Hagstrom 12 String Electric Guitar For Sale (2024 Update)

I bought mine new and it's everything positive others say about it. Don't know what bobz429 is talking about. Obviously he has a modified model. Hardware is first rate with a Hagstrom designed P90 single coil at the neck and classic '58C humbucker at the bridge (Hagstrom winds their own pickups). It's a joy to play, very clean factory pups, beautiful finish, very well crafted and flawless. Rivals guitars up to 3 times the cost in my opinion. The Hagstrom composite Resinator fret board is fast and has good sustain. This guitar can be used for jazz with very clean articulation and voicing, moan the blues, fit right into classic or grunge rock and growl with the best of 'em throughout it's entire range. The ringing clarity is stunning! It's a lot of bang for your buck, and lighter than you'd think for a guitar with a 28" scale. A "tad" neck-heavy balance wise, but once you play it and realize it's potential from mild to wild, this is easily overlooked and by "no means" a deal breaker. It has 5 star ratings across the board for a reason. It's simply that good! This is a players guitar and one I'll keep the rest of my life. It will surprise and please you once you plug it in. This is an amazing baritone. Plug it in, crank it up, and jam 'til the cows come home! If your in the marketfor a baritone guitar, the Hagstrom Viking Deluxe is very hard to beat! I personally don't think any others in it's price rang hold a candle to it. Highly recommended. Enjoy! Edit: Was surprised to see I wasn't listed as a verified purchaser (don't know how that works). Oh well, I assure you I own this guitar purchased from SoundsCheapMusic on eBay out of Pleasant Hill, MO on April 22, 2015… in the Cosmic Black Burst finish. All the same, you won't be disappointed. 😉honorable1-us

With more than 15yrs. of experience with various Hagstrom guitars and over 40yrs. of playing and performing, this instrument and review was an unexpected and a very pleasant surprise. I will acknowledge that I was prompted to pull the trigger on the purchase in no small part because of a couple of reviews here on MFI, one by a fellow who is an American musician living in Sweden. From what I was able to glean from a collection of YouTube videos from past NAMM shows, it looks like the Viking DLX 12 made it's debut about 2016, and has had at least one major update since, with the most notable being larger, but traditional-shaped F-holes on the top, fully creme bound, of course. I very much agree with the opinion previously expressed about there being a major advantage for Hagstrom because of their sourcing all woods(primarily Canada)and all hardware and electronics, leaving their factory contractors in China to concentrate on building the best looking/sounding instrument possible. I would place current Hagstrom product on a par with anything from the Park factories in Korea, and nearly on par with some of the older product that came from Matsumoko in Japan. IMHO, and as pointed out by a previous reviewer, the only real contenders in this narrow category of instrument are the hollowbody Ric 300 Series, and the current Gretsch Electromatic 5422-12, both of which are 2-3X the cost of a new Viking DLX 12. Pickups are clear voiced but fairly hot, and the Resonator fretboard feels great and works with the overall timbre of a maple bodied guitar. The bookmatched flame maple body sides, top, and back are a sight to behold; laminated but beautiful. The most playable and comfortable neck I have EVER put in my hand for a 12-string; a profile similar to an early 60's Gibson or modern ESP being "thin", but with a 15" radius and a 45mm black Tusq nut. Perfect for chording and rhythm, but enough room between string pairs for either finger or flatpicking with precision. Get ItArch69er

It caught my eye hanging in my local Guitar Center in Goodlettsville, TN, which has a terrific staff btw. I asked to try it and was quite impressed with the overall build quality and set-up. Simply perfect; action, intonation, fret dressing, etc. It didn't need a thing! Thought about it overnight and returned the next day to buy it.Alan

I just received my new Hagstrom Viking Deluxe guitar. It is awesome!! 50 years ago a neighbor friend had a solid body Hagstrom when I started learning to play guitar at the age of 1, we're talking 1967. I dreamed of owning a guitar like that. Flash forward 50 years, and I have owned dozens of fine guitars and not so fine guitars. I have a nice collection now, with a few Fenders, a great Epiphone and a Gibson Classic T 2017. This new Hagstrom from Musician's Friend sounds, looks, and feels better than I ever expected it to. The price is right and the fast service from MF was nice too. Everything about this guitar is great. The paint finish and detail is flawless. The chrome is top notch and the mechanical parts are better than a lot of more expensive instruments I've owned. The action on the neck is perfect for this old chord strummer. Although I have limited skills at lead guitar, plugged into my Vox AT20+, this thing wails and sustains with ease. I highly recommend this guitar for the beginner up to the pro. I can't wait to try it out in the clubs.John

I use this for my band, school, and solo work; it's an awesome guitar! My only complaint is that the strap button (behind the neck) cannot fit a strap lock screw (it would not go in all the way). However, I was able to simply use the washer trick on both buttons, and everything was fine. I love this guitar!Dakota H

