Swede Patch 2000

The Hagström Swede Patch 2000 is the first guitar/synthesizer hybrid. It was manufactured by Hagström in collaboration with Ampeg. The guitar appears to be a normal Hagström Swede but the neck is specially wired to transmit an input to a synthesizer when the strings come in contact with the frets. This gives the player the option of playing the instrument as a guitar, as a synthesizer or a combination of both.

Development

Preparations for the development started in 1975 when twelve guitars were to be finished for a music convention. In April the same year Hagström received the electronics provided by Ampeg who were the supplier of the advanced electronics. The idea was to place a digital receiver within the body of the guitar that was controlled by a switch which selected between the traditional guitar sound and the synthesizer sound. If more than one string was used it automatically selected the highest fret and lowest string. The receiver was connected to the strings and frets, every string and fret had an own individual code. Due to this, each string had to be electrically isolated, this meant that Hagström had to develop a new tailpiece/bridge system. The newly developed bridge looks like a typical Hagström, except the centers of the saddles made of are dense plastic, not metal. Instead of 1 tailpiece each string terminates at a separate block set in 2 rows.