The slightly offset double-cutaway body shape is derived from Hagstrom’s guitar line. This was a time when the bass guitar was still new, and many companies had not yet adopted Fender’s approach of designing a bass from the ground up. After all, it was called a bass guitar, right?

This bass is in excellent condition; its glossy transparent-burgundy color is practically flawless and really shows off the wood grain. The tuners for the fundamental strings have huge square-shaped Hagstrom covers, while the octave strings are smaller guitar-like tuners. Hagstrom basses were already known for low, fast action and stable necks, both thanks to a unique H-shaped trussrod system—so the additional strain of the extra strings was not a problem, and this example still has a very straight neck 40 years later. 

There are a number of switches on this bass, including a standby switch, “high/low” controls for each pickup, and Hagstrom’s “tone” and “mute” circuits, which offer some interesting tonal variations. The bottom line is that no matter how you set the controls, this bass has a cool chimey, gritty sound that sits somewhere between the edge of a Beatles–era Rickenbacker guitar and the plunk of a Silvertone bass. While pickstyle playing allows more accuracy and lends itself to palm-muting—as well as playing a single string by itself, thanks to the wide spacing of each string pair—it’s still possible to play it effectively with your fingers.

A number of bassists played the H8, including the Blues Project’s Andy Kuhlberg and Genesis’ Mike Rutherford, but the most high-profile users were the Jimi Hendrix Experience’s Noel Redding, who played it on a few songs on Axis: Bold As Love (“Spanish Castle Magic,” “You’ve Got Me Floating,” and “Little Miss Lover”), and Jimi himself, who was photographed playing one on his infamous 1967 recording sessions with Curtis Knight in New York City.

If you haven’t had the chance to explore the wild world of 8- and 12-string basses, check one out sometime; they’re a great way to fill out the sound of a trio (Cheap Trick and King’s X are great examples). Hagstroms enjoy revered cult status all over the world, but they can still be found occasionally, so keep your eyes and ears peeled. The Hagstrom line was reactivated a few years ago, and Hagstrom has just issued an 8-string bass for the first time since the company’s demise, so it appears that what goes around has come around once again.

Dave Pomeroy has released nine solo and band projects on Earwave Records. His latest CD is Thee Ring Circle, an instrumental trio with Rob Ickes on dobro and Andy Leftwich on mandolin. It’s available at www.davepomeroy.com.