Gibson Blueshawk

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!

1997 model in black. 22 frets, semi-hollow bodied with pickup selector tone, volume and the FANTASTIC Varitone. Twin Gibson P90s rosewood fretboard, minging Gibson tuners. Came in a well fitting Epiphone case!

If this was a woman it would be the 'The thinking man's total babe' - sorry to be sexist, but petite, good looking - in an individuaistic way - and capable of a huge range of tones and styles. I've had it 3 months and the love affair keeps growing.

You can't quite get the full mellow softness of a humbucker but you can get close. The amazing thing about this guitar is the range of tone that the Varitone brings - including the delightful Strat neck pickup sound. It does the whole range of rock - from heavy thrash through to mellow and, of course, ius ace for blues - it will sing it will howl it - its flexibility is superb.

There's little I dislike. My SG has a push-push switch on the tone pot - this is a pull out - push-push is much easier to use. And those tuners - yeuch - its a Gison gripe - they should stop making them and use 3rd party ones on ALL their guitars.

Its a Gibson. Its well made and by 97 quality control was excellent. It took a bit of tweaking to get the action and pickup height right - because somebody incompetent had been at it prior to me. But Ginson provides easy means of adjustment

Solid as a rock. Talk to any gigging pub musician who has one - they're ultra reliable

Great web site and they were -eventually - helpful when I asked for details of how to check the Varitone they pointed me to an excellent 3rd party web site

This is a guitar I intend to hold on to. I have an SG - and a Les Paul - the SG's gonna go because the Blueshawk does all it can do and more and is much sturdier.

Anything I wish it had? Well it would be nice to open the back plates and find them stuffed full of gold coins or an invite from Santa to name whatever I want - price and quantity no object. However as a guitar it's great. Are they still making them? You see ocassional new ones in the UK and advertised on US web sites?

I bought my 'Blueshawk' new ..my first Gibson ; the shape its a kind of light and small 'Les paul' but with 2 F holes , the color is 'chicago blue' which is really nice , 2 P90 blues PU , varitone , push pull to cut the varitone , vintage style tuners ,rather thin neck (for a Gibson) and very playable (good for bending) came with a de luxe Gibson gig bag

I have this guitar since 10 days so I am still discovering the different tones you can have with the Varitone , it's suits my style which is blues/heavy blues ; I can only compare with another guitar I have which is loaded with a Gibson p94 , for the moment I prefer the p94 given you more versality for hard rock for example. sometimes I play some AC DC songs and my blueshawk is not very good for that ; but you can have a kind of 'strat' sound on varitone position 5 which I like the best for the moment..good for soloing

The guitar was very well set up , no problem

the tuners are a bit 'cheap' , i would prefer others..I don't play live , so no opinion

I like my blueshawk but I wish there were p94 Gibson PU instead of P90 blues (in fact I will put P94 on every guitars LOL so)I forgot to tell you that I am a woman and this guitar suits me very well

I'll admit, I'm a sucker for knobs and switches. But the Blueshawk seems to have just enough to hold its own. The Variton knob is a blast. I hesitate to add electronics to it. It's simple, but very versatile. I wish I had the new model with the bigsby style trem.

Lately I've been playing mostly jazz. The BH shines in this area with heavy flatwound strings installed and the action adjusted slightly higher than normal. Electronics are clear and noise-free. This guitar has led me on a musical journey from punk rock to alternative to funk to broadway-style show tunes to classic jazz. If you tweak it right and use an old solid state combo amp (I prefer a Yamaha) It has one of the most beautiful jazz tones I've ever heard in a guitar.

Factory setup was a disappointment. I had to re-adjust everything, but that's what you expect when you pay less than a grand for an electric guitar, right? Intonation was an absolute mess. Finish is gorgeous and the fit perfect for smaller players. (I'm 5'7" and it fits me like a glove.)

Since I bought the instrument in 1998 the only repair I've had to make was to replace a tuning machine that bent in a freak accident. Finish is solid. Those inevitable Headstock-Cymbal accidents chip away very little finish. Construction is extremely solid. This guitar has survived countless shows and rehearsals, 5 changes of address and an international tour without any signs of internal wear and tear. Body & neck respond well to changes in temperature and humidity.

Gibson sent me a new tuning machine for free, no-questions-asked. It fit perfectly. I don't remember how long the warranty was. Honestly, after playing the guitar a bit I wasn't concerned with whether or not it would last.

I own 5 electric guitars and have played on scores of different models, and the blueshawk is my favorite for its style. I definitelty would prefer an Emperor to play jazz on, but the blueshawk takes the cake in versatility and feel. Size is a plus.

Writing again: had the pickups adjusted (loose connection inside, but I bought it used, so hey).

Okay, like I said, I had it worked on.

Sound: from the neck pickup, I can get those lovely Fender neck tones from the 70's tele that had the humbucker. Just nails it! The best rhythm pickup tone in my book! Thick and fat and mellooooow!!!

The high-e drop off was fixed, and now I can wail on it. Basically, this is like all the best qualities of a strat/tele/335 rolled into one. Depending on the varitone setting, I can get downright strat tones from the bridge, albeit a bit thicker/fuller, but not quite as rich/clear as the stacked Anderson strat pickups. The in-between is nice, and some tone in-between tele and ES335 can be pulled off, very dimensional. The neck pickup shines for rhythm now, what was useless before--talk about the perfect pickup for jazz or even mellow rock solo!!!

The only thing missing is a hard-rock sound, but hey, it's not a hard rock guitar. I will have to buy a strat w. an SD Cool Rails in the bridge to get a Nirvana/Pumpkins' Siamese Dream sound. But as for psychedelic jazz-rock, mellow rock, jazz and blues, this is THE guitar for me.

The bridge pickup (unlike true P90s) actually handles heavy-sustain fuzz (ala early Clapton woman-tone) quite well on the bridge pickup.

