Gibson Blueshawk

1997, cherry red , standard features

i bought it used on ebay from a pawnshop in fLORIDA

eventually i bought the gibson hard-case for it, from musicians friend
this case FITS LIKE A GLOVE!!! dont buy a les paul case, find a nighthawk case and get a PERFECT fit.......

i cant give a great review of this, cause ive never played it through an amp!!!

acoustically, this guitar is unmatched ( as electrics go )

its not acoustic loud, but for an electric, its full and loud, but most importantly has 'THE REAL DEAL' tone

i got it used, the action was fine, fit and finish are fine too...
no complaints with the quality on this one

ive opened it up and looked at all the wiring, and the soldering is neat, and the parts looks to be of good quality, i would say this one guitar will do ya for anything, and probably last forever... ive had several gibsons, 2 from '59, numerous 70's , 80s, 90s.... they all seem solid as can be. Im depending on this to do me as my "one and only", im taking this with me to Moscow next year ( gotta travel lite)

they mailed me a wiring diagram in response to my inquiry, fast response to my email!

I love this one, ive been playing gibsons, fenders, rics, gretsches, you name it since mid seventies. I found out with a little research that these "BLUES 90" pickups are actually a completely different design than a P-90, more magnet, less wire, no pole screws, much more trebbley!! So dont buy this if you are looking for P-90 tone like an old junior. Buy it cause its a great guitar in its own right!!

incidently, the reason for the pull-switch isnt really to "by-pass' the varitone ( its by-passed in position one! ) the pull-switch is designed so you can pull it up, taking the varitone out of the circuit, but PRE-SET the varitone dial to say, position 5, and then SLAM IT DOWN for your solo, without having to click thorough all the stops....

personally, im gonna remove that function, and instead use the push-pull to switch between tone control, and black ice "passive overdrive"

Everyone has said it all before so I won't waste time on reviewing. Key features if this axe is the light weight, very resonant body which is almost acoustic in nature when not plugged in and the lightning fast neck. I think the neck is very reminisant of the 60's style SG.

Excellent sound, especially for blues...duh...I currently play thorough a Fender Blues Junior which compliments this guitar nicely. The varitone is cool to play with but really sounds best with the neck pickup on and the varitone in position one. Also, this guitar is gret to play unplugged because of the semi-hollow body.

I bought the guitar used. Guitar was an absolue mess...never cleaned, neck out of alignment and action realy messed up. After a few hours on the bench, a ton of cleaner and few adjustments, I had a brand new guitar with a fast action, big frets and a great sound. It also stays in tune really well. The only thing which I cant stan i the variton knob whcih always feels like it's one turn away from snapping off.

Built like a tank.

I traded in a Jap telecaster for this guitar and got exactly what I wanted, a light weight guitar that has a great neck, fat sound and is comfortable to play sitting down. The tele was opposite of all three. Overall, this guitar is a great buy, even new, since they do not seem to sell well. If purchased used, especially trashed, it can be a downright steal with a bit of work.

it has the varitone but it's not TOO much.

with some solid humbukers opposed to the whatever is in it now it should sound less flimsy

could definatley be improved

banged it up a bunch and has kept

it took a while to actually speak about the problem but as soon as we did it was resolved

for the money

Diddo on the other reviews. The varitone appealed to me in the store, and was one of the considerations in buying it. One reason I'm submitting this review is that I just discovered (after owning it 3 months) that the Tone knob pulls out to disable the varitone switch. In my opinion, the guitar sounds best with the varitone turned off, the pickup switch in the middle, and the tone and volume cranked. After that, it seems the varitone only takes away from the guitar's sound, and I haven't used it since!

I play all kinds of stuff, from bluegrass and country to jazz to rock. It handles all of them well. It's not real loud (i.e., hot pickups), but I don't do metal, so it suits me fine. It is capable of a very warm and full tone, evenly spread accross bass and treble. Very nice. It's also very capable of doing a super bassy sound, which is great those who like to solo in the lower realms. The strings on the lower frets have the perfect mix of thump and twang.

I haven't been hugely impressed in this department. The varitone knob was falling off in the store and I had to have them tighten it. As other reviewers have noted, the finish scratches easily (although relatively superficially), but this doesn't bother me too much. The plastic tuner knobs seem cheap to me; I'll probably replace these with good ones at some point. Finally, the pickups are very loose. I don't know if they're like this for a reason, but tightening the screws doesn't seem to help much. They bob up and down if you hit them with your hand while playing. Again, not something that impedes playing or sound (that I've noticed), but annoying nonetheless. As for playability, the guitar is excellent. It is very small and very light, which was important to me, and the action is perfect, with just the right amount of buzz (I like to go after that Jerry Garcia brand of fret buzz on the lower notes). It's also quite pretty (although the vanilla covered pickups don't help any). All said and done, this wasn't an expensive guitar to say the least, so I don't expect it to be one. It's a great deal.

