had to play with pick-up height, especially with the bridge humbucker, but that was to be expected from a used guitar. The neck humbucker is really silky smooth, even at distorted volumes. The bridge pickup has a lot of edge to it. I get nice punky raunch with clarity. With both on I hear a cool breakup, smooth + glassy. Love in a semi-hollow box.. The guy I bought this from sounded sorry to have to let this one go, and I can see and hear why.
The finish is simply kickass. Don't know too much about finishes, but I think bullets will bounce off of this thing. It's surprisingly lightweight.. the neck is heavier than the body. Very comfy to play for hours. I'm a shorty, so this is a plus for me. No issues with electronics or switches as of yet, but I've only had it for about a month.

Don't gig at all anymore, so I couldn't really say. I jam on the regular with a drummer and it's held up really well so far. While I love my other geetars, I find it hard to put the Viking down. It just sounds great on every song we play. You never gig without a backup, as we all know.

I bought this used, so I didn't worry about a warranty. The card for it was still in the case, which was cute. I don't deal with manufacturers. I just take my shit to pros to deal with.

Been playing on and off for 20 years. A few bands and gigs later, I'm happy just plucking away as wifey complains about the noise. I also play on an Epiphone Dot with GFS Dream 90/180s (great combo), an Epi Casino (for dark cleans), a Les Paul "The Paul II" (for swamp), and another sweetass Hagstrom, a Swede reissue (for everything else).
After kissing Gibson's ass for so many years, I'm so glad to find a company that can give them a run for their money, as they've become outrageously over priced and sloppy. I'd never even heard of Hagstrom before this, and was about to purchase an Ibanez Artcore jazzbox when I stumbled upon this Viking and a gold top Swede. After playing both, I picked up what was left of my nutz and ran home to see if I could find them cheaper on ebay. I got sweeeeet deals on both!
The Viking has become my main guitar, as it sounds good on most everything I play, clean or dirty. At this point, I have all my bases covered as far as guitar sounds, but.. another Viking in Black or Cherry would be nice.
If someone even looks at my Viking the wrong way, I will kick them in both eyes. I like epi's, but their hardware can sometimes suck, as we all know. These new Hagstroms have pleased me to no end. And the cases are maaad cool.
I rate 9's cuz nothing is perfecto.. this came damned close, though.
At an unbeatable price, too.

Hagstrom Viking Deluxe 2007(Chinese) Blemished but so small as to be nothing so got it for 370 after shipping. Long and slightly thinner and wider trapeze tailpiece ES335 type. All sides, front and back flamed maple, blond, hard rock maple ONE PIECE neck/headstock. Black stylized pickguard with Hagstrom in gold and headstock with it in MOP along with an emblem that is 5 parts together and MOP double binding. Cream body binding with the top edge with 2 black lines, cram neck binding, too. Rounded rectangular MOP fretboard inlays. 22 jumbo frets on man-made fretboard material similar to formica, like a grainless ebony in feel. Truss rod is H expander with cover that has Viking Deluxe in white print/ Hagstrom Chrome hardware--Imperial 18-1 tuners, styli9zed tailpiece with red and gold and black King of Sweden symbol that says "swedish design" in small letters, angled TP top so bass string is longer. Two covered humbuckers made by Hagstrom. 2 Vol 2 tone w/ black and clear bell shape w/concave silver top label. Bound F-holes larger than normal without the middle "points". 3 way black toggle in Les Paul position on top horn. Weight around 8 lbs. 41 5/8" long + 1/2" for bottom strap holder (other strap holder in standard 335 position base of neck in back on body). Lower bout 16 1/4", 9 1/2" middle and 11 1/2 top, 19" tall or long, with edges at 1 3/4" and 1/2" arch top and bottom. All hardware, woods, workmanship, and wiring are top of the line. Neck is 1 5/8" by 3/4" at top, and 2 1/8 at 22nd fret, thickness is 7/8" at 14th fret, increasing with neck joint at fret 18-19. Hollow horns inset to fret 20+ and very playable at 22. Very fast with flat radius, maybe around 15". Tones and volumes work extremely well. Hard graphite nut.

