1961 Hagström Deluxe 90 in blue sparkle finish

guitarz.blogspot.com:

I know we've looked at these particular glitzy celluloid-covered guitars before here on Guitarz but they don't come up for sale very often on eBay, and not only does this example currently listed have some nice clean close-up photos, but it's also one of my personal favourites and so I reckon it's worth looking at again.

To borrow from the eBay listing:

This [Hagström Deluxe 90] was made in Sweden around 1961 (batch 499). This is a sparkle and pearloid model. The top is has blue sparkle finish with the rest done in a pearloid wrap. The fretboard is acrylic. 22 frets and 23 1/4 inches scale length. Four single coil pickups and six buttons. Tremar tremolo system.

The neck is straight and it is easy to play. The guitar is all original with no restoration. The original pick holder is still on the back of the headstock. It is a lot of fun to play.  I am including a vintage case for shipping.

This is the nicest example I have seen of one of these guitars. The pearloid wrap and binding tends to shrink over time and it exhibits some minor cracks. Much less than I have seen in most examples of this guitar.

It's interesting also to note that this guitar is currently located in Arizona in the USA, yet it carries the original Hagstrom name and has not been re-branded Goya as you'd expect to see on the "American" version. No doubt it has belonged to a collector at some point.

Currently listed on eBay with a starting bid of US $949 and a Buy It Now price of US $2,200.

G L Wilson

© 2014, Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - the blog that goes all the way to 11!
Please read our photo and content policy.

Objects of Desire: 1968 Hagstrom Viking II - just like Elvis's

guitarz.blogspot.com:

I'm not a particular fan of Elvis Presley, but the Hagstrom Viking II in bold red finish and with the Fender-style 6-in-a-line headstock is a guitar that I would love to own; it's just one of those really iconic guitars.

Although famous as the guitar Elvis played in his '68 Comeback Special, the guitar didn't even belong to Elvis. It actually was the property of Al Casey, guitarist in the orchestra working on the TV show for N.B.C. Television, and it was chosen more or less as a prop for Presley because it looked cool.

This particular example pictured above is currently listed on eBay with a Buy It Now price of $999, although it would benefit from with some restoration as it has various cracks, and places where the binding and fingerboard position markers are missing.

G L Wilson

© 2013, Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - the blog that goes all the way to 11! Please read our photo and content policy.

1970s LOTOS bass - made in Poland and styled after Hagstrom

guitarz.blogspot.com:

You'd be forgiven for thinking on first sight that this was a Swedish-made Hagstrom bass, but it's actually a LOTOS made in Poland. Actually, the logo does look a little like "LOTOR" but I guess that could be a stylized lowercase letter "s". The seller tells us:

LOTOS 1972

Lotos was produced in Lubin (Poland) since 1968.

Before 1968 in Bydgoszcz (poland) since 1966.

This is first polish bass

Inspirated from HAGSTROM KENT

For more see: www.defil-vintage.pl/2013/10/lotos.html

Currently listed on eBay with a Buy It Now price of $349.

G L Wilson

© 2013, Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - the blog that goes all the way to 11!
Please read our photo and content policy.

Electra Japanese-made copy of a Hagstrom II

guitarz.blogspot.com:

Today I'm showing you this 1970s(?) Electra guitar just to prove that once upon a time it wasn't just the likes of Fender, Gibson and Rickenbacker that were being copied en masse by Far Eastern manufacturers*. It's a copy of one of Sweden's finest, the Hagstrom II. It seems quite unusual to see copies of European guitars, but of course guitars from Hofner, Vox and Burns have had their imitators over the years. This Electra Hagstrom II copy even features a replica of Hagstrom's "Tremar" vibrato arm - these days a replica would most likely feature generic hardware and you'd end up with a Strat-style trem irrespective of what the original was like.

Currently listed on eBay UK with a Buy It Now price of £350.

* OK, I'm generalising a little here, these days we have brands such as Eastwood and Pure Salem who are reissuing all sorts of cool designs, but the big distinction here is that these guitars are deliberately and joyfully retro. Back in the day when Electra copied Hagstrom, it was a copy of a then contemporary guitar. Just thought I ought to mention it before someone said "Hey, what about Eastwood?" in the comments!

G L Wilson

© 2013, Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - the blog that goes all the way to 11!
Please read our photo and content policy.

