Vintage Guitar and Bass forum

how to date a hagstrom

how to date a hagstrom
« Reply #120 on: March 21, 2015, 05:28:03 PM »
Hello all....I am new to this forum and I too own a Hagstrom. I am a proud owner of a Swede Bass and have owned one since around 1973 or so.This guitar has been a real workhorse and has the scars and marks that shows its not too gentle life. It survived an auto collision, travel wear and tear plus moving here and there etc.I love this bass and its smooth action and it is time to restore this one time beauty. Man, I've had alot of fun with this great guitar. I'm kind of embarrassed to say that I did not treat this bass that well and let it get to the condition it is in cosmetically. That said, I managed to find the serial number on the input connector and it reads 815155 so was wondering if I can get the year of this guitar. I aim on restoring this beast then maybe shelf it or display it as it has done its time. I bought it used in the early seventies as a teenager so that will give you a hint as to my age. Best deal I ever made....tnx Bill

jules

  • *****
  • 3068
    • View Profile
how to date a hagstrom
« Reply #121 on: March 24, 2015, 08:46:45 AM »
Hi Bill, batch 815 was of 250 Swede basses produced between 1971 and 72 - so not too old when you got it. Perhaps we can see a pic?  thanks Jules

how to date a hagstrom
« Reply #122 on: March 25, 2015, 11:49:52 PM »
Hello Jules and thank-you for the date of manufacture info. I have had this Swede along long time and it kind of shows its age somewhat. I think I will convert it back to right hand(I am a lefty) and give it to my grandson, when he gets older he is five now. I am in need of both switches a tone knob and a pickup ring. I have the original nut so conversion back should be easy. Here is a picture of 815155 and again I thank-you for the info.....tnx[ATTACH=CONFIG]3256[/ATTACH]
« Last Edit: March 26, 2015, 12:26:55 AM by OldTech53 »

how to date a hagstrom
« Reply #123 on: March 31, 2015, 03:37:48 AM »
Hi,
I am new to this forum. I purchased a second hand Hagstrom bass in the early 80's when living in Calgary, AB. I was leaning to play and still play it to this day. It is a short neck. The serial # is 812145. Does anyone know what year it is or if it is a good quality? I like it so I guess that's all that matters!
Thanks

how to date a hagstrom
« Reply #124 on: April 07, 2015, 05:16:36 PM »
Hi, I new to the forum, I just purchased a Hagstrom bass and have been trying to find out the year and any info I can about it , can someone please help. serial number 716639.

Thank's Mike

jules

  • *****
  • 3068
    • View Profile
how to date a hagstrom
« Reply #125 on: April 07, 2015, 06:01:33 PM »
Quote from: Ktompkins;18495
The serial # is 812145. Does anyone know what year it is
Hi K, Batch 812 was of 150 HIB basses produced in 1971


Quote from: mike_949;18504
Hagstrom bass serial number 716639
Hi Mike, batch 716 was of 750 Concord basses produced between 1967 and 71 - the high production number (639 out of a total of 750) would suggest towards the end of that period

Two very nice basses, feel free to share a pic or two!

how to date a hagstrom
« Reply #126 on: April 07, 2015, 09:18:49 PM »
I am a new member from The Netherlands.
I just purchase a vintage Hagstrom III guitar in colour sunburst.
First i have to restore it a bit(electronics).
I think it is a Hagstrom from '72 but i'm not sure.
Can you help me with this serial #806549 ?



[ATTACH=CONFIG]3265[/ATTACH]

[ATTACH=CONFIG]3266[/ATTACH]
« Last Edit: April 07, 2015, 09:21:49 PM by ingrob »

Swede 827049
« Reply #127 on: June 03, 2015, 01:53:09 PM »
Hi. I have Hagstorm Swede 827049. I would love to know year of manufacture. I bought it 10-12 years ago and have sold a couple of other basses but the Swede never! I just took it to the luthier yesterday for a checkup. Low E is hard to tune, switches are not fully functional and I wanted to get the pickups tested for output.

Can you tell me where to get a hard case for it?

