Gibson Nighthawk Standard (3 Pickup model)

Some time ago I submitted a review that was extremely critical of my Gibson Nighthawk. I Recently moved. I had formerly lived on a ranch. For a few days, the Nighthawk was the only Gibson I had that was accessible. So, I played it one night and was startled at the fullness and richness of the tones it was producing. I don't know how to account for the difference, other than the fact that the ranch house I was living in was very old and had really old wiring and electrical system. This review is intended to correct my former review.

The minihumbucker is a unique pickup. I find that their tone might be a little limited or one-dimensional in the case of a Les Paul DeLuxe or a Firebird.

The Nighthawk setup, on the other hand, puts the minihumbucker in the neck pickup and allows it to be used in combination with the middle (single coil) pickup or the bridge (humbucking) pickup. When used in combination witht he other pickups, the tone put out by the Nighthawk's minihumbucker is still unique, but much less limited or one dimensional than is the case where a minihumcucker is being used alone.

The tone is great. I play mostly using the minihumbucker and the middle pickup. The tone is more full and more versatile than I get from a strat with single coils (though less "woody" sounding), but with a little more clarity, definition and midrange sizzle than I can get out of my Les Paul. I can't really get this tone out of any other guitar that I own (and I own a lot of them), and I really like the tone a lot. I recorded a few songs with it, and it sounded really, really nice on playback. Clean or heavily distorted, it retained it's character, stood out and cut through well.

I can't get the action as low as I can on some other guitars, but that's fine. The action is not a problem, and I actually prefer to keep it a tad higher on this guitar because bends sound really nice on it, and I think they sound a little better with the action a smidgen higher.

I still think Gibson was stupid to leave those ugly bolts exposed on either side of the pickup selector.

The flamed wood is nice. It's enough to notice and to look good, but not so much as to be gawdy or gouche. It's about like the flame you would see on some of the old vintage Les Paul bursts. I actually prefer it to something that's a little more "Flame-zilla."

I've gigged it a couple of times, and some guitar players who I respect recognized the guitar and were more than a little curious about it. They had nice things to say about its tone and its appearance. They were less charitable when it came to comments about my musicianship.

Lastly, the guitar is light (unlike a Les Paul) and well-balanced (unlike the Firebird).

The guitar is pretty durable. I have abused it and neglected it for a long time. It has survived.

No idea.

I don't know if it's actually a 10, but I rated it so low a year or so ago that I need to rate it at a 10 to compensate. It certainly is a "fantastic value." I'm bidding on another one as I write this.

'95 Nighthawk Std,3 pickups,thru-body bridge, quality mahogany neck and body,firebusrt bookmatched flame-maple top,gold hardware,body and neck binding,parallelogram inlays,vintage kluson type tuners,5-way switch,volume and push/pull tone,long-scale neck,rosewood board,medium vintage frets,single cutaway solid body,hardshell case.

This guitar suits any style you can play,IF you can play.Only a small minority of reviewers dislike this guitar for reasons indicative of their mental and musical limitations rather than the guitar's.The tones available are virtually unlimited;they could have named it the Chameleon for its' tonal color changeability;most impressive and inspiring.

Construction and materials exceed many of Gibson's more popular(and expensive!) guitars;celebrity association would have tripled the price of this amazing,out of production guitar.

Built to the highest standards available,set neck,lightweight aged hardwoods,USA made electronics(all three pickups unique to this instrument)totally reliable.

Surprisingly better than expected regarding questions about instruments purchased used.

30 years exp,have a StratRI and Les Paul Custom,Fender tube amps.This was recommended to me by another experienced player who said it was the most versatile guitar ever;eh was right.Complaints on this seem to be from players that expect it to be something it isn't,or that its' complex switching doesn't make sense.To them I say,it is what it is,and well worth the effort to get to know it.An exceptional value for the open-minded guitarist looking for maximum tonal variety,and a great looking,lightweight guitar to boot!

It has a lot of features.

