Gibson NightHawk Standard

USA made, 22 frets, 1 volume 1 tone with a 5-way selector, 2 humbuckers (1 mini humbucker), has a string through body bridge, mahogany body and neck with a maple top

This guitar is great... suits my playing style which is alot of soft rock and emo along with some metal just to play around w/ every now and then. playing through a peavey 112 studio pro. Very quiet guitar and lots of tone and versitalitly.

I bought this guitar used and every thing was set up pretty well... needed to be cleaned and polished being that the previous owner didnt take the time to do this... but now she looks great... only thing is is that the neck gets sticky after playing... but this is easy to fix w/ a little polish

Had this guitar for a short time now but seems like it is built solid. so i really cant give this a rating.

Asked Gibson one question and they responded within a couple hours by email.

Ive been playing for a few years now and this is my second guitar. Couldnt be happier with it. If it were stolen id try to find another like it. Love every thing about this guitar except how the neck gets sticky but that is easily polished away. blows my other guitar away. great guitar for any one looking for a great rich full sound.

This guitar is a '93.The body and neck are mahogany.The top is flamed maple(not a ten top ,but very nice).The color is Fireburst.I'm sure you know what they look like,so I won't bother with those details.The tuners are vintage style.They stay in tune nice,but I think all guitars should have locking tuners.The guitar came with Gibson case.Very versatile guitar.

I play a heavy blues style(Gary Moore,Johnny Winter,Stevie).I also play some heavier music.This guitar plays those styles perfectly.It may not sound just like Strat or Paul,but it's own sound is wonderful.The pickups are both nice,but the neck pickup is extra special.It is very warm,but still has tons of bite.

The guitar was set-up very well from the factory,but I still tweaked it.The guitar looks great.It has some miles on it,but it just adds character.The finish job was fine.This guitar plays like a dream.I have only played a couple guitars in 20 years that played this good.

I have had this guitar for about 8 years,and I have never had a problem.I have played the s$$$ out of this thing.Never gig without a backup.

Never needed it.

I have been playing for about 20 years.I have owned about 60-70 guitars.I only have a few left ,and they are the special ones.I would suggest this guitar to any player of any style.If it were to be lost ,I would buy another one(or two).It is hard to compare to other guitars,because it really has it's own thing going own.I can't get over the fact these guitars didn't sell much better.I love Les Pauls and Strats,but I would take this guitar over either of them.

This is the Standard Model with the two pickups, the slanted humbucker at the bridge and the mini humbucker at the neck. It has the flamed maple finish and the parallelogram neck inserts. It comes with the standard 'tarts handbag' pink furry lined case!

The tones from the guitar are wide ranging, and the second position up, the 'full' bridge humbucker is outstanding. The lowest and the highest positions are a touch weak.

The guitar was second hand, and the action is a bit on the high side. The build quality is outstanding, and has aged somewhat to give it the classic dulled look. The controls are all positive and notchy.

I have only really just started using this guitar seriously, and it is as hardy as anything else I've used. It fell over and landed on my mates Strat and left a large gouge out of the rear of the strat. Oops! Well built and tough.

No idea, the guitar was second hand.

I would recommend this instrument for the typical all round 'pub' band. I did not go out looking for a Nighthawk, but when I had a go, I wanted this guitar! I've got a Srat and a Les Paul, but the small body size and tones of this guitar make it great all round. I play it through a Roland Bluescube, and occasionally through a Zoom 3000, but the straight overdriven tones through the Roland are to die for!

94-model,fireburstfinish,two humbuckers,a mini in the neck ,and a slanted pup in the bridgeposition,five way selector ,thru body stringing,paralellogram inlays ,same bodymaterials as a les paul although there is no carved maple top , only a flattop.kluson tuners,came with Gibson case.oh by the way this guitar has a ungibson 25`scale instead of the usual 24.75used .makes for a more Fenderlike sound

the fiveway switch is supposed to give you 10 different combinations by splitting the buckers .to my ears by splitting the coils I get some really thinny and not very usable sounds.It doesn`t sounds bad,only very unGibsonlike and not my cup of tea.To make matters worse ,the pups are extremely prone to feedback ,making rehearsals with the band really trying.the best pup-position is the bridgepup.the bridgepup sound vey good with distortion albeit at low volume.

