1965 Hagstrom 1 Bass and Guitar Set

Hagstrom 1 Bass and Guitar Set 1965 full front view

Comments	Hagstrom had a long history of mass producing instruments in Europe under a number of brand names, but never gained mass acceptance in North America. In 1962, Hagstrom launched a series of guitars with coloured hard plastic (lucite) tops and vinyl covered backs. However, due to concerns of durability, these were given the brand name ‘Kent’. With the plastics used, they also featured a molded plastic pickguard with a ‘swimming pool’ between the two rounded single coil pickups. A curved control plated offered switches for pickup and tone (capacitor) selection, plus a mute switch, and a volume control. An all-new Hagstrom vibrato tailpiece was also added. In 1965, Hagstrom decided that these instruments would be renamed as the Hagstrom 1, and they were produced until 1971; however in 1966 the pickups changed to the more familiar rectangular shape. These two examples, a 1965 Hagstrom 1 Bass and Guitar Set, for sale as a set, are very interesting. The bass plays quite well, and the guitar could benefit from a setup, and they’d be quite usable instruments.
Serial Number	Bass: 627286 Guitar: 6501183. Hagstrom serial numbers indicate batch number (first three digits) and position (last three digits). While batch dating information isn’t readily available, we know that production of the Hagstrom 1 started in late 1965 (at least, it was renamed from its ‘Kent’ brand name and entered the Hagstrom catalog) and the pickups changed to a rectangular shape in 1966. Consequently, we’re dating these to 1965.
Pricing	$1,799.99 CAD as a set, with cases. SOLD
Neck	Maple necks with unbound rosewood fingerboards; Fender-esque headshape with
Frets	Original frets with some wear.
Body	Fender Strat-esqe shaped bodies; made from a lucite top screwed onto a softer wood core.
Finish	Blue, hard molded lucite top and blue (now faded) vinyl material on the backs. The necks are lacquered black.
Hardware/electronics	These are entirely original except for the strings!
Playability/Action	The bass is quite playable as is; the guitar’s action is currently high and would benefit from a setup.
Case	Original fibre case for the bass, period fiber case for the guitar.