Mostly issues with what I wrote above. I worry about the loose pickups, although they haven't caused any problem yet. If you need to keep a scratchless guitar, don't buy this one. Otherwise, seems sturdy and well built.

Never dealt with them, but you can't argue with the Gibson lifetime warrantee.

I'm very happy with this guitar, and think I'll own it for a long time. I play mostly acoustic, so I didn't want to invest loads of money into an electric, so this is perfect. It's an excellent bargain, sounds great, and plays great.

The six way varitone gives a wide range of sounds. The only problem was there was not a hardshell case included so on top of the $685 price tag, the case was $110.

Great variety of sounds with or without the varitone.

Contrary to other feedback on this page, my guitar was set up very well. Came clean with almost no flaws, a few minor scratches from people playing it in the store.

I've only had the guitar 2 months, but it appears it will hold up fine.....it is a gibson

never dealt with them

I've been playing for 4 years and I have always wanted a gibson. I finally bought this one after saying I would then going and buying some other brand such as Fender & Martin. I compared this guitar to my Fender American Standard Strat and my Martin auditorium model. It has a great sound and amazing feel.

OK, you guys know what it is. I really can't add anything that hasn't
already been said. Based on some of the prices I have seen listed here, it looks as if I got the best deal of all at $469.00. I bought it brand new in 1998 at the Guitar Center in Towson Maryland. It was special ordered for someone who never picked it up. It was priced at $499.00 but when I pointed out some very light scratches on the back, they knocked the price down even lower. The scratches are hardly noticable and are not all the way through the finish. These only come in black and red, and I got a black one. I noticed that the "Gibson" logo on the headstock is a decal and not an inlay. What the heck, it still looks good.

This guitar is very universal, and can produce a wide varity of sounds
ranging from an ES335 to a Strat. It suits any style of music I choose to play. Rockabilly is my first love, and Blues are my second. It can handle either one with no sweat.

This guitar was ready to play when I walked out of the store with it. No adjustments of any kind were needed. It has nice low action and plays like butter in your hands. Aside from the very light scratches on the back, this guitar is perfect.

This guitar seems very solid and should be able to withstand any kind of playing. Nothing against this guitar, but I wouldn't play any gig without a backup, anymore than I would drive across country without a spare tire. It's not often that I break a string, but it happens. I don't want to have to restring in the middle of a gig. I would just grab another guitar and keep on rockin'

Never had the occasion to deal with them. Don't know.

I have been playing a long time and own quite a collection of guitars and amps. I bought this one because I like the way it plays and sounds. The price was an offer I couldn't refuse. I've never had a problem with losing guitars. I usually remember where I put them, but if it were stolen, I would probably hunt down the thief and cut all the fingers off his left hand, and tell him not to do that again.

The features on this guitar were fairly nice. The vibratone and bridge pickup create a warm 335 sound, but you can also get many other great tones. The gig bag it comes with was ok, although it has a tendency to slip out of tune while in there. The gibson life time warranty is a feature that makes me feel safe while I sleep.

The sound is beautifly clear, but you can also get some of the richest tones I have heard from a guitar in this price range. The same day I played a Gibson 335 ES and a 175 Es and this little hum-dinger sounded remarkably close. It also swings the other direction playing amazing clear strat-like tones, great for playing acoustic stuff.

My only real complaints are in this area as many others have been. My bridge was smooth and checked out ok, but my pickups were screwd on very loose and needed to be tighted immeadately. Also the finish scratches very easliy and needs a pick guard which gibson does not offer. Alough they directed me to a custom pickguard maker it can run upwards of 50$.

Aside from minor flaws in the finish and poorly tinghtened pickups it's a sturdy guitar from what I can tell. I recently took it to music camp with me and it held up fine. Gold hardware on this puppy adds to it's sleek beauty.It does seem to slip out of tune more fequently than other guitars I've used but I think it's cause of all the bending it beckonds you to do.

The life time warrenty and help was exceptional,but nothing I wouldn't expect from a top notch company like Gibson.

For the price this guitar is a damn good deal. I looked and many other guitars in much higher price ranges and found this to be the most versitile and have excellent sound quality. It reminds me of so many different great guitars that I have heard. The uniquness of this guitar is also a great thing. So many times we have relied on things we have use for ages and this is something new that is great.

Standard Blueshawk features.

I have had lots of guitars, including a 63 SG that I sold and bought this (much lighter). This is my favorite. Most other guitars have a particular sound that you are stuck with, making it good for one type of music or chords but not leads. This is the most versitile guitar I've played. I mostly play blues and rock, but it is great for country ballads as well.

I have no complaints with mine. Plays well, nice finish, smoothly finished frets. Overall good craftsmanship.

It seems solid, well built, and ought to last

I asked for some info on the variatone, and they quickly responded. They seem responsive.

I am tired of backaches from playing Les Pauls and SG's. This guitar weighs 5.5 lbs, plays great, sounds great and is a real Gibson. The price/value ratio is phenomenal, in my opinion. This weighs less than Fenders, which I also tried; but this guitar has a set neck, not a bolt on, which I think gives it more resonance, and is of course more costly to manufacture.

