I bought my first one in 1975 (if you look at the picture, it's the blond one, right after the black one at center-right).
It was love at first sight...there's just something about the look of the Swede. They have the same basic body cut like the LP, but if you had them side-by-side, the Swedes are rounder (and sexier) in their curves, and have a nice indent for your ribs, plus there's that headstock, which is IMO one of the coolest looking headstocks out there, and then there's those crazy art deco tuners.
Now that was just the first impression....but after I played it for awhile, and whenever I picked up a friend's guitar...I realized that the feel of the Swede neck was just perfect for my hand.
I've had many an LP player try my Swede, and they're always surprised at how fast and smooth it is to play...except for that crazy bunch of LP players who just prefer a 2x4 neck.
I've had other guitars...and I still do, though they are on a side wall. I've got a '52 RI Tele, an Ibanez Artcore small-box semi-hollow with cherry colored bubinga wood, and a Deusenberg '49er...plus I also have a Hagstrom Viking.
There were others over the years, but at one point, I just started buying the reissue Swedes, and I really like them as much as I do the vintage ones...and little by little, the other brands thinned out, and I ended up with the wall of Hagstrom guitars.
Miro, did you mod or buy them modded?
The 4 don't have the smaller crescent shaped tail piece.
Nope...the 4 vintage guitars are 100% stock (though the dark blond to the left of the cherry one, I had it refinished as it had too many nasties on it when I got it).
These tailpieces were used during the mid-'70s...right before them there were some smaller, crescent shaped ones (is that what you mean) and then after the mid-'70s they went to the covered ones...which is what the reissues also use.
There were also a couple of bridge revisions too over the years.
I specifically look for the vintage Swedes that use the hard tailpiece and the bridge like mine have...but at this point, I don't plan on adding any more vintage Swedes unless something really great comes along at a killer price....which lately, has gone up a bit on eBay. I see guys paying close to $1k for ones in tip-top shape...where a few years ago they would maybe fetch $650-$750.
The black one has a funny story about how I got it.
So there's some eBay seller (a chick) with like maybe only a dozen eBay transactions that put it up for sale, w/OHSC.
It was right around the holidays (about 5-6 years ago)...and she's got a $385 starting bid on it.
So I watch it for awhile...and the thing comes to the end, and NO ONE has bid on it.
So I bid on it and I get it.
Wait a few days, can't get any response from the seller.
Another few days...nothing.
Now I'm getting pissed, so I get eBay involved...and as it turned out, because she was fairly new on eBay with only a few transactions, PayPal held my money until I received it and left feedback.
So now PayPal has the money and I tell them I want to kill the transaction since she is not responding.
They get involved with her, and all of a sudden I get an email with a UPS tracking number.
OK...I guess they motivated her...and then she sends me a message all pissed off that I contacted eBay and PayPal...and she's telling me she was in the hospital for a week, and that's why she never responded...meanwhile, she was listing new items during that entire time (I guess from her hospital bed
), which I point out to her...and now she's really pissed because I called her out, but what do I care, the guitar is coming to me.
Now, I was a bit worried that I was going to get a lemon, and that she would screw it up or something...but it arrives, and I open it up...and man, the guitar is minty, mint w/OHSC!!!
That was a STEAL for $385!!!
Oh...and the chick seller....a few weeks later she was gone from eBay....go figure.
