In 2012, Justin York obtained a Hagström Viking to use on tour with his alternative rock band Paramore. He has since become a partner and close friend to Hagström. While Paramore were preparing for extensive touring worldwide in support of their most recent album, they began discussing what an ideal set of touring guitars might be like for him. After over one year of collaboration, the result was a pair of Vikings that Hagström were proud to introduce to guitarists around the globe.

“When I dreamed up these guitars I knew they had to have vintage vibe and familiarity along with modern player features to deliver the most tonally diverse guitars possible on stage and in the studio. I basically took elements from my six favourite Hagströms and proposed something I’ve always wanted... the ability to cut muddy bass with the turn of a knob. I use it to clean up a neck pickup or give my bridge a little retro bite. It really opens up new tones I’ve never experienced before from a semi-hollow body, and I couldn’t be happier with how these guitars turned out.”

- Justin York

As the primary touring guitarist for Paramore, Justin’s role is to provide the supporting foundation for each song. A band like Paramore requires a broad range of guitar styles and textures. One of their main objectives was to create an instrument with a broad tonal range easily accessible during a stage performance, a task that Hagström felt they were more than equal to.

A rich and classic vibe

Justin wanted his Super Viking to exude a rich, classic vibe. They developed a warm, transparent brown finish which they applied to maple specially selected for an interesting and more prominent grain. The result is gorgeous, with the rich brown finish highlighting fascinating grain patterns, making each instrument visually unique. Vintage-style “witch hat” knobs, the same ones used on their RetroScape models, complete the vintage vibe of this guitar. The Super Viking’s 25.5” (648mm) scale length adds some extra snap and articulation to each note, and Justin requested their Ultra-Thin 17mm neck profile to match a vintage (c. 1965) Viking model in his Hagström collection.

A Hagström Custom 58 humbucking pickup in the bridge position provides classic rock tones. Justin chose their P-Urified P90 humbucker-sized pickup for the neck position which exhibits that classic warm, round sound; tonal magic happens when this pickup interacts with our custom tone control and the P90 ranges to an astonishingly clear and pristine single-coil clarity. Individual coil-split functions are available for the Custom 58 via the push/pull tone control, providing an even more expansive sonic palette.

Finally, a useable tone control

The tone control is often a source of frustration for guitarists. This is because the design has historically been based on a passive treble-cut concept. The complete tonal spectrum is passed through the circuit when the control is fully open, and as it’s dialled down treble frequencies are eliminated. Many guitarists find this approach unusable, since the tone often becomes muddy and excessively “dark” as the treble component is eliminated. While working with Justin, they developed a tone control which does the exact opposite. Instead of filtering treble frequencies, they filter the bass as the control is cut. The full treble spectrum is always available, and the tone control performs a bass-cut function. Justin finds this is much more useful on stage, and Hagström believe all guitarists will too.

SUPER VIKING STANDARDS:

H-Expander

Trapeze Stringholder/Tailpiece

Set Neck

Resinator Wood

Hagström Machine Heads