This Blueshawk was made in 1998, Chicago Blue finish (which I was really attracted to), gold hardware and all the usual features, tap and selector.

What can I say about the sound that hasn't already been said, these are marvelous sounding guitars. The ability to control the sound has been maximized quite nicely.

The factory set up was not bad, the action was too high for me, but the intonation was on. Here's the rub! The finish is horrid, micro scratches in the finish abound. Inside the f-holes were splatured with rubbing compound, left there from the factory. I removed the access plate from the neck pick up and the inside was filled with compound. There was some form of red tint on the binding strip? The clear coat was obviously put on too thick, as there were raised mounds around the edges of the f-holes. I got a deal on the guitar because of this, but the more I thought about it, I decided to give Gibson a call. They advised that I sent it to them for inspection, which I decided to do. Three weeks later, the guitar came back virtually untouched. A complete waste of time! Well, I guess did get the elusive Gibson box out of it!

These guitars are small in stature, but built very well. As for reliability, time will tell.

Unbelievably poor! Apparently Gibson has let there finishing standards slip. With a suggested retail price of $1200+, it's no wonder dealers are embarrassed to ask more than $500! I would have thought that Gibson would have taken the opportunity to refinish my guitar, not just look at it and send it back.

I haven't been playing long, a few months. I love the sound and the playability of the guitar is great. I knew when I bought this guitar that the finish was not perfect, after all I only paid $515 for the thing new. I have looked at alot of these guitars since buying mine and have seen many with finishes worse than mine. In spite of the finish, I am still giving this guitar a good rating because of the sound quality. My advise, buy it for the sound, not the finish!

Features have been covered but there's one thing I must mention. This is NOT a hollowbody! I got tricked into thinking it was...just a word of caution for those of you out there who are as naive as I was. The f holes are merely decorative.

Been trying to play blues for about 2 yrs now...this one fits very nicely. It has some warm hollowbody-LIKE tones and can even do clucky strat or tele sounds, but I'd stick to a strat or tele if I wanted that kinda tone. This guitar does best in that mild overdrive favoured by BB King...even though I play through a peavey rage 158 it still sounds pretty good. I'll consider getting another amp but that'll be a lot later. It's also pretty versatile...I played Chet Atkins and whatever smatterings of jazz I know on it and it sounds great too. I don't use the varitone much in overdrive but it can help give you a range of clean tones. Kudos to Gibson for this one. There is hum sometimes but I'd attribute it more to my surroundings and amp.

Worksmanship was passable but had a few flaws...a lot of wood filler in the inlays and fret slots and buffing scratches on the finish. Not something I'd expect for Gibson. I know they can do a lot better. Then again for a low-end model, guess I can hardly complain...it was like the cheapest Gibson in the whole shop.

I don't play live much (at all actually). Hardware's pretty ok but my sweats got a lotta weird stuff in it, don't think the gold colour will last very long. Don't play with straps much. Since this is a solid body I'd expect that it can take a beating but it looks too pretty to be bashed up. At least strats and teles can still look great bashed up. I think could use this guitar without backup if I didn't need much in the way of strat tones. That's if I ever get a gig in my life.

all in all this guitar will keep me satisfied for a long time...I actually got to choose between an ES335 or this but seriously speaking I think the 335 is WAY overpriced. I would have loved to get it but I guess I can't accept the idea that I'm paying more for reputation and prestige than playability and tone. Well I settled for this baby and I'm not regretting it anytime soon.

The varitone is nice, although there isn't much difference between nearby settings, i.e. 1 isn't much different from 2, or 5 from 6, but you can get a great variety of tones from it! The P-90 pickups do a good job. The thing LOOKS fantastic, which is a little important- you don't want to spend $$ on something that looks like crap.

I play blues, and this is a great guitar for it- you can get thick warm sounds for rhythm, and some real wail for those Chicago solos! No noise at all on mine.

Well set up- one of the pickups was loose, but this was easily fixed with a few turns of the screwdriver.

This is a rock. Only had it for 6 months or so, but it is solid.

This is a great guitar! Nice size, good neck, and the varitone allows you to really get a good variety of sounds from it. If it were stolen or lost, I would weep bitterly and then get another one. I kind of wish that I had sprung for the model with the maestro tremolo, though.

The varitone is a nice touch, plus the P-90's are always dependable. I never really liked the neck on this thing until recently when I replaced the frets. I had low, flat Gibson frets installed to give it an early `70's Les Paul Custom feel. Granted it was an expensive modification, but worth every penny. It plays beautifully now...

The sound is strong and powerful, but it almost wasn't necessary to make it semi hollow body. Yes, the "f" holes look cool, but they would be better served if it were solid body. I suppose, however, that the semi-hollow body design does give it a little more bottom end warmth.

Factory set up is terrible. I spent $300 on the neck and made it beautiful, so there's a lot to work with, but plan on spending money to make it into a professional instrument. If Gibson cranked the list price up by $150 and did better neck work this guitar would sell a lot better.