The sound of this guitar is remarkably unimpressive. I play through two different amps--a Marshall AVT and a '65 Fender Dual Showman. Both are piped into cabinets loaded with Celestions. This guitar sucks through each of them. That in itself is an achievement.

The minihumbucker in the neck is anemic, and gets worse when the coils are split. I own a Gibson Firebird with mini humbuckers which are fairly powerful. This pickup sounds nothing like the pickups in the Firebird.

The bridge pickup is thin and weak also.

The middle pickup is more--or less--of the same.

What this guitar lacks in tone it makes up for in lack of sustain.

The guitar looks pretty good, and the action is acceptable. Nothing special, but nothing obnoxious. My biggest objection relates to the ugly Frankenstein bolts on either side of the pickup selector. What is up with THAT? For the love of GOD, couldn't Gibson have done something to conceal those unsightly chunks of metal?

Unfortunately, being a Gibson, nthis guitar probably won't break or stop working, so I'll be stuck with it, and one of my kids will probably inherit it and be stuck with it, also. It will be the guitar that wouldn't go away. It's like a cockroach. It will never die. Unfortunately. But then again, it certainly won't be overused.

Even if I called Gibson, what would I ask them? "Hey, I bought a guitar on e-bay, and it's a Gibson, but I have one little complaint: it sucks and I hate it." I doubt they would respond in a way that would address my concerns. On the other hand, I have yet to receive any response from them whatsoever regarding problems with the vibrola in a Firebird I bought new. It's only been a few MONTHS, though. For that, I'll mark them down.

I have been playing for too long to suck as badly as I do. I own over 20 guitars, my favorites being an old Zion Bent T, a Carvin EA185 thinline, a Gibson Firebird VII and a Washburn e-100. If all of my other guitars burned in a fire, and I only had the nighthawk left, I would skip the gig, or would play a kazoo instead, kind of a Spinal Tap Mach 2 thing. I don't know what I would do if someone stole it. I keep leaving it outside at nights, next to a sign that says, "Don't Beware. There's No Dog Here. And No Alarm System. And I'm Out of Town." Sadly, I look out the door each morning and it's still there.

Light and easy to fit, very versatile, good access to upper fret

I almost play blues and classic rock, I owned the guitar since 98 so I plaied it thru Fender Hot Rods, Fender Prosonic, Fender Blues Junior, Peavey Classic 30. The guitar always sounded great and I preferred it to a Custom PRS that I finally sold.
The huge pickup combination gives a lots of tones (a couple of them I never used) but the real plus of the guitar is the dynamic and the response to the right hand touch, simply incredible and much more then Fenders, PRS and other Gibsons I owned.

Action as bought was a little high, some adjustement was needed. The guitars gives not its best in this department. Finish is not as good as Guild (just to mention one) for this price range

No problem in 6 years

Very good axe to play with

Gibson Nighthawk Standard 3 pickup. Made in USA. Mine is a 95 model with the vintage sunburst finish. Beautiful flamed finish which you can see the wood grain thru. Maple top, mahoghany back and neck, rosewood fingerboard with parallelogram inlays, mother of pearl gibson headstock logo and "crown" logo, mini humbucker, hi-output single coil center pickup, and slanted humbucker bridge pickup. Bridge is string thru. One volume, one tone with coil split, and a 5-way pickup selector finish.

I play mostly clean sounds and Jazz thru my little Fender Frontman 25 amp with a zoom 1010 effect and it sounds absolutely great! You can get 10 variations of tones with the pickup selectors and coil tap, as well as tweaking your amp and effects. This guitar has sounds similar to a strat, les paul, and tele all in one package. Lots of sustain as well.

The fit and finish is great. A small guitar but very solid. I did have to do some tweaking on the intonation and truss rod, but that's just normal adjustments over time. The gold plated hardware was a bit dirty and tarnished when I purchased it, due to lack of cleaning from the previous owner(s), but after a little cleaning and polishing, it looks like a mint guitar again. Very little fret wear on mine. I suspect it was played very little. The flamed maple top was beautiful and the finish is nice and glossy. I changed the vintage kluson tuners to the modern Gibson Grover tuners and it makes a world of difference.

