Last updated: 6/25/01.
Gary Denes is the proud owner of a Hagstrom Swede Patch
2000 bass comlete with the pedal. Unfortunately
he has never had the opportunity to see if it's working
since you need a analogue synth to get any synthesized
sound out of it.
The Hagstrom Patch 2000 System
The Patch 2000 is a pre-midi synth interface designed to
operate with specifically designed instruments. The
"box" is part of a package that includes the
guitar or bass. This was sold in the USA by Ampeg,
although it sold in Europe without the Ampeg companies
inclusion. It is made to interface with older style
analog only synth units such as Moog or Arp. The Patch
2000 guitars and basses are unique in that they have
double functions. First, it has two magnetic pickups and
an output jack for the normal magnetic pickups to connect
to an amplifier. Second, it is wired inside the neck to
each individual fret wire. The bridge and tailpiece have
insulators to make the four strings electrically isolated
from each other. A second output is included, that goes
to the patch unit and the bass can function as a standard
instrument and synth controller simultaneously. When a
string is fretted it effectively closes a switch, between
the string and fret. If multiple strings are fretted the
lowest string and highest fret is the synth function
pitch. It is not necessary to pluck the string for the
patch 2000 note to activate. The Patch unit has foot
treadles for PITCH and GLIDE. The Patch 2000 also
includes a 5th function, which is activated by the
pushbutton switch between the two treadles. The 5th
function would caause the synthesizer note pitch to be a
fifth higher than the actual fretted note (the major
dominant).The Patch 2000 interface was packaged with
different Hagstrom guitars and basses, only higher end
models. This is actually an Ampeg/Hagstrom package, with
Ampeg as the USA distributor.