My setup consists of a Carvin Quad X-amp preamp (9 12AX7s) and Carvin T100 power amp (2 12AX7s, 4 EL34s), with a wah, little ART tube compressor, and flanger. Like I said, my sound crosses lots of territory: mellow jazz and jazz-rock, Gish-type psychedelia, Delta blues, and early 90s alternative. This guitar will do all but the last of those, VERY WELL.

Still good...no fret problems, just sloppy finish in the F-holes. The initial pickup thing is now fixed, but it was BAD.

Now that the pickup thing is fixed, I hope it will be very reliable. I see no reason for it not to be.

Never called Gibson, just took it to a local repair place (T.G. Music in Goshen, IN). The guy there fixed my problem for free in exchange for a few minutes of playing it afterward.

It was a good guitar for the money, now it's a great guitar for the money. Will do everything I need it to except heavy distortion humbucker stuff (which it doesn't have and wasn't designed for)./

The ultimate jazz/blues guitar!

This is the standard BluesHawk, not the Little Lucille. If you are reading this you already know what features it comes with. Being female I really like the light weight. I was looking for a semi-hollow body, I sure didn't want the weight of a Strat or a Les Paul hanging around my neck. Also, since I have small hands I really like the neck. This is the most playable neck I have ever had on any guitar I have ever owned and that includes my Ovation. (Just so you guys know, that's why women typically like Ovations. Small neck for small hands.)

I play mostly blues and this guitar is perfect for what I play. You can get just about any kind of sound out of it but really, I found a couple of settings I like and that is what I stick with most of the time anyway. If you are wanting to change pots or change pick-ups maybe this guitar isn't what you are looking for in the first place. I play through a Fender Champ 110 because that it the only amp I own. When I get a few more bucks I probably will try it out with some other types of amps.

Pretty much everything else you have read in the other reviews is true. The finish is not the best. The factory set-up was awful. The pick-ups were all but falling off. Read my comments later, if you are willing to put in a little extra after you buy this guitar you will be rewarded with one heck of a nice little guitar that you don't have to spend $2000 for.

I haven't really had my BluesHawk long enough to speak about long-term reliability but in my hands I can't see that I would have a problem. I tend to baby my guitars and treat them gently so I have never had a problem with reliability anyway. I can see how someone who is more vigorous with their guitars might want some beefier knobs but I like the ones it came with.

The guitar came with loose pick-ups, they would not tighten down. I contacted customer service, they immediately wrote back and told me to contact an authorized service center. I telephoned the nearest one and he was able to describe the problem to me over the telephone. The problem is the pick-ups mount to these little round nuts which are just pressed into holes in the guitar body and the mounting nuts pop out. I took both pick-ups off, replaced the mounting nuts that had popped loose (two out of four) and added a little epoxy glue to keep them in place. I have not had any more trouble with the pick-ups. If you don't want to have to repair your brand new guitar you can always take it to a service center but this really is something you can do yourself.

The important thing to realize,if you are going to buy a BluesHawk,is to think of it more as a work in progress than a finished product. You WILL want to change the tuning machines, I put Grover's on mine. You probably will want to put on a set of strap locks. It will need a good set-up, whether you feel comfortable doing this yourself or whether you take it to the best luthier you know. Then there are those dreaded pick-up mounting nuts, see my comments above. Once you get past all this you will have a really great guitar. Oh, and buy the Gibson hard case (the NightHawk case). There is nothing quite like putting her away and covering her with her own little satin blankie.

OK, this USA Blueshawk guitar is the Limited Edition BB King "Little Lucille" version,(DOB 2002) Black, creme binding on the Rosewood neck and body and gold holdware ...real sharp and quite the classy looker,with pearl diamond inlays on the rosewood neck and a gold cover on the headstock etch-signed BBKing also the Gibson logo is a multicolor pearl shell type inlay. Rather costly from MusiciansFriend...$1199, shipped.
It has the Varitone circuit which is terrific for getting into some other cool distinctive sounds, eg. kind of Fender-ish sounds, and with the Little Lucille, the Varitone is mounted on a gold numbered backing plate which allows you to actually replicate the sounds knowing what Varitone setting number the dial is on (on the std blueshawk there is no way of knowing what number of Varitone is in play)
Varitone selector is a cool chicken-head type.
Blues-90 creme colored pickups which are SCREAMERS!!! Unreal.
3way PU blade switch, one volume and one tone w/push-pull selector that engages the Varitone. pickups are virtually noiseless due to the dummy coil that was thoughtfully added to cancel hum.
It has all the same woods as the regular blueshawk, but the tail piece is a TP6 tune-o-matic, very nice and easy to work with for intonation and string height etc...it is NOT a string-thru like the regular blueshawks. came with a very nice BBKing signed custom made plushy-lined hardshell case. instead of the "blueshawk" name along side of the neck on the body which everyone seems to despise, this one says Little Lucille in a nice cursive gold lettered font which does look real nice against the black body. Oh did I mention that this guitar weighs like 7 lbs, what I delight for those all nighters.
This guitar was made to BB Kings own personal specifications.

'lil Lucy suits my styles just fine and then some.
Variety is the key word here.This has a ton of usable sounds with the varitone 1 thru 6 settings X 3 different settings of pickup combinations and thats like 18 different sounds without even using the tone which will take you into different hues and colors of those 18 settings. then you can use it without the varitone for that awesome Gibson Riproaring scream. so thats 21 different settings in all. thats gotta be a record! ya think?!

OK, Heres where things go south. the Gibson people have got to be the most irresponsible,lazy f'ers out there and quality control sucks. the cap to the pickup selector was missing and the pickups were so loose that one of them was ready to fall off...for 1199 I demand a PU selector cap. I called Musicians friend and they were very helpful and made sure I was happy, they offered to exchange it for another LittleLucille, now after much hassle back and forth over the phone for two days I'm getting a replacement. thats overkill...giving me a replacement. All because the Gibson people are stoned when putting these things together!!

