Gibson Blueshawk

1997 Blueshawk. Two P-90's, Varitone with bypass. Black finish with F holes. Standard Gibson Kluson Keystone tuners. Everyone else has described the rest.

I really like the sound of the Varitone. I play it through a Fender Custom Vibrolux Reverb and a Traynor YCV40WR. It sounds good through both amps. I like the small light body since I am an older musician. The P-90's are dead quiet. I bought it used and it had a loose ground. A trip to the local tech took care of the wiring.

Since mine was used it was well worn. It has some buckle rash on the back, but the finish is all still in tact. Nothing goes through the clear coat. The fit and finish are top notch. There is no flaking of the finish around the neck joint like on other Gibsons I've had before. The neck is smooth and straight. Very comfortable to play.

I've only had the guitar for a month, but It seems well built and I would feel confident to gig with it without a backup. I installed Schaler strap locks for confidence. Since my tech adjusted it and fixed the loose ground it is a fine player. It's already held up for 8 years without the finish fading or being beat up too bad. No reason to think it won't last.

I don't know, but Gibson did answer my emails when asking a couple of questions about the guitar.

I would say this guitar is very versatile. It's not for everyone because of the size and body shape. Seems like people either love them or hate them. I fall in the first category. I'm thinking of looking for a second one in a different color. The Varitone was the clincher for me. I just like the variety of sound you can get.

This is a 1997 USA Blueshawk with standard Gibson spec for the era and usual P90 Blues P/Us. Cherry Red - I think I would have preferred the black but hey that doesn't make it play any better.
The very first BH I saw was in a shop near where I live here in the UK but it had jumbo frets and my style of playing is more Eagles, Doobies, Mike and the Mechanics and always the STONES so that axe was really not what I needed.
The case is original perfect fit. 10 out of 10 for that!
I bought this one on e-bay from Ohio and first thing I did was to send it to my local fixerman to get it sorted

I have a Gibson Epihone Nighthawk built in Nashville. I owned a USA Strat but the kneck was kind of like a camel and even though I got it fixed it was too much country sound and that is not really me so that was sold. I have a Hamer also that doesn't get played too much. I liked the sound of the Nighthawk so much that I thought the Blueshawk had to be better especially with the variator that the Nighthawk just doesn't have but it doesn't quite do what I had in mind especially since the nighthawk sound is better. I fitted a vintage Gibson P/U in the neck position of the nighthawk and it's got this amazing sound but the Blueshawk is not as good

When the axe arrived in this beautifully crafted case with it's own red negligee covering the whole body I thought this it - a Gibby! Out of the case I was really disappointed. The action sucks. Far too high. Intonation was fine and tuners not so bad - it held tuning but the frets!! They could rip your hands to shreds at 10 paces. The finish on my so called cheap Epiphone with white binding is so much better. What happened Gibson. Even my guitar fixerman said that if the two guitars were not "named" he would put the Epiphone label on the blueshawk. The finish on the NH is also so much better

I haved gigged the nighthawk for 2 years and see no reason why the blueshawk won't stand the same test

No comment - no contact

I have been playing 30 years and owned a lot of guitars. Some absolutely dreadful that are selling now for stupid mega high prices in the "well thought of" shops. I wouldn't give one away.
I own a tele JD that I use for Stones numbers mainly and a Hamer that doesn't get much airing. I play the nighthawk and will now with the blueshawk through a Johnson 150 amp. On merit the Blueshawk is good. It's a pity that Gibson didn't give it the finish and proud to be Gibson badge that L/Ps have and in most areas the BH can hack it. Pity the frets finish are not as good

Late 90's, red, it's pretty good looking. That varitone is the real deal. Construction and features are pretty much well known, nothing new from other comments made here.

Some guys below say it's a good "rhythm" guitar, or for "Blues" or
it's not a "do everything" axe, some other such silliness... I say BULL!!! GET REAL!!! and then a new amp. What are they playng through,
a Pignose?

Let's see, didn't Leslie West (From Mountain) use P-90's ? Yes.
Didn't Tom Scholz (from Boston) use a 60's Paul with P90's? Yep again! Do you call THAT blues, or strictly rhythm? Get serious. This generation of P-90's do not hum like the old ones do, and give most of the same range as the original ones, with a bit less volume.

This guitar sounds GREAT without the Varitone. Crank it up, and it wails. Go to the varitone, and smooth it all out, or plug it into a higher end pedal and you're in for a surprise or three!

I play mostly original music, but dabble in Queen, Boston, Eagles and other 70's band music. I've not had a situation where I cannot get what I want out of the "Hawk" when I want it.

I like powerful clean amps that can be used with a decent pedal without a bunch of noise being added in the mix from a dirty amp.