So I just started playing in the spring of 2020 and I bought a new Fender strat from MF to get started with. Later I wanted this guitar for a harder metal tone and after reading the description I had an idea that this would be a little more difficult to play (for me) over the strat and help me improve quicker by struggling more (no pain no gain kinda thinking). I received this guitar less than 2 months ago and my first thoughts of it were; very light for its size, fits nicely in my lap without using a strap, has the tone I wanted for hard rock/metal. I was also very surprised with the acoustic feel and sound when playing a clean tone (im using a Fender Mustang GTX 100 amp). Btw I do find it harder to play bar chords on this guitar but I sound better playing them on the strat now :p My only problem with this guitar is a problem with the 18th fret on the high E string, it rings horribly wrong. A light press on that note and it will ring exactly as the 19th fret so you play the same note twice moving up or down the neck. With a harder press you get a very broken sounding note like you were pressing on the wrong end of the fret (that fret is very small in width btw). Other than that I had a scare when I first fired it up and threw the switch to the bridge pickup only, it didn't come on. The next few times it came on with a crackle but has come on clean ever since. I'm not sending this guitar back because I really like it and I'm not really playing on the 18th fret yet but I plan on taking it to my local GC to see if they can fix the fret issue.Jimbo

Overall: I have never purchased a guitar online but my have things changed. My Son ordered an Ibanez AS7312 as a gift for me. I unboxed it and it was stunning and I am particular. I looked high and low for a flaw but found none. I checked the neck relief, it was perfect, fret rocker, perfect – fret sprout, none, it was tuned 1/2 step down and the intonation was as close as you could with 6 saddles on a 12 string guitar. Then I plugged it in and I remembered why I missed my old 12 string so much. All I can say is great job Ibanez and great job zZounds.Stan

I have owned my Ibanez Artcore AS7312 for about a year now, and I will say it is one of the best guitars I own…..and I own many. I was looking for an electric 12 string without the price tag of a Rickenbacker. Even though I looked at this Ibanez many times, it took me a while to order it because I was trying to decide if on a semi hollow body design that the jangly, cutting thru sound that I was looking for would be there. When the guitar came in and I plugged it into my Fender Twin I could not have been happier. The sound continues to amaze me even after a year of hearing it. I don't think I realized at the time I ordered it that it had a solid maple block that the pickups were mounted into much less realize what a difference in the sound, and sustain that this would make. The solid center block, and the back and sides are all maple. The block gives the guitar bite and sustain, while the maple back and sides tends to project with a more brighter sound…….perfect for a great 12 string sound….at least to me anyway. I should have known Ibanez would know what they were doing, but I guess I more equate Ibanez with solid body guitars so it took me a while to order it. I equally enjoy just putting on 6 strings and playing it that way too. I have a '64 ES-335 but I actually like the sound to this guitar better probably because it sounds more like a solid body and that is mostly what I play. It was a little hard pressing down 12 strings until I read that a lot of players tune down a whole step and then capo back up to the 2nd fret. This made all this difference and was then easy to play. This guitar has a great action, great tone, and is pure elegance and eye candy on stage, lol If you're looking for a great 12 string electric at a decent price I would highly recommend this guitar.kareydunn1805

First of all the AR420 is a beautiful looking guitar with the abalone giving just a perfect amount of bling. The setup and action were great out of the box. The pickups are pretty good sounding alnicos and the tritone switching on each pickup give a wide variety of tones. The parallel sounds are a great alternative to the full humbucker and aren’t as thin as the split coils. The neck is very comfortable, fret ends are well finished and the hardware all seems fine. I find it very nice to play and easy to get the sounds I want. Design-wise the shape gives very good access to the upper frets but that also leads to the primary drawbacks, neither of which is an enormous issue for me but just annoying. Firstly the guitar is neck heavy so it does want to dive and secondly the pickup selector switch is directly above the neck pickup as it had to be brought forward towards the bridge due to the cutaway. That does make it susceptible to being knocked while playing with a resultant pickup selection change. Overall I am very happy with this guitar.Andrew C.

I am in love with this guitar! I always wanted an electric 12 string, and I'm delighted with this one. Andertons had it at the best price I was able to find anywhere, either in-store or online. It was perfectly set up and in perfect conditionReviewed by Andertons Music Co.