The one big thing that is a must for any owner of a Blueshawk is to change to strap-locks because this guitar as cool as it is will fall off of the stock ones and your gonna be pretty pissed off when you have a nice big crack in this beautiful guitar...the lack of thought that went into the placement of the strap pegs is status-quo for the stoners at Gibson, but overall, other than that, this is one killer guitar, seems dependable and durable, no backup required.(although I always bring along a Telecaster)

Great!! When I called them, Gibson got right on the phone and it was a "real person" un-fu@#-in beleivable. they told me this guitar has a lifetime warranty.thats a nice thing.

This BBKing Blueshawk is my newest best guitar.
I love this guitar, really everything I want in a nice package.
I've been playing about 10 years and aside from Lil Lucy, I have a Vintage 74 Tele Thinline , a 90's USA Tele Thinline, a MIJ 50th Anniversary Tele Thinline, a Fender Deluxe Fat Strat, a 64 Silvertone w/amp in case and a Silvertone U2,(silvertones have the dual lipstick pickups which I really enjoy)and an Ovation 12 string.* If Lucy were stolen or lost, I'd definitly get another as soon as I located another $1199.00 ahggggh!!!!
A little steep but for how it sounds, how it feels, and how it looks which is Utterly Cat, it all makes for a nice gitbox.

Black with solid bridge... everything else has been covered. Previos owner installed Gibson locking tuners that work well but are not as easy to use as Sperzels (you need a screwdriver with the Gibsons)

Is there a way to date these things by serial number?

Cool story... Traded my VS265 Marchall Amp for a US Strat in North Dakota and a week later traded the Strat for the Blueshawk in Louisiana. All on HC Classifieds.

I love it. I'm a displaced Austinite. Love the SRV KWS EJ tone. This is different... It's my first Gibson and the tone is mondo cool. I've used it on a couple gigs and have loved the sounds I'm getting. It took me a year to find out I could pull the tone knob to disble the Varitone. I like position 3 with both pickups... sounds like position 2 on a Strat. I get a great mimic of BB. Very quiet on all settings.

I may change to Rio Grandes, or I may not... I'm pretty happy with it the way it is.

Yikes... I thought Gibson was "creme dela creme". I guess this is their version of an entry level model. The paint has orange peel to it that really look bad on the headstock. There is some checking going on around the F holes. It's not ugly (I actually like the Blueshawk logo along the neck) and from 5 feet away the flaws are not noticable at all. Controls and all seem fine and nothing takes away from it's playability.

I had to replace the upper strap button with a locking kind. It was poorly placed and my strap slipped off alot.

Gigged great. The case is cool with it's little purple blanky. Lot's 'o protection.

Never needed it, never will... web site was cool with varitone info and MP3's.

20+ years playing. 10 guitars currently.

I checked on this guitar alot before getting one. No regrets. I like it mainly because it is different. It gets attention and sound great.

No complaint here.

Sound is why I bought this guitar. I pondered over this thing for probably 5 years before finally buying it. For awhile the over-all appearance was not appealling. Like others have said, I do not want to have what everybody else has. This guitar is not mainstream.

The "vintage" (aka ... junk) tuners were crap. I replaced them with Grover sealed machines and have no more problems with staying in tune. The store performed a very good initial setup.

Once I replaced the tuners it is great for the live playing I do. I do not play hard so I expect that it should hold up well.

I requested info on the Varitone and warranty registration from Gibson and they responded quickly.

I play in a contemporary Gospel/Christian band at our church every three weeks. At home I run it through my Fender Acoustasonic Jr on the 2nd channel. Effects are Digitech RP200. At church it is run through direct box into the house system. Depending upon who is running sound determines how it sounds through my monitor. Generally I like the sound and do not have to use effects very much. I prefer the Varitone on position 4 using any pick-up. I like the punchy tone the Blues 90's give.

As covered below.

I'm submitting this review about 2 years plus after sending in my first..I like to think of it as a more detailed write up after having played this gutiar through and through.
I've been playing mostly blues on this guitar and I've got to say that it's grown on me over 2 yrs...I play it at home through a Fender Pro Junior and so far during jamming and a few gigs I've played through a Fender Hotrod Deville and a Line 6 Flextone among some of the more memorable amps. It sounds great through these amps...not exactly 335 tone but it's bright and punchy yet warm enough to give you that BB King feel(apparently he's a big fan of the Blueshawk too) on the neck pickup. Tone control comes in handy for alternating between rhythm and lead playing...on the bridge it's got a really raw sounding growl that sounds like it came straight out of a Muddy Waters record. Put both pickups together and you get one helluva biting sound for blistering lead. I don't use the varitone very much except for two of the positions...one gives me a passable strat-ish tone for funk rhythm and the other when I want to get the "acoustic guitar fitted with electric pickup" sound that reminds me of Elmore James. I give it a 10 as it fits in perfectly with what I play.

Quality-wise it's below par. Inlays had very obvious wood filling to make up for defects, finish could be scratched permanently with your fingernails but most importantly, playability is unaffected. Perhaps not what you'd expect from an admittedly lower end Gibson model but the tone and feel more than make up for it. The electronics are fine too...decent soldering, no obvious defects. Also another thing I really like about it is that it's really light. I can play for about 1 hr or so without feeling any strain on my shoulders even with a normal guitar strap. The neck plays better than a Mexican Strat that I have and those bigger frets really help with the bending.
However there is one major design flaw I have to point out. The string angle at the saddle is rather sharp and as a result I always break strings at the saddle. Of course given that I play with extensive vibrato and bending using 11's and that my sweat is rather corrosive but still I think the design team at Gibson could have done better. It's not uncommon for me to break 2 strings in one jam session now but I guess you could say the silver lining in the dark cloud is that it forces me to adapt my playing when I'm short of a string. 7 for this one.