If I had only ONE guitar it would be this one, no bragging rights of an expensive guitar with the "hawk" but you won't suffer at all with a "Hawk" where it counts. It's a good thing my Wife doesn't read this though.

Action is good, the finish SUCKS. It has peeled in two locations on the front while in my posession. It doesn't bum me out though... I play it, not sleep with it :-)

I've never known a Gibson that wouldn't outlive the owner with proper care, and a re-fret every once in a while. IMO, they (Gibsons) get better with age. Even if they look ratty, they generally sound great.

I'm not crazy about the new "floating" pickup mounts. I much prefer the
40's and 50's solid screw tight to the body mount, but on the hawk I
keep them pretty low to avoid problems caused by the mounting scheme.

Gibson, Fender, Gretsch, and ALL of them are pretty crappy here. I'm used to it, I expect it (lack of service) and don't need their "support".

Few guitars I've owned stand shoulder to shoulder to the "Hawk"

What can you get for under a thou that's decent? An American Strat, Epiphones, and that about does it. EVERYONE has them, along with boated expensive PRS, Gibson Les Pauls, and others. You want unique? This is it. You want sound, this is it.

You want to spend a bunch more on a semi-solid with varitone? An ES-345 will set you back four times what a Hawk costs, a Lucille three
times the cost and a 355? don't get me started! All this without the
real dollar "value" being there in the equation because the Hawk is not inferior in any way.

Hey, you want HB's??? Get TWO Hawks, and have Humbuckers installed, on one and still have well over 1k in the bank from not buying a higher end Gibson.

Tonight I started looking for another Hawk to do just that with!

Anyway, I have a couple of Fender strats, a Tele, a 70's era Les Paul
and others that drift in and out of the house, but the Hawk spends
more time plugged in than the rest put together.

I bought 2 new BLueshawks in 96' (red and black)for $519.00 each. I played both of them and there were minor tonal differences. The 2 (plus 1 in the back) Blues 90 single coil pick-ups have a great tone through every tube amp I've tried, regardless of manufacture. The through-the-body string path is much prefered over the later model with a tune-o-matic bride. The weight is ideal for long gigs. The red BH had pick-up mounting problems.. the knurled nut pushed into a surface mounted wood plate in the cavity is pretty cheesy, but easily repaired. The chicken-head varitone reaches a wide range of tones. Pulling the tone knob activates the back mounted coil facing the back of the guitar, used for hum cancelling and bypassing the varitone. The wiring on the red BH proved to be imperfect.. quite a dissapointment for an American made Gibson. The pu selector was squirrely. The volume control is not linear as it goes from 0-10 at around 55-60% rotation. The "coffin case" is nice.

My style tends toward all types of blues based music.. delta, Texas, Chicago, Jump, Swing, R&B, funk. This guitar serves well for all. I use a Fender Bassman 20 with an Ibanez Tube Screamer and an Ibanez Delay, a Mesa/Boogie Subway Blues with a Boss Blues Driver or a 68' Fender Super Reverb with all pedals in series. I can achieve most any sound with these arrangements. I prefer the Bassman arrangement! The guitars are noisy but have very sweet tone going from bright to mid-rangey down to deep, fat tones. On the occasion when I play 60's/70's rock, this guitar covers all the sounds.

The factory set-up was okay. The pick-ups were not well mounted on the red BH but the action was good on both guitars. The black BH has none of the problems of the red one. It has been a great guitar.

I use both BHs at gigs, as I tend to break strings. Once the pick-up issue is handled the guitar feels reliable. I've both since '96 and have never had any need for major repair.

I've been playing guitar since '67. I own a '92 American Standard Strat, a De Armond Starfire, a Single cutaway solid Godin with 2 Seymour Duncan P-90s, a cheap Dan Electro hollow body w/ 1 single coil that has amazing tone amplified or not, a Jonny Reb '69 Tele Thin-Line clone (great tone and action), an Ampeg R12 Revrb-o-Rocket, 68' Super Reverb, Mesa/Boggie Subway Blues w/ 1-12 extention cab, Bassman 20. Hollow and semi-hollow with tubes are my preference. I just want a well made 72' Tele Thin-Line and my collection will be complete.

I bought a Blueshawk off eBay after playing one several years ago when I was more into playing blues. I hadn't tried one since then. This one came pretty well set up with all stock hardware, in a nice hardshell case with no noticeable flaws in the trans cherry finish.

There were lots of sound(s) available but none of them suited my style, so it went back on eBay and I lost about $40 on the whole deal. The sounds were too hot and bright for my purposes (I'm playing lead for a progressive folk singer/songwriter).

I noticed an audible hum sometimes when I wasn't playing, unless I rested my hand on the strings; I guess it had a grounding problem with some circuits. Also there was sometimes an audible click when I moved the pickup selector switch.