It's a Gibson so I predict exceptional reliability and durability. Mine is a 95 that I bought used so it's about 9 years old now. Absolutely nothing wrong. Everything works.

I Haven't dealt with Gibson for repairs.

My Gibson Nighthawk Standard (3-pickup) has a Floyd Rose on it - that;s one reason I go ti - 'cause I wanted a GOOD guitar with a locking nut and whammy bar. I bought it in 1994, and it had been on the wall for a while. It is mahogany brown with the translucent amper maple top. I had the control diagram before I even bought the thing, and while the controls are confusing, they are not "crap". Some people can drive a 3-speed, and some can drive a 13-speed Roadranger on a semi - check out the differenc ebetween the twom and youll be fine. The slanted humbucker at the bridge sounds fine, but it is a little thin, although it sounds fat enough after one has been in the single-coil mode. The single coil M-series pickup is a little bratty, but mid-position single coils often do sound this way. The mimi-humbucker at the neck has depth and clarity - always wanted a mimi, so, there it is. I like the amber finish. The body style is the top of a Les Paul, with a sharper, Florentine cutaway, and the bottom of an SG. Look at it next to the other guitars, and you will see the outlines match. The old-fashioned perloid tuners give kind of a Leon Redbone vibe, and I guess they were aiming at the C&W market. It's supposed to be a slim taper neck, but it feels like a 2x4 to me, and i can't play fast on it. It's a great rhythm guitar, though. I have played ina lot of jams and it cuts through everything - I was always told how good it sounded. I have no problem with the split parallelogram position markers, and I like the little torch logo on the peghead, or whatever that thing is. I got the girly-pinkcase with it. The case falls over - it won't stand up.

It's a little thin for me, but I had my favorite Pretenders and Grateful Dead settings, and it worked. I can play anything on any guitar, up to a point, so I'm not finicky about exactitude. I can do great Neil Young stuff on it, but it does sound tweezy at times - I wish I could run the bridge and neck pickups in series to compensate for that. I run it through a Marshall Slash Head, and a Laney VC-30. I use a Boss M/EX with an MXR compressor, an Ibanez tube screamer, a Boss Turbo overdirve, and a Metal Zone pedal, plus all the f/x in the M/EX. It's very quiet. I tried Dean Markley cryogenic strings, and it was too shrill. I switched back to Gibson Les Paul 9's, and then GHS nickle strings, and it was back to being ok. The guitar has 10 sounds - 5 in low range, and 5 in high range, kind of like a Mack truck. Bridge humbucker pickup is with the switch all the way towards the bridge, like a Strat. It's brassy, like a trumpet, and some of theis is from the maple top. The next position back is the two humbuckers together, in parallel, I assume. the middle position is the mini-humbucker - it's bassy, but very clear. the next one back is the bridge humbucker and the M-series middle pickup, perhaps out of phase. It has the Sttrat sound, but it is meatier - kind of like a Fat Strat with the humbucker at the bridge, out of phase with the middle pickup. The last position, all the way back, is the mimi in single coil mode, with the humbucker in single coil mode. It sounds like a Tele to me. Run it through a chorus and play "Back on the Chain Gang" by the Pretenders, and you're there. Now, pull the shift knob up, and flip that switch back to first gear in high range. All the way toward the bridge is single coil at the bridge - Strat-like. Next one back is the out of phase, chickin' pickin' tone of Motown and Nashville. The middle position is the M-series pickup by itself - a little bratty, and loud. It is a good choice when you need your rhythm part to cut through the guy blazing away with his cardboard-tone sustain machine. You can get some nice Hendrix flavors out of this, especially if you wiggle the vibrato with the edge of your hand a little bit. Next position back is the middle pickup and the single coil of the mini-humbucker together, in phase, I would guess. It doesn't sound like bass & celery, so I think it's in phase. A good place to play rhytm without being too out front. All the way back is the mimi-humbucker in single coil mode. Clear but not shrill, and with a good bas accent. I like the guitar for wha it is. It is a very small guitar, sort of a super Les Paul Special, of the mini-humbucker type. The neck is thick, though. It has always been hard on my hand, and I can't play fast on this one.

