Guitars With Jon Way Episode 25 Hagstrom Swede

[OsirisIX]

Love that opening riff.

[heymargaretlook]

Hey Brian check out my new Vid featuring my original all black 70s Hagstrom Swede purchased new in 70s 1976 if I can remember these guitars will give a classic Les Paul a run for its money any day.

[brianway1]

@heymargaretlook

Cool tune. I wish we saw close ups of the 76' Swede. Thanks for sharing

[heymargaretlook]

@brianway1 Sure you are looking at the right vid ? try - To Blind to see by Chuck Sparkes cheers

[apico]

The Hagstrom Custom 58 humbuckers are two conductor, so the pichups on this guitar must be something else. Pretty sure these arent the Custom 58's.

[brianway1]

@apico

Yes. We checked with the luthier who set it up before the video, and he tells us those are Seymour Duncan Pearly Gates with a coil tap switch instead of the standard tone switch

[thepeacecat]

I play a lefty epiphone sg, I like it but the neck is a little thick, Is the neck thick or heavy on this guitar, I have slightly smaller hands so a playble neck is a huge factor in getting a guitar for me.

Great review by the way

[brianway1]

@thepeacecat

A comfortable D profile; not too thick

[BibleStorm]

What amp are you running it through?

[brianway1]

@BibleStorm

I think we were using a Line 6 Flextone II XL for this video. By Episode 36 we went to tube amps without chorus to demonstrate more of the actual guitar. Thanks for watching.

[MitjaShi]

do the pickups have 4 conductor leads?

[brianway1]

@MitjaShi

The Seymour Duncans do, but I don't know about the original Hagstrom pickups. I'll check and leave another reply.

[brianway1]

@MitjaShi

The Hagstrom pickups for this Swede are 2 conductor Cutom 58 pickups

[MitjaShi]

@brianway1 ok, thanks.

[shinn43]

I got this guitar, Gotta say, it feels FANTASTIC! It can play almost everything except it doesn't deliver that monster crunchy sound, but of course nothing EMG 81 can't do

[lakmal91]

do hagstrom charge more for lefty models?



[brianway1]

@lakmal91

No

[Quixoticlump]

Great video and respect from a fellow lefty Hagstrom owner. Keep rockin'

[01theSurfer]

what a great guitar....i want it!

[refusedchad]

dude, whoever shot and edited this video is very good at what they do. Love the zoom-in's on the switches when he changes them, haha.

[brianway1]

@refusedchad

Thanks, That's my son Brian. He's half the team that shot the Drop Kick Murphy's recent #1 video "Going out in style" featured in Rolling Stone. I guess I sound like a proud Dad

[Chipwilliams77]

@brianway1 for years I thought it was your brother who shot the videos.

[1AfterParty]

Hello Jon!

You have made a very usefull demo. It helped me decide to buy Hagstrom Swede. I have a queston though... How did you customise the electronic to have the second toggle switch as a coil tap? Have you got some schematics? I'm familiar with doing the humbacker coil split using a push/pull pot, but I've got no idea how to deal with Swede's unusual electronics.

I will be greateful for any help.

Cheers!

Marcin

[leftyzappa]

Marvelous Jon.

[greenday4u]

all those lefty guitars!!!!!!!! its like christmas...in heaven

[wedel219]

Sorry I wrote "Brian" based on the username "brianway1" ... I meant Jon. Apologies.

[brianway1]

@wedel219

no problemo my good man

[wedel219]

Also, not to inundate you with comments, but the fret job on my Swede is horrible. There are gaps between the frets and the fretboard big enough for me to fit my fingernail.

Yours is one of the first lefties I've seen on video, and it looks great. Did you tell them you intended to review the guitar? I'm trying to ascertain if they ensured you got one of top-notch quality. I, obviously, did not.

It's a shame, too, because I really want to love their guitars.

[brianway1]

@wedel219

These are production line models made in asia. We find that these and many others offer the user a good foundation with no detail work. You need to spend a little money with a good luthier to clean the frets and set up the guitar properly. We went beyond that as we thought the Swede would look much better with black parts rather than the creme. A couple of inexpensive changes and you'll end up with a great looking and playing guitar.

[wedel219]

So, did you guys fill-in the screw holes for the pick guard and add some paint / finish to make it appear seamless? I like the look of it without the guard, but the empty screw holes are obnoxious, as would be replacing just the screws, sans guard.

Are the pup collars a standard size, easily found? I subbed the top-hat knobs for some creme bell knobs and it's a definite improvement, but the frets chagrin me to no end. It's a shame they allow such shoddiness off the line.

Thanks for the reply!

[brianway1]

@wedel219

Another one who dislikes pickguards. Welcome to the club. We didn't fill the holes, but did use Gibson's black touch up paint and a toothpick to get the paint in the hole. It's still there, but not very noticeable. Pickup covers are standard humbucker size, and glad to see you changed the knobs. We have found that anything under $800 must go to your luthier or tech for fret work and an overall set up. I think that's one of the ways they keep the pricing down on these guitars.

[wedel219]

Hi, Brian. I'm a southpaw, too, and I have a Hagstrom Swede. However, mine differs greatly from yours.

Mine came with chintzy top hat knobs, not the cool ones you have. The pickup collars are a yellowish creme color, like the binding. Yours, obviously, are black. Mine also came with a slightly different shade of creme pickguard, while yours has none.

Additionally, your toggles look to be silver. Mine are capped with plastic of yet another shade of creme. Did you customize this guitar yourself?

[brianway1]

@wedel219

Knobs can be changed for cheap money and make such a difference in the overall look of the guitar.

We changed the top selector tip to black and the bottom is actually a metal coil tap switch as the 3 way tone isn't as nice a tone variation as the coil tap.

