Vintage Guitar and Bass forum

how to date a hagstrom

jules

  • *****
  • 3068
    • View Profile
how to date a hagstrom
« Reply #150 on: October 01, 2015, 08:05:44 PM »
Quote from: mag;18633
I would love to find out what year my great old Hagstrom 2 was manufactured

Hi Mike, batch 641 was of 1000 Hagstrom De Luxe II guitars built in 1965

My Hagstrom surprise
« Reply #151 on: March 14, 2016, 06:14:51 PM »
So this is my story. As most teenage boys in the 70s, I wanted to play electric guitar. My uncle who was a retired professional musician had a music store where they gave lessons and bought and sold instruments. So I asked for a guitar and he gave me one. I didn't really care or even know about the different makes and models, he just told me it was a good electric guitar. I took a few lessons, practised a bit and then real life got in the way. So the guitar and its case went in the basement to be occasionally looked at but never really played.  Now I'm retired and decided to start playing guitar again, but was pretty sure my old guitar would be useless after 35+ years of sitting and waiting.  I looked around to buy a new guitar when I came across an ad for a used Hagstrom. The name clicked and I went and got the guitar and sure enough it was a Hagstrom. So I started to investigate to find the model and year and found this forum which led me to the the info email address for what's left of Hagstrom and sent my data, a Hagstrom electric guitar ser. no. 768156.

I got a response the next day that said, The instrument you have is a vintage Hagstrom HIIN " Transition model" (6 in-line headstock and humbucker pickups) and it was built in Älvdalen, Sweden in 1969/70.  So I started looking and found an excerpt of "the book" that said the transition model is rare, and to think I was on the verge of throwing it out. Anyway, it convinced me that instead of buying a new guitar, I would fix up the old one if at all possible.  The luthier doing the work said it just needed a good tune up and cleaning.  So end of this week, I'll start up again, on my old/new Hagstrom, all original parts.  

Thanks to the people on this forum that led me to this fantastic discovery. Now to do some research on my el Degas 12 string acoustic!

[ATTACH=CONFIG]3486[/ATTACH]
[ATTACH=CONFIG]3485[/ATTACH]

jules

  • *****
  • 3068
    • View Profile
how to date a hagstrom
« Reply #152 on: March 16, 2016, 05:39:05 PM »
Cool guitar! ... yes batch 768 was the first run of HIIN (ie with humbuckers) and was of just 250 instruments. Thanks for posting!

how to date a hagstrom
« Reply #153 on: March 30, 2016, 02:50:43 PM »
I have a Hagstrom 4 string bass with a serial number 585355, any info on it would be great! I like this forum website, I am glad I found it :)

how to date a hagstrom
« Reply #154 on: April 01, 2016, 03:02:11 PM »
Anyone able to tell me anything on this cool Hagstrom find of mine?

jules

  • *****
  • 3068
    • View Profile
how to date a hagstrom
« Reply #155 on: April 01, 2016, 08:36:56 PM »
According to the serial number book, batch 585 was 500 Futurama basses made in 1964. Can we see a pic?

how to date a hagstrom
« Reply #156 on: April 01, 2016, 09:24:48 PM »
Thanks, here are a couple
[ATTACH=CONFIG]3499[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]3500[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]3501[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]3502[/ATTACH]

how to date a hagstrom
« Reply #157 on: April 05, 2016, 08:07:49 PM »
Hey Guys,

10 years ago i got a Hagstrom H II N from a good friend. She found it in the attic of there home. I played on it since and been very happy with it all the years. But i never figured out how old the guitar is. Could you please look it up in your Serial Number Book?

The Serial Number is: 53 912074

best regards,
Sebastian

how to date a hagstrom
« Reply #158 on: May 03, 2016, 03:12:51 PM »
Hello,

I have just bought an old Vintage  Swede Hagstrom, apperently from 71's. The serial number is 789173. Could anyone confirm the year and have informations about its specifications? (wood, pick ups ect...).
There is an additional selector on this guitar, i don't know what for?

[ATTACH=CONFIG]3508[/ATTACH]


Thanks in advance,





Ponce

Garbage sale find
« Reply #159 on: May 17, 2016, 03:16:47 PM »
I found a Hagstrom Concord Bass? at a garage sale with a Fender P-Bass. It has gold colored hardware and is cherry red. Not mint, some cracks in the finish and a small crack on the upper screw hole portion of the pick guard. Beautiful finish otherwise. Came with a   case minus the handle.
 The only thing that I found on the net with reference to this serial number is on a UK Hagstrom site that has the same batch number as mine and it says that it might be from 1968. My number is 733144.
 Any help on dating this would be greatly appreciated.

Once I get some info, I'll put it up for sale. I don't play Bass or guitar for that matter.

[ATTACH=CONFIG]3533[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]3534[/ATTACH]
[ATTACH=CONFIG]3535[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]3536[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]3537[/ATTACH]

how to date a hagstrom
« Reply #160 on: May 18, 2016, 01:45:08 PM »
This Concord is the "Deluxe" version. Deluxe has gold hardware, bound headstock, large pearloid fretboard inlays. Run 733 isn't mentioned in the Hagstrom Blue Book but 1968 would be the timeline.

Good luck with it.

TD

how to date a hagstrom
« Reply #161 on: May 20, 2016, 05:54:33 PM »
Thanx for your help. Greatly appreciated.

loucev

how to date a hagstrom
« Reply #162 on: May 28, 2016, 06:01:03 PM »
Hello and thanks for the great forum.  I am looking at a Hagstrom Viking serial number 871084.  Can anyone help with the year and any other information?
thanks
djm

[ATTACH=CONFIG]3544[/ATTACH];[ATTACH=CONFIG]3545[/ATTACH]

jules

  • *****
  • 3068
    • View Profile
how to date a hagstrom
« Reply #163 on: May 30, 2016, 02:35:19 PM »
Quote from: djmguitar;18794
Hagstrom Viking serial number 871084

Hi, this is a small batch - 252 Viking IN guitars from 1973.

how to date a hagstrom
« Reply #164 on: June 10, 2016, 01:44:27 PM »
Hello, hoping someone can help date my Hagstrom Swede.  I bought it from my guitar teacher in the late '70s.  Other than needing a fret job, its in terrific shape.  The serial number is 864 058.  Thank you!

 

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!