I've jammed in a pub and gigged with this one and it's one tough baby. Gold hardware tarnishes but that doesn't affect me. Pick scratches, dents, dings abound all over the guitar but it can't really be helped given the fragile finish. Strap buttons don't look like they'll be giving way anytime soon but I would still use a backup for future gigs due to my tendency to break strings on this guitar. In all it's great for playing but don't expect to keep it in pristine condition unless you're gonna hang it up in a glass case.

Never dealt with them. No comment.

I have 2 modded Mexican Strats but the Blueshawk is the one that gets the most mileage. If someone stole it I'd be real upset because I don't think the one and only Gibson dealer in this country is gonna bother bringing in another one when mine was already sitting in the shop for so long. I chose this one because I didn't want to pay an over-inflated price for an ES335 and I couldn't find any Epiphone Dots.

Features of others:
I REALLY liked the choice of woods. Poplar has really been given its dues as a tonewood. It has a very resonant, warm quality to it without being dark, with a snappy very high upper midrange, while being light in weight.

As far as features go, it's very good. Useful. No elaborate flame or quilt top, etc, but good. Better tuners would have made it even better.

Hmmmmmm...

The tone reminds me of my '96 MIM strat in all the best ways. Bright but backed with a warm resonance. That's partly because of the sound chambers, which add dimensionality and complex overtones, but not to the degree of a 355. The bridge pickup is great, but the neck pickup is mud--I think because of a bad connection inside.

Varitone is nice. The scale legth does go a long way toward copping a strat tone. The pickups (or at least the bridge) are great for P90s, noiseless and thick with punch and clarity.

Getting big signal dropoff on the high e-string. Balanced on the others.

Can only rate the bridge pickup right now, and will give it a 9, considering the price. Will post again when I find out the story with the neck pu.

Action was great. Finish was a bit rough on the insides of the f-holes, great elsewhere. Fit is excellent.

For the price I paid, a great axe. Closest thing out there to a Gibson strat in my book. I play jazz rock and blues rock, on the philosophy that a person should buy a decent guitar and put all their money into the greatest amp they can find. The Blues-90s are the next best thing to the mystery-shrouded Reverend P-90s. Small body, light weight, good tone with a semi-hollow thing going on. Nice warmth and resonance with good brightness and clarity, and good heat.

finally, i own a gibson. i'm very proud of this sucker. you know the specs from the other reviews, there's nothing more i can say. however, i play in a psychedelic/progessive/blues band. it's tasty, i promise (look for 'senator bigsby and the screws' on mp3.com if you're interested). the other guitarist in my band is a madman with divine skill and chops like a knife, so i suppose you could call me the rhythm player since i'm not the one who just came out of the crossroads. he's got a gibson es-347 which he plays through a peavey delta blues (yes, very beauteous, cream-pants worthy even) featuring some very high output pickups. the blues-90's can't even compete, even with my fender ultimate chorus on 10. but, uncranked, this guitar is capable of the real deal. yes, that's right, low down filth of the blues persuasion. the neck never goes out of tune. i didn't have to tune it for a month, and although i'm not sure if that's a good thing, it was cool (i play for my high school's advanced jazz band). i love the semi-hollow body look and the varitone is handy dandy as all get-out. the only complaints i have are the fact that it looks like a kids guitar because of its small scale and its half-assed pickups. also, when i get my john frusciante rubberband hand on for the funk tunes, i tear the guitar up. i don't have enough control to be playing without a pick guard. hopefully i can do something about that when i get the pickups changed. what were thinking gibson?

if you play the blues or jazz and want something lean or even meatless, this is what it's all about. you can break it down telecaster twang style or zip it up with the punch of any other semi-hollow body, but i wouldn't recommend trying to replace a full les paul sound with this puppy. the varitone is dreamy. i'm surprised they didn't call it versi-tone. just remember that soapbar pickups in any guitar are all about that thin stinging clarity. don't even bother if you're in one of this dime a dozen punk bands.

the frets are what throw alot of people off. i kind of like them myself. they're good for my vicious vibrato i overuse and the few songs my band has where i brake out the slide and sing it david gilmore-echoes style. the bottom line is, the fuckers are high. they're jumbo. and alot of people don't like them. but they're unique and give it a little somethin' somethin' you can't even try to get with another guitar, even another gibson. i read someplace that this was designed by blues boy king. that would explain pretty much everything. the intonation is immaculate on mine, but i can imagine how easy it would be for the gibson-folk to muck it up beyond repair. i'm not going to change the frets or the bridge like some other people. yes, sir, i like them indeed.

this is why the inlay says gibson instead of epiphone. i'll probably have this guitar for the rest of my life and then sell it to pay for my kid's college tuition (these hooda-ma-ha's are limited edition, mind you). once i find a pickup whose sound busts my buttons, i'll be in blues heaven. i'll admit i've never gigged with this before, but i would. and will. you'll see.

like i said, i've been playing through my fender ultimate chorus for about 4 years. i play in a band that sounds like radiohead, primus, zappa with a tangy blues twist from led zep. alot of extended jams with too many effects. the drummer and i are the only two who don't have an insane amount of talent and chops, but the bassist and the other guitarist make up for that. i'm not sure i'd buy another one of these if it were stolen. after comparing my other guitarist's es-347 to every guitar i've ever played with, i'd have to say i'm going es, if not full hollow body, for the rest of my life. his makes mine look like a toy.

This axe has a poplar back and maple top, and semi-hollow sound chambers inside....Fixed bridge with string-thru-body construction...Great setup, if you ask me...mahogany neck with rosewood fretboard and diamond inlays. And the gold hardware adds that elegant touch to an already-sweet looking piece. Master volume and tone, Varitone control and a push-pull pot (to activate or de-activiate varitone) and dummy coils to cancel that annoying single-coil 60-cycle hum. Great Blues-90's pickups...not quite a P-90, the blues-90's are a little hotter than their P counterparts. Great neck, too...I love a fat neck but the V-shaped neck makes up for it cuz it's so damn comfortable!! Mine came with a Gibson hardshell case (bought it from a private dealer) and I paid $599 for mine. Best damn investment I EVER made.

