Keeping It Swede

This month Alex Bishop tackles a soundboard restoration, stabilising a shattered 1960s Hagstrom guitar years after a devastating accident

- Alex Bishop

Earlier this month, in the middle of running my weekly guitar-making evening class, I heard, above the cacophony of power tools and planing, the shrill tinkle of the workshop doorbell. At the door a solemn-looking customer clutching a guitar asked me if I might be able to help with a repair. He explained that the instrument, which had belonged to his father who had recently passed away, was played for many decades until a catastrophic skiing accident crushed the top in dramatic fashion. This was no normal repair ticket, but an object of memory and family connection.

The instrument in question – a 1960s Hagstrom guitar – was built in Sweden at a time when the identity of the acoustic guitar was very much in flux thanks to big leaps in electric guitar design. Acoustic guitar manufacturers in the 60s seemed to be experimenting with ways to integrate new hardware into their instruments, and Hagstrom attempted this by combining a tune-o-matic-style saddle and elaborate tailpiece with a traditional wooden bridge and standard X-bracing. These guitars are rarely museum pieces, but they are working instruments, often lived hard and well loved.