[wedel219]

@brianway1

I've been wondering about the three-way tone switch, actually. I generally keep it in the down position all the time, or off, but I don't like it in the up position. My Super Swede has a coil tap, which is great.

Still, what purpose is that 3-way tone switch on the Standard Swede supposed to accomplish? It baffles me.

[brianway1]

@wedel219

In the middle position it is off, or the humbuckers sound normal. The up and down position offer two variations of tone, but quite frankly we like it much better as a coil tap switch like your Super Swede.

[wedel219]

@brianway1 - I agree that a coil tap is much better. I don't get the point of the additional tone switch; that's what the tone knobs are for. When i get the frets sorted out, I'm definitely going to sub the tone switch for a coil tap.

Thanks again for all of your input and for the great video.

[LegendMather94]

got myself a white hagstrom swede tremar and I love it. just wondering how hard was it to change the bottom switch into a coil tap?

[brianway1]

@LegendMather94

Pretty easy. You should be able to add one from any online schematic

[Radiomorph]

@brianway1 A guide for installing the coil tap would be awesome. That's the only thing keeping me from getting a Swede over a Super Swede.

[heymargaretlook]

Hey Jon I have used a Black Hagstrum Swede since I bought it new in 1976 with a new VT40 Ampeg. I feel these guitars are one of the most underrated guitars on the planet and would blow a Les Paul Gibson off (With respect Les) for speed it was sold with the talk tag the fastest neck in the world and with that H pattern truss rod running through the neck it was ultra quick. Check out my rock vid and my Hag in action still use it today and still rocken in 2010. Cheers

[brianway1]

@heymargaretlook

Thanks. Enjoyed your video with the glimpes of your Swede. Very nice. Those Hagstroms from the 1970's are hard to beat. Great construction with some innovative design; and they were made in Sweden. We can't say that about the reissues, but they're still pretty cool. Rock on.

[humantorch1993]

Hey dude really nice review! :) im just wondering.. can i play Alternative Rock/ Pop Punk music on that guitar? music like The used, Paramore, 30 seconds to mars and taking back sunday? :O

[brianway1]

@humantorch1993

Songs like the taste of ink, sure. You may want to change out the bridge pickup for something hotter, but keep your neck pickup smoother for cleaner rhythm tones. Hope this helps.

[KevCky]

@humantorch1993 i play punk and metal on my hagstrom. no need to change your pickups ( check my vids if you want to see how it sounds)

[brianway1]

@KevCky

Tone sounded good. What amp are you using?

[KevCky]

@brianway1 i play through my laptop using Guitar rig 3 kontrol

it's great for playing at home and experimenting all the features, but that's about it..

[nomorejournos]

Just wondering...What are the Swede's body dimensions?

Length, width, and thickness

...also is it bigger than a Les paul or about the same size?

-thanks

[brianway1]

@nomorejournos

Thickness and lower bout the same, but the upper is a little wider on the Hagstrom

[stymye]

......she's "shot" in black...it's hard to tell with the effects running (chorus?) how the guitar naturally sounds

[LittleEmoBoy001]

@stymye

There's plenty of other videos of it on clean. Sounds great.

[jfhudak]

Hey Jon, great review man! Thanks for the information. I saw one of these in Weimar and I didn't get a chance to play it but I really need to go back and try it out.

[brianway1]

@jfhudak

Yes, with a little set up this guitar plays great, and pickups can be changed easily to suit your taste. Enjoy

[jfhudak]

@brianway1

Right on! Also, I REALLY like the mod you did to split the coils. That's something I would do straight away.

[Lecadragos]

Very nice presentation. Great that you played clean in all possible pickup combination. THANK YOU MR. WAY!

[LittleEmoBoy001]

May I ask how the action on this guitar is out of the box? These are made in sweden right?

[brianway1]

@LittleEmoBoy001

Around 2005 I believe they were making them in China. Out of the box was pretty good, but I find that anything under $800 needs to be set up professionally.

[LittleEmoBoy001]

@brianway1

Thank you for responding sir. I have one more question. Are these coomparable to agiles in terms of quality? Thank you.

[brianway1]

@LittleEmoBoy001

Better than an AL2000 and about the same as an AL3000.

[tokyoisfun]

albinhagstrom.se

From Dalarna, Sweden. Thanks for the fantastic review. 

[brianway1]

@tokyoisfun

You're welcome. Thanks for watching.

[ivncdo0809]

hi jon!! nice review as always, i would like to ask you if you could reccomend me a good non fender s-type guitar

[brianway1]

@ivncdo0809

Sure, but are looking for a traditional style tremolo or floyd rose? bolt on neck or set or neck through? Price range? send me a message with your preference info and I'll give some ideas.

[Herfinnur]

There's WAAAAAAY to much reverb going on, I can't decide what it sounds like. Bummer, because visually this is a very well made review

[brianway1]

@Herfinnur

Thanks for the comment. We got a few comments like yours regarding reverb and chorus, so the next 4 vids we shot recently will be released with the clean guitar straight into the amp.

[ace69er]

Veree nicee!

[Dwarlor]

I looking at buying this guitar left handed, but I really like the coil tap switch instead of the three way tone switch. Would it be able to change the original three way tone switch into a coil tap switch? Thanks for a great review!

[brianway1]

@Dwarlor

You could have your local guitar repairman change the switch out. Good luck. They are nice guitars.

[TheCokesnorter]

Did you change to coilswitch or does it have that from the start?

[brianway1]

@TheCokesnorter

If you buy a new one today, it will come with a three way tone switch. Middle position is off, but up or down will effect the tone. The one we demonstrated had a coil tap switch instead.

[justllisten]

shes very nice