I had the action set way down low once, but I raised it back up. The middle pickup is a bit brash - maybe I should lower it. The top is a very nice bookmatched maple. The finish is very nice - I can't find anything wrong with it.

This is a very relaible guitar, from my POV. My first Gibson, rock solid. Hardware seems good to me, but I don't gig. Finish looks yough. Starp buttons work fine. I have depended on it - I have played out with this more then any other guitar since the 70's. I have used it without a backup, and would. It is my main axe, although I play many others.

Don't know.

I've been playing for 38 years, and I got the Nighthawk before started seriously collecting guitars and gear. I play it through a Marshall Slash Head with a 1936 cab. I bought it as it became marked down, and I thought it would be a step closer to a Les Paul. I had been playing a Guild Burnside Blade (H/S/S) for my whammy bar and Strat sounds, which I still have. I played the guitar a lot before I bought it. If it were stolen, I 'm not sure. If I could find one like it, yes, I would replace it. I love the broader, brassier Fender style tones and the Floyd Rose vibrato. I hate the neck. I never had wrist pain until I started on this thing. My favorite feature is thatyou can move the pickup switch through the "gears" sequentially, or you can push the coil-tap switch in or out, and "jump" from the same gear in one range to the other, like Bridge Humbucker to bridge single coil, or Mini-humbucker to middle pickup, or bridge and neck single coil to neck single coil. Also, I like to use the vibrato without the bar - I just wiggle it with the edge of my hand. I played a nice darkburst Les Paul at the time that came down to $1600 eventually, but I couldn't afford it. The Nighthawk appealed to my sense of electronic efficiency (something I learned about from Alembic in 1974), and I didn't know about the Jimmy Page at that time. I wish it had a fatter sound in the humbucker mode - at least one, so I could do Neil Young dive bombing on it and not have it sound Motown-like. I'd like to say that when I first got that Nighthawk, I felt that I had something very special, and it turned some heads, too. It's such a tiny guitar! And even though I can't play as well on it as I'd like, it sounds really good at gigs. I've been told many times. So I think it is a very nice guitar, just not all that it could be. I am an L5S fan, and I can neither find nor afford one now. I might get rid of some guitars if I could find an L5S and afford it!

Not sure exactly when mine was made, but I believe it was in '94. I could be wrong, though. I can't complain about this guitar, it has just about every feature you could want on a quality guitar, and then some. Pretty much the same as everyone else, 3 pickups, volume, and tone knobs. Coil tap under the tone makes a difference, but not one that I'd get excited about. Five way pickup selector, 22 frets, Kluson tuners, and a nice, moderately flamed maple top in the fireburst finish.

The style of music that my band plays is classic rock and blues, with the occasional jazz fusion instrumental thrown in. I play mostly bass now, but when I do get the oppurtunity to do guitar work, this ax fits in nicely. I've loved these 'hawks since they came out. About the same time these were introduced, I was looking for my second guitar. I played a Nighthawk, and a Les Paul Studio. I really didn't do an intense comparison, it more or less came down to which one I liked better for sound and looks. They both sounded great, but the LP won out. I think that was more because of the name. Anyway, you can get almost any sound you desire out of it, but since I use it with a Peavey Transformer 112, I really don't get to appreciate the variety. I mainly use a bluesy distortion, and a boosted clean sound when I play, so I'm not out to re-create a Strat sound, or anything else for that matter. I just like the fact that it sounds great, and is so much lighter than the Les Paul. So I guess that the Nightawk won out over the LP after all. The pickups are real quiet, and haven't given me any problems. A+

I got this guitar from a pawn shop off eBay, and that was back in April. It was in pristine shape when I got it, and has been babied since. I haven't done a thing to this guitar except re-string it, and it sounds just fine. No truss rod or pickup adjustments,(that's right, NONE!), no new tuners, and no wiring maintenance! After 7 months, with no major work done to it, this guitar has held its tune, and hasn't disappointed me yet! Most new guitars off the rack need at least new strings. and an adjustment here and there. Considering what I paid, and what some guitars equal to this, are going for nowadays, I got real lucky.

