A Hagstrom III ...by Guitar Bob Ohsiek

A Hagstrom III

[before]

...by Guitar Bob Ohsiek

Some basement must've flooded or something—this had mildew and corrosion. Then someone sprayed clear poly everywhere, including the pickguard....[jeez, why seal in the mold?]

A friend layed this on me. He pulled the rusty frets and sanded the rosewood board but didn't go further. I used fine Meguiars to polish off most of the poly, esp. the guard. You can see the old nitro shine up good on parts of the body.

[after]
Hagstrom III Guitar - after

The large alnico magnet single coils sound good, like Strats, and the flat neck is cool too. The tone buttons control blend, puree, chop. Actually, three of them turn on their pickups, and the other three go nerd, nerdier, and nerdiest.... I leave those in the upright position for most twangy and toneful.

The gold Yamaha tailpiece is my 'buzzstop' and really improves downforce and punch. I'll swap in a nickel plated one someday. I put jumbos in the fretboard, so this thing is rockin! It's a SuperSwedeSurfStrat, still good enough for ABBA covers.