The set up was okay but not stellar. The finish was good and the guitar is really quite pretty; one of it's stronger points IMHO. It played like a gibson, but the neck felt like it could use some attention, maybe a little smoothing on the frets.

Didn't have it long enough to say, but it seemed pretty solid.

Don't know

If you're a blues player and like the P-90 sound, consider this guitar. I would not recommend it for other styles. I've been playing 32 years, have owned about 20 guitars. Still haven't found the "perfect beast" but the quest continues to be interesting!

This is a follow-up on a previous review. Had it for 2.5 years now, and New Gear Syndrome has worn off.

My setup has changed a lot since my first review. Gone is the rack system, and I've gone to a BadCat Black Cat 30R combo, and a Rt.66 pedal for compression. I've been playing for 8+ years, mostly jazz and rock, and own a few other Gibsons, etc.

First off, while the pickups handle smooth fuzz well, they CANNOT take high-gain. I found this out after the previous review, and even though I got a Gibson Nighthawk to do the lead work, the high-gain rack had to scoot--couldn't get a good lead tone w. the Blueshawk with a high-gain system.

That said, this has an amazing tone, most of all with the Varitone bypassed...middle position is very 3D and jangly when clean or w. light crunch. Can get a great "vintage" jazz tone out of the neck pickup, and the bridge...well...it's got some twang, so it can do anything requiring twang.

It's not a DO EVERYTHING guitar, sonically, but it's THE BEST rhythm guitar I've come across to date, and I have a lot of guitars.

With a medium-gain amp, I get smooth blues w. some bite and smolder. Rock is a cinch, but this guitar seems to be made for rhythms from pop-thru-Eagles in middle position, and thick old-school jazz in neck.

Finish on mine was perfect.

Held up thru 2+ years of abuse and gigging. It's retiring to the studio & home now, as I'm using Fender Tornados w. Fender '72-RI Humbuckers in the neck position for live work.

This is a followup to an earlier review. I finally got around to replacing the stock "Blues 90" pickups with Dimarzios - a Virtual P90 neck, and a DLX90 bridge. I also replaced the original tone cap with a foil-in-oil designer cap (it DOES make a difference!), and removed the treble bypass and notch filter circuits (the Varitone remained). If you want to mess with the electronics, check out the schematics at www.blueshawk.info before proceeding... this ain't no Telecaster!

Other than that, the guitar has the usual stock features - great wood, great neck, crappy tuners.

Before i put in the Dimarzios, the Blueshawk was a really great-sounding guitar. With the Dimarzios, it turned into a *killer* guitar. If you think the stock Blueshawk sounds sweet but a bit nonaggressive, try the Dimarzios! The DLX90 bridge with a good tube amp gives me a flawless 1970s hard rock tone, and amazing blues as well - like a Tele bridge with real cajones. The neck pickup can do chunky rhythm or clean jazz tones. And now it's completely silent, which it never was with the stock electronics (but were pretty quiet).

The Blueshawk with the Dimarzio pickups is now the best-sounding guitar i've ever owned, and one of the better ones i've ever heard.

The Blueshawk sounds as good as any guitar Gibson makes today. But unlike other Gibsons, they're easy to find for under $500 used. The Dimarzio P90 humbuckers just take it to another level. Great neck, great sound, comfy feel... what more could i want out of a guitar?

Made in 1998 I guess. You know all about the dummy coil and the tone switch. Mine is blue. No case. -2 points

I play Jazz/Blues/Classic Rock/Gospel/thrash/Death metal/Pop/Rap/Country/Bluegrass/elevator/new-age/fusion/punk/grunge.
I use Fender and Marshall tube amps, too many to mention. No effects.
Guitar is very quiet. Tone seems somewhat muted. A lot of variety, but the sonic range is incoherently disproportionate to the subtle nuances of the dedicated tonal waveforms which seemingly blend in a fundamental unbalananced harmony creating uncharacteristic chaos therefore rendering the imbalances described therein as undesirable.

Action was high, tuner was bent, pickups fell off, rough plywood edges, 6-way tone control did not work. It took six months to get a new one from Gibson. Switch broke, wires were loose.

It broke the first time I used it. nuf said.

It took six months to get the new switch in. By then, the pickup switch had broken, and the neck came loose.

I've been playing 27 years. I own almost every guitar and amp that came out in the last 30 years. Gibson should be ashamed of themselves for putting their name on this. I wish I had prayed before buying this. I haven't played it in two years. I wish some one would steal it!

1997 model, Heritage cherry, varitone, F hole semi hollow, you know the drill. As far as I know Gibson doesn't have anything but US
made.

I bought it for two reasons, varitone, and P-90's... OK, OK, four reasons... It's also lighter than any other serious guitar
made (good for those days my back hurts) and nobody else has one.

