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1965 Hagstrom II "transitional Model"
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History of the Hagstrom II and III "transitional" Model:
From 1960 through 1964, the body shape and pup tones of Hagstrom solid body guitars were styled on aFender Stratocaster (the guitar of choice for most Rock N Rollers at the time who were starting to play more "lead Guitar"). The shape, Double cut-away with rounded ends (aka "horns), allowed a solist to reach the higher frets - unlike a single cut-away like a Gibson LesPaul or Fender Telecaster.- Then in the middle of 1964, with the growing popularity of Gibson SGs, Hagstrom changed the body shape from a "Strat" style to a blending composite of BOTH a Strat and an SG - double cutaway with "pointed horns" and more beveling on the body itself. These were known as a "Deluxe"and only a few hundred were made, in 1965, they named the new models the Hagstrom II and III (based on how many pups they had). Therefore Hag IIs and IIIs made in 1965 are known as "Transitional models". You can tell a 1965 by the pups ... they have rounded corners - as of '66 the corners were squared off. (*note - they also made a Hagstrom I, but these looked nothing like the new IIs and IIIs - they retained the old "rounded horns", had two soap-bar pups and the back of thebody was padded with vinyl.
- But, for most of us, the most unique features of these old Hagstroms, and what makes playing them such a pleasure, is their particularly straight, thin, narrow necks andextremely low action.The early '60s Hagstroms had a sticker on the back of the headstock that said "Kings-Neck - patent-pending" (see photo) . As the necks were re-finished over the years, 90% of the people removed this sticker.To see the Kings-Neck sti
cker these days is rare. - Vintage Hags for the most part are like a like a well kept secret, treasured and highly sought after by only a select few, such as myself, who had played one back in the day; and it is this inside knowledge that keeps theresale price lower than any other vintage guitar of comparable quality and playability.