This guitar has and will withstand live playing. Granted I don't put it through the abuse most guitarists do, since I do a lot of bass work now, but it has held up, and I wouldn't have any problems using it without a backup. (Although, that is usually discouraged) The finish has held up, with the exception of a little wear on the gold plating. But hey, you can't expect it to not show SOME signs of wear! I can't say whether the finish will hold up or not, it'll probably outlast me, with the amount of work I give it. The strap buttons are solid, and haven't caused any problems, eventhough the one by the neck seems like it sits too high on the body, and your strap will pop off if you move the wrong way.

Never dealt with them, but there's tons of info about these guitars out there on the web. If Gibson couldn't help me, I'm sure I could get it elsewhere.

I've been playing for 11 years now, and I have to say that this is one of the guitars that I truly enjoy playing. I own around 25, and have bought and sold many others. I've got Gibsons, Peaveys, Ibanez', Corts, Epiphones, Fernandes', Danelectros and a few other miscellaneous types. Sorry Fender fans, nothing to report yet! I have a Peavey Transformer 112, Peavey Classic 30, a Pignose G40V, a small Crate tube practice amp, and a Peavey Megabass practice amp. There are also several foot pedals I use. (TOO MUCH STUFF!) I'm not as good as I could be, which means I could've used many more hours of practice back when I first started. I knew what this guitar could do when it came out, and I'm glad that I finally managed to get one. Where I live, not many of these were on the store walls, so I couldn't find one until I got on eBay earlier this year. It is by far, one of my best guitars, and I'll never sell it. Should it get lost or stolen, it "will" get replaced! And pity the person who stole it, because you would be found and beaten mercilessly about the head, numerous times! I love the fact that this guitar has the versatility it posseses, and can fit into almost any genre of music. I also love the fact that its a Gibson, and it's light! Something you don't find on many of their products these days. If you've ever thought of getting a Les Paul, and have the oppurtunity to play one of these, give it a chance. Don't be like I was years ago, and go for the Les Paul name. Don't get me wrong I love the LPs, and I'll never get rid of mine. But, if you are looking for a Gibson which can do a lot for you, and save some money too, then this might be the way for you to go. Gibson did good with this one!

Ok this isn't exactly a review, but I wanted to get this information out for everyone to see, because it is valuable.

I bought a '93 gibson nighthawk in about 1995. It had been on the wall for quite sometime. This was when I was just beginning to play guitar and this was my first non pawnshop electric.

I was never COMPLETELY satisfied with this guitar. I thought that it was definitely a pro quality instrument, but that its sounds were somewhat dissapointing. I can't place my finger on the dissapointing quality. Maybe jangly... thin... trebly... etc are in the ballpark, but there was something more about the sound that just kinda sucked. Not to say that the overall tone of the guitar sucked, I played many a gig with the thing, but that it just didn't sound as good as I thought it oughta.

Well I have transformed the instrument with about $50 in parts and some spare time. What I now have is a wuality instrument that will rival the sounds of just about any guitar... and certainly any guitar that cost a total of $600.

MOD 1:

I changed the bridge saddles. The cast ones that were on there inparted a rather strong clang tone. That is fine if you like that sorta thing... but there was no bloom to the notes. I installed a set of vintage strat saddles (the kind made of bent sheet metal). They barely fit because they were a touch wider, but everything went on and is functional. That improved the sound of the guitar tenfold. It was then possible to play a jazz melody on the instrument.