I just got my aqua model and I’m very happy. First off, it was in tune so it was great to be able to play it right away and not go thru nightmare tuning! The fit and finish is excellent as is the sound. Both plugged and unplugged. It plays so easily that I found myself playing leads in all positions. Unlike most 12 strings of the past. Definitely well worth the $$$.Brian Limmer

I bought mine new and it's everything positive others say about it. Don't know what bobz429 is talking about. Obviously he has a modified model. Hardware is first rate with a Hagstrom designed P90 single coil at the neck and classic '58C humbucker at the bridge (Hagstrom winds their own pickups). It's a joy to play, very clean factory pups, beautiful finish, very well crafted and flawless. Rivals guitars up to 3 times the cost in my opinion. The Hagstrom composite Resinator fret board is fast and has good sustain. This guitar can be used for jazz with very clean articulation and voicing, moan the blues, fit right into classic or grunge rock and growl with the best of 'em throughout it's entire range. The ringing clarity is stunning! It's a lot of bang for your buck, and lighter than you'd think for a guitar with a 28" scale. A "tad" neck-heavy balance wise, but once you play it and realize it's potential from mild to wild, this is easily overlooked and by "no means" a deal breaker. It has 5 star ratings across the board for a reason. It's simply that good! This is a players guitar and one I'll keep the rest of my life. It will surprise and please you once you plug it in. This is an amazing baritone. Plug it in, crank it up, and jam 'til the cows come home! If your in the marketfor a baritone guitar, the Hagstrom Viking Deluxe is very hard to beat! I personally don't think any others in it's price rang hold a candle to it. Highly recommended. Enjoy! Edit: Was surprised to see I wasn't listed as a verified purchaser (don't know how that works). Oh well, I assure you I own this guitar purchased from SoundsCheapMusic on eBay out of Pleasant Hill, MO on April 22, 2015… in the Cosmic Black Burst finish. All the same, you won't be disappointed. 😉honorable1-us

With more than 15yrs. of experience with various Hagstrom guitars and over 40yrs. of playing and performing, this instrument and review was an unexpected and a very pleasant surprise. I will acknowledge that I was prompted to pull the trigger on the purchase in no small part because of a couple of reviews here on MFI, one by a fellow who is an American musician living in Sweden. From what I was able to glean from a collection of YouTube videos from past NAMM shows, it looks like the Viking DLX 12 made it's debut about 2016, and has had at least one major update since, with the most notable being larger, but traditional-shaped F-holes on the top, fully creme bound, of course. I very much agree with the opinion previously expressed about there being a major advantage for Hagstrom because of their sourcing all woods(primarily Canada)and all hardware and electronics, leaving their factory contractors in China to concentrate on building the best looking/sounding instrument possible. I would place current Hagstrom product on a par with anything from the Park factories in Korea, and nearly on par with some of the older product that came from Matsumoko in Japan. IMHO, and as pointed out by a previous reviewer, the only real contenders in this narrow category of instrument are the hollowbody Ric 300 Series, and the current Gretsch Electromatic 5422-12, both of which are 2-3X the cost of a new Viking DLX 12. Pickups are clear voiced but fairly hot, and the Resonator fretboard feels great and works with the overall timbre of a maple bodied guitar. The bookmatched flame maple body sides, top, and back are a sight to behold; laminated but beautiful. The most playable and comfortable neck I have EVER put in my hand for a 12-string; a profile similar to an early 60's Gibson or modern ESP being "thin", but with a 15" radius and a 45mm black Tusq nut. Perfect for chording and rhythm, but enough room between string pairs for either finger or flatpicking with precision. Get ItArch69er

It caught my eye hanging in my local Guitar Center in Goodlettsville, TN, which has a terrific staff btw. I asked to try it and was quite impressed with the overall build quality and set-up. Simply perfect; action, intonation, fret dressing, etc. It didn't need a thing! Thought about it overnight and returned the next day to buy it.Alan

The pics online dont fo this guitar justice. The quality and beauty are outstanding. Its very ornate in a modern-vintage kind of way, with pearl inlay all around The tones are beautiful and the setup was perfect out of the box. Theres lots of variety in the tones, The action is very low. Its very comfortable and lightweight and the back of the neck is so smooth and easy to run your hand along. The tuning pegs are the best implementation ive seen, they are very unique and precise. I absolutely love this guitar. I think im only going to buy Hagstrom from now on!! Cant believe its such an unheard of name in the USTed

I purchased one of these a couple of years ago. Recently I purchased a Gibson LP Studio from Musicians Friend, and was so disappointed in the quality and playability compared to the Hagstrom, that I sent the Gibson back. 1. The neck is to die for. It's really that good. 2. The Resonator Fret Board is amazing. 2. I put a Dimarzio Air Norton in the Neck and a Tone Zone in the bridge and it sounds REALLY good. 3. The setup is lower than on any guitar I've owned. 4. It stayed in tune just OK. Put a set of Planet waves locking tuners on it, and a Tone Pro's locking bridge and I can now aggressively bend strings through an entire set of music without it going out of tune.WildNorth

