I was looking in my local guitar store yesterday, and found one of the recent reissued Hagstrom Swedes. I had a play around and it was a lot of fun, but if I went for it, it would need some upgrades. The pickups are a little muddy, and the electronics aren't great. The pots are pretty much on/off rather than a decent taper. The fit and finish is basically "good enough for the price" - a few instances of paint going over the binding, that sort of thing.
That said, it played nicely. It was actually a matte black all over, so had a satin neck that I liked (the truss rod cover says "Swedem," which I assume means Swede Matte). I also have a Gibson 498/490 pickup set lying around, with the associated wiring loom. That should pretty much drop in, although the Swede has the extra tone switch.
Anyone got any experience with changing the pickups and pots in one of these? Think it's worth it? The guitar is about £230.
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