Solid.

Never needed any.

I've played for 13 years. I own American made Fender's, Les Pauls, an Ibanez and a PRS, and this holds its own. My favorite feature is the pickups and now the neck. I wish it was made with better, harder wood.

Made in USA in 1998. Colour is red. Varitone switch. Volume/Tone control. P-90 pickups with hum-cancelling dummy-coil.

If you see it in a store you think 'What the heck is this'. Looks kind of strange with this f-wholes. Small and innocent, but watch-out. This guitar is one bad motherfucker. You can play everything with it. Blues, Country, Metal, Jazz, you name it. This guitar has a fast attack, good sustain, a crisp and transparent sound and is so light that you can play all night long without the slightest problem.

The action, fit and finish was perfect. Big fat one-piece mahagony neck with good playability. Gibson, take off that 'Blues Hawk' logo on the body.

No problems at all. Hardware seems to be of good qualitiy.

No need.

This guitar offers tremendous bang for the buck. If you see one check it out. If it were stolen I would buy it again in a heartbeat.

See the other reviews. This one's the typical non-tremelo model. Semi-transparent Chicago Blue. 2 Blues 90 pick ups, truss rod wrench and gig bag. Gibson should allow a credit for the bag for those people wanting a hard case instead. Another minor gripe is that they should provide more documentation for the varitone selector, but at least that was availible online at www.gibson.com.

Very nice variety of sounds for classic rock and blues(of course). With the gain turned down and the neck pick up only, it even gets some warm, jazzy, almost acoustic tones. Plenty of sustain. I just play at home through a small Marshall with a little reverb and chorus. I was struck by the dynamic range of the guitar compared to others I have tried. It actually has a nice sound unplugged!

Action was perfect(for me) right out of the box. This guitar just begs you to bend notes. No fret buzz. Silent pickups at any selector setting. If you look at the Blueshawk, check the finishing of the frets carefully. Some I looked at were quite sharp as you run your hand along the neck, but mine is nice and smooth. Hey Gibson, if your reading this, please drug test the person adjusting the pick ups because mine were quite loose. Another reviewer had the same problem. Eventually I'll have this fixed but it doesn't affect the sound. Near perfect finish. Mine was ordered for me so it didn't get abused on display.

I've only had this 2 weeks.

Gibson responded to my email question about the loose pickups within 24 hours. I haven't had a chance to get them adjusted yet. Life time warranty for original purchaser.

I haven't been playing a year yet, so this is my second guitar after moving up from a Squier Strat. I'm no expert, but I tried a lot of different guitars before getting this. I am very impressed with how much more musically complex the sound is. The other appealing feature is how light and comfortable it is to play. It just felt right when I picked one up.(Very subjective of course) Its no museum piece, but overall nicely made. The key word here is value. Seemed like a good deal for the sound and features and quality.

This is a new one, only been in the store for two weeks at Wichitaband.com I won't go into features others have already mentioned, but mine has the Maestro tailpiece tremolo. None of the others have mentioned that so far, so I'll say that it's a very nice addition to the guitar. Others may not like gold..I think it goes great on the transparent Chicago Blue guitar.

I play mostly blues in varying styles and the BH can go from a jazzy rucg blues to a tinny or bright sound in a flick of a switch. I like the Variotone, but I leave it on 2 most of the time. The versatility is great. With variotone off completely it's a great sound too, very rich, without too much base.

Factory setup stunk. The bridge pickup was almost out of the guitar, touching the strings when it arrived. ( I ordered from an online dealer). Neck pickup was fine. Everything else was setu fine, including strings. They're lower than any Gibson I've seen and I like them great right there. When viewed by tilting in good light, the back of the guitar had a ton of small finish microscratches and the top had spots all over it that looked like a tech had setup the guitar with glue on his fingers. I used 4 different Mequiers polish compounds and I still missed a few. But, the finish is deep and thick..or appears so. Very beatuiful andn lustrous. Once I got it rubbed out it looks great. The case appears slightly too small for the maestro tail piece. The trem bar has to be swung back clockwise but it appears a tad too long to fit right in the very tight case I got with it.

No way to tell, it appears sturdy all the way. Finish, as I said, appears thick and the binding should help with protecting the top. The back however is not bound, though the shape probably would prohibit one from being put on.

I've been playing since 68, so that's let me see...uhm...a long time. I have 7 other guitars, including one other gibson, two strats, one strat custom built, a custom built lucille and a chinese acoustic..(yea..go figure..I bought it in Prague.)

'97 Blueshawk, 22 frets, diamond shaped inlays, 1 Vol, 1 Tone, 3-way Tele style switch, vari-tone, 2 "Blues 90" pickups, low profile bridge with string through body design, gold hardware. Really cheap looking "Blueshawk" script decal above fretboard on body - something I would expect from Epiphone, but on a Gibson? Fender scale (25 1/2") neck and a Fender size nut (1 5/8" - Gibson usually uses 1 11/16") and a thick "boat" shaped neck remsembling a cross between an old 50's Fender neck, and a Gibson '59 LP profile. This guitar has more features than normal for Gibson, and it capable of many sounds. I'm not sure how practical some of them are, but they are there if you want to play around with it.

