February | 2016 | Claescaster

The Wrecking Crew

If you have missed The Wrecking Crew, I can highly recommend this documentary about the real musicians behind some of the worlds biggest hits.

Gibson J-45/J-50

Gibson J-45 ADJ, built in Kalamazoo, Michigan, USA in 1965

As mentioned quite a few times in the past, I’m very gay for the old round shouldered Gibson J-45 / J-50. I’m not entirely sure why, it’s not just for the amazing bass response, I think I really like the look of the round shoulders as well, it’s very woman like. I previously owned a 1970 Gibson J-50 Deluxe which sounded great but it didn’t really have the look or sound I was after so eventually I sold it to a nice older gent living in Kent, no he lived in Asturias here in Spain but he might very well have been from Kent originally.

1965 Gibson J-45 ADJ, round shouldered dreadnought, natural finish spruce top, mahogany back and sides, rosewood fretboard and bridge. All original except for the refinish which turned this J-45 in to a J-50

In the beginning of the year I was contacted by a seller that happened to sit on a 1965 Gibson J-45 ADJ with a natural top, apparently it was refinished in the early 1970’s. It looked exactly like the guitar I was looking for, round shouldered, small headstock with old school Kluson 3-on-a-plate machine heads and a big pickguard. The only downside was a couple of old cracks in the top and the adjustable bridge. The cracks had been fixed 45 years ago and it wasn’t that hard to carve a new bone saddle the size of the old rosewood saddle, insert and all. Finally I had my mid-1960’s round shouldered Gibson J-50, I would of course have preferred a mid-1950’s but the price difference is just insane. Even though it’s a 1965 Gibson J-45, the only difference between the J-45 a J-50 was the sunburst so with that gone it’s a 1965 Gibson J-50.

I wasn’t overly keen on the sound of the original adjustable rosewood saddle so I carved a new one in bone and removed all the nuts and bolts under the bridge. The rosewood saddle didn’t sound bad, just a bit muffled and to me the bone is huge improvement

This is how cool I feel with my 1965 Gibson J-45, like a 1963 Bob Dylan with his late 1940’s Gibson J-50

February 5, 2016

Hagström Western 6

Hagström Western 6 Missouri, Made in Sweden 1978

Last week a new Hagström acoustic arrived from Sweden. Just like my 1975 Hagström B-60 this was made by Bjärton in the south of Sweden. Hagström / Bjärton guitars feels pretty different from Levin, a bit more boxy somehow, less refined. Having said that they are very well sounding guitars with a pretty unique tone, not quite the Gibson bass but that’s the best comparison I can think of. This Hagström Western 6 comes with more or less a Hagström Swede electric guitar neck. Same head shape, inlays and ebony fretboard, I love ebony. These actually came not only with ebony fretboard and bridge, they had ebony nut and saddle too. Mine has a rosewood bridge for some reason but it doesn’t seem to have been re-glued so I assume that someone at the factory took the wrong bridge or just preferred rosewood. Everything can happen in a guitar factory, hence all the mismatched mystery guitars that doesn’t exactly match the catalogue images. I really like this guitar, it looks awesome, sounds great and has something quite Swedish Country about it, a bit like me I guess.

hagstrom-western-6-made-in-sweden-1978-1

Hagström Western 6 Made in Sweden 1978 The guitar has quite a few battle scars, I presume it has lived through a Swedish midsummer or two. The head has been glued at some point, looks to have been done a very long time ago. There are quite a lot of scratches on the top and the back of the neck had some dents but I filled them so now you can hardly feel it. Notice the double sticker inside, one for Bjärton and then a Hagström on top.

Hagström Western 6 in a 1979 German Hagström catalogue

Hagström Western 6
Specifications: Body width: 410 mm, body length: 510 mm, body depth: 120 mm, scale length: 630 mm. Spruce top with X-bracing, mahogany back and sides. 4-ply bound top and bound back. Unbound ebony fingerboard and ebony bridge, mahogany neck. Matte natural finish and 10 year warranty. Offered in two versions: Fully acoustic (Western 6) or with pickup and controls (Western 6 EL). Marketed in Germany as Missouri. Introduced around 1977.

Hagström Western 6 and 12 in a 1979 Hagström catalogue