Hagstrom Krona-7 SBK

This being my first Hagstrom instrument, and purchased before any other reviews of the guitar were available online, I ordered with a sense of trepidation. The specs sheet is fully loaded for this guitar, and the looks speak for themselves, but in practice that doesn't tell you much about how good the finished product will feel or perform on arrival. But, I'm a sucker for LP type guitars, and an offset LP 7 string with these features is right up my alley. Having done some research on Hagstroms other guitars and their sleeper status as manufacturers, I took the plunge...

Fortunately on arrival any concerns were quickly put aside. Stunning instrument with a hybrid of vintage and modern design attributes that helps it carry both class and aggression. The Krona has a good weight to it, feeling robust whilst still having a slender and svelt design with a relatively thin profile. If anything, it feels petite particularly next to cumbersome baritone instruments.

Some minor set-up adjustments to be made to mitigate some initial D string fret buzz but performs largely fine out of the box. No issue with QC (fretwork, finishing), and the guitar arrives well packaged from Thomann as is standard. The fretboard is made from Hagstrom's own composite material which performs well enough, i wouldn't say i noticed too much of a playability difference to ebony. The satin black body finish is slightly textured which also continues onto the back of the neck helping a little with grip, but still looks smart and doesn't attract too many marks while handling.

A couple of notes - the guitar does suffer from noticeable neck dive regardless of the strap button configuration (you get two lower options), so be prepared to be fighting against that a little whilst standing - and that's my primary critique with the instrument. The neck is VERY thin and the short scale length may not be to everyone's tastes, particularly those who like to downtune a lot, but it's fine for me in drop A.

Pickups, HagStrom's own brand of new alnico5 "Penetrator" and "xsteel" with a large variety of tonal configurations through dual volume, and push-pull tone knobs for coil splitting with a 3 way switch. Not the highest gain out there, but plenty versatile for locking in a range of sounds that veer from cutting to mellow. I'm not a tone chaser though, so they're good enough for me but a more trained ear may have other preferences.

Overall though, very pleased. Yes, made in China which may raise some eyebrows, but the QC has clearly been rigorous, and you're getting a lot of premium features with an instrument that looks as good as any recently released 7's at likely a lower price point. Well done Hagstrom!