I spent the night with a Hag

chromium · January 12, 2008, 10:51:23 AM

One of the guitarists I jam with brought in this old Hagstrom bass that he has owned since childhood. It looks exactly like this one:

He's had it since around 1970, and never really played it much. I don't know much about Hagstrom, but I suspect the bass is from around 1966, give or take. It think the model is HIIB.

The strings were about an inch off the board when I took it out of the case, so I gave it a quick setup for him (best I could with the dead flats - also from around '70!). I got it playing nice, and boy is that a fun little bass! It had some of that deep fundamental that I like in my EB-0, but also a nice bit of tic-tac-like presence. It was hard to get a good gauge on the tone, since the strings were so shot, but I liked what I heard of it. Has a lot of switches on it, but always seemed to emit the same tone no matter what settings were employed.

I had a blast playing it! I would not mind getting one of these at some point. I saw that there were several styles of this bass throughout its evolution. Does anyone have any experiences or preferences with the different variations?

Dave W · January 12, 2008, 11:06:43 AM

I had the guitar version of that.

rockinrayduke · January 12, 2008, 01:52:33 PM

A good setup, some new flats, a pick, and move that top strap button and it looks like it would be fun!

Muzikman7 · January 12, 2008, 04:02:20 PM

That model was one of my very first basses.

SKATE RAT · January 13, 2008, 06:27:28 AM

i had one of those,very small almost "guitar" size,i sold it on ebay like 2 years ago.

Barklessdog · January 14, 2008, 09:29:13 AM

Another original Dark Star Hag?

Dave W · January 14, 2008, 10:33:11 AM

That's not the same model as the one in chromium's original post. I'm not that familiar with all the variations but there are several Hag sites online.

The bridge on those leaves a lot to be desired.

I played a Swede a couple of weeks ago, had a neck repair but the store had a $695 price tag. Yow! Way more than I would pay for one.

doombass · January 14, 2008, 02:22:14 PM

That's a Coronado IV. There are two of them for sale at a store in Stockholm. Old Hagströms like the rest of the vintage brands are rising in price. The price on for the Bisonic equipped '65 and the '66 is 12500 SEK each.

MARICOPAA · January 15, 2008, 02:08:32 AM

The Hagstrom Coronado IV pictured with Fred & Steve is one I loaned to Dan (Lakin) while he was researching the Decade Bass. I saw a near mint Coronado IV for sale at the Marin Guitar Show this last weekend and I believe it was around $1800. I think the seller/dealer was taking it to LA for the Guitar Show down there this coming weekend (happens every year same time as NAMM). They are, in my opinion, one great bass! The Bi-Sonics sound great. They are all mahogony and built like battleships...very solid.

chromium · January 15, 2008, 12:51:25 PM

Those Coronados are gorgeous! I was impressed by the build quality of my friend's bass - not bad at all for what I assume was more of an entry-level instrument (the HIIB). It makes the mid-80s plywood monster that I learned on seem almost criminal by comparison!

Barklessdog · January 15, 2008, 01:46:24 PM

It's hard to take a bass with push buttons seriously. It reminds me of my sister's old Ford Galaxy 500.

Now it comes off kind of kitsch, like old television sets & boomerang tables

PhilT · January 22, 2008, 05:37:50 PM

Quote from: Barklessdog on January 15, 2008, 01:46:24 PM
It's hard to take a bass with push buttons seriously. It reminds me of my sister's old Ford Galaxy 500.

Now it comes off kind of kitsch, like old television sets & boomerang tables

Have a heart. How could it not have push buttons?

Dave W · January 22, 2008, 07:16:50 PM

Keep in mind that Hagstrom made accordions long before making guitars. Same with Pigini (EKO). That would explain the pushbuttons and switches.

PhilT · January 23, 2008, 04:24:38 AM

There was supposed to be a picture of a Hagstrom accordion on my post. I think it got blocked.

I suppose coming from an "old fashioned" industry, there was a desperation to appear modern amongst many of the European guitar makers in the 60s, hence the profusion of knobs, buttons, switches and plastic celebrated at http://www.fetishguitars.com/

doombass · January 27, 2008, 07:10:50 AM

Quote from: Dave W on January 22, 2008, 07:16:50 PM
Keep in mind that Hagstrom made accordions long before making guitars. Same with Pigini (EKO). That would explain the pushbuttons and switches.

Exactly. Sales of accordions dropped in the late 50's when rock 'n roll stepped in. They had loads of parts and decided to use them on the guitars.

I spent the night with a Hag

rockinrayduke