Hagstrom Impala 1965 Red Sunburst. VINTAGE. Stylish Guitar Icon of the 1960s' s RARE.

From my personal

private collection of Hagstrom Guitars…

HAGSTOM

Of

Sweden

The IMPALA

Electric Guitar

1965

 A Pioneering guitar in style and function.

Into.

Mention “Made in Sweden” for any product and immediately we all think “quality”, “style”, “value”, “well made” etc. And each of those thoughts is positive. The Swedes are rightfully acknowledged as being the best builders of anything and everything. Including guitars.

HAGSTROM COMPANY.

Hagström [ˈhɑːɡstrœm] is a musical instrument manufacturer in Älvdalen,Dalecarlia, Sweden. Their original products were accordions that they initially imported from Germany and thenItaly before opening their own facility in 1932. During the late 1950s, the company started making electric guitars and lateramplifiers. The early guitars were heavily influenced by the accordion production and had a special look and feel. Hagström were the first company to mass-produce 8 string bass guitars as well as the first to build a guitar/synthesizer hybrid (Swede Patch 2000). The company ceased production in 1983.

Guitar players and collectors consider HAGSTROM Guitars as being one of the iconic brands of all time and their guitars being some of the best made during the company’s existence. This yet another brand on my list of most undervalued guitars in the vintage guitar marketplace today as well as being some of the best playing guitars ever made. Hagstrom claimed that its guitars as having the “fastest playing necks in the industry”.  I cannot argue with that. They are incredible (in a Mosrite manner-a thinner neck).

HAGSTROM GUITARS in the 1960’s: The Impala.

Eager to join the pop music explosion of the 1960’s, which was heavily dependent on guitars that had “style”, were “cool”, and were “feature loaded” (like the competing, and now iconic, styles of the Gibson Firebird, the Fender Jaguar, and Mosrites Ventures), Hagstrom’s incredibly talented design staff came up with the “pop design styles” of the CORVETTE and the IMPALA.

These were totally unique and stylish design styles original to HAGSTROM. They featured flowing body shapes, lots of buttons, and chrome.   They were, and remain, some of Hagstrom’s coolest guitars. The two-pickup Impala and three-pickup Corvette, both named for popular Chevrolets (after objection by GM, the name of the “Corvette” was changed to “Condor” in the USA while “Impala” remained in use). These were fairly sophisticated guitars, with wider maple bodies, an arm contour, more flared horns and a little peak down on the lower bout, giving the butt a little S-curve. More importantly, these were neck-through-body guitars with natty colored pushbutton controls mounted on a metal plate on the lower bout. The heads had a slightly more pointed throat than the Strat-styles. These had deluxe covered Van Ghent tuners. Plastic logos were on the body. Fingerboards were Brazilian Rosewood with dot inlays. Pickups were the black oval single-coils on metal surrounds screwed into the top, although at some point after ’65 these changed to the newer rectangular black single-coils. A little black laminated pickguard sat under the strings, but had the cool feature of a lever volume control plus a volume knob for presetting an accompaniment level.

Controls were the same for both guitars, with 0=standby, 1=neck pickup, 2=bridge pickup, Hi, Mid, Low, Solo, and Accompaniment. Both had a finetune bridge and Hagstrom vibrato, and were available in mahogany sunburst or red sunburst. The Impala and Corvette were made until ’67, by which time 1,123 and 1,078 were made of each, respectively

The Impala six string electric guitar was produced at the Hagstrom plant in Alvdalen, Sweden between 1963 and 1967. It was a well-built guitar, with set neck, and interesting body styling and controls - the eight-switch push-button tone controls give "18 tonal effects" as described in the 1966 Hagstrom Catalogue, whilst the sliding volume control allows for "fast adjustments". Visually stunning in Red Sunburst and Mahogany Sunburst polyester finishes, they certainly do capture the essence of mid 1960s guitar design.

Although there were eight push switches, only seven were really needed, but this allowed the Impala to share the same body routing and components as the Corvette, reducing production costs. The controls were as follows: 3 pickup selectors - none, neck and bridge (black buttons), a tone - dark, mid or bright (red buttons), and mode - solo or accompaniment (blue buttons).

Built in batches typically 100-250 in size, a total of 1123 instruments left the factory, distributed in the United States first by Merson, then Unichord. Each of these batches also included similar numbers of the three-pickup sibling the Hagstrom Corvette/Condor. Corvette, 1963-1967.

SUMMARY.

All Hagstrom guitars are of the high quality you always expect of products made in Sweden and are extremely stylish and great players with their “fastest necks on earth”.

This model, the “Impala”, and its mate, the “Corvette/Condor”, is one of Hagstrom’s most collectible models.

CONDITION: This guitar is in overall GOOD CONDITION.

1.     Finish. The color is semi-transparent “RED SUNBURST” and is still strong. The guitar has been played (used) and has nicks, scratches, dings, and other finish damage that is very slight and does not affect the structural integrity of this guitar in any manner.  There is a small gash on the bottom end of the guitar. 

2.     Operation. This guitar is in excellent operating condition and all electronics and mechanical functions operate correctly.

Comes with case.

TERMS OF THE SALE:

For buyers outside the continental USA, please ask for shipping quote before buying this item. Thank you.

Please remember to read our policies and procedures listed below.

The guarantee.

1.                The guitar is in GOOD cosmetic condition and is as described in this ad.

2.               The guitar is in fully operational condition.

3.               Buyer has 48 hrs. to inspect the guitar or have it inspected. Any defects, damage, misrepresentations or other problems must be reported within that time period in writing to the Seller.

4.               In the case of damage during shipment, Buyer shall immediately inform seller of such damage and will maintain all original packing materials and box for inspection by the transportation company.

5.               If other problems are discovered, Seller will either arrange for repair etc. at a location near the Buyer or request that the Buyer return the guitar to the Seller (Seller will reimburse Buyer for cost of shipment of guitar back to Seller).

6.               Seller will correct indicated problems and ship the guitar back to the Buyer within 7 days of receiving it.

7.               In the event that the guitar cannot be repaired or replaced with a similar item from Seller’s inventory, the Seller will give the Buyer Credit toward current or future purchases from inventory of Seller.

8.               No refunds or returns for Buyer Remorse or Buyer Mind Changing.

9.               If there are any undisclosed physical attributes of this guitar that will prevent buyer from playing it successfully, e.g., neck to wide to be played with arthritic hands, guitar too heavy to be played due to back, shoulder, etc. problems, then we will, upon return of the guitar, issue a Credit Memo to Buyer in the amount paid for the guitar plus the cost of shipment paid by the Buyer against the future purchase of a guitar from us.