Swing Guitars

[abraxas]

I have come across these Korean made guitars, and I find them very interesting!

http://www.swingguitars.com/

Video presentation of the Prism model:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=92LcTFHQhNQ

There are some other videos in youtube too, with Korean players.

[Robert****]

I think I read about them in Guitar Player. Looks interesting. Now for the bad joke - can you really play Swing with these guitars? :::

[SuperSwede]

It seems like they make some quality instruments, definately not your average generic asian guitar manifacturer.
Expensive guitars? I didnt see any prices.

[abraxas]

It seems like they make some quality instruments, definately not your average generic asian guitar manifacturer.
Expensive guitars? I didnt see any prices.

I believe the Prism retails for around $1250 (?) in the US. Not that expensive considering the piezo bridge, SD pickups, Sperzel tuners, and general craftmanship (for example, they seem to have highly detailed fretjob).

There is a dealer here in Greece, I'll have to pull some strings (no pun indented!) and see if I can arrange to try out a couple of them. Or three. Or four. Whatever. :

[abraxas]

UPDATE

I finally managed to find some time to go and play them. Actually, I tested just one model, the "Standard", because of time considerations.

With two words, I'm almost impressed.

The guitar is a typical HSS "Superstrat" with non locking tremolo. It has Seymour Duncan pickups, Gotoh 2-point tremolo and tuners and a Graphtec nut. The one I played had a 2 piece Alder body, in Sunburst and a nice rosewood fretboard.

What amazed me was the level of detail: there was a heel contour in the body, and the best fret work I have seen in a long time! The guitar was light and responsive and the sound (with those pickups) was above average; that of course boils down to individual taste. But I believe a JB humbucker and 2 SSL-1 single coils are a popular and "safe" choice.

In general, the guitar seemed nicer than most modern Fenders I've played and could hold it's own even against boutique guitars from Suhr and the like! Those Koreans certainly make quality instruments!

The price for this one was 700 euro, slightly above "medium price" for Europe. For comparison, a Fender American Standard is a little over 1000 euros in the European market and I'd certainly take the Swing over the Fender any day.

But it gets better.

The Prism I mentioned in my first post, was not available, shall be in about 3 months. It costs about 850 euros and adds an LR Baggs piezo bridge with stereo output, locking Sperzel tuners and abalone inlays. And that's about as expensive as you can get; there are cheaper models, at the 400-500 price range which seemed very good.

Overall, I'd say the Swing line is worthy of serious consideration for anyone looking for a professional Superstrat guitar. Especially the built quality and fret job will make you think you are playing a guitar costing at least twice as much. Check them out if you have the chance.