I bought this used ,so I cannot comment on the factory setup,but it was fine when i got it.the nut was however in need of attention and needed some work in order to achieve full playability.the guitar looks really good

My guitar is at the moment gettin a pup rewax,so I guess it will be alright for liveplaying when I get it back.but not as it wore,with the microphonic pups I would not have used it in a live setting.the strapbuttons do not work ok.they are too small!!!!Hey GIBSON,what`s the matter with you???my epi lp has bigger strapbuttons and the guitar hangs safe,but with the nighthawk I am constantly worried about the guitar hitting the floor.crap!!!

njet.getting pup`s fixed

this is not my main guitar,I think my epiphone lp std blows this one away.I do not like the Fenderstyle bridge and fivewayswitch and certainly not the sound of the pickupcombinations.i would not buy it again,a real les paul is what i want.

USA made Gibson Nighthawk with two pickups. 22 frets. Mohagany body and neck with book-matched flamed maple top in an Amber stain (Grade AA). This was the final production year for this model, 1999. It has Volume and Tone controls and a 5-way switch. This guitar is a single cutaway and about 3/4 the size of a Les Paul, but about 1/2 the weight. Originally purchased NOS with OHSC for $1200 four months before I found it on Ebay. I saw one just like it at one of the big chain stores for $1400. Check out Gibson's web site for their 1999 discontinued models to get full specs.

I play a variety of styles, including Classic Rock, Blues, Jazz, Metallica Metal, Niel Young Grunge, etc. I have a solid state Crate Chorus Combo with twin 10" speakers. I typically run my Boss BR-8 through this amp for the effects that come built in with the BR-8. I also use a Mesa Boogie Nomad 45 to get the full analog sound of a tube amp. This guitar provides an enormous tone palette that I do not get from my Gibson Les Paul Double Cutaway Standard. I did not buy this to imitate a Stratocaster. I have one of those as well in my collection to provide the true Fender tone. I purchased this for its own unique character. This guitar has the fastest playing neck of any guitar I have played seriously.

Considering the cost of this guitar, the construction of this guitar is flawless. It is not a top of the line, multiple thousands of dollars Gibson, but it wears the name proudly. Ed Roman does not give Gibson enough credit for the innovation they have done in the guitar industry over the years, so do not buy into all of his "anti-Gibson" hype on his internet site...www.edromanguitars.com...He does not even comment on this fine instrument. Oh yeah, because it does not sell for thousands of dollars so why should he waste his time with it. Forget you Ed Roman. I like my Gibsons...

This is a professional quality instrument with a very unique sound and character. It looks dynamite.

Gibson is dependable...

This amber stained maple flame top is a nice match with my Les Paul DC Standard with a similar amber finish maple flame. Now that the Gary More Les Paul single cutaway is out, I will have to get that next to finish off my Gibson hat trick of 3 amber stained maple flame tops...but that is another matter. Guitars are tone palettes. Just like an artist is looking for those unusual and elusive colors within the color spectrum, musicians are on the same search for those elusive and different tone palettes. This guitar offers you something new in the way it generates tones. The sustain on this guitar is quite unbelievable.

It's a 1996 Nighthawk, finished in Translucent Amber, two-pickup model. Construction is mahogany body & neck plus maple top on body (=Les Paul). The front pickup is a specially designed mini humbucker and the bridge pu is slanted humbucker. Strings are attached from the back of the body (=Telecaster).

For rock/blues/country this guitar is voiced perfectly (and you're perfectly free to create any sounds with it, like with every other guitar, of course). The inherent sound is clear and bright with slim bass response. The body, in fact the whole guitar, resonates wonderfully. The 5 pickup settings with singlecoil options allow for different sounds that broaden the tonal spectrum without fiddling through mini-switches or other devices.

Setup was perfect. The maple top is immaculate. The finish though has wrinkles at the neck joint. Due to the heavily figured maple top it is only visible when you actually look for it but it is nonetheless a flaw. The quality of the woods used seem to be very high due to the resonating and the immediate attack (more Fender like these dull Les Pauls)

After years of heavy use (live & rehearsals & being around at home for instant use) it is still a wonderful looking guitar. Pick scratches on the surface are again barely visible due to this maple top's figuring. I like that. So this is definitely a player's guitar!

n/a

I've been playing out since ten years now, used a Gibson ES335 (wonderful guitar, definitely too heavy) and a Telecaster (not versatile enough, compared to the Nighthawk) through Fender Twin Reverbs or Deluxes mainly. If you need a perfect tool and you crave for quality and, perhaps, you don't want to have one of this dull and everlasting Les Paul/Stratocaster lookalikes, or these guitars themselves for that matter, this is a perfect choice. Remember, this guitar would cost you approx. half of what a Les Paul Standard will set you back. Too bad Gibson stopped production in 1999 (they offer Blueshawk models now, with P90 pickups, so if the Nighthawk was stolen I would replace it with one of these - or, even better, a used Nighthawk).

