Visitors Hagstrom Acoustics
HC-5 / LA RITA / SENORITA
Back to:  Home Page | Acoustics | Electrics | History
News Page | Catalogues | Hag UK Visitors | Old Visitors Galleries | or Click the

The Hagstrom UK La Rita can be found here

Mike Bell dropped by in Sept '02...

I am the lucky so and so who beat you to the Gordon Giltrap La Rita - sorry. I can tell you that it sounds wonderful and plays like a dream. Karl Hagstrom told me that it was probably built in around 1968.

             
Dear David, There's not much of a story behind the La Rita but here goes anyway. I have always been a fan of Guild guitars and owned a lovely but very plain Guild jumbo. To get a member of my family out of a financial hole I sold it and really missed playing it. It was eventually replaced by a gorgeous small bodied Fylde Goodfellow bought for me by my wife. I still hankered after a big Guild though, and eventually saw a 1978 blonde F50 for sale on Gordon Giltrap's web site.

At this time I had decided to build a small collection of acoustic guitars with the intention of passing them on to any of my grandchildren (currently 5yrs,3yrs and 6 months) who might become interested in playing guitar as they get older. The La Rita was displayed on Gordon's site at the same time as the Guild. I knew nothing of Hagstrom guitars, although the name was familiar from my younger guitar playing days. It just looked such a nice guitar and as Gordon assured me of its quality I decided to buy it at the same time. Since getting the La Rita I have been clumsily teaching myself some simple classical pieces. It is beautifully made and sounds wonderful. According to Karl Hagstrom it dates from around 1968. I had the pleasure of traveling down to Gordon's home to collect my purchases and he had kindly made me a CD of him playing some of his compositions on the two guitars. It is quite daunting to pick up a guitar which has been played so well in the past by a real meastro but I get great pleasure from owning these fine examples of the guitar makers craft. Best wishes Mike Bell

Thank you Mike, these masterpieces are so well made, and the attention to detail is superb. The sound... well you said it all. The

How about this lively Senorita for some sweet sounding delights

Hi David As promised, here are 6 pics of the Hagstrom Senorita I have been talking about. A full front, the back of the head showing the store label, zoom in to read the store label, the sound hole, note the wear at the 8 o'clock position from the thumb being used as an anchor for finger picking, the key hardware, the head front and across the top and up the neck, this shows the crazing of the clear top finish and the cracking up to the bridge. The cracks are over stiffeners, odd, so there is no movement and no change in the sound. You can expand the photos well enough to see the serial number clearly. Note my neat winding of the new strings in the head shot, I took several other shots and could take more professional looking pics but I wanted to get these to you tonight. If you want better shots, I will take them. As I do not have high speed internet it will take a while to send these pics.
  Bruce in Ottawa Canada

Some people do not rate the Bjarton Manufactured acoustic models. I really do not understand this beyond simple snobbery at times. From the simple through to the most ornate models, they stand the test of time, even if they have had less than pampered lives, they still sound good, and play so easily and accurately. So if it has to have a big brand on the headstock, then tell your bank manager why it makes the difference - not me!

PS: Another name for this model is the La Rita

Thank you for taking the time Bruce, and if the visitor makes their way
to the Bass Page, Bruce has a very interesting Bass version on display too.

Click the small pictures to open some high quality pictures supplied by Bruce

ELECTRIC GALLERIES  |  BASS PAGE  |  HOME  |  NEWS  | HAGSTROM FANS

Any questions contributions or comments about this web site are welcome.  All Presentations are Copyright © 2001-2013 Hagstrom.org.uk - Hagstrom UK Projects
IMPORTANT: SEND E-mails to webstrom@hagstrom.org.uk (cut and paste). Please check occasionally - it may change due to junk mail idiots...
 (REPLIES TO YOUR MAIL COME FROM A DIFFERENT ADDRESS)   EMAILS APPEARING TO COME FROM THE ADDRESS ABOVE ARE JUNK  - PLEASE DELETE !
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Last site modification: July 13, 2020 18:20 UK Time (Individual pages update more frequently)
 <Hagstrom Models  

         (LOST? )    |    < Hag UK Forum   |  Hagstrom UK Home page

Pictures submitted are posted in good faith. Please advise if you feel anything should not be posted here.
NOTE: This is a personal appreciation site, not authorised by or affiliated to the Hagström  company, family, or other websites.
Pictures and text sent for submission, appraisal or display are deemed approved for use in Hagstrom UK projects,
acknowledgement will be given wherever possible, no other recourse or promise is implied or available,
all presentations are copyright Hagstrom UK projects.
This Hagstrom UK Project is a free service. GBMusic supports youth live music and community charities.
See:  www.gbmusic.co.uk  www.goldenboulder.org.uk  [Just Adverts >   ]