I play alot of blues and blues rock which is why I wanted to try this guitar in the first place. The guitar sounds like a solidbody with tone chambers, not a semi-hollow - it's just too small. Thats not necessarily bad, just dont expect it to sound like a 335. The "Blues 90" setup seems to me to be just a marketing gimmick with the "3rd dummy coil" taking up space in the body - why not just put P-100's in it to begin with to cancel hum and make the tone chambers larger? The Vari-tone can produce a wide range of sounds, but I really only use just a couple of them. Personally I'm not very impressed with it's sound - it's kinda "blah" sounding - not bad, but nothing that really stands out, either. The body being made from Poplar has a lot to do with it, I think. I've played several newer Les Paul Specials (P-100's w/mahogany bodies) that really blow the blueshawk away.

Setup was pretty good for a lower end Gibson, I did'nt have to adjust the truss rod at all - just minor bridge saddle adjustments. Overall fit and finish were very satisfactory - no complaints here. Of course, the gold hardware sucks and looks cheesy, why they continue to use it is beyond me. Action is pretty good too. I also like the diamond shaped inlays - different, yet subtle. No problems with the cherry finish or body bindings, but the stupid "blueshawk" decal still gripes me, though. Another thing I dont like is that the body is just too small - it's tiny, looks like a toy. I'm 5'11" 150 lbs and it looks too small on me in the mirror. I can't imagine a 6'2" 220 lb guy playing one. Strap one on and look at yourself in a mirror - you'll see what I mean.

Sturdy and dependable guitar, although I don't really ever use it because even with all of the sonic possibilities from the vari-tone, I still can't get a good sound from it. I know some of the reviews below talk about the sound being in the person not the instrument, But then how come my SG and my Explorer and my Flying V can produce sounds that are absoultely stunning and the Blueshawk just sounds mediocre at best?

Never dealt with them (never had a reason to)

I've been playing 15+ years, and own too many guitars to list. In my opinion, this is a guitar with an identity crisis - it's not sure if it's a Gibson or a Fender or hollow or a solidbody. It's Gibson-like features inlcude a set neck, P-90s, angled headstock, and mahagony neck. Fender-like features include Fender scale and nut size, Tele-style string through body low profile bridge, and poplar body. I'm usually a big fan of Gibsons (read my Explorer and Flying V reviews) but the Blueshawk is really just out in left field somewhere. If it were lost or stolen, I wouldn't really lose any sleep over it.
As I stated earlier, If you want a Gibson single coil sound, A Les Paul Special sounds better, is in the same price range as the blueshawk, and has a heck of a lot better re-sale value.

This guitar seems pretty versatile. Just the one volume and one tone control but the 6-way varitone switch adds a lot of variety. Poplar, maple, mahogany, yeah, yeah, yeah. A couple of "f" holes, strings go through the body...what else? Kluson tuners and apparently a Gibson original...two Blues 90 pickups with a third dummy for hum cancelling.

I play blues mostly and, as you might guess, this guitar is well suited to the style. I play straight into a small Fender amp and it sounds great to me. The overa\ll tone/sound/feel is something like an ES335...or is it more like an LP Special...or sometimes a strat-like sound? (I said it was versatile.) I understand that virtually everyone submitting opinions gets into these long, detailed and very subjective evaluations of sound and though I can appreciate that on the one hand, I think it's important to remember that the music isn't "in" the instrument as much as it is "in" the musician. I'm reminded of a Mississippi Delta farm boy playing a single broom wire nailed to the side of the house with a rock tied to the bottom for tension and a broken bottleneck for a slide. No doubt he played with great soul. No, I didn't play two million guitars and compare and evaluate them all before buying. I new and trusted the Gibson name and figured they wouldn't name it the Blueshawk if it wern't designrd to produce some good blues tones. When I played it I wasn't disappointed. I gave it a 9 because nobody's perfect.

After playing it for a few weeks, I promptly voided the (lifetime) warranty by having it set up (including a light fret dress) by a good guy I know. I also had him stiffen up the pickups which seemed to be floating on air. The finish looked good but I'm not sure the paint was completely cured. It came straight from the factory to to me through the dealer in about a week's time. So it got a little smudged. I was thinking about denting it to get that out of the way too. Everything seems to work great except for the mounting of the bridge pickup which is such that when I mute with my right palm, the damn thing raises up and touches the high E string. This will never do. Minus one, Gibby.

The guitar has a rather light and, well I don't want to say fragile feel, but I'm not sure how much abuse it would take. If for no other reason than the above mentioned pick up problem, I would want a backup. It's nice to have that high E string respond when you reach for it, Know whut I mean, Vern?

