Chapin Guitars Hawk

Midnight Blue , Hawk body shape. Extremly light swamp ash with thin maple cap, total body weight under 3.5 pounds. Tele bridge with brass saddles, SD Jerry Dunahue bridge PU. Neck pickup is a Beelzebucker, neck coil is wound like a Strat pickup the other coil is closer to p90 or Tele bridge pickup in style. A mini toggle switches between both coils in series, down position, neck coil in middle position and both coils in parallel in up position. Tone control pull gives p90 coil. All and all four great neck sound, combined with the bridge pickup I gives my nine great sounds.
The neck is bolt on maple with African Blackwood fingerboard. The blackwood gives a tone that?s a bit warmer than maple but still with a good deal of snap and pop. Reverse triangle inlays and Shades at 12?th fret.
Basically this is like a dream Tele. I asked Bill Chapin for a guitar that would give Jerry Donahue like twang and piano like tone but I also wanted a bit of the warmth of Robben Fords Tele sounds. This guitar delivers big time.

WOW? Starting with bridge pickup, with a clean Fender style amp its clear and twangy Albert Lee and Jerry Donahue sounds. Add a bit of distortion the bridge pickup sound fat and warm, from Robben sounds to Roy Buchanan rawness. In middle position the sound is huge and piano like, with different setting on the neck pickup I got several Shades of big warm and biting sounds, the tone control works great to fatten up the sound. Neck pickup gives me great Strat like sounds, but fatter and better defined. The P90 like coils sound fat yet clear, parallel is a great growly blues sound and series is a smooth and clear humbucker sound.
This guitar has a very special sound, it sounds very Tele like but more and better. The sustain is amazing. The guitar sounds so alive it makes me play a bit different, take more rests and varying my picking just because it responds so well.

Clips can be found at:
http://www.soundclick.com/bands/5/abergdahlmusic.htm

Perfect, the most perfect lacquer I have seen flawless deep blue metallic mirror shine. The neck is amazing, a very subtle V shape, just like I ordered, the finish on the neck makes it feel almost as raw wood, smooth and silk like. Even though some guitars I have got lower action this is perfect. The feel of this guitar is very special ? true work of art. I call it The Blue Rider.

As solid as a guitar can be, basically a Tele like construction = indestructible.

During the building Bill mailed me quite often about the status, even if he asked what saddles and other things I wanted I pretty much trusted Bill?s judgment and mastery in choice of materials and stuff.

The best Tele style guitar I have ever touched, well it was made for me and it suits me perfectly. The tone and playability is amazing ? this is a very special instrument.

Thanks Bill
BTW this rating is absurd, all my guitars are among the best I have played, they are all top instrument and would rate above most instruments that I am likely to find. All my guitars are clear 10?s all over compared to the majority of guitars I find in stores. So if we rank the percent of guitars this is among the very best on the marked Chapin are in the top layer if these guitars. This is as much custom shop as it can be!!
The experience of custom ordering instruments from a great luthier is highly recommended.

2003 USA-made custom based on established model, about 7.5 lbs

Neck: 22 frets, rosewood fingerboard, ebony finish on black limba (korina) neck and headstock, extra carve at neck joint to facilitate access to upper register, compensating nut, vintage-style locking sin-on-a-side gold tuners, fat round (.980) neck profile

Body: Solid, single-piece mahogany, natural rub finish, flamed walnut pickguard, matching flamed walnut pickup covers, custom shape single-cut, set neck, gold hardtail bridge, tele-style switch plate

Electronics: tele-style three-way gold switch plate, two P90-style pickups

the "10" rating doesn't denote "tons of features", but rather that this is a custom instrument that met or exceeded all design requirements

picture here: http://www.rjsanders.com/guitars/Chapin_Hawk/jeffcomplete2.jpg

the guitar has become my #1 instrument for use with a band that explores all American musical styles (save Broadway show tunes?). we do a lot of blues- and jazz-based favorites and mostly original material with a lot of jamming. the guitar is intended as an upgrade to my Gibston Les Paul Special Limited Edition ('77 double-cut) and it provides all the sound plus a richness and cut-through that goes way beyond. the tone controls get used a lot more than the Gibson, because they can change the guitar's personality from an almost archtop-like "woof" to a tele-like sear. amazing range, exceptional warmth, sustain, acoustic ring - large, like nobody's business

Bill Chapin custom shapes his necks to customer wants, tone taps and tunes all the hand-selected wood, and matches the necks to the bodies for optimum sound. action is set exactly to customer specifications and fret finishing is perfect.

built to last. absolutely reliable and solid. i'd play without backup gladly, if i didn't have two other Chapin guitars that provide special and specific sounds (one tele-style T-Bird and one strat-style Strata-Houla w/vibrato). see my other reviews here for those guitars and additional notes on the consistent excellence of the luthier's work.

Bill Chapin is the model of customer and product support - available, friendly, expert, committed. Warranty is "limited lifetime", meaning limited to his lifetime and he is dedicated to his craft and art. Bill creates a partnership between himself and his customer for each instrument.

i've been playing well over 35 years and have tried all the major brands and models. was formerly, and until i met Chapin a couple years ago, a humbucking-sound player. but Bill's guitars (this is my fourth) have converted me. my third one *was* stolen and i immediately ordered this one, once i got over the shock of the loss.

for value you can't beat a Chapin. the big makers' custom shops don't provide what he can, e.g. African blackwood fingerboards, which my third Chapin had and my next Chapin will have - the new "Phoenix" model. i could afford any instrument from any manufacturer or custom maker, but i've chosen Chapin (five times now) for a reason - well several reasons, as you can see, and ultimately it's because of what you get and how little you give for it. Bill and i are now discussing plans for an electric bass guitar.

i'll gladly share more on this anytime with anyone via e-mail or at one of our (Goodlife R&B Revue) shows. see http://www.goldtoprecords.com