Hagstrom Guitars
Ha gström Gitar |
Thanks for the last 20yrs or so! |
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From Feb 04 you can read
Hagstrom's history based on Michael Wright's (In the process some mysteries may be resolved, and amendments made to this page) Other Brands:
We've touched on the connections between various companies and brands, such as Bjarton helping and indeed making acoustics for Hagstrom, but there is a wide scope of associations throughout the history. Like in the UK Hagstrom often being branded Futurama, a name more associated with Hofner of Germany, and originally Blatn in Czechoslovakia by the Resonet Company. In the USA some early Hagstroms were branded Kent. These associations were sometimes just that - Take the AMPEG Patch 2000 synthesiser mainly associated with the Swede Bass for Hagstrom.
An example of a
Kent semi-acoustic (Model 822) that did not
come from the Hagstrom / Bjarton stables: Thanks to Rob
(Canada) and Jon C (Canada) for additional info, and thanks to J.B. from Seattle
for the pics.
the model number sticker is a bit damaged so it’s difficult to read the first number but I think it says 833 or 883, but most likely 833 since that other Kent was a 822. The second number, as you can see in the picture, is 3702 2. It’s hard to see from the pictures but the guitar is in very good condition with very few nicks or scratches. But the finger rests have been removed and did not come with the guitar when I bought it. I can’t really tell you much else other than the bass sounds and plays great. It went for $399 cdn. Let me know what you think… Dave Krstin Toronto, Canada Hi Dave, There’s quite a following for these old non-Hagstrom Kent models. The Japanese and Korean manufacturers tried to pack in as much as they could when doing these guitars. I thought the brand name Kent had disappeared until recently when in the UK I bought a reasonably priced set of small bongo drums…. Branded Kent. These were made in India. So the holding brand is still alive, and who knows what instruments have the well known logo (still the same style), these days! Thanks for the pics and thanks for your kind comments. I will add them to the other Kent stuff soon. Best Regards, David
Here's another Kent semi, this time a 12 string... and again, NOT a Hagstrom manufactured model...
Selmer is another name springing from the time, both in the UK and USA. Selmer distributed many brands from Gibson Yamaha Hofner to their own.... Selmer 1960 (UK) Gibson 1966
Martin 1970 I may expand on the contents of these catalogues in the future. (Click on the icon pics for larger versions)
To be continued... I may have to use a sister site for the expanded versions due to website limitations.
Fender - (And there was no Legal case against
Hagstrom). In fact Hagstrom had the exclusive distribution rights for Fender
throughout Scandinavia) The famous Stratocaster and Telecaster was oft copied,
but Hagstrom I, II and III could hardly be called a copy nor could the later
Scandi... even if Fender asked Hagstrom not to bring it to the USA. They were
just developments from a starting point eh? Look at a Hagstrom Tremor unit -
such style! Beyond distribution rights, the closest connection with Fender may
have been that James D'Aquisto having spent some time with Hagstrom went on to
work with Fender - for big bucks I expect, as well as continuing the custom own
brand developed out of his time with his mentor John D'Angelico.
CDC with his Fender Acoustic, and an old Strat from Canada.
- No luck so far, so when he stumbled across the Starfire (previously a DeArmond Model) now its part of the Fender Squier range, so he had to get himself a stop gap... plus a couple of mod's... So, who's gonna get him a good cherry Viking he says!
The tailpiece as well as being Geoff's initial "G", is
actually a Guild,
España was another Scandinavian built range that appeared in USA and Canada via the brand owners Buegeleisen & Jacobson around the same time as Hagstrom, but beyond the holding / marketing company (still listed in USA); I have little information on the origins or the history beyond the stated one time connection to Finland and Sweden. Often listed as a Hagstrom derived guitar, it might have been connected in the distribution channels Hagstrom operated in many European countries; in manufacturing terms it could have been via Bjarton or (denoted by the Crown logo) Landola from Finland... but as all the Bjarton information has been lost, we will have difficulty finding out for sure. Landola are still around, but are very shy about confirming any questions... maybe there's no-one there that remembers now! If someone wants to elaborate on the true story, I'd be glad to put some
information here. (Update: See links below) In the meantime, just to show
some balance, here is an example of the semi-acoustic offering from España. No
dates no detail beyond that which you can see, but it looks pretty good too
doesn't it...
Pictures Courtesy of Ellen Kelly CT, USA. ... the proud owner of four España Guitars, (so far) following in the family tradition... and searching out some interesting examples... Just to back this up, in 2009 Paul Davies from Wales, UK sold his old Branded Landola 12 string thinline semi acoustic, and kindly sent some photos. Here are a few confirmations we've looked for over time... (Click the Icons to enlarge the pictures to view)
Dare I say I'm impressed that they got the 12 string neck joint right where Hagstrom themselves made theirs too week. Ony 651 of the Hagstrom Viking 12, how many Landolas I wonder? Most of all, how many of either still exist? I can't believe this fetched only £180!
