I'm fairly certain that everyone around here is at least somewhat familiar with Hagstrom of Sweden and their basses and/or guitars. But this is not a stringed instrument...
You're looking at circa 1964 Hagstrom B210 bass head. Yes, it does resemble your grandmother's radio sans the AM dial.
Apart from the missing Hagstrom insignia, and fuse housing that someone has fooled around with, it's in 100% original working condition. I must admit that I expected worse - a lot worse - when I first got it, but my tech reports no issues whatsoever as well as zero previous repairs. Wow.
One thing which has puzzled me from the very beginning is who exactly Hagstrom saw as their target market back then ? This head was originally paired with a 1x12" cabinet that I've never seen IRL, but seems to be quite shallow judging from the few pictures I've come across. The amp itself is declared at 10W although the ECLL800 output tube realistically pushes out somewhere around 7-8W. Good enough for rehearsal back then I guess, but hardly for a gig of *any* type, IMO, although I wasn't a musician when this baby rolled off the assembly line...
The sound is very tubey and very European. The closest comparison that comes to my mind would be Dynacord Bass King, but this old Swede sports far less power than the German legend. B210 goes into light overdrive quite fast, although a lot will depend on the instrument plugged in it. So far, it seems to like the low impedance pickups on my Les Paul basses the best. I might just replace the ECC83 tube with an ECC81 or 82 at some point in the future to see how this little beast behaves with a more "placid" pre-amp tube..
Overall, I'm beyond pleased. A tiny tube amp that plays well with both guitar and bass, sounds great, looks beyond unusual and hasn't cost a fortune. What's there not to like ?
You're looking at circa 1964 Hagstrom B210 bass head. Yes, it does resemble your grandmother's radio sans the AM dial.
Apart from the missing Hagstrom insignia, and fuse housing that someone has fooled around with, it's in 100% original working condition. I must admit that I expected worse - a lot worse - when I first got it, but my tech reports no issues whatsoever as well as zero previous repairs. Wow.
One thing which has puzzled me from the very beginning is who exactly Hagstrom saw as their target market back then ? This head was originally paired with a 1x12" cabinet that I've never seen IRL, but seems to be quite shallow judging from the few pictures I've come across. The amp itself is declared at 10W although the ECLL800 output tube realistically pushes out somewhere around 7-8W. Good enough for rehearsal back then I guess, but hardly for a gig of *any* type, IMO, although I wasn't a musician when this baby rolled off the assembly line...
The sound is very tubey and very European. The closest comparison that comes to my mind would be Dynacord Bass King, but this old Swede sports far less power than the German legend. B210 goes into light overdrive quite fast, although a lot will depend on the instrument plugged in it. So far, it seems to like the low impedance pickups on my Les Paul basses the best. I might just replace the ECC83 tube with an ECC81 or 82 at some point in the future to see how this little beast behaves with a more "placid" pre-amp tube..
Overall, I'm beyond pleased. A tiny tube amp that plays well with both guitar and bass, sounds great, looks beyond unusual and hasn't cost a fortune. What's there not to like ?
