Conference napalm::guitar

	I tried one years ago and as I remember the sales person or 
someone said that the frets were individually wired and the neck was
routed out to accomadate the wiring. Hagstrom which was made by a Swedish 
guitar building company was imported by Ampeg in Linden,NJ. I will look for
some literature at home if you want and make copies???There was a picture
of one in the 20th anniversary issue of Guitar Player magazine and a small
description of it or was it there special midi/synthe issue?
	I'd suggest calling Ampeg they may be able to direct you towards
finding one or give you info or schematics on how to hook it up to an
old analog synthe??

    						Good Luck
    
    						     Rick
    
    
    

   Wow.  These must have really been popular.  8-(

   Rick - anything that you can get your hands on and mail to me would be
   greatly appreciated.  Address is Brad Schafer @DYO.  Did you actually
   play one?  What did it do?  Was it like the Avatar?  Ad nauseam ...

   I thought Ampeg went under a few years ago??  If I'm wrong, does
   someone have a number I might call? 

   Doesn't anyone else know about this beastie?  I'm really in a spot. 

8^)

	The "Patch 2000" gave the option for you to play a perfect fifth 
above and what you were playing on the guitar. It also gave you
portamento(glide)capabilities via a footpedal and a pitch control also. The
list price(ha,ha) was around $1500 with guitar and is really more of an
interface to hook to another synthe.
	As compared to the Avatar you were restricted to the fifth only
whereas an Avatar you have two VCO's that you can tune to different
intervals and possibly use the Ring modulator for a third for timbre
improvement's The Avatar is also capable of many other tonal shaping
and attack possibilities has a filter footpedal,sustain footswich. 
	Though it's tracking ability limits you as did all the "first 
guitar synthe's" of this time period. The Avatar did a frequency to volt's
conversion and the "Patch" essentially uses the frets as switches.  
	So the "Patch 2000" is not anything like an Avatar and probably
worth less if you were to find one. It could be interfaced to some of the
other analog synthe's such as the ARP,Mini Moog etc.
	St Louis Music Supply co.(1400 Ferguson ave. St Louis,Mo.63133)
bought out Ampeg(amplifiers)a couple years ago so they may be able to direct 
you to where you could try one with you guitar or purchase one as this is out 
in your direction. The Ampeg amplifier's office was located in Linden,NJ and
I'm not sure about where the US office for Hagstrom (made in Sweden) is located.
	The Ampeg office for the "Patch" was located in Elkhardt,Ind and If 
you have no luck with SLM you might want to try Music Dealers Service in 
Chicago,ILL as they buy out a lot of bankrupt musical instrument companies
(Arp,Linn Drum etc.) They may be able to help you find one for a price. 
	As I run across info I will send it to you I'll put some in
    the mail today. I hope this doesn't sound discouraging!
    
						Good Luck,

						    Rick

    Hi,
    	I have a patch 2000, along with all of the original fliers for
    it, schematics for the interface and the guitar, two of the synth
    interfaces, etc.  I've used it a couple of times with a mini-moog,
    but most of the time I just use it as a regular guitar.  The Big-Swede
    guitar on which it's based was, in my opinion, a fine guitar in
    itself, which never really got popular because none of the big rock
    stars used one.
    	As synthesizer guitars go, it's a bit long-of-tooth at this
    point, and really can't keep up with the rolands, etc.  The main
    problem is that that string-fret sensing scheme can't track bends,
    and it's single voice is too limiting by modern standards.  Still,
    it was a great idea in its time.
    	I've been thinking of modifying the electronics to use the signals
    to cue program changes on a computer-controlled system.  I've also
    experimented in the past with using the VCO output to control analog
    effects via CLAIREX opto-isolators.
    	I have occasional problems getting into this file, so replys
    might most reliably be directed to DIMMAK::BEFUMO.
    						joe
    

    
    
    There doesn't seem to be a Hagstrom note, so I thought I'd ask here.
    Does anyone have any of the original literature on the Hagstrom Swede? 
    I've owned one for 15 years and I'd like to see what the lit. said
    about it.  For example, I've always assumed that it was mahogany, but
    I'm not sure.
    
    A GP or other guit mag review would be great if anyone has old issues. 
    I bought the guitar in '74 and it probably first came out in '72-73.
    
    Anyone have something they could send me?
    
    Kevin
    

    
    Actually, I believe I have a review in a really ancient GP, I'll have
    to go paw through the ole archives.
    
    The Swede was a pretty cool axe.  They also made basses, including a
    fretless version, a friend of my brother's has been gigging with one
    for about 12 years now.  I recall that Larry Coryell was an endorser
    for it, and unlike some endorsers actually *played* one, you can hear
    it on the two Eleventh House albums.
    
    Hagstrom was an interesting company in general.  They made the first
    production eight string bass back in 1968 and with the Patch 2000
    system beat Roland by a few years in having the first production guitar
    with a built-in synth interface.
    
    Any European noters know if they still make guitars?  They have had no
    US distribution since Ampeg folded back in the early eighties.
    
    							Brian

    
    Brian, if you could find the review that would be great!  Over the last
    15 years I've owned all kinds of guitars, but the Swede is the only one
    I've kept.  I think that it's a great guitar that never caught on. 
    Larry Coryell was an endorser, and one of the guitar players in Kansas
    also used one.  Not exactly the stuff that guitar legends are made of.
    
    The Swede has an ebony fretboard; I don't know what the fret markers or
    binding are made of.   The neck is a bolt-on, but it's well done and
    looks to be glued-in at first glance.  There is an inlay on the
    headstock that always reminded me of the boy scout insignia.  As I
    remember it, the truss rod is shaped like a steel I-Beam, the idea
    being that it was very resistent to warping.  I've never even taken the
    truss rod cover off in 15 years and the neck is perfect, so I'd say the
    design works! 8-)
    
    
    The tuners *look* like Grover Imperials, but I think they are
    Hagstrom's own.  The two humbucking pickups are cool because you can
    select lows/highs/both for each pickup.  For example, you can set the
    bridge pickup for lows only, lows and highs together, or highs only.  I
    use it to keep the sound from getting muddy when I'm playing with lots
    of gain.
    
    As I remember, the Swede came in three finishes: natural, which is what
    I have, cherry red, and black.  The black made it look like another Les
    Paul copy, which probably didn't help the Swede establish it's own
    identity.
    
    I think that the body is two pieces, with the top one piece and the
    rest of the body the other.  At least, that's how the grain looks to
    me.  The body is Les Paul shaped, but the cutaway  is much more
    rounded.  The body is also sculpted like a Strat so that it snugs in
    closer.  The neck is two pieces, and the headstock is four.
    I'm guessing mahogany.  In any event, it's real heavy.
    
    Kevin
    
    
    
    
         

    The Swede's body and neck are mahagony. The inlays are
    mother-of-toilet-seat.
    
    The tone selector switch just selects different capacitors. A useful
    mod is to rewire it into a phase or coil-cut switch. I've installed
    replacement pickups wired into this switch on a couple of Swede guitars
    and a bass and it made remarkable improvement in their sound and
    flexiblity.
    
    Danny W.