We know Espana instruments were made by a number of manufacturers, and we've established that Landola was the Finnish company involved. Well here's a bit more proof. Notice the label design, just as is seen in the Bjarton made examples, but this time CLEARLY Landola.
"I own an old Landola guitar. They were made in
Finland and the factory was located in Jakobstad in the west coast of Finland.
Now, when i look at the Espana guitar catalogue at your catalogues page and the
pictures that Daniel Hekker has sent,the guitar label looks familiar, it has the
same figure/ornament and Text type as the Espana guitars has! I took a photo of
my Landola so yo can compare. Im not an expert in guitars history, but I think
maybe Espana guitars were made by the Landola factory in Finland. In the Espana-catalogue
the say that the guitars are Scandinavia's Finest. Because Finland belongs also
to the Scandinavian countries, it is possible that in the advertising they
didn't mention Sweden because they were made in finland by Landola. I also own a
Hagström Swede guitar but that is an another story, maybe i tell about it
later."
Maybe the PU assembly was added at a Hagstrom Music store?? Also take a look at the shape of the headstock - very Hagstrom 1959 eh?
< Click for a closer look at the body and added PU.
Here's a single version of the PU assembly available in the 1960 Selmer UK Catalogue, so does that give a clue to the date of the guitar? It's all I've got to go one so far!
Thanks to Jesper Rene for the guitar pictures Another part of the story that's fading into myth and legend - I hope to bring you more facts in the future, meantime keep chipping in your ideas, thoughts and pictures!
A French guitar
manufacturer called Jacobacci (
<< http://lesguitaresjacobacci.free.fr/Catalogues/page26.htm Go and see!
Jacobacci also seemed to produce models similar in shape and name to Levin's 48-58 top-of-the-line archtops that appear in the 52 Hag catalogue - but they didn't do so till after 1958. It does suggest quite a strong Franco-Swedish link. Thanks to Paul Holland for
these great pieces of info!
November 2005: Cyril from France sent us pictures of a Major Conn model:
PROPI
FROM POLAND BRINGS US Now, I can see where they were coming from... well kind of... This Polish beauty sports a slanted logo which reminds me of a kid's rendition of Fred Flintstone in his car... it actually reads "LOTOS"... or maybe it looks a bit like a pair of stage specs Elton might have used in a John Lennon mood... (I am trying to make this fascinating guys... work with me now!) Propi sent this selection in, informing me it is
for sale... "Here is something, that looks like a Polish copy of
Hagstrom.
Instead of the "Swimming Pool" we see the "Gas Heater Element" (maybe a similar luxury in Poland at the time). The whole pickguard looks like a side view of "The Kings Head" sticker... Even the "rest" block is there in as inappropriate place as it is on some hags... So clearly there is no discretion in this emulation! I'm no bass expert, but which finger rested there anyway? "I got it form our local Culture House. It spent almost 10 years in a basement... Now I'm selling it for approx. 20 $... I know it's kinda priceless... Out of production, out of stock in all the shops all over the world... Just wanted to share it with you - maybe it becomes useful on your page..." Such a shame someone decided to change the bridge and tailpiece... still it gives it that extra industrial look... Seriously Propi - Thanks a million (well twenty actually) for sending this in - happily your "tongue was in your cheek" too when you sent this in. Hopefully your own tongue doesn't sport the hardware shown on the tongue shape headstock... BRILLIANT STUFF ! Thank you Propi !
See also "The Hagstrom Hub" - How they interacted with others! I am always looking to improve the site, if you have any comments or contributions please e-mail me All trademarks are the property of their respective owners, and acknowledged accordingly |
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| There's nothing like a REAL original Swedish made Hagstrom (and there are loads around), but if it 'floats your boat', or you can't find an original then who are we to say? | |
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Plenty has been said already and |
Hi
there… Beautiful page by the way. I don’t know anything about that particular
Kent, in fact I really don’t know much about Kents at all. BUT I do have some
pictures of another, similar Kent bass that you might be interested in. I picked
this bass up at a store called
And talking of copies.... what was the Fender Coronado if not an Gibson copy?
Geoff Stich has gone to a lot of trouble trying not to be outbid on a nice
Cherry Viking 
Sure
looks good from a distance eh, a bit heavy though he says, it's not till you get
close, and until you find out how heavy it is!
There
are many many guitar brand names as we all know, but one that crops up quite a
lot in questions to this site is the España