I play blues. And that's basically exactly what this guitar was made for...the blues. But it can be used in such a variety of different styles. Myself, I have 3 strats and an SG that I could use, so I don't use this guitar much for anything other than blues. The amps I'm using are a Peavy Bandit 112, with a 12" extension cab, and I also use a 2-12" Peavey Classic 50. Either one, it sounds amazing. My effects are pretty extensive, sometimes...depending on what I'm doing, I usually use a Danelectro Daddy-O overdrive pedal with either a Boss comp/sustainer or an Ibanez Tube Screamer with a Crybaby wah pedal. I also use a Korg AX1500G guitar effects processor with it and it sounds awesome with either setup. I usually use the varitone on the first setting (the one all the way to the left) with any pickup combination, but there's a few others that I use depending on what sound I'm lookin' for. I can get a real fat, woody clean tone with this thing, good for those old school blues numbers, or I can get a screaming distorted tone that just WAILS with sustain. the longer neck scale makes bending a breeze and the rosewood fingerboard gives me plenty of grip so I can cop off some wicked vibrato. Great sound...

The setup from the factory was pretty much perfect...a couple of things though. The tuning machines "ping" when I'm tuning, and that gets real annoying cuz I'm turning the peg and the string isn't moving then it pings and it's all outa tune....but it's all good. I can get over that. Also when I first bought it, somehow one of the connections inside the guitar screwed up the pickup selector switch, so I had to take it back to get it resoldered, but now it works beautifully. (I've had the guitar since '98). but everything else was pretty much perfect!! Action is GREAT....nice and medium, great for heavy pickers like myself...I beat the SHIT out of my guitars and she just keeps comin' back ready to go!!

I've been using this guitar for almost 4 years and it's never let me down...never broke a string at a gig with it, and hell yeah I'd use it without a back-up. Like I said above, I beat the hell out of my guitars, and I play 'em rough. They gotta be able to take the heat or get off the stage. And this one burns with the best of them. Finish doesn't seem too bad, although I have put many belt-buckle dents and scrapes in it...also my picks tear up the finish on the bottom part where the cutaway is (I use heavy picks). the strap buttons are my only concern. i don't feel like they're probably balanced...I used a regular strap and the damn thing kept coming off cuz I play with the guitar usually on my hip a little, and that wouldn't work, so I got some straplocks...oh, did I mention? I dropped the damn thing on a concrete basement floor neck-first, in playing position...didn't even knock the thing outa tune!! just dented the corner of the headstock...but hey, it adds character, right??

Mine was under warranty and I bought it through a private dealer, so I didn't have too many problems. Just the soldering thing was all it's needed....

I've been playing guitar about 10+ years, and I'm only 21....I can surely appreciate a great guitar when I see one. When I played that guitar 3 years ago, I knew I had to have it. And now I do. I own 3 other strats (70's reissue with Texas Specials, Mexican Stndard with Amer. Stnd pickups, and a shitty Squier that I'm gonna hot-rod, a Gibson SG-I, a Takamine acoustic-electric cutaway, and an Alvarez small-body acoustic that I bought in a "trade center"). If it were ever lost or stolen, I'd probably cry like a baby and then get belligerent. I'd HAVE to get another one...My favorite feature is the guitar itself. It's one big toy to me, and I love it. and there's not a thing about it that I hate. :D Great guitar for all the blues guitarists (and rock, jazz, funk...that stuff too).

1998, made in USA
Has two soap bar Gibson B-90's
Neck wood is mahogany
Body wood is maple on top, and poplar on back
Its black with a huge golden maestro, looks great.
Looks like a Les Paul, but better IMO
The neck seems more like a fender neck than a Gibson neck
Came with a gig bag.... fucking rip off
But it has a varitone, which is kinda cool, although i keep it off most the time

I play a lot of brit pop i guess you could say, not american pop like blink 182, Sum 41, or New Found Glory, but Brit pop like Oasis, Oasis is the best band ever. I only use an amp in my setup, which is a Marshall JCM2000 DSL stack. Its not that noisy, i think the dummy coils prolly help a lot. It has a nice sound, i use it for lead (when i really wanna cut through the mix, cuz i usually use my SG but when i want to REALLY cut through and have the lead be heard really well, i use this cuz single coils are good at doin just that). I use it for clean too and bluesy stuff, not so much rock. That's for my SG to handle. I cant really think of any dislikes about it, only that I prefer humbuckers, but i didnt get this guitar cuz i wanted humbuckers, i got it because i wanted a guitar that didnt have humbuckers, so i wouldnt really call that a dislike.

Great, the finish was perfect, action was great and its very comfortable. 'nuff said

Hasnt let me down but I dont think i've put it thru too much

never dealt with 'em

The only other electric guitar i have is an SG and that thing is the best, BUT when i got the blueshawk, i wasnt looking to replace my SG, that'd be impossible, but i wanted to add some variety to my arsenal, although a very small arsenal, it gets the job done, well, oh so very well. If it were stolen i'd be fucked cuz they normally cost $989 but i got mine for $600, so i'd prolly get a different clearance sale Gibson some day, but i dont want to have to do that, this guitar is just plain awesome, but if i did happen to find another one for $600, i'd buy it. I love the varitone, some different settings call for cool intros. I compared it to some strats, i was looking for a single coil sound, and i like this much better than the strats i compared it to (lone star, american std, mex std, powerhouse, super strat, and a couple others). I say if you like blues are just plain old hard rock, get this, it is a great guitar, it's very very versitile, more so than a strat if you ask me. Although, its not the best guitar, but its a great guitar, none the less.

