August 25, 2007
Gig at Music Centre Canada in Camrose
My friend Kris recently opened up a music store here in Camrose. It's a franchise business called Music Centre Canada. They have some really good products and it's great to finally have a decent music store in this town.
Today was the Grand Opening, and country star George Canyon was there to sign autographs and whatnot. Before Canyon's scheduled appearance, my friend Myra and I (Fundamental Things) performed for about an hour.
Since the store is shock full of guitars and amps already, I figured it would be a good idea to use the store's equipment. I picked out a Hagstrom Viking Deluxe NAT, a really nice hollow-body guitar. I used a Roland Cube-60 for amp. Myra used a nice Ovation and a good sounding Crate acoustic guitar amp.
It's been a while since I've played a hollow-body axe, and I really liked this one. It's got 2 x Hagstrom HJ-50 Humbuckers, and the body is made of contoured laminate flamed maple. The set neck comes from North American hard maple. It sounded great with the Cube 60! For jazzy tones, as well as dirty blues, it worked really well. We do some twangy country songs sometimes, and for this it didn't work quite so well, as to be expected - it's not that kind of twangy sounding guitar.
Hagstrom Viking at Musicians Friend
The Roland Cube-60 is definitely a good amp. Since I already have a good modeling amp, the Vox AD50VT, I don't need another one. However, if you are looking for a good modeling amp, look at both the Roland and the Vox - they are both very, very good sounding amps. I noticed my pedals did not work as well with the Roland as they do with my Vox, but the Roland's OD/Distortion sounds were very nice, so pedals are not needed really.
The gig went well, and we had a lot of fun. We picked up a new song in our repertoire, the beautiful " People Get Ready", and Myra more than does it justice, with her beautiful voice.
I am going to look closer at the Hagstrom guitars. They are very nice quality, and I recommend you check them out if you haven't. They make some Les Paul-looking guitars that I got interested in. I played some of them briefly, and I noticed the quality immediately. Good resonance, nice neck and excellent playability.
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Comments on this blog entry
Mark, it's quite similar, I think. The Viking Deluxe is lightweight and not very large. Just right.
Comment added on May 15, 2008How hefty is the Viking Deluxe as compared to an ES-335, if you don't mind my asking?
Comment added on May 15, 2008Well.. here's hoping you you find time to post a video of Fundamental Things version of People Get Ready. I had that on vinyl back in 85 (still have it). Maybe it's time I picked it up in CD format.
Comment added on September 24, 2007Thanks Trev! Looks big eh? Well, it felt really nice to play, and it sounded great. I should really get a guitar like this. The Hagstrom guitars are definitely worth a look, I tell ya.
Comment added on September 05, 2007Nice git there, Rob! It looks HUGE on your skinny runner's frame - ha ha! Yeah, not so great for twangin' and bangin' - that's why I have my Squier Tele in addition to my Washburn semi-hollowbody.
My local music store is also a Hagstrom dealer and I am very impressed/interested in them as well. He has a nice Super Swede, white with gold hardware, that is a beauty, and reasonably priced as well!
See ya around,
Trev