Hagstrom Happiness

[Pilgrim]

I just took the factory rounds off my Hagstrom and installed D'Addario Chromes (medium scale to allow for through-body stringing).  MUCH improved sound.  The bass has a bit of a metallic sound on some of its six pickup settings, and the rounds augmented that considerably.  The merest brush of a finger made the string sound like it was being attacked with a file.

The Chromes both mellow the metallic quality and eliminate the "zing" from finger contact with the strings.  Happiness with the sound is being achieved!

Now I'll have to see how the string tension affects the neck.  The lower frets are really close to the strings, so I have the action higher than normal to eliminate fret buzz on the first fret.  Hopefully these will allow me to lower the action a bit.

As you can tell from the bridge shot, these were taken when the rounds were still on it.

[hieronymous]

That's a cool bridge design. I like the headstock too. The pickguard makes more sense in the context of the headstock if that makes any sense...

[Pilgrim]

The bridge takes a while to intonate because of the number of screws...but once I have flats on a bass, I probably won't change the strings for 10+ years, so it's worth the time.

[Dave W]

That's a cool bridge design. I like the headstock too. The pickguard makes more sense in the context of the headstock if that makes any sense...

It does. Both headstock and guard are classic Hagstrom designs, although I don't recall both being used on the same guitar or bass. Yet I like the way they go together here.

[jumbodbassman]

any shims in the neck.  sounds like one may be something to consider.

[Pilgrim]

any shims in the neck.  sounds like one may be something to consider.

Quite right.  I've been trying to settle it with adjustments, but if I can't get it a little better I'll probably try a single thickness of biz card as a shim.

[nofi]

you may be surprised just how much one card will lift the neck.

[Pilgrim]

you may be surprised just how much one card will lift the neck.

Not too surprised...BTDT.  One alternative is a thickness of masking tape.

[ack1961]

Nice bass.  I really dig those tuners.

[exiledarchangel]

True, nice tuners, I've put a similar set on my Epi lp guitar.

[Dave W]

you may be surprised just how much one card will lift the neck.

Standard Bicycle playing cards are .011 thick. That can make quite a bit of difference.

[Pilgrim]

I checked some old Hagstroms and they've evidently used that tuner design for decades.  They look like a close match to the original ones.

[Dave W]

I checked some old Hagstroms and they've evidently used that tuner design for decades.  They look like a close match to the original ones.

This is a good thing. They were completely off the market for more than 20 years. If they had revived the name without several connections to the old designs, it would have been just another Chinese guitar with a Western name, and there wouldn't be any sales to buyers nostalgic for the original designs.

[Pilgrim]

Overall, this does appear to be a very solid bass with good build quality and hardware.  And as we all know, it's rather fun to own a bass that not everyone has. I will admit that the six-position pickup selector is pretty crackly, so I'm going to have to use DeOxit on it.

[rahock]

Overall, this does appear to be a very solid bass with good build quality and hardware.  And as we all know, it's rather fun to own a bass that not everyone has. I will admit that the six-position pickup selector is pretty crackly, so I'm going to have to use DeOxit on it.

My old Hag 8 string was a very well built instrument . The only thing close to a complaint that I had was all those tiny switches required a bit of maintenance or they got crackly or malfunctioned. I used to use tuner cleaner/lube on them pretty regular, but I think a can of compressed air would have been a better plan. Those little buggers are dust magnets.
Rick