Used with Carvin SX300 half stack and Orange Tiny Terror w/Celestion G12M and G12K 1x12s. I play Hendrix style acid blues/rock, but this is more suited to a cleaner BB King blues style. With the Class A, the gain had to be reduced substantially to keep it from howling too much. It was fine with the solid state tube emulation amp in all channels. The tone controls could give the neck pickup a single coil sound, and with the bridge a high definition twang to mellow lead sounds. It is not noisy at all, and strongly tends toward feedback at high settings on the tube amp. It tends to lose some on the bottom end compared to other 335 type guitars, but the articulation is superior. The backbridge playing that I thought would be good--isn't.
In the bass end, my $150 Starfire 335 is better, and so is the overall sound in a playoff. Very close, but the Starfire 335 won the new Gator case, besides it fits better. The Hagstrom got the tweed gig bag with its tweed strap and blond color and size, it fits there better.

The guitar came in a special box, well protected. I bought a 335 Gator case for it, but it got the tweed 335 gig bag because it was too tight in the case. The guitar was almost in tune. The action was good at around 5/64", and the neck pickup was too high by 1/2 turn and the bridge pickup too high by 3 turns. All except high E had to be lengthened at the tune-o-matic style bridge (1/2 note sharp intonation from the box). The book matching is good. The tiny black dot flaw on the 21st fret marker was a nothing. The finish and look is immaculate.
The only thing that brings this down is the setup was not perfect.

This guitar has very high quality thick finished hardware, high strength materials, highest quality finish and trussrod. Very durable and gigable. If I was just playing BB King style and rockabilly, I might not bring a backup, but I always get into high volume rip it ups that would need a solid body.

N/A

I've been playing since the Stones came out and have tons of equipment and lots of guitars. I read these reviews before I bought it. If stolen, I would try to track down the thief and kill him slowly with relish of his pain. This is a class act guitar of the highest order, right up there with my Gibson Byrdland, 50th Anniversary Stratocaster. I looked through all the 335 styles, read reviews, and got this one.
I wish it had come with a case and was really made in Sweden, plus had slightly better bass response and backbridge playability. These things bring it down in points.

Mine is a 2006 Hagstrom Viking, made in China. This is a thinline semi-hollowbody with 2 humbuckers with dual volume, dual tone, beefy trapeze tailpiece, tun-o-matic type bridge, decent tuners and solid center block. It has F holes, and a body which is slightly smaller than an ES-335 (the guitar this is closest to). The body and neck are maple, with a laminated top, the fretboard is a composite which feels and sounds somewhere between rosewood and ebony. The top and back are arched, so a very comfortable guitar. Mine has a classy black finish with cream binding. The tailpiece has the cool retro Hagstrom coat of arms - very 70s.

Like an ES-335, but a bit brighter. Really good for traditional rock, jazz, blues, funk. Nice acoustic sound. Guitar is set up well, so you can really dig in and get a large variety of tone. The pickups are typical smooth humbuckers, similar to Gibson PAFs, with a little extra brightness. It came with rather lightweight strings - make sure to change them to something heavier, the tone really comes out. The nut is particularly good, tone on open chords is great, with full harmonics.

The setup from the factory was good - but things always need to be tweaked for individual taste. The action can be very low, and the neck is very straight and fast. Not as thin of a neck as the typical 60s Hagstrom - and I like that. Frets are good for an inexpensive guitar. Finish is great.

Seems solid - perhaps some of the hardware is a bit lightweight. I imagine I'll be replacing the strap buttons. Tuners seem solid, bridge might need replacement. Construction and finish seem very durable. Of course, only time will tell.

Haven't needed to contact the company.

I've been playing 30 years. My other guitars are probably too valuable to take out of the house, and this filled a real need. A nice playing guitar with great tone that isn't expensive. Plus it has great retro looks. If this one gets damaged or stolen or borrowed, I'd definitely buy another one. For $350, this is an amazing value!

The one thing I wish it had is P90s, but at this price, an upgrade will be no problem. I think I'll be calling Bill Lawrence in a few days.