Hagstrom produces the best semi-hollow and hollowbody guitars not only in the upper-midrange price, but some of the best you will find anywhere, especially their 12 strings. Gretsch used to produce superior guitars in a similar price range, but their playability/action has deteriorated somewhat since 2010, due to proliferation, from the incomparable and tell-tale action they otherwise generate in their models. Hagstrom does not have a compromised playability at mid-range. Hagstrom arguably makes the best semi-hollows around (unless you want a Gibson instead of a car) with fine materials, particularly wood, a rich and ringing full sound from unique signature buckers, and superb quality, decorative, solid appointments that rival anything Rickenbacker produces. Gretsch, Ric, and Hagstrom are the best brands out there for semis and hollows, but only Hagstrom gives you the total package for under a grand. You can never go wrong with their semi-hollows. For this 33 year player and collector, Hagstrom has become THE brand to consider for this guitar type–a player, by the way, who loves Gretsch and Ric, and owns multiple instruments by all three brands. Try one. It's not hit or miss with these Swedish gems, when last I checked. And as an added note of interest, Zappa once played Hagstroms….so there it is.Chris

Overall, I am pleased with the purchase of my Guild Starfire VI. It sells new for $1499 and I bought it used for $750 with just minor scratches on the pick guard, and otherwise no cosmetic defects or problems. But it did need some work. Luckily, I am a guitar tinkerer so I was able to fix the issues and get it playing nicely. Pros: Great looking guitar, with blonde maple finish and gold-plated hardware. And it has a nice sound, too. The attack on the individual notes is nice, and the chords sound well balanced between highs and lows. The adjustment on the individual volume and tone controls makes it easy to dial up the sound you want quickly. The master volume control is nice, allowing me to adjust the overall volume without adjusting the mix between the two pickups. Cons: The major problem with this guitar is the whammy bar, which takes the guitar out of tune as soon as I use it. I found myself constantly tuning it, even after the new strings settled in. I was able to fix this, however. More on this below. Another problem was fret buzz on fret #7 and #10 on the 6th string. However, I was able to fix this, too. More on this below. Finally, I have an issue with the action of the master volume adjustment. It is not linear, when going from 1 to 9 (soft to full volume). Here's the rub: when I adjust the volume from 1 to 7 it doesn't change the volume that much. However, between 7 and 9 it goes from medium loud to very loud. I find myself making minor adjustments between 7 and 9 most of the time. I hardly use the range between 1 and 7. And adjusting the individual volume controls on the pickups to try various combinations did not help. So, I've just learned to live with it. To fix the whammy bar intonation issue, I purchased a replacement bridge on the Internet for $11.00, the kind that has rollers instead of the v-notches on the stock bridge. Then, I routed the strings straight from the back tension bar directly to the bridge, bypassing the middle bar. See my picture and compare to the factory picture. This caused a secondary problem which is that the length of string between the bridge and the tail piece is way long, causing parasitic oscillations. I fixed this by putting in some felt or foam to dampen the strings. Now it works nicely and stays in tune when I whammy. To fix the fret buzz, I used a fret buzz removal tool purchased for $17.00 and it did the trick. After adjusting the new bridge and setting the intonation, the guitar plays nicely and sounds great. Hope this helps.tempfinder

These guitars are pretty sweet. Cosmetically, these are well made. Gorgeous finish that honestly, Chinese manufacturers have mastered over the years. There's nothing I would change about the looks. The feel of the neck is perfect. There are some sharp fret ends which is expected from a Chinese made guitar, but not significant. The pickups sounds great clean and amazing when overdriven. Nice low end, but not too dark on the highs. I threw it through a TS-9 and a hard driven Rat distortion and it has a beautiful open KARRANNGGG and not that fuzz you get out of a pickup that can't handle heavy overdrive. This hollow body can handle hard rock. It stays in tune well. They were VERY wise to make their guitars have a stock tusq nut. Most thinking issues are due to lousy stock nut. No plans to change tuners like I usually do, they work well and the pegs are pretty unique, similar to D'angelico pegs. The electronics I would say are adequate, not incredible. The volume pots have a nice sweep, but the tone pots have most of their sweep on the bottom end of travel. The coil tap isn't great, but I've never been impressed with coil any guitar IMO 🤷‍♂️. There's a little popping when you switch pickups or coil tap as well. Overall, I'd say this is a well made guitar and well worth the money. If you are picky, you may wanna have the fret ends filed and swap out the electronics otherwise, great guitar to play.Josh p

The pics online dont fo this guitar justice. The quality and beauty are outstanding. Its very ornate in a modern-vintage kind of way, with pearl inlay all around The tones are beautiful and the setup was perfect out of the box. Theres lots of variety in the tones, The action is very low. Its very comfortable and lightweight and the back of the neck is so smooth and easy to run your hand along. The tuning pegs are the best implementation ive seen, they are very unique and precise. I absolutely love this guitar. I think im only going to buy Hagstrom from now on!! Cant believe its such an unheard of name in the USTed

