LeftyBassist.com

anyone played one of these?
available as lefty is red black and white.

Haven't tried an HB4 which is the shorter scale Hagstrom, but I do have an FXB220 and a Beluga II (both long scale basses). The FXB220 has the same two Hagstrom Dyna Rail-1025 Humbuckers and passive electronics ( 1 x Volume | 6-way P/U Selector | 1 Tone) as the HB4, so I would expect similar sound characteristics, albeit with the difference in scale.

I found the passive electronics fairly generic tone-wise, more interesting on paper than in reality. It took me awhile to figure out how to get a sound that really brought out anything that made me want to hear more from it. I tried several different sets of roundwounds without success. The biggest discovery was putting on a set of Fender flatwounds-- the bass really seemed to find it's personality. Even though it's a 2 pickup bass, it excels more toward the P side of things-- good thumping lows, decent mids, and not much of anything exciting in the way of highs. Nothing fancy, but good and useful basic low end.

The fit and finish is good overall, and the look is definitely a head turner, but if you've never seen or held one of these in your hands, be prepared for a bit of a surprise... these are not your father's vintage Hagstroms-- these are big, heavy basses! They do feature a modern version of the legendary H-Expander Truss Rod, but theres not much else to remind you of those lightweight little Hagstroms from back in the day. The Basswood body is the heaviest Basswood I've ever come across. The Maple Bolt-on Neck and Resinator Fretboard are fast but also very solid, as is the hardware.

The Beluga has a Dyna Rail-945N and 1000B Humbucker coupled with an 18 Volt active Preamp System ( 1 x Volume | 6-way P/U Selector | 1 stacked Treble/Bass | 1 stacked Mid Cut Boost/Mid Sweep). This is a whole different beast sound-wise, much more versatile...but that's another post... if anybody wants more info let me know.

Yeah I tried 2 at Guitar Center San Jose where they had about 4 in stock (???!!!). I was impressed with the sound - somewhat reminiscent of a short scale Gibson - great for pick playing, but not impressed by the quality and the hardware. But then again it is pretty cheap. I think it would be fine if you change the pots, the knobs (which were wiggly and scratchy), and possibly use some flats. I found the neck radius too flat which you don't expect from some kind of vintage bass. The pickups sounded really good and it was easy to play. It would be perfect in some kind of Cream-ish power trio. I almost shelled out the $349 to get one but kept my money and bought a used P-bass.

I've always wanted one of those Beluga's, are they good basses?