1950s very vintage Hagström

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The perfect example of the early electric guitar built by an accordion company in reconversion phase, this sparkling Hagström is not unknown to our readers, since we saw almost the same model one year ago, bearing the Goya logo - Hagtröm's brand in the US.

This one also has one of these special vintage tremelo I like so much, and you can notice that it has no knobs at all, just switches and rolls.

Bertram

Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - now in its 10th year!

Hagstrom III lefty

guitarz.blogspot.com:

Here's one of Sweden's finest from the mid-1960s. It's a Hagstrom III in hard-to-find left-handed edition, and it looks to be complete with all parts present and correct. It's currently being offered for sale on eBay - the auction ends in a day and a half as I type this and has already been attracting a number of bids. It's nice to see that not all buyers on eBay wait until the closing seconds of an auction to put in a bid these days. (Speaking from personal experience, some don't bother to bid at all, they just wait for the auction to finish and then send the seller an email with an offer to "take it off your hands" for an insultingly low price.)

But I digress... It's a nice rare vintage piece, and as regular readers will know I'm always keen to find interesting guitars for our southpaw friends!

G L Wilson

Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - now in its 9th year!

Hagstrom Impala

guitarz.blogspot.com:

Courtesy of John Beach via our Facebook page, this is a 1965 Hagstrom Impala, which together with the Corvette/Condor made up Hagstrom's professional series guitars. A total of 1039 Impalas were manufactured in Sweden between 63 and 67. A Corvette/Condor was recently listed for sale on E-bay for $5000.00.

More about vintage Hagstrom guitars here.

Additional: Just by chance, after I had made the above post, one of these just came up for sale on eBay with a Buy It Now of $1,195. I'll add some more photos to the comments below.

Additional #2: Now relisted with a starting price of $899.

G L Wilson

Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - now in its 9th year!

1965 Hagstrom Kent

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The Hagstrom Kent was a quite successful budget guitar in the 60s, but this black model is quite rare - you'll see it more often in red or blue. It bares the Hagstrom logo on its headstock, that is strange since it should have Kent ; this guitar had a screwed plastic front and vinyl back instead of paint (this is not a plastic body like some believe, and that's why it was a cheap guitar), and being unsure of the durability of this bizarre 'shell', Hagstrom didn't want to risk their reputation and labeled this model only as Kent.

This guitar has the Tremar tremolo, another of these many cool trems they put on guitars back in the 60s.

Bertram

Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - now in its 9th year!

Hagstrom/Goya - blue glitter, pearloid and perspex

guitarz.blogspot.com:
This early 1960s' blue glitter-topped Hagstrom bears the Goya brandname as it is an example of this guitar that was produced for the US market. I believe it's a Deluxe EDP 80 as used by Bryan Ferry in Roxy Music, but the exact names and model numbers can be confusing.

All the quirky features are there: the metal plate surrounding the pickups; the pushbutton selector switches; the radio-style grill between the pickups; the perspex fingerboard and headstock with pearloid backing. Although you can't see it in the photos here, the back and sides are also finished in pearloid. It's definitely a guitar that makes a statement!

This guitar is one of the 500 listed in the "500 Guitars" book, but alas the publisher was unable to turn up a photo of it, so I'm making up for it here!

G L Wilson

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Goya solidbody with a possible Martin connection

guitarz.blogspot.com:
We've had another email, as follows:

Hey - was wondering if you or your audience could give me any info on this guitar.

I picked this up a couple years ago, and don't know much about it. It's a Goya that looks very similar to a Martin E-18, which from what I can tell is their only foray into solid body electrics. I've seen these online with headstocks labeled EF Martin, Sigma Martin, but never Goya. It's my understanding that Goya was bought by Martin at some point in the late 70s, so I'm guessing the E-18 was just a rebranding of this Goya model? I don't know. It's a great sounding and playing guitar, never seen another one though.

Thanks in advance!
-Tim

My own understanding of the Goya brand, was that it was just that - a brandname used to sell guitars in the United States. For example, Sweden's Hagstrom guitars were re-badged "Goya" for the US market.

I think you may have (semi)-answered your own question, Tim. That it was a brandname bought out by Martin. Perhaps they badged their own electric solidbodies with the Goya brandname because the Martin name was so firmly established in everyone's mind as being an acoustic brand. That the guitars also appeared branded Martin and Sigma suggests different marketing strategies at different timess, perhaps?

If anyone else reading has any more info, please let us know!

G L Wilson

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Early '60s Hagstrom Futurama

guitarz.blogspot.com:

Here's another classic vintage guitar being offered for sale on eBay. The Hagstrom Futurama with three pickups is obviously that Swedish manufacturer's take on the Stratocaster, but it has become a classic in its own right. (See here for more).

Many will think of it being the Ziggy-period David Bowie guitar - he certainly did a few photo sessions with a similar Kent-branded guitar, but I can't say for sure if he actually ever genuinely played it.

We also get to see a brief glimpse of Daniel Ash playing one in the promo video for Love and Rockets' "So Alive" whilst wearing gloves for crying out loud!

The example for sale here on eBay probably dates back to the early 1960s - 1963-1965 perhaps - and is in exceedingly good condition for a guitar of its age. It looks like it has been much used but still has all the original parts save for one replaced tuner and a Burns Tri-Sonic pickup in the centre postion.

G L Wilson

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Reissue Hagstrom Guitars Start Shipping: The legendary Hagstrom line will be officially relaunched at the 2005 Winter NAMM Show. The classic brand, now being manufactured and distributed by American Music & Sound (AM&S) under license from AB Albin Hagstrom, has just begun shipping. See also the new website: www.hagstromguitars.com