[ATTACH=CONFIG]3297[/ATTACH]
« Last Edit: June 03, 2015, 06:18:29 PM by JChrisG »

how to date a hagstrom
« Reply #128 on: June 29, 2015, 10:01:57 AM »
Hi all. I was looking to date my Swede bass, but after reading the posts here I think I have it narrowed down to 1972. It was given to me as a gift when I was about 18 or 19 and has been in my possession ever since. It has all the original hardware and is in near mint condition. Jules, as the official forum date-master, if you have a free minute I would really appreciate a verification of my 1972 estimate. The serial number is beauty is 827135. Thanks!
[ATTACH=CONFIG]3328[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]3329[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]3330[/ATTACH]

how to date a hagstrom
« Reply #129 on: June 30, 2015, 02:19:22 AM »
Your bass was one of 149 Swede basses made in production run 827. That particular production run commenced in 1972 and finished in 1973. Your bass was the 135th one made in the run, so I would tend to say that it was made in 1973.

TD

how to date a hagstrom
« Reply #130 on: June 30, 2015, 09:28:58 PM »
Quote from: Thornton Davis;18553
I would tend to say that it was made in 1973.TD


Awesome! Thanks so much Thornton.

how to date a hagstrom
« Reply #131 on: July 21, 2015, 10:32:38 AM »
Hi,
my Concord 1 get the serial # 716565
From what i read on the net i think it's been made beetwen 1969 and 1971,can somebody date it ?

Thanks
[ATTACH=CONFIG]3352[/ATTACH]

jules

  • *****
  • 3068
    • View Profile
how to date a hagstrom
« Reply #132 on: July 22, 2015, 04:59:50 PM »
Hi Beastouk, according to the published data, batch 716 was the last batch of Concord basses (excluding Concord Deluxe, batch 718 ) produced between the years 1967 and 1971. The batch consisted of 750 basses, so yours (being number 565) would have been towards the end, so you could assume a production date of 1970/71. This is just conjecture however; there is nothing to say the majority of this batch were not produced in 1967 with odd examples trickling out over the next four years. Hope this helps!

how to date a hagstrom
« Reply #133 on: July 23, 2015, 02:19:21 PM »
Quote from: jules;18585
Hi Beastouk, according to the published data, batch 716 was the last batch of Concord basses (excluding Concord Deluxe, batch 718 ) produced between the years 1967 and 1971. The batch consisted of 750 basses, so yours (being number 565) would have been towards the end, so you could assume a production date of 1970/71. This is just conjecture however; there is nothing to say the majority of this batch were not produced in 1967 with odd examples trickling out over the next four years. Hope this helps!


Thanks Jules !
You confirm what i was thinking , a 1970/71 built.

how to date a hagstrom
« Reply #134 on: August 21, 2015, 08:07:26 PM »
Hi, New to the forum. Can anyone tell me what year a 66360 would be? It's a 12-string (maybe an H-12 or an F-12S). Also, it's natural blonde. Would that mean it's been stripped of its original finish?

Thanks!

 

Recent posts on vintage guitar and bass

1970 Rosetti Epiphone guitar catalogScan of 1970 Epiphone guitar catalogue produced by Rosetti for the UK market. Undated but most likely from mid-late 1970, this was the first UK catalogue to show the new range of Japanese (Matsumoku) Epiphone guitars. Interestingly, these pages show the Epiphone solid bodies with a single-sided Fender-style headstock layout - a feature quickly replaced with a typical two-sided Epiphone headstock almost immediately. Epiphone electric guitars: 9520, 9525; bass guitars: 9521, 9526; acoustic guitars: 6730, 6830, 6834
1971 A World of Guitars by Rosetti catalogueScan of 1971 Rosetti catalogue (UK) featuring guitars from from numerous manufacturers worldwide: guitars by Epiphone, Hagstrom, Levin, Hoyer, Egmond, Eros, Moridaira, Kiso-Suzuki, Schaller, and Tatra.
1971 Selmer guitar catalogueScan of 1971 Selmer guitar catalogue showing the range of electric and acoustic guitars distributed by the company: guitars by Gibson, Yamaha, Selmer, Hofner and Suzuki. 1960s Selmer had always placed Hofner at the front end of their catalogues, no doubt these were the better sellers - but into the 1970s Hofner were slipping somewhat and only appear at the tail end of this publication, pride of place going to Gibson, and to a lesser extent Yamaha. In fact this is the last Selmer catalogue to include the many Hofner hollow bodies (Committee, President, Senator etc) that had defined the companies output for so many years - to be replaced in the 1972 catalogue by generic solid body 'copies' of Gibson and Fender models. A number of new Gibson models are included for the first time: the SG-100 and SG-200 six string guitars and the SB-300 and SB-400 basses.
1968 Selmer guitar catalogueScan of 1968/1969 Selmer guitar catalogue (printed July 1968), showing the entire range of electric and acoustic guitars distributed by the company: guitars by Hofner, Gibson, Selmer and Giannini. Selmer were the exclusive United Kingdom distributors of Hofner and Gibson at the time, and this catalogue contains a total of 18 electric guitars, 7 bass guitars, 37 acoustics, and 2 Hawaiian guitars - all produced outside the UK and imported by Selmer, with UK prices included in guineas. This catalogue saw the (re-)introduction of the late sixties Gibson Les Paul Custom and Les Paul Standard (see page 69) and the short-lived Hofner Club 70. Other electric models include: HOFNER ELECTRICS: Committee, Verithin 66, Ambassador, President, Senator, Galaxie, HOFNER BASSES: Violin bass, Verithin bass, Senator bass, Professional bass GIBSON ELECTRICS: Barney Kessel, ES-330TD, ES-335TD, ES-345TD, ES-175D, ES-125CD, SG Standard, SG Junior, SG Special GIBSON BASSES: EB-0, EB-2, EB-3 - plus a LOT of acoustics branded Gibson, Hofner, Selmer and Giannini
1961 Hofner Colorama IHofner Colorama was the name UK distributor Selmer gave to a series of solid and semi-solid guitars built by Hofner for distribution in the UK. The construction and specifications of the guitars varied over the period of production, but by 1961 it was a totally solid, double cutaway instrument, with a set neck, translucent cherry finish, six-in-a-row headstock, and Hofner Diamond logo pickups. Available as a single or dual pickup guitar, this sngle pickup version would have been sold in mainland Europe as the Hofner 161.
1971 Commodore N25 (Matsumoku)Commodore was a brand applied to a series of guitars produced in Japan at the well-respected Matsumoku plant from the late 1960s to the mid 1970s - and sold primarily (perhaps exclusively?) in the United Kingdom. The models bearing the Commodore name were all guitars available from different distributors with different branding. Although there may have been some minor changes in appointments (specifically headstock branding) most had the same basic bodies, hardware and construction. Equivalent models to the Commodore N25 (and this is by no means an exhaustive list) include the Aria 5102T, Conrad 5102T(?), Electra 2221, Lyle 5102T, Ventura V-1001, Univox Coily - and most famously the Epiphone 5102T / Epiphone EA-250.
1960 Hofner Colorama IIThe Hofner Colorama was the name given by Selmer to a series of solid (and semi-solid) body Hofner guitars distributed in the United Kingdom between 1958 and 1965. The Colorama name actually applied to some quite different guitars over the period, but in 1960 it was a very light, semi-solid, set necked guitar with one (Colorama I) or two (Colorama II, as seen here) Toaster pickups. Although an entry-level guitar, it was very well-built, and a fine playing guitar; certainly a step up (at least in terms of craftsmanship) from many of the Colorama guitars that would follow, and a good deal of the guitars available in Britain circa 1960.
1971 Epiphone 1820 (ET-280) bassBy the end of the 1960s, a decision had been made to move Epiphone guitar production from the USA (at the Kalamazoo plant where Gibson guitars were made), to Matsumoto in Japan, creating a line of guitars and basses significantly less expensive than the USA-built models (actually less than half the price). The Matsumoku factory had been producing guitars for export for some time, but the 1820 bass (alongside a number of guitar models and the 5120 electric acoustic bass) were the first Epiphone models to be made there. These new Epiphones were based on existing Matsumoku guitars, sharing body shapes, and hardware, but the Epiphone line was somewhat upgraded, with inlaid logos and a 2x2 peghead configuration. Over the course of the 70s, the Japanese output improved dramatically, and in many ways these early 70s models are a low point for the brand. Having said this, there are a lot worse guitars out there, and as well as being historically important, the 1820 bass can certainly provide the goods when required.
1981 Gibson MarauderProduction of Bill Lawrence's Gibson Marauder began in 1974, with production peaking in 1978. But by 1980 the model was officially discontinued, though very small numbers slipped out as late as spring 1981. Over 7000 examples shipped between 1974 and 1979, and although no totals are available for 1980 and 1981, it is unlikely production reached three figures in either of these years. These final Marauders were all assembled at the Gibson Nashville plant, and had some nice features not available through the later years of production, such as a rosewood fretboard, and in this case, an opaque 'Devil Red' finish. It's a great looking and fine playing guitar!