Hagström
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Hagström, or Hagstrom as the name is sometimes spelled, is a musical instrument manufacturer in Älvdalen, Dalarna County, Sweden. Their original products were accordions which they initially imported from Germany and then Italy before opening their own facility in 1932, but during the sixties the company started making electric guitars and later amplifiers. The early guitars were heavily influenced by the accordion production and had a special look and feel. Many contemporary artists, such as Elvis Presley, Bill Nelson, Frank Zappa, Billy Gibbons, Dusty Hill, Aaron North and Pat Smear used Hagströms. Most notably today, Nicholas McCarthy from the Glaswegian band Franz Ferdinand plays a sparkle red 1959 Hagström P46 Sweetone.
Models of electric guitar included the Hagstrom 1, the H series (h II, h III, h II N), the Swede (Originally called The Hagstrom L P), the Super Swede, the Impala, the Corvette (called the Condor in the US), the Viking, the Swede Patch 2000 (one of the first synthesizer guitars) and the Jimmy (designed by Jimmy D'Aquisto, a respected New York luthier bought in by Hagstom to design the Swede). Basses include the H8 - the first ever eight stringed bass guitar, which found fame when used by the likes of Noel Redding, Jimi Hendrix, Mike Rutherford etc
Production ended for Swedish-made Hagstroms in 1983 due to the inability to keep up with the competition using labour from Asia to make guitars. Hagstrom did make some Japanese prototypes, however, they were not pleased with the worksmanship and would rather close down the company than cheapen the brand, but as of 2004 Hagstrom has been reopened for the American market and is making new versions of some of the more famous models from Sweden, but sourced from the USA and China. Some devotees of the Hagstrom name have speculated as to whether the new Hagstroms live up to the pre-1983 models (the Swede models have some of the same parts as an Epiphone Les Paul and the Hagstrom F-300s have parts and features typical of a Stratocaster).
Joe Satriani's first electric guitar was a Hagstrom
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