This part has been covered by provious reviews, so I won't take up your valuable time here.

I play classic rock, blues, sothern rock ,and some country. this guitar easilly fits those styles (blondie, Journey, AC/DC, guns & roses, Melencamp, Allmans, Foreginer, Joan Jett, Fleetwood Mac, etc....). I play through a Mesa Maverick 1x12 or 2x12 depending 0n the size of the venue. I've been playing guitar since 5th grade and I'm 48 years young! I've owned over 120 guitars throughout my musicial career and this is certainly one of the best (especially for the $$). I pride myself in NOT sounding like anyone else. I own equipment that is not typically run-of-the -mill. My other guitar is a Levinson Blade. This guitar is light. Very easy on the back. the tones are very complex and useable. I've read some other reviews concerning the pickups in this guitar complaining they don't sound like P-90's - well DUH!!! they're not P90's. gibson makes no claim to that point. they are blues 90's and they sound great. they're a bit warmer than the P90's, but certainly have as much "spank". the 6 position Varitone switch is great. gibson has even gon so far as to put the treble-roll-off capicator "thing" on the volume control so you don't loose the highs when you turn down the volume. NICE!!

I bought it uses and it wasn't set-up real well. typical factory stuff - screws not tight, tuner nuts not tight etc... the finish is ok, as well as the frets. The fingerboard has dried up some, so some of the frets on the bottom are a little rough, but with a little bit of lemon oil, that will rejuvinate the rosewood just fine. the neck is straight. The bridge is no worse than a Strat's - it's NOT pot metal, but it is plate steel. No problem there. Saddles the same as a Strat's. As far as knobs getting loose - not on this one, but, if you have a problem - just put some clear nail polish on the shaft and tighten the screw (if there is one), and bingo - problem solved. I don't understand some of the people who write these reviews. Complain - complain - complain! Nothing's perfect! This guitar is no worse than a really good Fender Strat or Tele. No - it's not a $2000.00 Les Paul or PRS - but - it sounds much better that them (IMHO).

I treat all my instruments tenderly. If you don't take care of your tools, you won't be able to get your job done! No extreme hot, cold, or moisture. get a hard case. Clean and polish it regularly. Perform preventitive maintenance. Use a guitar stand. If you don't do these things, NO guitar will last.

Emailed them yesterday - they emailed me back today - what more could you ask for?

Overall - a nice guitar. It's not a piece of furniture. Nothin' fancy. Great tone. Light. Versitile. Stays in tune. I'd get another if I needed to. don't like the "Blueshawk" decal. the name should be on the truss rod cover. Inside wiring fine. dummy coil does it's job - to keep the noise down. Much better than any of the same-priced Epiphones. a real Gibson. good job guys.

Great electronics - P90 pickups with a hum-cancelling coil and a varitone (passive tone control) circuit. Small, lightweight semi-hollow body with a tummy cut - almost as comfy as a Strat. Nice neck, shaped like a Gibson but with a 25 1/2" Fenderish scale. From a sheer comfort point of view, it's probably the best guitar Gibson makes. Mine is the non-trem version with through-body strings - much better than a Tune-O-Matic! Mine came with a cheapo Gibson-labeled gig bag. A hard case is one of my future investments.

This is a really excellent sounding guitar for the money. The P90 pickups are round and fat-sounding, but not wooly like so many humbuckers. The varitone circuit gets pretty decent simulations of Strat cluck or hollowbody fatness (try the #2 position on the neck pickup). Hum cancelling works pretty well, and the true single coils sound MUCH better than the P100s Gibson puts on some guitars these days.

Besides the electronics, the semi-hollow body helps a lot. The tone is surprisingly rich and full, like a good Gibson. Lots of subtle detail... not as much as a really high-end guitar, of course, but more than anything else in this price range!

And ultimately, it produces a wider variety of basic *useful* sounds from its wood and electronics than any other guitar in its range. The only thing i can think of that compares for tonal flexibility is a PRS, which is significantly more expensive. Or a really great Strat or other such classic, and truly great instruments cost a LOT more.

As a footnote, i've played a Blueshawk with Dimarzio DLX humbuckers that utterly screamed. This one will be getting the same pickups soon. Apparently, a pickup change makes a good thing even better.

I'm currently playing it through a Trace-Elliot Velocette (the modern Gibson Goldtone amps are basically the same thing), which is fantastic. It LOVES moderate-gain tube amps. Other electronics include a Prescription Electronics Germ (mostly used as a clean buffer, and is never turned off because it improves the tone of EVERYTHING), a Crybaby, a ProCo Rat II (the one piece of gear i have kept), and a vintage MXR Flanger.

The setup SUCKED. I bought mine two years old used (original receipt in the gig bag). I'll bet it had the original strings. Action and intonation were completely screwed up. Two of the strings were installed wrong (i.e. knotted). At least the fret finish is okay, and the paint doesn't have any nasty runs like some of these do.

In addition, the component quality stinks. The tuners are cheap Schaller knockoffs of vintage Klusons. Gibson and Fender keep putting these blecherous pieces of shite on, supposedly because they're "vintage", but really because they're cheap. This guitar is getting Grovers asap. I can barely keep it in tune. Oh, and the bridge is cheap pot metal, and the fancy gold plating is already corroding. The pots weren't seated well, and don't feel good even when tightened down. The knobs were ugly imitation-strat... replace them with regular Gibson speed knobs, or something else. The shaft on the varitone is round and unsplined, which means that sooner or later the knob's set screw starts to gouge the shaft. Mine was already gouged... adjusting the knob's height fixed it, for now. I'll probably replace the whole varitone circuit with an aftermarket job, along with the cheap pots.

