Classic Swede's Organic Expression

A heavily chambered body with a classic f-hole design helps the Swede-F deliver an entirely different tone from its solid-body brother. The chambering of the Swede-F’s body both reduces weight and introduces an entirely new range of organic tones.

Hagstrom’s legendary and brilliantly transparent Custom 58 pickups contribute by sensing all of the nuances in attack and sustain introduced by the chambered body: a true fusion of “woody” attack and mellow sustain created by an expressive coupling of acoustic and electric potential.

Hagstrom’s passive RC-Circuit, incorporated into the volume electronics, is new for the Swede-F, and allows for increased tonal precision by laying out a sonic spectrum from full gain, to slight crunch, to pristine clean without sacrificing any harmonic richness … all without having to touch a dial on your amplifier.

H-Expander

All Hagstrom electric guitars and basses include our patented H-Expander truss rod. Providing tension at both ends and running the entire length of the neck, the rigid yet light-weight alloy truss rod allows for a very low action and thin neck, two factors that were instrumental in earning Hagstrom its reputation as the world’s fastest playing guitar. The H-Expander truss rod not only provides ultimate neck stability, but it also contributes to Hagstrom’s unique tone. Longer sustain and a round attack are some of the sonic characteristics the H-Expander adds to the tonal essence of Hagstrom.

Sustain Block Tailpiece

Hagstrom’s unique Sustain Block Tailpiece™ was the result of design work starting in 1976 and made its first appearance on Swede and Super Swede guitars produced in 1978. Since then it has been a signature feature on many of our solid body models. Each string terminates in a single, massive brass block coupled directly to the guitar’s body. The blocks are detached from one another to reduce interference between the strings, maximizing each string’s unique contribution.

Set Neck

Hagstrom uses a variety of different neck joints throughout our range. Our set-neck recipe is the classic and time-tested Mortise and Tenon joint, a design that most efficiently transfers string energy from neck to body, and can often only be found on more expensive custom-built guitars. A team of experienced and dedicated craftsmen hand carves every neck joint, insuring perfect execution of this traditional technique preferred by luthiers for generations.

Resinator Wood

Resinator wood is a wood composite material that is both more uniform in density and more stable than any standard wood product. These characteristics eliminate dead spots or "wolf tones" sometimes associated with conventional wood fingerboards. Resinator wood has an articulate sound similar to high quality ebony, but without any of the problems associated with ebony. It provides a stable and clear tone, and also adds higher overtones and harmonics which uniquely detail each note. Like our H-Expander truss rod, Resinator wood is a major contributor to the distinctive "Hagstrom tone".

Hagstrom Machine Heads

Hagstrom models use 18:1 or 15:1 gear ratio machine heads based on our own designs to insure accurate tuning. Viking and HB series basses feature machine heads with a 17:1 gear ratio

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