Semi-acoustic players

[blacklight_uk]

Hi guys, i posted a thread a couple of days ago asking what you thought was the best semi-acoustic for under £500 as i'd like to buy one.

I've narrowed down my search to the following two:

Hagstrom Viking
Gretsch Electromatic

Does anybody have any experience with these guitars? The likelihood of me being able to try them in a shop near here is very slim so i'd be taking a gamble but maybe i can find somewhere with a good returns policy