Hagstrom Archtops? Yea or /Nay??
 

I'm looking at electric arch tops and was wondering what those in the know think about Hagstroms, the Viking in particular....

It's more of what's commonly called a semi-hollow, and in fact that's how Hagstrom currently describes it. It's basically their Gibson ES-335.

The Hagstrom D'Aquisto, which is no long made to my knowledge, is actually an archtop, and I got to play the original when Jimmy made the prototype for Hagstrom.

Hagstrom quality has always been good, but unless they've changed their neck size concepts, I'd make sure there was enough to hold onto.

HE

The current Hagstroms are kind of in the same ballpark in quality any of the Chinese made hollow and semi-hollow guitars in their price range.

I do remember playing one a few years ago and thought the neck profile was very thin, almost like some "shred" guitar. If you like that, could be a good choice. If you like a thicker neck, you might be better off looking elsewhere.

In the late-70's/early-80's I had a Hagstrom Swede - same one that Larry Coryell was using around that time...

Best neck I ever had on any guitar - and if I hadn't gotten such a good deal on one of the very first late-CBS '52 Tele reissues I never would have traded it...

Gotta check out of them new MIC Hags sometime - if they kept the old neck profile it sounds like they're right up my alley... :guitar: