NAMM 2023: You wait for a new Hagstrom electric guitar and then two come along at once! And what a pair; the 2023 Swede and Super Swede are distinct offers with 24.75" and 25.5" scale lengths, respectively. They also offer different Lundgren Designed pickups.
The Swede weighs in with medium output No.2 alnico outputs, while the Super Swede is packing the hotter pairing of No.2 and No.5 Lundgren Designed humbuckers. Both have push-pull coil splits activated by their tone controls.
The bodies here follow a classic single-cut guitar tonewood formula; the Swedes combine mahogany with a 2cm thick Canadian hard maple top and a flamed maple veneer. Both models feature resinator fretboards with 14.4" radius and stainless steel medium jumbo frets.
The Hagstrom locking tuners also take accuracy to new levels with a 19:1 ratio.
Both revamped models are expected to ship around June 2023 and will retail for £1,375 with a hardcase. There are no left-hand model options as yet, sorry southpaws. Finish options are Mandarin Burst, Crimson Flame, Dark Storm and Gold.
More info at Hagstrom.
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Rob is the Reviews Editor for GuitarWorld.com and MusicRadar guitars, so spends most of his waking hours (and beyond) thinking about and trying the latest gear while making sure our reviews team is giving you thorough and honest tests of it. He's worked for guitar mags and sites as a writer and editor for nearly 20 years but still winces at the thought of restringing anything with a Floyd Rose.
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