I'm a sucker for different, but not so much so that I'd drive a
VW bug, or PT Cruiser. Seriously, I like the pre-58 Gibson sound
and cannot see plunking down $2000+ for a cheesy looking gold top
Gibson LP re-issue with soapbars. This one is as good in sound, FAR better in appearance and weight.

I was unsure of the bypass feature cause the varitone has the SAME
feature, but playing it showed me the light. Once I get the varitone
smoking with one sound, I can easily go to the bypass then back to
the previous setting without diddling with the varitone again. A REAL
nice feature if you use the varitone, not so if you don't.

Some players don't like the varitone, I do. I play an ES-345, and
an ES-137 custom, and all three varitone switches sound different,
this one may be the best of the bunch in varied sounds, perhaps
it's the pickups that make the sound envelope different.

I play "fusion" jazz/rock, and the P-90's surprisingly sound great.
I have a bunch of amps, but use a BOSS pedal to keep sound relatively
the same on all of them. Without the pedal, it's every bit what
I expect from P90's smooth with a bit less volume than a HB, but compared to mid 50-s P90's not NEARLY as loud, but then again not noisy like the original 50's pickups either. I know the difference.

I have a pair of pre 1958 soapbars on another guitar that I removed from an early pair of Les Paul Customs, and planned on putting them in the Blueshawk some day, and I just may do that, but these sound so good, I'll wait.

Most of my other guitars have Humbuckers, I've been itching for something with the "genuine" Gibson sound, this one fills the need.

Fit and finish are typical Gibson. Looks great minus some flaws from the previous owner(s).

The neck is a bit of a weird item, it feels a bit "Fenderish" Not
exactly my cup'o'tea, but I can play it. The guitar has those
chintzy vintage style horror tuners, but I will change them out if they won't hold tune.

The Gold is typical Gibson cheeze... why they don't go to quadruple
plated chrome, stainless or straight plastic is a mystery.

Honestly, this guitar can do little wrong as far as I'm concerned
I think it's a truly great guitar, someday I think others will
agree.

I don't expect any problems. It's pretty well used... the neck, and frets are still prefect.

I've dealt with Gibson in the past and can't fault them a bit.

I've been playing long enough to have owned and played "Vintage" guitars when they WEREN'T vintage :-)

Why were these guitars so "inexpensive" ??? You gotta have a really
hard head to not see the value on these. Compared to ANYTHING else on
the market with P-90's this is too good a deal to believe.

This is THE guitar I'd switch to after a long day of practice or
live playing. For those of you who like to go against the style
grain, this little guitar really cannot be beat.

2004 (I guess) Ebony Blueshawk. The standard features already listed. Guitar just came with a gig bag and a warranty card/owner's manual. Why Gibson would ship an $800 guitar in a bag is a mystery to me. Gibson thinks guitars under $1000 are "cheap guitars". To me, a $25 guitar is a "cheap guitar". To be fair, I suppose they were trying to keep the cost to the consumer down. It's a decent gigbag, well padded, but triangular in shape, and the guitar slides around. No tools or accessories included. Order the "Little Lucille" case from Musician's Friend. It is real nice. The guitar feels like to me it is a 3/4 guitar with a full-size neck. I love the fit!

You will want this guitar for the unbelievable range of tones it gives. It will be a long time before you tire of experimenting with the different settings. At first, they all seem trebly, but you can get a decent humbucker imitation also. I have tried it out on everything from Lynyrd Skynyrd to Marc Cohn, and the guitar handles it all with no effort. When you are learning the Vibratone, keep notes on the sounds at different settings. The range of tones seems endless.

Many of these reviews complain about the factory setup. Should we expect the guitar to arrive from Gibson perfectly setup for our individual tastes? I don't think so. I expected it to arrive fully finished, and put together, and strung up. And so it was. It was not setup at all, although the QC inspector signed it off as being setup. All the saddles were adjusted exactly the same, the pickup heights were alarmingly uneven, and it was seriously out of tune. I don't think that's a problem. It was put together properly, nothing was loose or mis-aligned, it looked like it was built by someone who gave a darn. So, I will have it setup and go on down the road. You can't expect Gibson to sit down and tweak every guitar off the line. If I had bought it in a shop, damn right I would have expected it to be setup!

I agree with everyone-get straplocks before you strap it on, or you will drop it. The strap pins are tiny. I expect the gold hardware to start tarnishing immediately. Oh well! I believe it's a sturdy little guitar. Believe me, you don't want to hear me play!

I have never talked to Gibson.

This guitar is so light and comfortable, you will not want to put it down. Standing or sitting, it's a joy to hold. I have been playing since the morning after the Beatles were on Ed Sullivan. If you don't know when that was, you don't matter. I've had quite a few Fenders, and sold them all. They are boring. I prefer Rickenbacker for electrics, and Taylor for acoustic, but this BH is a keeper. It is simply put-a TON of fun!