Ultra-cool 3-pickup Hagstrom Impala spotted in Chet Faker video

guitarz.blogspot.com:

We at Guitarz are big fans of Sweden's Hagstrom guitars, and although we've featured a Hagstrom Impala on these pages before, it's always nice to get to see a cult classic guitar in action and to hear the kind of coolness that it is capable of. In the video below we see it in the hands of the guitarist in the band of Melbourne musician Chet Faker (aka Nick Murphy) as together they perform a live take of "No Diggity". I'm afraid I don't know the name of the guitarist (if someone can enlighten me, please do!), but he obviously has very good taste in guitars if not in headware!



Thanks to Peter for recommending we take a look at this video.

G L Wilson

© 2013, Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - the blog that goes all the way to 11!

Hagstrom Deluxe doublecutaway guitar from 1962

guitarz.blogspot.com:

An obvious relation to the glitter-topped singlecut Hagstrom guitars, this doublecut Hagstrom Deluxe is a much rarer beast with only 225 examples having been produced between the years 1962-63. The chrome pickup housing with "grille" and pushbutton switches is shared with the better-known singlecut models, although the top of the guitar is a solid blue rather than glittered, and the fingerboard is timber (rosewood?) as opposed to perspex. [Edit: I'm told it IS perspex, but solid black perspex rather than clear].

Note also the distinctive headstock shape which earnt this model the nicknames of "Batman" and "Duck's foot".

Despite the distinct lack of bling on this model, it's of much more value to collectors as evidenced by the starting bid on this example currently listed on eBay which stands at $6,000 Australian dollars. Alternatively, if you don't want to get into a bidding war, the seller will accept $10,000 Australian dollars as a Buy It Now price.

G L Wilson

© 2012, Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - 10 years and counting!

Vintage & Rare Guitar of the Week: 1960s Hagstrom 8-string bass

guitarz.blogspot.com:

This original 1960s Hagstrom 8-string bass in cherry red finish is currently being offered for sale via Vintage & Rare by New Kings Road Guitars in the UK who comment that as this model was the world's first 8-string bass, it's "probably Sweden's greatest contribution to popular music ... (YES, including A**A)."

The Hagstrom 8-string bass was probably most famously played by both Jimi Hendrix and his Experience bandmate Noel Redding (check here for further info).

This particular example is listed at £1995 / €2,500.

G L Wilson

© 2012, Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - 10 years and counting!

The Association - Along Comes Mary (but what are the guitars?)

guitarz.blogspot.com:

Via the Guitarz Facebook page our friend Jarma asks what are the guitars being played by The Association in this 1960s TV performance.

Well, the bass is easy: it's a Gibson EB-2 semi-hollowbody bass. Initially I wasn't too sure what the rhythm guitar was, so I moved onto the solidbody lead guitar as I was sure we had featured one very much like it here on Guitarz. Sure enough, it's a Hagström Impala, and that made me think that perhaps the rhythm guitar is a Hagström too - a twin-cutaway semi-hollowbody design with a Strat-like head?... it's a Hagström Viking, surely? (As used by Elvis in the '68 Comeback Special).

It's a great video clip, by the way. Thanks for that, Jarmo!

G L Wilson

© 2012, Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - now in its 10th year!

James Chance, the Contortions and a Hagström Kent

guitarz.blogspot.com:

Another video, that gives the opportunity to see an Hagström Kent in action - played by Pat Place, one of the two guitarists of James Chance and the Contortions, a late 1970S New York-based No Wave band that combines jazz-punk with funk (it is said that James Chance differed from many of his No Wave colleagues, since he was really mastering his instrument - the saxophone - and expected the same from his musicians). 

I cannot see the guitar very distinctly for the video is shot in a very... No Wave way, but it must be a PB-24-G model with its bolted acrylate front, the grid between its two single coils and the four switches in a curve. It sports the Hagström logo (you noticed that I write Hagström with a "ö", though it is distributed as Hagstrom in English speaking countries, but Umlauts are cool, aren't they?) but to tell you what it says would be complicated, for the same model had different names in different countries - for example Futurama in UK - the name evolved over time (1962-1966) and there's been at least three different versions of it...

Bertram

© 2011, Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - now in its 10th year!

