STOAKES’ GEAR TALK – HAGSTROM FANTOMEN
Until around six months ago, I wasn’t really familiar with Hagstrom guitars, in fact, if I’m honest, I hadn’t come across them before. Then one fateful night, all that was due to change when I was sent the Pat Smear signature model to review and right at that moment, I fell in love a little bit. That was one special guitar!
Now, I keep seeing Hagstrom’s popping up everywhere, Ginger Wildheart plays one, I read an article the other week about Elvis’ Hagstrom that got sold for a ridiculous amount of money and watching Ghost live at Bloodstock on YouTube this weekend, low and behold… more Hagstrom’s!
Ok, so that one wasn’t just by chance, because it is the very same guitar that I have been playing for the last few weeks. The Hagstrom Fantomen. And what a machine it is! An all out metal axe and the same guitar you will see live on stage with Ghost.
Boasting a very impressive set of specs, a striking pickguard and a body shape to die for. The Fantomen is a cross between the Firebird and Explorer, but it is far enough away from both of these to be its own beast. And a beast it certainly is! This is not a guitar to play sat in the corner of the room, not by any stretch. This is loud and proud, designed as the ultimate rock and metal machine. In fact, it’s easier to play it stood up, hung low (of course), as the top of the body gets in the way if you’re sat down!
With it’s Mahogany neck and body, this thing is built for sustain. It will keep going for days and that’s before you plug it in. The guitar offers great access to the higher frets too, which allows for some great soloing action. The standard two volume, two tone, complete with coil split capabilities as well and Hagstrom branded dials and ‘step’ tuners, which are a really lovely feature.
So, I plug it in, this thing is an animal. I mentioned the sustain, but through my Marshall combo, it’s even more impressive. The tone is great. The two pick ups, both Lungdren Alnico humbuckers have a very different tone. I think the neck is a bit smoother and the bridge has a great sounding crunch. In single coil mode, they still maintain their punch too, which is impressive. It’s still quite a fat tone, despite being a ‘single coil’!
Both the pick ups are really hot, both want to be played hard with some overdrive and who was I to disappoint them! So, I cranked the gain up and this is where they really shone. Add some extra overdrive too and you’ll be firing on all cylinders. I love the sound of these pick ups, it’s worth noting however, they don’t clean up very well. On the Pat Smear signature, when you turn the volume down half way, the tone cleans up really nicely, the Fantomen doesn’t do that so well, unless you turn them right down… And, in all honesty, it’s not a guitar to play clean anyway, it needs to be cranked up to 11!
The other thing that really impressed me about the Fantomen is the weight, it looks a lot of guitar, but it’s super light. Again, this is an onstage guitar designed for running around arena size stages and the weight reflects this, we’re no where near Les Paul weight territory, I would say it might even be lighter than my strat!
This guitar is an absolute dream to play, the neck feels great and the guitar comes with a ‘Black Tusq’ XL nut, which really helps with tuning. You can really play it hard and bend strings galore and the guitar will stay pretty much in tune. I’ve been hammering it over the last few weeks and haven’t had any tuning issues at all. The crowning glory however, I’ve got to say is those Lungdren Alnico Humbuckers. They really do pack a punch. Hagstrom have great pickups, but these are phenomenal.
Who is this guitar for and would I buy one? This guitar is perfect for someone who wants something very unique, they might like the Explorer/Firebird type guitars but they’re ten a penny. I haven’t seen another guitar that looks like this. It’s striking, its metal! And that brings me to my second point, this is not a guitar to play Oasis covers on. Judas Priest, Megadeth, Deep Purple… That’s what you’ll be playing with the Fantomen. It’s a little bit of a speciality guitar that perhaps wouldn’t appeal to everyone. But, if you are into hard rock and metal, you might have just formed a new Thrash band, pick yourself up one of these and stand out from the crowd and you’re sorted for life.
Finally, the big question… Would I buy one? It is a completely different guitar to anything I’ve played or owned before. It sounds great, looks amazing and is currently sat amongst my guitar collection like the Kingpin that it is and I love the striking looks. It’s really difficult, it’s not a guitar that I ‘need’ but, if I had a spare 800 quid knocking about, I would very much like to add it to my collection. It’s a dream to play and those pick ups have well and truly blown my mind. Well done Hagstrom!
Guitar is available in white, black and tobacco sunburst with a left handed version of the white available also.
- Body Material: Mahogany Binding: Multiply
- Style: Single Cutaway – Asymmetrical Design
- Neck Material: Mahogany
- Joint: Set Neck
- Trussrod: H-Expander™
- Fingerboard/Nut Material: Resinator™
- Position Marks: Hagstrom Pearl Block Inlay
- Fretboard Radius: 15“
- Frets: 22 Medium Jumbo
- Scale Length: 25.5“ / 648 mm
- Nut: Graph Tech™ Black Tusq XL
- Nut Width: 43 mm
- Pickup Neck: Lundgren Design AlNiCo-2 No. 2 Humbucker
- Pickup Bridge: Lundgren Design AlNiCo-5 No. 5 Humbucker
- Pickup: Selector 3-Way Toggle Switch
- Controls: 2 x Volume Control with R/C Circuit, 2 x Tone Control with Push-Pull Coil Split Parts
- Tuning Keys: Hagstrom 18:1 Die Cast Stoptail
- Bridge: Long Travel Tune-O-Matic Bridge
- Strings: D’Addario (10-46)
S.R.P £869 / L.H £899