I had an old Hagstrom 1 (also called "Kent" or "poor man's Strat")years ago that got me through my youth and did that instrument ever take a beating. I wish Hagstrom would make an updated reissue of that guitar. I have Gibson Les Pauls and American Strats now but I was still interested in getting another Hagstrom. I studied the photos here on MF and I remembered there was a pickup kit that would fit this guitar, and surely enough here on MF I found an EMG 81/85/PA2 Kerry King pickup/ boost kit that (almost) fits this guitar. So I bought both the guitar and the EMGs. Received everything together in one free shipment a couple days later. I took out the stock wiring and installed the EMGs with 1 minor required alteration to the guitar. The neck pickup fit, but I had to chisel out a narrow and shallow channel under the pickup (always measure) for the cable connector under the pickup. The bridge pickup and the PA2 booster went right in, all with the solderless EMG wiring. I only had to make 4 (N,B,Common, Ground) easy solder connections, all on the pickup switch. It took me literally 20 minutes to make this upgrade! I also had a set of 3 x 3 locking tuners and they went right in too. Still didn't have to change the strings! Now,it screams right along with an equivalently equipped Gibson Les Paul Studio. The Swede isn't as good sounding as my old Les Paul Standard, but what is? Now as for quality, Hagstrom is known for their fast, slick necks. This instrument is no exception and the neck is so true I have the action set at the 8th fret to a miniscule .005 in. and I don't get any string buzz even with hard picking! There isn't ANY guitar brand that can even come close to that, including Ibanez. Another interesting quality issue; the maple cap on top of the Swede measures a full 1/8 inch thicker than my Les Paul Studio, and the same as my LP Standard (and now you pay for empty space to boot). So the tone is brighter than the Studio, but doesn't have quite the low end. In enters the equalizer pedal. The fretboard is some sort of grained polymer and it makes the harmonics sing off the instrument. The finish and binding is meticulous. So when you get the money I'd come here and get what I did. You'll find your Hagstrom is always ready to play. I'm always tweaking this or that on the others, but never the Hagstrom. Just the initial upgrades. I pull it off the rack every night, give it a slight tuning and its right back to work screaming away like it never stopped. Can't beat that!northslide098

Having previously owned this guitar I would say that for a beginner to immediate guitarist looking to expand his/her collection or looking for something that can open up your tonal range to blues and classic rock. This would be the perfect guitar for you. If you are a professional looking for a project guitar this would also be a good choice. I do not recommend this guitar over any of the hollow/semi-hollows offered by PRS, Gibson, Taylor, and Godin. Hopefully I offered a realistic point of view for potential buyers. This is a great guitar but having a 335, JA-15, Multiac Jazz, and SC245. I modded my Hag with piezo from graph tech, gibson p/u's, schertler tuners, new wiring and jacks, tusq. nut upgrade and made this thing sound like a beast but at the end of the day I spent 3 times as much upgrading it than I did paying for it and I was still a little let down when it was all said and done. The viking has a pretty standard layout of two tone and volume knobs with a three way switch. These semi hollows are not expected to have more options accept the occasional piezo or synth options (godin, carvin, prs to name a few). I can't subtract points for Hagstrom hitting the mark in this department. This is a vintage designed guitar so extra features are not asked of it. You do however get what you pay for with the tuners, nut, bridge…etc. Less expensive guitars may sound ok but at the end of the day you have to spend 400 or more just to even try and compare it to a higher end semi hollowbody. Most people will think I am crazy for rating this a 6 but after reading the other reviewers compare this guitar to PRS and Gibson I must strongly disagree that this guitar does not come close. You have to consider a lot more when reviewing a guitar. Wood types, builder quality, components, and finally out of box conditions. By reading these reviews people are complaining about getting it set up or crooked parts or input jacks falling off. I dare somebody to tell me PRS does not do a significantly better job with out of box condition. So my quality is low because I am comparing the Viking to a PRS/Gibson and not an Epiphone or other more equivalent company. Value I would say is right where it should be. This is a less expensive guitar offering decent tone and workmanship. However, there is no excuse to have consistent complaints of out of box condition, therefore I can not give a perfect rating. It is priced just right for what it is worth; unlike Gibson studios which are way over priced as well as Fender American series guitars.Vintageman

This guitar is poorly made and has a very cheep feel. The sound is interesting and I like the tone, but a good epiphone in this price range would be a much better value. I'm very thankful for Guitar Center's return policy. I ordered this guitar on Guitar Center's website and returned it to my local store.Brian

Great guitar listed as used (Hagstrom Viking). Bought it for about half the normal price. It wasn't used. It arrived in mint condition, hanging tags, plastic on the pickups pick guard and tuners. Brand new. Thanks.rickholly