A Swedish surf guitar! The Hagström Futurama Coronado Automatic

guitarz.blogspot.com:

Correct me if I'm wrong, Hag fans, but from what I can work out on the net, the above-pictured guitar is a Hagström Futurama Coronado Automatic from 1963. Apparently only 200 of this model were built for Ben Davis, owner of the Selmer company in London, and would have originally retailed (with case) at 77 guineas.

As you can see it takes its shape from the Fender Jazzmaster/Jaguar but the controls are very "European". The head too is very Fender-esque, but unlike any Fenders of the period the guitar is of through-neck construction.

This example is currently listed on eBay with a starting price of £600 and just over a day to go before the auction ends (as I type this).

G L Wilson

© 2011, Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - now in its 10th year!

1968 Hagström Concord DeLuxe semi-hollowbody bass

guitarz.blogspot.com:

One of the guitars on my own fantasy "wants" list is a vintage Hagström Viking with Strat-style headstock and preferably finished in red just like the one that Elvis used in his '68 Comeback Special.

Although finished in black, this Hagström Concord DeLuxe bass would make an ideal partner for such a guitar. This model bass was orignally named the Viking, just like its guitar sibling, but for some reason best known to Hagström it was renamed the Concord. There were two models: the C-1 with two single coil pickups, bound (front and back) hollowbody, dot inlays on the neck, and chrome-plated hardware; and the C-2 or DeLuxe - as we see pictured here - with similar attributes as the C-1 but with bound f-holes, bound neck with block inlays on the fingerboard, and gold-plated hardware. The C-1 was in production from 1965-1971 with 2749 examples being built, whereas the DeLuxe version is much rarer having been produced between 1967-1968 with only 150 examples being built.

Interestingly, Hagström listed both models as being available with Mahogany sunburst, Golden mahogany sunburst, and cherry red finishes. No mention is made of black, so possibly the example we see here has been re-finished, or else - as the seller suggests - this is a very rare custom finish making this bass even more unusual.

In 1968 the DeLuxe would have cost $435 (against the C-1's $285). Now in 2011, the above-pictured example is currently being auctioned on eBay and the bidding is currently (as I type this) at the 1968 price for the C-1 model, although there is a a reserve that hasn't yet been met. It'll be interesting to see what this sells for.

G L Wilson

© 2011, Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - now in its 10th year!

1950s very vintage Hagström

guitarz.blogspot.com

The perfect example of the early electric guitar built by an accordion company in reconversion phase, this sparkling Hagström is not unknown to our readers, since we saw almost the same model one year ago, bearing the Goya logo - Hagtröm's brand in the US.

This one also has one of these special vintage tremelo I like so much, and you can notice that it has no knobs at all, just switches and rolls.

Bertram

Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - now in its 10th year!

Hagstrom III lefty

guitarz.blogspot.com:

Here's one of Sweden's finest from the mid-1960s. It's a Hagstrom III in hard-to-find left-handed edition, and it looks to be complete with all parts present and correct. It's currently being offered for sale on eBay - the auction ends in a day and a half as I type this and has already been attracting a number of bids. It's nice to see that not all buyers on eBay wait until the closing seconds of an auction to put in a bid these days. (Speaking from personal experience, some don't bother to bid at all, they just wait for the auction to finish and then send the seller an email with an offer to "take it off your hands" for an insultingly low price.)

But I digress... It's a nice rare vintage piece, and as regular readers will know I'm always keen to find interesting guitars for our southpaw friends!

G L Wilson

Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - now in its 9th year!

Hagstrom Impala

guitarz.blogspot.com:

Courtesy of John Beach via our Facebook page, this is a 1965 Hagstrom Impala, which together with the Corvette/Condor made up Hagstrom's professional series guitars. A total of 1039 Impalas were manufactured in Sweden between 63 and 67. A Corvette/Condor was recently listed for sale on E-bay for $5000.00.

More about vintage Hagstrom guitars here.

Additional: Just by chance, after I had made the above post, one of these just came up for sale on eBay with a Buy It Now of $1,195. I'll add some more photos to the comments below.

Additional #2: Now relisted with a starting price of $899.

G L Wilson

Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - now in its 9th year!