Have not dealt with the company

I've been playing for a couple of decades and I also own an Ibanez acoustic electric nylon, an old acoustic Kay f-hole, and a six string acoustic Takamine. As you may have gathered, I view perfectionism as more of a psychological problem than a fine quality of the arteest. I think it's a good guitar for the money but I don't want to rely too much on the equipment to make music...that's my job. There's a million guitars out there in this price range and I don't think any of them is going to make me or break me as a musician. I like the looks of this guitar, I like the sounds "I" make through it but if it were lost or stolen I'd probably try something else next. Not that I don't like it...I do, but again, it's not the guitar, the amp, the pedals, etc. that make the music, it's me.

I bought the US-made Blueshawk when it first came out, I believe, in 1996. Along with the 3-way blade switch for the "Blues 90's", it has a 6-way Variatone switch with a pull-pot by-pass on the tone knob. Having this many tonal options is definately what interested me in the Blueshawk; you can go from a deep jazz/blues tone, to a thin punk or metal tone. The body comes in black or red (I bought black)and has two f-holes to accent the semi-hollow appearance. I would have bought blue if it was available. It has sort of a pinched shrunken Les Paul shape. One thing that really struck me about this guitar is how incredibly LIGHT it is.

I've been playing almost nothing but rock with this guitar. At first I was playing it through a Carvin X-100A, which sounded lush and great. That is, until I bought a MESA/Boogie Dual Recifier Solo head, which makes any amp sound weak. However, with both amps, the Blueshawk sounds great. Probably the most versatile guitar I've played, even more than the strats I've had in the past. The two Blues 90s have single-coil bite with humbucker noise reduction and warmth. In the studio when I needed a different guitar tone for an add'l guitar sound, all I needed to do was to flip a switch and play. The only drawback was when I first bought it. There was a bit of a ground-pop when I touched the guitar. I went back to the place I purchased it from, and they fixed it.

I have no complaints about the way it came from the factory. I put a heavier gauge of strings on it, and now the action needs to be lowered. All of the components have been quality parts; no complaints.

I've dropped, scratched, banged, and bled all over this guitar. Looking up close, I noticed thousands of scratches all over the finish, so I think I've diminished any sort of resale value. It doesn't matter, I'd never get rid of it. The only thing that I can think of that would be considered negative is pretty much my fault. I play pretty aggresively, and the body isn't cut-away. The binding can rub your arm raw if you sweat and play hard. I can remember a practice where my arm that once hurt felt rather squishy (yuck!). My bandmates watched in horror as I soldiered on through the song with blood covering my arm. The only time I need a back-up, is when I haven't changed the strings in a while, and I break them. My friends tell me I shouldn't play so rough, but hey, screw that! I like having blisters and scabs on my fingers from last night's gig!!

I know it has a lifetime warranty, but I don't know what good it's for. I need to have a fret replaced, and it's not covered because it's wear and tear.

Over all, this guitar is my perfect axe. I've been playing for about 6 years now, and I've had countless guitars. This is the only one I've really wanted to keep forever. Yes, if it were stolen, I'd buy another. I wish it had a cut-away, that's about it. The price is right, and the playability is excellent.

This guitar is a 1997 model though it seemed to sit in the showroom for years. I saw it in the shop and played it. I returned many times to play it. When it was broken in I finally bought at a nice discount. It seems no one else would give it a home. At first view, different is the adjective that comes to mind. Cute in an ugly sort of way might also describe the Blueshawk but I didn't buy it for its looks. I bought it because it has a ton of unique features for the price. It has a compact f-holed semi-hollow body of poplar with a maple top. The neck is mahogony with a rosewood fingerboard, pretty interesting combinations. It is finished in a nice cherry red with cream colored P90 pickups and body binding. The "Blueshawk" logo screened on the body near the top of the neck is kind of cheesy but I've learned to live with it. There is a "dummy" pickup between the two single coil P90s that does a good job of cancelling hum. The Blueshawk has 1 volume control and 1 tone control with a 3 way switch and then there's the added "vari-switch". This switch has 6 tone modeling presets. Somewhere in there you can get almost Strat-like tones, almost. It's pretty neat if your too lazy to switch to the Strat (or only own one guitar). The Blueshawk has a through the body, individual string adjustment bridge just like a modern Fender Telecaster. The string spacing is extra wide especially between the 1st/6th strings and the edge of the finger board to facilitate string bending mania. Gibson skimped on the fret wire with a medium gage that does not take full advantage of this guitar's string bending capabilities. Oh well, that can be changed later. The Blueshawk comes with those Kluson-style tuners that many players hate but the idea behind this guitar is a throwback to the 50's. I think it's best appreciated as such.