MOD 2:

I spoke at length with bill lawrence of pickup producing fame about this guitar. He indicated that he couldn't make pickups for this guitar, but he did give me a greater understanding of the instrument. He was at gibson during the design and production of this instrument. He agreed that fundamentally this was a fine instrument, but he disagreed with the wiring scheme. Under his advice I simply rewired it. I used a standard 5 way switch and a non dpdt (push pull) tone pot. This made a HUGE difference in the sound!!!! I now have a guitar that has 5 high quality sounds rather than 10 so so sounds.

I HIGHLY recommend that everyone try this. If you don't like it... you can always change it back...

Check this link for more information on how to get it back to its original shape...

Check these links for more information on how to get it wired like I wired it.

http://www.stewmac.com/freeinfo/pickups/gibson.html
This link provides info on which wire from the pickups to solder where

http://www.stewmac.com/freeinfo/i-0032/index.html
This link has a diagram on strat wiring. Just ignore the connections to the tone pot... have the wire from the switch to the volume pot and then wire your tone pot to the volume pot. Pay close attention to which lugs are which on the switch. It took me several attempts to get it right, but I tried to rush it.

I'm trying to decide on the best values for pots and caps... but that is a personal choice... I think that rewiring the switch and tone pot is a personal choice as well, just one that would be made by everyone in a blind taste test.

If you have trouble with this wiring procedure, email me, and I'll try to come up with a diagram or something.

surfingwolf@hotmail.com

Have fun and enjoy your music.

Sonny

1997 model, standard three pickup with translucent amber finish.
Maple top, mahogany neck and back. Standard gold-plated hardtail, string thru body. The usual story. Thin neck, fast player and oh so comfortable. Longer than Gibson scale length, so it feesl like a Fender.
The most versatile guitar ever made as far as I can see. I have some reservations about the long-term stability of the neck and also it looks pretty bad!

Very versatile indeed. Has very powerful bass (using mainly Ernie Ball 10-46 ) and very clear sounding for humbuckers, with the humbucker selections. Does not sound like a strat or tele or LP (have all...this is different) similar, but not the same , but is very very good indeed. Sounds more explorer like (think Johnny Winter) in humbucker modes. A fabulous sounding guitar and sustains until next Xmas.
Bad news for Fender fans, this knocks spots off my strats and teles. There are a couple of selection positions I'd never use, but out of 10 you can't quibble. If it has a fault it is giving you too much choice. if you are really particular about tone, you could go nuts experimenting with the pickup selections on tap.

Beautiful set up. A small finish flaw (made it cheap to buy), but the usual very high quality Gibson finish, with AA and gorgeous with it top. How they made this kind of guitar for so little money is beyond me. It REEKS of class. The binding is just so, fret markers right etc. Tiny overspill on the finish in one spot. You wouldn't get that in a $4000 guitar, but for one half the price of an LP that does three times as much...The finishe on similarly priced teles isn't as good, but then again, neither are is the quality of the components.

Probably not the most robust guitar in history, but I have had 4 years and no sign of a problem yet. No wear so far, but the gold will come off. Why use it? Quality stuff, but I suspect the neck may not outlive me (unlike an LP or 335 would).

I asked Gibson a question once and they sent me a T shirt and a set of strings ...all the way to Europe. Cool, or what?

Playing badly for 30 years. Play mainly with a Fender deluxe reverb 2, but also a Blues Cube. The latter is very choosy and only this and a couple of teles sound even remotely cool with it. Variety of stuff, and this does it all easily. I have several guitars, including the main ones. If I had to have only one guitar, this would be it, which says it all, really. It is light, does all sorts of stuff, well built and easy to play. What else do you want? Won't break your back either or go funny on tuning. This is better than my strat, better than my LP, better than my tele plus and tele with RI pickups (even with ash body). Every time I play it I think about selling the rest, and when you look at what you get for the money compared with a Fender you just want to laugh. This is way better built all the way round. Pound for pount the best guitar I have ever owned or seen, bar none (and I am really a telecaster guy).