And if anyone from Gibson reads this... PLEASE ditch the "Blues Hawk" logo on the body! EVERYONE thinks it's ugly! (I think the guitar would look better if they closed the F-holes too, but that's just my opinion)

The varitone knob situation will probably start to fail in the hands of guys playing it at the store before you buy it. The Schaller/Kluson tuners lose their housings and fall apart after a few years. Other metal parts corrode. I even had a cracked tone knob, probably due to improper installation at the factory.

Repair or replace all the cheap awful parts that Gibson used to cut costs, and it will probably last forever.

Haven't dealt with them. If it needs work beyond what i can or will do myself, i'll ignore Gibson completely and take it to any one of several excellent local luthiers.

Despite my misgivings about hardware and construction quality, this is a fantastic guitar! It's comfortable to play and has a zillion great tones. I actually plan to invest heavily in this guitar - new pickups, new tuners, better varitone, and a hard case. I think the basic wood tone and design definitely justify working to make it as good an instrument as possible.

If something were to happen to it... it would depend on my budget at the time. If money was tight, i'd get another one. If i could afford something better, i would do that instead, but i'd expect to pay well over $1000 to beat this sub-$500 used honey.

No idea of the year of manufacture, but I would guess recent (96-00). Mine is the LTD with the Maestro vibrato and Blue finish. I saw it in a Mars Music store, where it had been beaten and neglected nearly to death. The scale length is 25 1/2 which really appealed to me since I'm a Fender type guy. The Vibrato is a Bigsby type affair which then leads to a tune-o-matic bridge that does not pivot like some Jazzmasters etc. The rest of the features are as described in previous reviews. It came with a Gibson gig bag with Les Paul documentation inside. I wasn't looking to but a guitar when I bought this, but for features I give it a 9.

This is what blew me away. It was sitting on the wall amidst $1500 Strats and $2500 Les Pauls, and seemed so sad. It had been neglected for a long time, with scratches, tarnished hardware, and a couple of chips here and there. I have played Fenders for years and always loved the bright tone they are famous for. I don't know what made me reach for the Blueshawk, but I did, and plugged it into a Vibro King they had sitting there, also a victim of music mall abuse. The sound blew me away. Very full and clean, with sparkling highs and solid lows. Much bassier than a Fender and cleaner than a Paul. I went through the various settings of the Varitone and pickup selection and was amazed by the variety of sounds I could get. I especially liked the way the Volume and Tone knobs tapered off. A fender tends to lose a lot of volume once you back off the knob a little. The Blueshawk didn't really start to drastically taper off until almost 3, which in my opinion, gives you greater control over your tone. Its so easy to overshoot with a Tele or Strat, but this one is a dream. I play Blues, Motown, Rock, some Country and Jazz, and this one can do it all, with a sound uniquely its own. I played it through my rig when I got home (Mesa Maverick), and it promptly put my other guitars to shame. Effects wise, I run a TC chorus, Rat, Tubescreamer, Boss DD-5 and a Bad Horsie, which it drives really well.

Horrible! But I can't blame Gibson for this since it had been used and abused at the store for months before I got it. The nut was actually set up as close to the way I like it (low), with the slots not overly deep. It had .009's on it, which I promptly changed to .011's, and as a result needed truss rod tweaking. Fret work is good, and the controls all seem first rate. The TOM is my only real gripe. Its cheesy pot metal like found on many Epi's and Korean models, though it says "made in Germany" on the back. I'll replace it with a Gotoh from Allparts as soon as I get a chance. One of the studs for the TOM is a very loose fit in the body.

Like I said, bought it trashed, so the finish is pretty well toasto, but that doesn't matter to me. I plan on taking a backup to the first few gigs, as string changing with the Maestro is a drag. Construction seems good and I think it will last.

Never dealt with them, but from experience, in this day and age, you better be happy with it when you buy it.

Been playing for a while and have been a staunch Fender nut. I did not plan on buying this guitar, but its sound is superb. I find it to be a rather ugly guitar, with the body looking like it had its growth stunted. Buying it almost felt like an obligation - very strange - as I have never felt that way about another guitar. I must have seen it a thousand times in Musicians Friend, and in that Mars store, but never even gave it a thought. I don't know what made me buy it, but I already know that I will never regret it. Go ahead and spend your bucks on a Strat (I did- a deluxe at that, then added Van Zandt's), or a Les Paul or PRS. You are buying a name and not necessarily good tone. Before you do that, go try the ugly duckling Blueshawk out, and think about price/performance. Besides, chances are you'll be the only one at Jam night with one, and its made in the USA for the same price as some of the higher end Mexican marvels.

This is a '98 model, but I only got it last Summer, I live in Ireland. Plenty of variety of features. The Blues 90's a great; humbucker sounds with more clarity, but tend to lose volume a bit when you select on pickup or the other. The varitone is cool, but suffers from the volume sap too. It'd be nicer if they'd put seperate volume/tone pots on this, made it like a BB King Lucille. But I'm only being niggly here. Fast neck, just how I like it, nice action. Shit machine heads. I replaced them with gold Grovers after I dropped the guitar and one of the machine heads bent. Best thing that ever happened...
Overall: great features, very satisfied with them. Don't like that volume drop though...

I play anything and everything, and this guitar gives me any sound I want. I love the 335 sound, and I get it from this guitar. I run it through the following: Danelectro Fish & Chips EQ, Boss DD-3 Digital Delay, Vox Wah, Ibanez Phasor, Boss Turbo Overdrive, into Vox Cambridge 30. I have owned rakes of gear, I've played with other peoples rigs, but I don't think I'd ever sell this guitar. Any sound I want I get. Its rich, full, and has plenty of attack when I want it. Great job Gibson.

There were a couple of miniscule bumps on the sides when I got it, other than that...I though it was quiet good. Action was smooth, the nuck isn't silky, but I don't mind that, I use finger-ease before gigs, so there's no problems there. A small scratch guard might be nice, but also might ruin the look of the guitar...oh, and for the love of Mike; get rid of the 'Blueshawk' logo on the body.

