The Ultra Max shares the same small body concept of the Ultra Swede, yet with a slightly larger proportioned mahogany body topped with a thick custom carved flame maple top.

The body joins to a mahogany set neck utilizing a mortise and tenon neck joint with a 25.50 scale length, which naturally features our H-Expander truss-rod and Resinator fingerboard.  Its sleek and ultra-comfortable fast neck is paralleled with our Custom 60 Alnico-5 pickups with their eloquent Aluminum Brushed covers, delivering the cutting voice that this instrument demands.

Mighty Punch and Hot Sizzle
Each of the Ultra Maxs specially wound Custom 60 humbucking pickups utilizes Nylon coated wire united with an Alnico 5 magnet (unmistakably familiar to the Custom 58). However, the Custom 60 ultimately packs a mighty punch and hot sizzle compared to the vintage voiced Custom 58. Each pickup is controlled with its own independent Volume pot featuring our standard R/C circuit on each potentiometer, to help focus on its cleaner tones with a slight turn of the pot. Its single Master Tone also features a dual coil split, using its push/pull tone configuration to allow for players to switch from Full Humbucker Tilt to Spanky Single Coil Clean in a heartbeat.

Drop Tunings, Flexibilty and Playability
The Ultra Max combines all of the power, long sustain, clarity and attack, as found with the Ultra Swede, yet offers players a fresh tonal pallet with additional flexibility and comfortable playability with its compact body. With its longer 25.50 scale length the Ultra Max handles drop tunings with ease, where players looking for a slightly slimmed body with a searing tone will have found their long-term mate.

H-Expander
All Hagstrom electric guitars and basses include our patented H-Expander truss rod. Providing tension at both ends and running the entire length of the neck, the rigid yet light-weight alloy truss rod allows for a very low action and thin neck, two factors that were instrumental in earning Hagstrom its reputation as the world's fastest playing guitar.
The H-Expander truss rod not only provides ultimate neck stability, but it also contributes to Hagstrom's unique tone. Longer sustain and a round attack are some of the sonic characteristics the H-Expander adds to the tonal essence of Hagstrom.

Sustain Block Tailpiece
Hagstrom's unique Sustain Block Tailpiece was the result of design work starting in 1976 and made its first appearance on Swede and Super Swede guitars produced in 1978. Since then it has been a signature feature on many of our solid body models. Each string terminates in a single, massive brass block coupled directly to the guitar's body. The blocks are detached from one another to reduce interference between the strings, maximizing each strings unique contribution.

Set Neck
Hagstrom uses a variety of different neck joints throughout our range. Our set-neck recipe is the classic and time-tested Mortise and Tenon joint, a design that most efficiently transfers string energy from neck to body, and can often only be found on more expensive custom-built guitars. A team of experienced and dedicated craftsmen hand carves every neck joint, insuring perfect execution of this traditional technique preferred by luthiers for generations

Resinator Wood
Resinator wood is a wood composite material that is both more uniform in density and more stable than any standard wood product. These characteristics eliminate dead spots or "wolf tones" sometimes associated with conventional wood fingerboards.
Resinator wood has an articulate sound similar to high quality ebony, but without any of the problems associated with ebony. It provides a stable and clear tone, and also adds higher overtones and harmonics which uniquely detail each note. Like our H-Expander truss rod, Resinator wood is a major contributor to the distinctive "Hagstrom tone".

Hagstrom Machine Heads
Hagstrom models use 18:1 or 15:1 gear ratio machine heads based on our own designs to insure accurate tuning. Viking and HB series basses feature machine heads with a 17:1 gear ratio.