I bought mine new and it's everything positive others say about it. Don't know what bobz429 is talking about. Obviously he has a modified model. Hardware is first rate with a Hagstrom designed P90 single coil at the neck and classic '58C humbucker at the bridge (Hagstrom winds their own pickups). It's a joy to play, very clean factory pups, beautiful finish, very well crafted and flawless. Rivals guitars up to 3 times the cost in my opinion. The Hagstrom composite Resinator fret board is fast and has good sustain. This guitar can be used for jazz with very clean articulation and voicing, moan the blues, fit right into classic or grunge rock and growl with the best of 'em throughout it's entire range. The ringing clarity is stunning! It's a lot of bang for your buck, and lighter than you'd think for a guitar with a 28" scale. A "tad" neck-heavy balance wise, but once you play it and realize it's potential from mild to wild, this is easily overlooked and by "no means" a deal breaker. It has 5 star ratings across the board for a reason. It's simply that good! This is a players guitar and one I'll keep the rest of my life. It will surprise and please you once you plug it in. This is an amazing baritone. Plug it in, crank it up, and jam 'til the cows come home! If your in the marketfor a baritone guitar, the Hagstrom Viking Deluxe is very hard to beat! I personally don't think any others in it's price rang hold a candle to it. Highly recommended. Enjoy! Edit: Was surprised to see I wasn't listed as a verified purchaser (don't know how that works). Oh well, I assure you I own this guitar purchased from SoundsCheapMusic on eBay out of Pleasant Hill, MO on April 22, 2015… in the Cosmic Black Burst finish. All the same, you won't be disappointed. 😉honorable1-us

With more than 15yrs. of experience with various Hagstrom guitars and over 40yrs. of playing and performing, this instrument and review was an unexpected and a very pleasant surprise. I will acknowledge that I was prompted to pull the trigger on the purchase in no small part because of a couple of reviews here on MFI, one by a fellow who is an American musician living in Sweden. From what I was able to glean from a collection of YouTube videos from past NAMM shows, it looks like the Viking DLX 12 made it's debut about 2016, and has had at least one major update since, with the most notable being larger, but traditional-shaped F-holes on the top, fully creme bound, of course. I very much agree with the opinion previously expressed about there being a major advantage for Hagstrom because of their sourcing all woods(primarily Canada)and all hardware and electronics, leaving their factory contractors in China to concentrate on building the best looking/sounding instrument possible. I would place current Hagstrom product on a par with anything from the Park factories in Korea, and nearly on par with some of the older product that came from Matsumoko in Japan. IMHO, and as pointed out by a previous reviewer, the only real contenders in this narrow category of instrument are the hollowbody Ric 300 Series, and the current Gretsch Electromatic 5422-12, both of which are 2-3X the cost of a new Viking DLX 12. Pickups are clear voiced but fairly hot, and the Resonator fretboard feels great and works with the overall timbre of a maple bodied guitar. The bookmatched flame maple body sides, top, and back are a sight to behold; laminated but beautiful. The most playable and comfortable neck I have EVER put in my hand for a 12-string; a profile similar to an early 60's Gibson or modern ESP being "thin", but with a 15" radius and a 45mm black Tusq nut. Perfect for chording and rhythm, but enough room between string pairs for either finger or flatpicking with precision. Get ItArch69er

It caught my eye hanging in my local Guitar Center in Goodlettsville, TN, which has a terrific staff btw. I asked to try it and was quite impressed with the overall build quality and set-up. Simply perfect; action, intonation, fret dressing, etc. It didn't need a thing! Thought about it overnight and returned the next day to buy it.Alan

I use to own 330/12 I sold it foolishly, but Im glad I did. I love this one so much more, for starters its more authentic in look and feel, its modelled after the famous George Harrison Rick 12 string Its a stunning guitar in real life. I highly rate this guitar, 10/10 Not to mention the beautiful case it comes in Regards Andrew Armstrong (Australia)andrewma1959

Lefty Rics are few and far between, even more so for the twelves (no new ones have been produced for a number of years now). This one turned out to be very well cared for and in near mint condition for a twenty five year old guitar, and plays and sounds like the dream guitar I always believed it would be. Fellow lefties, keep the faith, keep an open mind and one day yours will turn up too.longnecklefty

I love this guitar for jazz and ALL styles. It can bring you great blues vibes and even rock tones that are great. This was remarkable to me because it only has the one pickup, but it is a great sounding mini humbucker and it picks up the strings and sounds really well from how nicely this hollow body reverberates. The feel of the guitar is stellar and having the cutaway is very nice to get up the neck (which is a pretty fast neck). I took off the padding under the bridge and it made the tone a lot better. I also have found that flatwound chrome strings are ideal for this guitar. I enjoy it acoustically, but plugged in is where this baby wants to be! Great tone, feel and really awesome mojo/looks! Get one today!trentmason97

I got this guitar because I wanted to have a hagstrom in my collection. After receiving it I played on it for atleast an hour. The stock pickups sound amazing and I will not be changing them. It is a heavy guitar. Probably 9-12 pounds (4-6 Kg). The quality of the guitar is spectacular. To find something similar you would have to spend double. It holds tuning, it plays amazing, it sounds phenomenal, overall it's a great instrument and I highly recommend it.charles_alsip

Never owned a Gibson but played a few over the years, but could never bring myself to spend that much on one. This guitar has so much of the sound and feel of a Gibson at half the cost. Have been a fan of Pat for a while but had little to do with actually getting this guitar. Was a fender man for so long, but no more.Acidcouch

