1966 Hagstrom I Electric Guitar

Overview: I picked-up this nice old Hagstrom in trade sometime last month and I, personally, haven't seen this "cream on white" color combination in person before. I like it! Per the usual for a Hagstrom, its pickups are crisp and aggressively bright and chimey in an ultra-DynaSonic sort-of way -- a perfect surf/retro garage-rock guitar sound. Also, per the usual, the neck is super-slim and fast and extremely stable. These were built very well and hold-up nicely over time.

Interesting features: The fact that the whole top acrylic coverplate is still in superb shape is remarkable in itself -- a lot of these have damage at the jack and control-plate areas. What else? It has a kick-butt whammy that holds tune reasonably after the strings settle-in (treat it as you would a Bisby), that super-fast neck that's their call to fame, and an undeniably-cool, deco-modern styling throughout its trim. The body is wood with a vinyl covering (that shrinks and warps over it) while the top is a bolted-on coverplate.

Repairs included: I fixed some grounding issues in the wiring and replaced the jack with a new Switchcraft one, gave it a level/dress of the frets, and removed the remains of the original bridge and swapped it for a Gotoh ABR/TOM-style bridge instead so it's fully-adjustable and easy to use and keep in tune. The neck pocket thus has a shim in it to knock the angle back. It's setup and playing spot-on fast and is ready to go.

• Weight: 6 lbs 15 oz
• Scale length: 24 5/8"
• Nut width: 1 9/16"
• Neck shape: slim C
• Board radius: 14"
• Body width: 12 1/2"
• Body depth: 1 1/4"
• Body wood: unsure
• Bridge: replacement TOM/ABR-style
• Fretboard: rosewood
• Neck wood: maple
• Pickups: 2x original single coils
• Action height at 12th fret: 1/16” overall (fast, spot-on)
• String gauges: 46w-10
• Truss rod: adjustable
• Neck relief: straight
• Fret style: smaller/low

Condition notes: The neck is in great shape save some chipping of the black finish at the headstock edges. The body's front looks excellent but, as usual, the wooden part of the body with its vinyl covering is slightly wonk where it's shrunk a little bit in the horns. This is very typical for these guys, though, and part of the reason so many of these have had their vinyl yanked-off and the bodies hit with spray paint instead. Everything is original to the guitar except for the bridge and bridge posts and the arm and tension screw for the whammy -- both are modern replacements. There's moderate usewear throughout the instrument but it looks superb for its age.

It comes with: It's got an old, original chip case.

Consignor tag: JW