P90's make me think of Muddy Waters and John Lee Hooker. This guitar was made for road house blues. You can get sort of fat Tele sounds and sort of Strat sounds out of it but to my ear the Blueshawk shines when played in mild overdrive with the vari-switch off. Think Rollin' Stone and Boogie Chillin'. If you want that sound and can't afford a 52' Les Paul or want something more versitile than a Les Paul Special then the Blueshawk is a good compromise. I play this guitar through a Fender De Ville amp and am pleased with the results. Oh, by the way, this guitar can get some suprisingly good Rage and Korn sounds with a tune down and a little "coaxing". My son loves it!

I reset the string height as I always do with new guitars. The pickups were set spot on. The fit and finish are very good. It's funny, for some reason this guitar reminds me of a cheap old Harmony but much better executed.

This guitar does not seem as bomb proof as an old Tele or a Les Paul but with proper handling I expect years of good service.

I've been playing for 35 years. I also own a vintage 52 Tele, a Mike Lull Custom Tele, a Lone Star Strat, a Les Paul Studio and a Les Paul Classic. I Like the Blueshawk and recommend it as a vintage blues guitar substitute. My only question is why, after all these years, can't Gibson design a guitar that is comfortable to play sitting down (like Fender Teles and Strats)? I guess Gibson thought the Blueshawk's imbalance would enhance the "vintage" feel of the guitar.

Read the other reviews for the details. Suffice it to say that the variator switch and the P-90's give you a bunch of options for tones.

Sounds really great for the blues tones. (and its called a Blueshawk?? I wonder why) The pick-ups are a bit noisy. I've never had anything with P-90's before so I don't know if it's inherent in the pick-up or what. It's really easy to play and do bends.

Set up pretty well. Kinda buzzy though...a little truss rod adjustment fixed that problem. Intonation was spot on.

I've only had it about a month. Don't anticipate any problems...I'm not too hard on my instruments.

I sent an email inquiring about my Les Paul and got a reply pretty quickly with lots of information. I can't imagine needing to talk to them for anything else.

Overall a really nice guitar. It plays really well, sounds good especially for blues and cleaner stuff. I'm thinking about putting some different pick-ups in it. I'm worried about the size of the new pick-ups though. I think Dimarzio makes some, if anybody knows if they're the same size email me please. I don't want to route anything or do anything radical.

I bought my BluesHawk last fall at Mr. Music in Allston, MA. I only there because they had this guitar at a GREAT price ($550). The reason for the great price was that the thing must have been hanging there for ages, not surprising since the action was a mile high and the intonation was waaaay off...(Got me kinda nostalgic for the old days!) Still, the thing sounded good and, hey, I HAD driven all the way to Allston on a Saturday! I think the only "set-up" the store did was to super-glue the knobs on! This, of course, resulted in the demise of the tone control on the second day when I tried to change the knobs and pulled the shaft right out of the pot... Tone control still worked, but the push/pull switch in it was histoire... (The push/pull by-passes the Varitone circuit, why you would want to do that, I don't know...One of the 6 Varitone positions is by-pass anyway..More on this later!) I particularly like the Varitone feature. (Hint: Grind a flat spot on the Varitone shaft for the set-screw: This will absolutely stop knob-slip.) I replaced the tone push/pull with the pot/switch from a Torres Engineering Deluxe Varitone kit. I used the original cap. from the 'Hawk and wired-in one of the inductor sections of the Torres, these are selectable with the DPDT on the pot. The stock Gibson Kluson-type tuners are as good as any Klusons: I.E. They suck! I put on a set of Sperzels and they are infinitely better. The bridge is similar to a Fender Strat hardtail with strings through the body. This is nice because it gets the strings closer to the body than on other Gibby's, which I prefer over the tune-a-matic/stop tailpiece system. The BluesHawk is a lovely blend of Fenderish and Gibson features: 25.5 scale but with more of a Gibson string spacing. Fender-type bridge but P-90-type pickups. I disagree with the other review vis-a-vis the pickups: The "Blues 90's" are fine! I have a Tele with a P-100 in the neck and a P-90 in the middle (stock Tele lead) and the Blues 90's sound just as good, if not better! The neck is another outstanding feature: Nothing radical, just comfortable, sane radius and (if you like diamond-shaped inlays...) mostly perfect. For some reason, Gibson put a cap in series with the neck pickup only when both pickups are on together. I installed a mini-toggle to chose between cap or no cap: No cap is much better. The sound is so much fuller without the cap, Gibson would do better to use the push/pull on the tone control to bypass this cap. you get a big double-humbucker almost jazzbox tone!

This geetar gets all the tones I want and then some. I've been playing guitar since 1963 and the BluesHawk is the best I've played, let alone owned! (Especially with the few mods I've done to it: Sperzels; Torres pot.switch and the oddball-cap bypass switch.) Rock, blues, pop, jazz, whatever: the tones are there. It also responds very well to picking technique and dynamics. PLUS its real easy to get what Billy Gibbons calls those "whistlers": Where you pick and get a little meat from a spare finger to touch the string afterward. The things I DON'T like are mostly just personal taste: I've never liked gold hardware, to me it looks cheap! I REALLY don't like that stupid "BluesHawk" decal on the top, although I don't see it anymore! I don't relly like the diamond inlays: Gimme dots anyday! The only really salient thing is the tuners, but has there EVER been a Gibson made that came with good tuners??? No. I would also prefer a regular Gibson Les Paul-type PU selector switch: It comes with a 3-way Tele-style switch that's in kind of a tough spot to get to, above the vol. pot and in front of the Varitone. The Varitone and volume controls are easy to get to, though.

