One of Hagstrom’s last projects before their Swedish production stopped was a collaboration between their chief guitar designer Per-Åke Olsson and Rutger Gunnarsson, bassist for the Swedish super-group ABBA. This resulted in the Super Swede Bass, which was used by Rutger throughout ABBA’s final North American tour in September/October 1979. Only 364 of these basses were produced before Hagstrom ceased guitar production in Sweden, and over the years they’ve become a sought-after collector’s item.
Hagstrom’s original Super Swede bass had a neck-through design, a feature found typically on more expensive hand-crafted bass guitars. Neck-through basses offer unrestricted access to the highest frets since there is no heel needed to support the neck/body joint, and also tend to have more sustain than traditional set-neck or bolt-on instruments.
Super Swede Bass Re-Creation
Our new Super Swede Bass is an authentic re-creation of this historic model from 1980. A Resinator® fingerboard enhances the sustain of the neck-through design and contributes to the guitars articulate attack. Strings are anchored in place with individual saddles coupled directly to the single massive neck structure providing a foundation for long, piano-like sustain.
Hagstrom’s brand-new J-Quad quad-stacked humbuckers are introduced with the Super Swede Bass. We thought it appropriate to commemorate this historic design with our latest pickup innovation. The J-Quads combine low-noise performance with a broad support of the full tonal spectrum, and just a little extra emphasis on mids and lows for when that extra “growl” is needed.
