Hagstrom Viking Gold Top

Hagstrom say:

"The new Hagstrom 'Artist Project' series is a unique line of instruments that have been specially created in unison with a chosen few of our Hagstrom Artists. Each instrument is a representation of the musician’s creativity and specific demands, as each of these featured Artist’s has been given free hands to uniquely customize each of their own ideal instruments to create a perfect tool of musical expression.

"As primary touring guitarist for Paramore, Justin [York]’s role is to provide the supporting foundation of the band’s guitar sounds for each song. A band with a rich history like Paramore requires a broad range of guitar styles and textures. So, one of our main objectives was to create instruments with a broad tonal range easily accessible during a stage performance, a task Hagstrom is more than equal to.

"Justin’s Viking Gold Top starts with our classic Viking semi-hollow platform to which a classic vintage-style gold finish is applied. Justin loves Hagstrom’s thinner neck profiles, so we developed our 'Ultra-Thin', 17mm neck profile for his guitars. Vintage-style 'witch hat' knobs, same as used on our RetroScape models, complete the 'vintage vibe' this guitar oozes. A Hagstrom Custom 58 humbucking pickup in the bridge position provides classic rock tones, and when Justin wants to go slightly softer the HJ-50 humbucker in the neck position gets him there in smooth, elegant style. Individual coil-split is available via push/pull tone controls providing an expansive sonic palette.

"Finally, a useable tone control. The tone control is often a source of frustration for guitarists. This is because the design has historically been based on a passive treble-cut concept. The complete tonal spectrum is passed through the circuit when the control is fully open, and as it’s dialled down treble frequencies are eliminated. Many guitarists find this approach unusable, since the tone often becomes muddy and excessively 'dark' as the treble component is eliminated. Working with Justin we have developed a tone control which does the exact opposite.

"Instead of filtering treble frequencies, we filter the bass as the control is cut. The full treble spectrum is always available, and the tone control performs a bass-cut function. Justin finds this is much more useable on stage, and we think all Hagstrom guitarists will too."

SPECIFICATIONS:
Body Material: Ply Maple
Top: Contoured Style: Semi-Hollow Double Cutaway
Binding: Multi-Ply
Neck Joint: Set
Neck Material: Canadian Hard Maple
Profile: Ultra-Thin 17mm
Mortise and Long Tenon Neck Joint
Truss Rod: H-Expander™
Fingerboard/Nut Material: Resinator™
Radius: 15"
Inlays: Pearloid Block
Frets: 22 Medium Jumbo
Scale Length: 24.75" (628 mm)
Nut: GraphTech Black Tusq
Nut Width: 43 mm
Bridge Pickup: Hagstrom ‘58 Custom Humbucker
Neck Pickup: Hagstrom HJ-50 Humbucker
Pickup Selector: 3-Way Toggle Switch
Controls: 2 x Volume / 2 x Tone with Push/Pull Coil Splits
Custom Bass-Cut Tone Circuit
Bridge: Long-Throw Tune-O-Matic Bridge with Stop Tail Piece
Tuning Keys: Hagstrom Design 18:1
Strings: D'Addario (10-46)
Country of Manufacture    China
Body    Semi
Neck Join    Set Neck
String    6
Scale Length    24.75"
Nut Width    43mm (1 11/16")
Pickup    2 Humbuckers
Coil Split    Yes