1965 Hagstrom Kent

guitarz.blogspot.com

The Hagstrom Kent was a quite successful budget guitar in the 60s, but this black model is quite rare - you'll see it more often in red or blue. It bares the Hagstrom logo on its headstock, that is strange since it should have Kent ; this guitar had a screwed plastic front and vinyl back instead of paint (this is not a plastic body like some believe, and that's why it was a cheap guitar), and being unsure of the durability of this bizarre 'shell', Hagstrom didn't want to risk their reputation and labeled this model only as Kent.

This guitar has the Tremar tremolo, another of these many cool trems they put on guitars back in the 60s.

Bertram

Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - now in its 9th year!

Hagstrom/Goya - blue glitter, pearloid and perspex

guitarz.blogspot.com:
This early 1960s' blue glitter-topped Hagstrom bears the Goya brandname as it is an example of this guitar that was produced for the US market. I believe it's a Deluxe EDP 80 as used by Bryan Ferry in Roxy Music, but the exact names and model numbers can be confusing.

All the quirky features are there: the metal plate surrounding the pickups; the pushbutton selector switches; the radio-style grill between the pickups; the perspex fingerboard and headstock with pearloid backing. Although you can't see it in the photos here, the back and sides are also finished in pearloid. It's definitely a guitar that makes a statement!

This guitar is one of the 500 listed in the "500 Guitars" book, but alas the publisher was unable to turn up a photo of it, so I'm making up for it here!

G L Wilson

NB: Please make sure you are reading this Guitarz post at guitarz.blogspot.com and not on a Scraper blog that copies posts without permission (and steals bandwidth) so as to profit from advertising. Please support original bloggers!

Goya solidbody with a possible Martin connection

guitarz.blogspot.com:
We've had another email, as follows:

Hey - was wondering if you or your audience could give me any info on this guitar.

I picked this up a couple years ago, and don't know much about it. It's a Goya that looks very similar to a Martin E-18, which from what I can tell is their only foray into solid body electrics. I've seen these online with headstocks labeled EF Martin, Sigma Martin, but never Goya. It's my understanding that Goya was bought by Martin at some point in the late 70s, so I'm guessing the E-18 was just a rebranding of this Goya model? I don't know. It's a great sounding and playing guitar, never seen another one though.

Thanks in advance!
-Tim

My own understanding of the Goya brand, was that it was just that - a brandname used to sell guitars in the United States. For example, Sweden's Hagstrom guitars were re-badged "Goya" for the US market.

I think you may have (semi)-answered your own question, Tim. That it was a brandname bought out by Martin. Perhaps they badged their own electric solidbodies with the Goya brandname because the Martin name was so firmly established in everyone's mind as being an acoustic brand. That the guitars also appeared branded Martin and Sigma suggests different marketing strategies at different timess, perhaps?

If anyone else reading has any more info, please let us know!

G L Wilson

NB: Please make sure you are reading this Guitarz post at guitarz.blogspot.com and not on a Scraper blog that copies posts without permission (and steals bandwidth) so as to profit from advertising. Please support original bloggers!

Early '60s Hagstrom Futurama

guitarz.blogspot.com:

Here's another classic vintage guitar being offered for sale on eBay. The Hagstrom Futurama with three pickups is obviously that Swedish manufacturer's take on the Stratocaster, but it has become a classic in its own right. (See here for more).

Many will think of it being the Ziggy-period David Bowie guitar - he certainly did a few photo sessions with a similar Kent-branded guitar, but I can't say for sure if he actually ever genuinely played it.

We also get to see a brief glimpse of Daniel Ash playing one in the promo video for Love and Rockets' "So Alive" whilst wearing gloves for crying out loud!

The example for sale here on eBay probably dates back to the early 1960s - 1963-1965 perhaps - and is in exceedingly good condition for a guitar of its age. It looks like it has been much used but still has all the original parts save for one replaced tuner and a Burns Tri-Sonic pickup in the centre postion.

G L Wilson

NB: There are a lot of blogs STEALING content and bandwidth. If you read this anywhere else but on guitarz.blogspot.com then you are reading a blog that STEALS content. Please support original bloggers!

Reissue Hagstrom Guitars Start Shipping: The legendary Hagstrom line will be officially relaunched at the 2005 Winter NAMM Show. The classic brand, now being manufactured and distributed by American Music & Sound (AM&S) under license from AB Albin Hagstrom, has just begun shipping. See also the new website: www.hagstromguitars.com

Hagstrom Guitars to Make Return at Summer NAMM Show