My 'Hawk is a two pickup model with a tobacco 'burst flamed maple top on a mahogany body with gold hardware. The front pu is modeled on the mini humbucker pattern, and the bridge pu is a large 'bucker on a slanted mount.
A solid bridge with the strings mounting from the back resembles a hardtail strat. This plus the 25.5" scale make this a very different guitar for Gibson. It looks as if they wanted to combine a bunch of gibson and Fender features to produce one of those stupid "sounds like any other guitar" products. Instead, they produced a fine guitar that speaks with its own unique voice.

I play a variety of rock and blues styles and this guitar does very well.
The long scale on a set-neck gibson style axe is not only extremely easy to play but has a clarity of tone other gibsons lack. You can hear the effect that the stamped kluson style tuners have on the sound.
The front PU has a resonant throaty sound and the back will bite. Like most tapped/dual sound PU's the bright sound is too bright and the deep sound to bassy. I may see about building a Duncan JB model onto the PU frame. Otherwise this thing is great.
DO NOT try to use this as an imitation tele or faux paul and enjoy it for what it is.

I bought this used so gave it the usual once over - all is well the thing is extremely sound and reliable. The Corian nut sounds and plays well and wears like iron.
Built like a Gibson.

This is as sound and reliable as a guitar can get. I see no reason why this thing shouldn't last like any of the other guitars that Gibson has built.
Doubt it will be thought of with the reverence of say an original Paul 30 years from now. But, I'm sure there will be enough specimens around to see.

Never called gibson. And why would I?

I've played for nearly 30 years and this guitar stands with anything else I've owned - IF we think about it as its own guitar I love it. It does a poor job of imitating others.
I would want to find something like this if I didn't have it already or if I needed a replacement.

The NightHawk Standard is a 22 Fret guitar made by Gibson USA. Its made from Mahogany with a maple top (mine is Transparent Amber - nice ;). The neck is also Mahogany with a Rosewood fingerboard and Mother of Pearl Twin Parrallelogram inserts. My guitar is the Standard version with two pickups - Front is a mini humbucker and rear is a slanted humbucker - both are special Gibson pickups (I read that in their Web site). It has a Fender Bridge with string-thru-body design, stop tail - no trem. Its pickups are passive and there are five selections of both humbucker and single coil sounds. It comes with an arched contoured hard case (mine has a Pink/Crimson lining. Finally, the tuners, lickup surrounds, front humbucker cover are Gold plated.

I love the sound and versatility of this guitar. I play rock (Kiss, Van-Halen, etc) and also rock-blues (Gary Moore) and this guitar is perfectly suited to this style. The selection of single coil sounds also is very nice, with a real Texas Twang. (On a Gary Moore video he switches from his Gibson to a Fender for Texas Blues and Moovin On, but with the NightHawk, just move the pickup selector and your there!. The tone control is well voiced and the pickups have a high output, nicely overdriving my Marshall 1959 Plexi re-issue Amp. I have heard from a few sources that this guitar might not be popular with rockers, but I cannot see any reason for this. I really do love this guitar.

The guitar was pretty well setup from the factory. The action was really nice. The finish was great. There was a problem though with a couple of the frets from 20-22. The Music store I bought it from has a great guitar tech who explained that the frets were too flat on top and as a result a couple of high notes didn't ring true (especially noticable with higher gain settings). I though this might be a Wolf note, but after having a couple of frets re-profiled its better than ever. Its a little dissapointing this wasn't noticed during setup at the factory but It just highlights the value of professional setup. It was a good guitar when I got it, its absolutely fabulous now. It tunes true and doesn't move even under heavy bending. There really isn't a bad note on it.

Its a solidly constructed guitar. I think it will last well, although its so pretty and I love it so much I am going to treat it very carefully.

I've never dealt with Gibson (I'm in Australia). The support I got from my Music store though was excellent (maybe they are an authorised distributor? - I don't know).

I have been playing for 10 years. I own a Marshall 1959 Plexi Re-Issue (one of those nice 35th Anniversary Ltd edition White ones!) and the NightHawk is the perfect partner for this amp. The two things that remain in the memory about this instrument are its "Beautiful" sound and its craftsmanship. I can really appreciate a finely crafted instrument, but when it has the raw rock power to shake you in your boots its just the best of both worlds. I think I will always by a Gibson USA guitar from now on.