[in no particular order...]
this is the first one i bought, a black Hagstrom III from 1966 in excellent shape with original tiger-stripe lined case. a few minor scratches and dings here and there, but overall it feels and plays like it's just a couple years old. in fact, it seems like i need to back the volume knob way off to get the "mellow" tone that i'm after, which is easier to dial in on some of the others. i've noticed that Hagstroms have a sort of metallic "twang" to them, and it's quite pronounced on this one.
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this one is a bit of an oddity. turns out that it's one of a special batch of 100 that was produced in 1969. they were sunburst with black/burst painted necks and actually came with this plastic logo on the headstock, which i first assumed was taken from an earlier guitar and placed on this one after they stripped and stained it. (there's another one from this batch of 100 on eBay right now, just a few digits away on the serial number.) this is possibly my favorite one out of the whole bunch, it's just so comfortable and sounds fucking great. totally "vintage" sound to it, very warm and smooth. a different "personality" to the rest of them, has almost a really "wooden" tone to it (not surprisingly, i guess). there is a split in the back of the neck which i need to have taken care of (they used 2-piece necks, joined in the middle), and i was thinking about having it refinished at some point.
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the beater (late '65 or early '66). a previous owner replaced the tuners with some black Gotoh types, and spray painted the chrome pickup surrounds (?!). they did a decent job of it, but it's starting to chip off in a few spots. the lacquer on the neck has darkened quite a bit, and it's worn very comfortably. i had planned to swap the tuners back to stock, but now that i've got replacements i'm not so sure. i'm just used to the blacked out look of it. the switches on this one have a mind of their own, and are frustrating at times. they all work, but getting them to "catch" can be tricky depending on the day. not sure what's up with the volume knob on this one, it acts as sort of a mild tone control. haven't really looked into it, i'm fine with it for now. might make this one an "experimental" guitar and have custom pickguards made up in different configurations to swap in and out. (i've since fixed the string routing off the nut, these pics were taken just after i got it.)
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just got this one recently, i think it's from '71 or '72 (??). besides an unfortunate ding on the corner of the headstock and some light scratches here and there, this thing is pretty much brand new. i'm actually not in love with the color, but the condition is so nice that i knew i'd regret not grabbing it. i've always wanted an HIIN, i'm still kicking myself for passing on a sunburst one locally maybe 15 years ago. honestly, i thought i would like it more than i do. overall i think i prefer the pickups and look of the HII/III, but i haven't spent nearly as much time with this one yet. i do love how the "horns" on the pickguard are longer and match the body contour better. it's got (what i believe to be) a pretty big problem though - they fucked up cutting the string slots in the nut, there's a gap between the A and D strings. i don't know how it could have made it out of the factory like that.
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another HIII from 1966, this one is even nicer than its "twin" above with the black switches. feels and plays like new, with just a few flaws. same with the original case, almost perfect (though this one doesn't have the tiger stripe lining). haven't seen/played this one in a while, i stashed it at my parents' house just in case i get robbed or the place burns down.
