Birth name Marten Hagstrom Name Marten Hagstrom Occupation(s) Musician Role Guitarist | Instruments Guitar, bass | |
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Born 27 April 1971 (age 53) Ornskoldsvik, Sweden ( 1971-04-27 ) Albums Similar People Fredrik Thordendal, Dick Lovgren, Jens Kidman, Tomas Haake, Gustaf Hielm | ||
Music group Meshuggah (Since 1992) | ||
M rten hagstr m of meshuggah discussing the ibanez m8m signature 8 string guitar
Mårten Hagström, (born 27 April 1971) is the rhythm guitarist for the Swedish experimental metal band Meshuggah. He joined the band after the release of their first album, which allowed Jens Kidman to focus on his vocal performances. He is known for his strong and complex rhythm guitar playing. Hagström has cited Rush, James Hetfield, Squarepusher, Autechre, Strapping Young Lad, and GISM as influences.
Contents
- M rten hagstr m of meshuggah discussing the ibanez m8m signature 8 string guitar
- Rig rundown meshuggah s fredrik thordendal m rten hagstr m dick l vgren 2016
- Guitars
- Amplifiers and effects
- Songs
- References
In a Metal Injection interview he has said, "You can't play an instrument for the technicality of it. It's a tool you use it to get what's in here and here [heart and mind] out there." He has also said when he was growing up, everybody in Sweden was trying to be a guitar virtuoso. This made him want to be solely a rhythm guitarist.
Although fellow Meshuggah guitarist Fredrik Thordendal plays most of Meshuggah's guitar solos, the two of them share songwriting duties more or less equally, with Hagström notably contributing "Nebulous" from Nothing, "Acrid Placidity" from Destroy Erase Improve, and "Neurotica" from Chaosphere. Hagström has also stepped out of his role of playing rhythm guitar with the release of Meshuggah's obZen album by playing the slower, melodic leads on the songs that he wrote, such as "Electric Red" and "Pravus".
In addition to this, he has contributed lyrics to some of the band's later releases, co-writing Catch 33 with Meshuggah drummer Tomas Haake and penning the entirety of the words for their abstract EP I. Hagström and Haake have been playing music together since they were nine years old.
Hagström, along with Fredrik Thordendal, was rated #35 by Guitar World as the top 100 greatest heavy metal guitarist of all-time.
Rig rundown meshuggah s fredrik thordendal m rten hagstr m dick l vgren 2016
Guitars
Hagström's main guitar is an Ibanez Custom 8-String M8M which feature RG-shaped alder or Iceman-shaped swamp ash bodies with 5-piece maple/Bubinga neck-thru necks (29.4" {746.76 mm}), rosewood fingerboards (no inlays), fixed bridge (actually an Ibanez FX-Edge fixed tremolo), one volume, one tone, and one Lundgren Model 8 pickup. He uses .9-.70 gauge strings, tuned down half a step. Up until the late '90s, both Hagström and Thordendal used Ibanez 7-string guitars (initially Universe models, then single-pickup variations of the RG7620 and RG7621 for Thordendal and Hagström respectively) before moving to Nevborn 8-string guitars during the Nothing era. The group found the Nevborns to be somewhat unstable while touring and when Ibanez communicated a desire to try building them 8-string guitars they accepted the offer.
Guitar Strings:
DR Strings, Tite-Fit, LH-9 "Lite & Heavy" set: [.009 – .011 – .016 – .026 – .036 – .046], .052, .070 (stock gauges on the Ibanez M8M signature guitar)
DR Strings, Tite-Fit, TF8-10 "8 String Medium" set: .010 – .013 – .017 – .026 – .036 – .046 – .056 – .075
Guitar Picks:
Jim Dunlop 1mm Nylon Standard
Amplifiers and effects
Songs
BleedobZen · 2008
ClockworksThe Violent Sleep of Reason · 2016
Rational GazeNothing · 2002