# Hagstrom Super Swede



## Bevo (Nov 24, 2006)

Picked up this beauty last week from Gears in Oakville.

Got a Tele from the L&M sale and again, the Fender and I did not jive. Thought about changing pickups and all that but took it back within the 30 days.
Went to LA music and that is the last time for me, good news is I saw the Hagstroms there.

After the piss poor service I made my way to Gears and tried out the guitars they had.
Picked it up for $550 and can't put it down, it is a treat to play. The scale is 25.5 so longer than the LP and the body is shaped better with a nice belly cut out.
Finish is impecable and set up out of the box was perfect, even the strings look brand new and are great quality. I think this is the first time i got a guitar and never changed the strings once I got home.
The neck is kinda ebony yet is not a wood, feels good looks good. Neck is super flat too and the action is perfect.
The coil tap is great it gives that close to single coil sound yet is not intrusive.

Pickups are not crazy high output and i belive are close to the Gibson 57 in neck and bridge. The neck has much more bass than the bridge for some reason. 
The tone out of this guitar is just amazing, huge sustain and a real gritty tone that is just perfect through my amp.

This is the link to the specs and the includes a picture with the pick guard on, I like it naked.
Like how two pictures look like different colors eh.

Hagstrom Guitars


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## Budda (May 29, 2007)

looks like fun, congrats!


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## rev156 (Mar 2, 2008)

Congrats! You will enjoy it. I have the D2F. They are great instruments, fantastic quality for the price. I've changed the 500K pots for 250K's and like it even better. 
Cheers,


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## Bevo (Nov 24, 2006)

What was the reason for the pot change and how idid it effect the tone?


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## Duster (Dec 28, 2007)

Enjoy the guitar! I've got a regular Swede, which doesn't have the coil tap and is a standard Gibson scale-length.

I too like the stock pickups, although the neck can be quite bassy, bordering on muddy. It's not for every kind of playing, but for what it does, it sounds fantastic. The richness of the tone is what I love the most about it, and it makes my G&L Legacy sound thin by comparison. But it's no use comparing them, they're different animals of different species.

The fretboard on the Hagstroms is something they call "Resinator", which is some kind of composite, I think they impregnate some kind of wood with a resin. It's essentially a man-made material, similar to ebony. Despite it being artificial, I must say that fretboard is a real pleasure to play. It feels great under the fingers, lends itself to wonderful bending, and makes it that much harder to put the guitar down. Far from being a cost-saving measure, I find it actually an enhancement over wooden fretboards.

The only complaints I have about my Hagstrom is that the finish on the hardware tarnished a bit within the first couple of years of having it, and the electrics on mine were a bit scratchy. I had it in to the shop once because my "tone filter" switch (your Super Swede doesn't have one) was scratchy and causing the sound to cut out. Now it's disabled, so things are better. I might have a go at improving the wiring anyway - I think that's an area where Hagstrom cut some corners.

That being said, when it's time to play and I have my G&L and Hagstrom sitting side by side, more often than not I'm reaching for the Hagstrom. I know that the G&L is a better instrument, but I don't care. 

--- D


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## zontar (Oct 25, 2007)

I played one at a store with Lace Alumitone pickups in it--now that was a great sounding guitar--but the Aumitones ain't cheap.
So they'll have to wait to appear on any of my guitars.

Very nice guitar though.


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## Bevo (Nov 24, 2006)

Your so right, even in the store it was hard to put down. I was trying to decide between and all black and the one I got and kept trying each but got lost in the playing and forgot what I was doing LOL!!
The fretboard does feel nice, don't really care what it is.

Have a guitar set up guy close to my work and I may just get him to change out all the pots and re do the wiring.
Whats the hurry its souonds just great and I find when I need a deeper tone I switch to the neck or go single coil and boost it.


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## rev156 (Mar 2, 2008)

Bevo said:


> What was the reason for the pot change and how idid it effect the tone?


I found the bridge pup very bright and nasally. The lower pot value rolls off some of that top end and smoothes it out. It also rolls off some output, making it slightly quieter.
I could be wrong but I believe strats come with 250k or 300k pots. I'm sure someone knows and can articulate the actual scientific reasoning, but thats not me. I just like the sound better now. 
It probably took me 1/2 hour to unsolder the old and put in the new(not counting the pot I wrecked...given they were CTS I assumed the old knobs would fit the new pots... no)sooo after changing a third pot I put knurled metal black volume and tone knobs on. 
It's really pretty easy, I'm sure you could diy.
cheers
mark


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## Bevo (Nov 24, 2006)

Hmm, not sure if that would fix it as its just right on the highs but to bass heavy and muddy. I lowered the pickup which helped alott but must be a way to tune it a bit better.
Lowering it made it useful so not as urgent to get it fixed.


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## Budda (May 29, 2007)

Bev, try keeping the treble side real high and the bass side real low on that neck pickup. oh, and buy my pacifica/jsx lol


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## Bevo (Nov 24, 2006)

I did balance them a bit and does work, maybe I need to go a bit more extreme.

I thought you sold the JSX?
Am in london tomorrow to but have a meeting at City Hall and it looks like its going to be an all day thing.


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