To provide a little context, I was looking for a baritone guitar suitable for B standard, drop A and A standard tunings which plays almost like a guitar, with not too thick strings, and doesn't feel like a bass. I play mostly classic rock and blues, so I didn't want anything metal-oriented. At the moment I have the guitar tuned to B standard with Ernie Ball 12-62 Mammoth slinkies.
In these regards, the Hagstrom Viking baritone has some great features:
- 28" scale, long enough but not overly long. I tried Gretsch and Danelectro baritones which are 29.75", and they feel too long for me. Defintely playable, but I prefer a shorter scale.
- standard humbucker routes: the stock pickups are pretty good indeed, especially the p-90 in the neck. The humbucker is the bridge is good, but it's a little too dark, like some modern Gibson humbuckers. However, since they are standard dimension humbuckers, they can be easily swapped for something taylored for everyone's tastes.
- tuners are great, feel very solid and smooth, and the tusq nut is an effective solution.
Some issues I've encountered are:
- the guitar is pretty neck-heavy, but there's no other way to attach the strap to a semi-hollow body. I think there's no solution for this.
- I had some difficulties in intonanting the guitar at first, since the saddle screws were pretty hard to turn. The day after the whole thing felt easier to turn, and I managed to intonate the guitar correctly.
- the stoptail is a zamak one, which is not something I like. I would have preferred an aluminum one,but others may think the opposite.
- the overall guitar setup was horrible: action was lower on the low strings and higher on the high strings, neck too straight, significant buzz on the low strings, bridge pickup very very far from the strings. However, this is just a setup problem, the frets are well dressed and the are no structural issues. After a standard setup, the guitar plays nicely.
Considering the price of the instrument, I think this is an overall great instrument. It has some issues, but they are common issues in this price range. You just can't expect premium quality at this price point. I would have liked a higher quality bridge, and would have payed an extra for it no question, but the bridge is all in all good enough for the price. The same applies to pickups, but since this is a more personal choice I think they are good as they are.
EDIT: even though marketed as a baritone guitar, it won't fit baritone guitar strings. Tuners holes are too small for 70 gauge strings. It would have been useful to know this before buying.
