Low End Of Love

Joe Shooman signs off each issue by celebrating an iconic bass guitar This month: The Hagström Super Swede

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The Hagström Super Swede bass is as iconic as they come. Designed by the company’s Per-Åke Olsson in collaboration with, and specifically for, the much-missed ABBA bassist Rutger Gunnarsson, it was first wielded on the band’s last-ever North America tour in September and October 1979. Only 364 instruments were produced on the Super Swede’s initial run. Made of mahogany, its through-neck—and consequent lack of heel—enabled great neck access to the top register. The passive dual humbuckers allowed a wide, hefty tone, particularly with heavier-gauge strings.

The headstock’s classic logo and off-center cut are instantly recognizable as the work of talented technicians; this is no mass-produced duffer, and you’ll pay handsomely for the privilege of owning an original (think low-to-mid four figures). The instrument is, in many ways, the pinnacle of an instrument-maker’s ongoing quest to find sonic perfection.