Let's get this part straight first, this will not be a glowing interview. After owning Les Pauls, V's, Explorers and SG's over the years, This was the guitar that pushed me away from Gibson forever.

Squat single cutaway, vaguely lap-steel-ish body style.. flame top on mahogony bosy andneck.. 22 fret on 25-1/2 scale.. vt5 controls with wierdo wiring so bad, you need a booklet just to get through it.. firebird pickup, single coil, slanted humbucker.. 2 color burst, relatively attractive.. strings through bridge.. crappy lightweight vintage-style tuners.. gig bag (uuggghhhhhh, these things should be banned, they're a cop-out invented by cheap guitar companies).

The fingerboard with parallelograms looked like it was filed down with a rasp between the nut and first fret, but it was level when I got it used from elderly instruments. That suggests that the fingerboard was poorly finished when it left the factory and someone later had to do some surgery.

Sounded like crap. The bridge pickup was dull and lifeless, and no one makes a replacement, except I think maybe gibson put out a few "high gain" retrofits right before they pulled the plug on the series. The output wasn't the problem, it had no tone. The single coil middle was also muddy, no sparkle. Again, and odd shape, can't be replaced. I once read where henry Juskawiecz (sp?) wanted to "brighten up" the firebird pickup.. congrats henry, you ruined it. The neck pickup was way too bright and did not sound like a classic firebird pickup at all. At least you could replace that one with a Duncan, although Seymour doesn't make one with a gold plated cover. The 5-way switch and knobs was positioned great, not too far and not too close.. too bad the wiring is a joke. Where's the bridge humbucker? position four with the tone knob pulled up? Yeah, that's handy. Ten muddy combinations, several too similar to be any good.

I got it used from Elderly, which had pretty good customer service. See the above note about the fingerboard being apparently filed down. I don't know who did it.

Wouldn't know. I got so sick of the pos, I sold it within months. Some guy in Sacramento gave me .09 on the dollar, so let it be his problem.

Called Gibson for a booklet on how to navigate the wiring.. they sent it, grudgingly.

-- How long have you been playing? What other gear do you own?
27 years. I've had strats, teles, this and that. These days I play highly individualized Warmoths through a beaty '64 bassman and 212 cab.
-- Is there something you wish you had asked before buying this guitar?
Yeah.. "does it suck real bad?" That would have saved a lot of time and money.
-- If it were stolen or lost, would you buy it again or get something else?
First I would have rejoiced, then I would have gotten something else.
-- What do you love about it?
Love, nothing. Like? The finish was good. The weight was good. The goofy body shape was comfortable.
-- The What do you hate?
Everything else.
-- What is your favorite feature?
The fact that, just like me at that time in the 90's, some people would pay for any old Gibson guitar just because of the name on the headstock. But for me, no more. I'm sick of being disappointed by lifeless, soul-less Nashvile-made Gibson guitars.
-- Did you compare it to other guitars? Which ones? Why did you choose this one?
No, N/a, and "on a lark".
-- Anything you wish it had?
Listen up Henry, this may be a workable idea: Take the cool, bright snappy and noiseless pickups and electronics out of the cheap, basla wood Blueshawk.. and put them in the mahogony and maple Nighthawk (w/flame and w/parallelograms).. and sell it for under a grand with a case. Nah, not when you can sell the exact same les paul for 2-3-4-5-6 thousand dollar markups, depending on what name you screw on to the trussrod cover.

Anything else you'd like to share?
Maybe when you get old you get grumpy. I don't know, but this guitar made me say, "never again" to gibson guitars. Since the move to nashville, I've played too many that fail to stand up to any competition, such as post '87 fenders.. pre-connecticut Hamers.. even heavy metal guitars like jacksons.. But most telling of all, those Heritage guitars made in the old Kalamazoo factory play sound and feel great, and they won't drain your 401k, like overpriced Gibsons will.