I love this guitar! Its like if you take a Les Paul, and make it metal! Only thing I don't like is the pickup selection location and the weight however you get used to it quick. Personally I think it's a little to highly priced but I still don't regret my choice.Nick G

I just received my new Hagstrom Viking Deluxe guitar. It is awesome!! 50 years ago a neighbor friend had a solid body Hagstrom when I started learning to play guitar at the age of 1, we're talking 1967. I dreamed of owning a guitar like that. Flash forward 50 years, and I have owned dozens of fine guitars and not so fine guitars. I have a nice collection now, with a few Fenders, a great Epiphone and a Gibson Classic T 2017. This new Hagstrom from Musician's Friend sounds, looks, and feels better than I ever expected it to. The price is right and the fast service from MF was nice too. Everything about this guitar is great. The paint finish and detail is flawless. The chrome is top notch and the mechanical parts are better than a lot of more expensive instruments I've owned. The action on the neck is perfect for this old chord strummer. Although I have limited skills at lead guitar, plugged into my Vox AT20+, this thing wails and sustains with ease. I highly recommend this guitar for the beginner up to the pro. I can't wait to try it out in the clubs.John

I use this for my band, school, and solo work; it's an awesome guitar! My only complaint is that the strap button (behind the neck) cannot fit a strap lock screw (it would not go in all the way). However, I was able to simply use the washer trick on both buttons, and everything was fine. I love this guitar!Dakota H

So I just started playing in the spring of 2020 and I bought a new Fender strat from MF to get started with. Later I wanted this guitar for a harder metal tone and after reading the description I had an idea that this would be a little more difficult to play (for me) over the strat and help me improve quicker by struggling more (no pain no gain kinda thinking). I received this guitar less than 2 months ago and my first thoughts of it were; very light for its size, fits nicely in my lap without using a strap, has the tone I wanted for hard rock/metal. I was also very surprised with the acoustic feel and sound when playing a clean tone (im using a Fender Mustang GTX 100 amp). Btw I do find it harder to play bar chords on this guitar but I sound better playing them on the strat now :p My only problem with this guitar is a problem with the 18th fret on the high E string, it rings horribly wrong. A light press on that note and it will ring exactly as the 19th fret so you play the same note twice moving up or down the neck. With a harder press you get a very broken sounding note like you were pressing on the wrong end of the fret (that fret is very small in width btw). Other than that I had a scare when I first fired it up and threw the switch to the bridge pickup only, it didn't come on. The next few times it came on with a crackle but has come on clean ever since. I'm not sending this guitar back because I really like it and I'm not really playing on the 18th fret yet but I plan on taking it to my local GC to see if they can fix the fret issue.Jimbo

I just received my new Hagstrom Viking Deluxe guitar. It is awesome!! 50 years ago a neighbor friend had a solid body Hagstrom when I started learning to play guitar at the age of 1, we're talking 1967. I dreamed of owning a guitar like that. Flash forward 50 years, and I have owned dozens of fine guitars and not so fine guitars. I have a nice collection now, with a few Fenders, a great Epiphone and a Gibson Classic T 2017. This new Hagstrom from Musician's Friend sounds, looks, and feels better than I ever expected it to. The price is right and the fast service from MF was nice too. Everything about this guitar is great. The paint finish and detail is flawless. The chrome is top notch and the mechanical parts are better than a lot of more expensive instruments I've owned. The action on the neck is perfect for this old chord strummer. Although I have limited skills at lead guitar, plugged into my Vox AT20+, this thing wails and sustains with ease. I highly recommend this guitar for the beginner up to the pro. I can't wait to try it out in the clubs.John

I use this for my band, school, and solo work; it's an awesome guitar! My only complaint is that the strap button (behind the neck) cannot fit a strap lock screw (it would not go in all the way). However, I was able to simply use the washer trick on both buttons, and everything was fine. I love this guitar!Dakota H

So I just started playing in the spring of 2020 and I bought a new Fender strat from MF to get started with. Later I wanted this guitar for a harder metal tone and after reading the description I had an idea that this would be a little more difficult to play (for me) over the strat and help me improve quicker by struggling more (no pain no gain kinda thinking). I received this guitar less than 2 months ago and my first thoughts of it were; very light for its size, fits nicely in my lap without using a strap, has the tone I wanted for hard rock/metal. I was also very surprised with the acoustic feel and sound when playing a clean tone (im using a Fender Mustang GTX 100 amp). Btw I do find it harder to play bar chords on this guitar but I sound better playing them on the strat now :p My only problem with this guitar is a problem with the 18th fret on the high E string, it rings horribly wrong. A light press on that note and it will ring exactly as the 19th fret so you play the same note twice moving up or down the neck. With a harder press you get a very broken sounding note like you were pressing on the wrong end of the fret (that fret is very small in width btw). Other than that I had a scare when I first fired it up and threw the switch to the bridge pickup only, it didn't come on. The next few times it came on with a crackle but has come on clean ever since. I'm not sending this guitar back because I really like it and I'm not really playing on the 18th fret yet but I plan on taking it to my local GC to see if they can fix the fret issue.Jimbo

