albums, cranking them up and remembering
why you play guitar in the first place. When I
finished my punk assault upon my neighbors,
I sat down with the guitar and really started
to examine all the little details that make the
Swede a real gem.
philosophy is all about adding
sustain, tonality and playability,
but they present it in a very
cool retro-styled instrument.
First, you’ll notice the fancy 18: 1 ratio tuning
pegs, a cut above what you usually get in
this middle price range, and which made the
guitar stay in tune perfectly. The tail piece is
made of a sturdy metal plate that contributes
to the sleek look of the guitar and adds a
fair amount of sustain to boot. Speaking of
sustain, let’s talk about the H-Expander alloy
truss rod that adds tension to both ends
of the neck and runs its entire length. This
allows for the action to be set lower than
average with no string buzz. The fretboard
is made from a composite wood they call
Resinator. It’s a stronger material that provides a smooth feel and complements the 22
medium jumbo frets.
The Swede elements
The 45mm body and neck are
both mahogany, and on this
model the 10mm carve top is
also mahogany, which makes
the guitar a little bit darker,
but it’s a good complement
to the vintage-voiced Custom
58 humbuckers. The covered
pickups are a little hotter than
true vintage buckers, but the
tone is smooth and balanced.
For most guitars in this price
range the pickups usually are
the weakest link and I’d suggest
upgrading then. But in this case
the pickups are definitely not weak. Hagstrom
has gone the extra mile and wound quality-sounding pickups that would suit this guitar.
The neck is a husky “C” shape with a flatter
fretboard radius and very comfortable feel;
it’s easy to bend notes 1-1/2 steps without
sacrificing any string volume and sustain.
This is also due to the graphite nut that is
the icing on this tone cake. It’s these little
upgrades and additions that set Hagstrom
guitars apart from the crowd; their design
The Swede also features a high-grade polyester finish, which is smoother and denser,
producing a better sonic performance than
some polyurethane finishes do. But I wish that
the top coat was sprayed a bit thinner. You
see this thick glassy finish on a lot of import
guitars, and it makes the instruments sound
compressed. This is a mistake in my opinion. I
also wish that the solid-colored Swedes had a
maple top; the Super Swedes do and I’m sure
the added brightness makes a difference. The
Swede comes with two Volume and Tone controls and a three-way pickup selector toggle,
but the fun doesn’t stop there.
The Swede has a second 3-way toggle switch
located on the bottom horn that provides filter controls for additional tone options. When
the switch is up, you get an added midrange