I've gigged with this guitar, and have gotten nothing but positive interest from people about it's live sound. It's solid as a rock, and beats the pants off having a Les Paul dragging you through the floor half-way throught the set...
Again, crappy tuners. Get Grovers, the go on a treat, and are a huge improvement.I'm going to put strap locking nuts on it aswell...

Haven't had any problems...

Great guitar, great sound. Would buy it again in a second. Very very happy with it now that I've changed the machine heads. Cracker.

Got mine used but minty, no Maestro, ebony with creme pickups, gold hardware and that silly logo. The case is nice and I think the ebony/gold combo works from a fashion perspective. Same specs. as all the other reviews, semi-hollow with the varitone, two P-100s(P-90s superwound?) pick-ups. Just about the right amount of stuff, the tone knob pull-up bypass for the varitone is a nice feature, as is the varitone. It has a nice weight and balance, very easy to play standing up or sitting down, can play for hours. Maybe some find the body small, I think the whole deal balances out very well.

I disagree somewhat with the others in the respect I don't think the semi-acoustic body adds as much as you'd think. The hollowed chambers are small. Unplugged, it sounds slightly better than a solid body, plugged I'm not sure your hearing more than the Ps and varitone.
But, I like the variety of sounds, it's a good reference guitar. If you have several different electrics I think you'll put this is the middle of the collection and use it the most. It pushes pedals very well and sounds good on all my amps, (Fender, Vox, Peavey). Strung with 9s you can bend, hammer, false harmonic and pull-off all day long with a ideal neck for multi-styles and accurate sound pick-up. Neck is not-to-thin, not-to-fat.

Once adjusted the actions is great, though not as low as a Strat without enduring some fret buzz.

Here's the core of my review: The Action, Fit and Finish from our friends at Gibson is just about the absolute worst I've seen in a guitar made by a better manufacturer. Absolute crap. Everything was misadjusted; neck, bridge, pick-ups, strings. Knobs were falling apart, loose, pick-ups were rattling around - and I said this one was minty - it's not the fault of the original owner. I can find lots of little defects in the finsh - defects that would have caused the guitar to be a second if manufactured by Gibson pre-90s. Extremely discouraging - get ready to spend a week reworking this guitar until you can start enjoying it. And oh yeah, the frets are nicely crowned, but undressed and the ends they tear at your hands when you run up and down the neck - charming. I guess when Gibson gets another 50 years of experience they'll figure this problem out.

Time will tell - I'm hoping the foundation of this guitar is solid but I expect to have problems with the cheap electronics - pots, and the hardware is nothing to rave about. As it sits now, I will not hesitate to gig with it - probably without a backup.

N/A - Based on how they assemble this guitar these are the last people I want advise from.

Overall, don't let the non-quality issues turn you off completely. I own wonderful E.B.s, Fenders, Ricks and have had a half a dozen nice Gibsons over my lifetime. IMHO, at the end of the day it's the playability and sound that matter most, you can get past initial quality problems. For example, the quality of my Rick is simply the best I've seen in a production guitar - but I play it least often.

I'm glad I have this and if lost I'd get another. It fits very well as an all purpose axe that you can get pretty aggressive on - or back off into some pretty mellow sounds. Best of all, I find it very comfortable to play and the neck/action is perfect middle of the road. (But, watch out for those nasty fret ends.) With my quality grips aside, I fully recommend it.

I was looking for a "unique" guitar, something solid and toneful. The world is full of Strats, Teles, and Les Pauls and I didn't want to join the masses. The Blues Hawk fit the bill: a real Gibson, versatile B-90 pick-ups, the way-fun varitone, light, confortable and simple. It's fun to play and not cheezy. The price was right on too, cheaper than a "real" Strat, Tele or Les Paul...but above the kids toys.

Nice, the right balance of Tele-twang, Strat-speed, and Les Paul-depth and bass. I liked it right-out-of-the-box, no effects needed to get a pretty universal sound for popular music. The varitone feature is great, fast switching to useable tone settings....but the varitone knob needs to be replaced with something more stylish. Gibson gets a 10 here.

Respectable for the price, certainly not a $2K PRS, but nice looking, ready-to-play action and intonation. The thin plastic pick-up covers are a bit cheezy.

No problems yet, I wish it had a pickguard !

The dealer was great and did a quick set-up and tune, can't speak for Gibson support.

What a great all-purpose axe; I wanted a Les Paul...but too expensive and clunky, I wanted a Strat but oh-so-common, I wanted a Dan Armstrong but too rare.....so this is it.

can a guitar have too much of a good thing? this one does i don`t think they should have ever made this model with the massive mastro. it takes up so much space and isuncomfortable. the mastro weights more then the guitar itself. i don`t think it should have the extra tone knob it is useless you really do not need all that. the body is too small to fit everything gibson wants to put on here. before they throw anything more on here they should adjust the size of the body. and no hardshell case.

an exceltent sounding guitar. tones of tone(maybe too much)i got lost in the knobs. i play through a roland jazz chorus 120 excelent for blues and jazz if you don`t wanna shell out the xtra $$ for an es. personally i like it better then an es-335 i think this little guy has more charecter.

action was good. i did get it with some flaws in on the inside so that knocked a 100 of so i was happy. everything fine in this department

im not sure only had it a fefw days we`ll see it should last its a gibson. but who knows. atthe moment i would gig with a back-up only cause my confidence has not been assured by this guitar yet

good semi-hollow with lots of charecter just wish that it was a little bigger so everythign would fit better. the mastro really is too big for this guitar you can`t really reach the knobs while playing for quick adjustments. i`ve been playin like 4-5 years and i have a fender hot rod deville 410 and a roland jc-120 used to have a digitech rp-7 but that got sold for this. guitars include a 50`s gibson l-4 1927 gibson f-5 mandolin fender 1972 tele reissue and the blueshawk