The factory setup was so bad I thought I had stumbled into a time-warp back into the sixties! Outside of that, though, the guitar was fine! Everything always needs ajusting on a new guitar anyway (Even if its perfect off the rack, I still have to diddle with it...!) The fit and finish are up to Gibson's current (fine) standard. There is a maple top on a poplar body. The maple is unspectacular, but, then I only paid $550 NEW! The guitar is built similar to a 335 with a solid centre block and hollowed-out on the sides rather than built like an arch-top like the 335. The wiring job is not as neat as it might be, but neatness doesn't help the sound!

I have a 1963 Gibson SG Junior. It still works and plays perfectly. Its been gigged to hell and back. I see no reason that the BluesHawk won't last just as well! The hardware except the deep-sixed tuners, is solid and should stand-up to everything except 5 years in the case in a damp cellar! The finish is that great looking Gibson cherry: I love that finish! The strap buttons are now straplocks, but the OEM's were fine with a much heavier screw on the bottom: Nice! If i had only one guitar to take to a gig, or anywhere, this is the one.

The only customer support I went through was a couple of e-mail questions to the Gibby web-site and they were answered promply and completely. if you've read the above, I think you'll agree that I managed to voind most of the warranty changing the knobs! BTW: Gold hardware and cheesy black knobs??? God speed knobs take this baby uptown!

I've been playing 35 years... (Yep, had a Beatle wig...AND WORE IT IN PUBLIC!!! once... Everytime I try to tell my kids they look ridiculous, that Beatle wig comes back to haunt me!) My other guitars: 1964 SG, Jr./1973 Strat hardtail/Rick 360/1994 Ovation Collector's/1993 American Standard Tele(With P-100 neck, P-90 middle and stock Tele lead) Peavey fretless bass. Sunn/Traynor/Carvin tube amps...It's a sickness.... If you're looking for a guitar with single coil clarity and humbucker (sans the mud) balls: look no further! This ax beats the crap out of the '59 re-issue LP that I had: Better tone, playability, OK, the Paul had a killer figured top... You never saw it, though, because it sounded so lousy it stayed in the case! God, I TRIED to like that guitar... If my BluesHawk were stolen I'd get another in a heartbeat! Maybe a custom order so I wouldn't have to perfect it myself! Oy! So, in closing, I'll just say :GET ONE BEFORE GIBSON FIGURES OUT WHAT THEY HAVE AND JACK THE PRICE UP! You just can't tell me that any new Les Paul is worth $2000-$5000 when they can list the BluesHawk at $1000 and retail them for much less!

USA Made in 1997. It has 22 frets on a 25.5 inch scale neck that has V provile. The neck is mahogany with Kluson tuners. The body has a maple top on a polar body with a nice cherry red finish. The top is pretty plain and although bookmarked, the finish doesn't really show it off. This guitar is semi hollow with 2 F holes. It comes with two passive Blues-90 P90 style pickups, a three way strat style pickup selector and a 6 position varitone switch. The body style is like the rest of the hawk series, a modified LP shape. The finish is the normal Gibson style finish. The bridge is a fixed fender style bride with the strings through the body. Came with a nice quality gig bag.

This guitar has a nice mid-ranginess similar to an other semi-hollow. I play is straight through a quality tube amp, no effects. With the stock pickups (Blues 90s) it had a very bright voice. The Varitone helps get a wide range of sounds; this control removes or emphasizes various frequencies, mostly in the midrange area. I must admit that the Blues90s didn't really give me enough punch with a band. When I examined them, they looked like a wide strat pickup, not as big as a real P90, which explained the thin sound. I solved this by buying a pair of Duncan P90s which improved the sound considerably. The sound the guitar gets is like a cross between a 335 and a Ric 360, which is very woody and responsive. It also has a good acoustic voice (not very loud tho!). Since I changed the pickups, I also removed the humbucking dummy coil, but the guitar is pretty quiet for using single coils. If you get one and don't like the sound, replace the pickups. For a hundred dollars, it improved the guitar 100%. This guitar is probably best suited to blues, classic rock or jazz. Not really bright enough for traditional country or metal. Very rootsy sounding.

I changed the strings to 10s and readjusted the neck and bridge, but the factory settings were fine. The pickups were adjusted well. The finish and frets were very well done.

I use this guitar live and it is really great. It seems built to last.

Gibson has always been helpful to me when I've called.

This is a nice guitar for what I bought it for - a more bluesy and jazzy guitar. It is really awesome for slide. I like everything about it except the stock pickups; Gibson should use real P90s, but for what they charge for it an extra $80-100 for P90s isn't too bad.