I purchased this Hagstrom III for nostalgic / sentimental reasons, based on a memory of the same guitar from 1975 that was owned by a family member. I wanted to buy it from him back then, but he wouldn't sell it. So when the reissue appeared this year, I added one to my collection based on that childhood experience. Otherwise, I would return it. It plays and sounds okay, but is comparable in quality to a Squire Strat at best, and should have been priced accordingly. I did perform a setup, as it arrived unplayable, and got it functioning well enough, but I had to tighten up all of the hardware because it was loose and rattling. This included the output jack, which necessitated removing and modifying with small rubber washers to stop the rattling sounds created when playing. The real pet peeve was the protective plastic covering the scratch plate. The pickups are installed over the plastic, preventing a clean removal. I had to remove the strings and entire pickguard assembly in order to remove all of the unsightly traces of plastic that remained after removing the main piece. It took about an hour to correct this issue. All in all, not a very fun way to spend the first day with a new guitar. For the money, many other companies make a much better playing guitar, so I would pass on this one and check out Epiphone, MIM Fender or any other manufacturer. I am keeping this one only because ot the sentimental reason stated above.JB

I chose this model over the H-III for one reason, the pickups are a recreation of the originals, not ceramic. And you get sounds out of this that remind me of that old time early rock & roll sound. No, not Zepplin, older, like a Chuck Berry sound. It feels good in the hand, I have always loved the Hagstrom necks, and it just stays in tune, period. The only thing about the setup is the tone switches, you have to experiment, and obviously the single pickup hum is there, but not too bad. The high rolloff circuit on the volume knob works, you keep your highs. I actually printed it out, I might try it on another of my guitars. Easy to play, fun to listen to, not a sound you find every day. Try running it through an acoustic amplifier with just a hair of reverb and the neck and middle pickup on…old time sounds abound.2014brzo

Unique retro sound . Very pretty with great feeling easy to play neck.Had to try different strings til I got the sound I wanted. Finally put Ernie Ball Mammoth Slinky Strings on the guitar.Playing in open D and open C .Great electric slide guitar. I would try one out first if I were you. I got mine as an open box so got it at a good price. Was something I always wanted cause in the sixties had friends that owned hagstroms.Bruce

The pics online dont fo this guitar justice. The quality and beauty are outstanding. Its very ornate in a modern-vintage kind of way, with pearl inlay all around The tones are beautiful and the setup was perfect out of the box. Theres lots of variety in the tones, The action is very low. Its very comfortable and lightweight and the back of the neck is so smooth and easy to run your hand along. The tuning pegs are the best implementation ive seen, they are very unique and precise. I absolutely love this guitar. I think im only going to buy Hagstrom from now on!! Cant believe its such an unheard of name in the USTed

I purchased one of these a couple of years ago. Recently I purchased a Gibson LP Studio from Musicians Friend, and was so disappointed in the quality and playability compared to the Hagstrom, that I sent the Gibson back. 1. The neck is to die for. It's really that good. 2. The Resonator Fret Board is amazing. 2. I put a Dimarzio Air Norton in the Neck and a Tone Zone in the bridge and it sounds REALLY good. 3. The setup is lower than on any guitar I've owned. 4. It stayed in tune just OK. Put a set of Planet waves locking tuners on it, and a Tone Pro's locking bridge and I can now aggressively bend strings through an entire set of music without it going out of tune.WildNorth

Okay – I'll admit I sought this guitar out after seeing the recent "Elvis" movie and drooling over the vintage Hagstrom in "The Comeback Special". I didn't know much more about this guitar and knew little about Hagstrom's current build quality. This is a GREAT guitar and beautiful too. The sound is super clear and warm. I also own a Gibson Nashville and a Gibson ES335 and I think I might prefer this Viking. Super easy and fun to play. It far exceeded my expectations. As far a finding the Hagstrom case – well, you may have to do some hunting.Peter

My first guitar was a Hagstrom 2. I wanted a total hollow guitar like a Casino and I like the fast necks Hagstroms offer. So I pulled the trigger. The action was good. However, the intonation was the worst I encountered in a brand new. A local Luther fixed that and made some other adjustments. It plays to its high potential now. It is also missing a knob dot. I mentioned both issues to Hagstrom and they replied by asking me for the serial number. So I imagine they are tracing back to the assembly point. Tone is good especially at the neck pickup. The bridge pu is a little thin but that is the vintage sound. I would recommend the guitar on the basis of quality but below I said I wouldn't because this is a niche axe with a small but dedicated cadre like me. So most of my friends don't fall into the vintage arch top category.Mike