Gibson Nighthawk Landmark

Landmark series Nighthawk. Serial 80237419: '87 ; not clear which factory. 3 way switch and Sprague BumbleBee capacitor. Small body is light the neck is a round profile and fills the hand well. Feels like a Les Paul. 1 volume and 1 tone control. 2 mini-humbuckers mounted 90 degrees to strings (not angled). I belive it's mahogany with a maple cap

Bound body and the 'Mojave Burst' finish (a reddish sunburst). Replacement tuners are Grover 'keystone' Kluson style. Bridge is a through the body type and has Strat style saddles. All hardwars is gold. Rosewood fretboard. No case.

The 'features' are simple and the Sprague capacitor adds to the vintage tone (It is not original).

This is perhaps the most versatile guitar I have found, though I have not owned a vintage Gibson LP. But the bridge alone is close enough to a good Strat or Telecaster to do the job. Very good 'cut' and very clean and quiet. This humbucker is closer to a single coil than most HBs. Both pickups are covered and no polepieces are visible.

Neck pickup has a jazzy/LP sound but not like a PAF. Very quiet and a srong sound. This is a loud guitar. Together you get a VERY good sweet/twang blend that has that springy, "boingy" quality that is hard to describe. The tone control is very effective in getting to the piercing 'twang' or rolled back to the smoother ,sweeter sound.

VERY versatile and musical pickups. I have a custom Bill Crook Tele with Voodoo bridge and Adder neck (Brad Paisley stuff) and this Nighthawk is right in the same league in terms of sound quality. This is a great guitar through a Princeton Reverb or my Traynor YVC40.

This one is set up by a pro and plays remarkably well. It feels like a well set up LP and is very comfortable to play with a strap or seated. Because this is an old guitar, it has some dings, but the top and neck are good and nothing is broken. The color scheme is mediocre and the white binding was a goofy choice. With a bit of common sense they'd have made it a blackburst with cream binding or no binding. But the guitar is well made and very comfortable to play because the body is small and it is light, but sounds very 'alive' acoustically.

It's an '87. This guitar is reliable; self evident.

no point in wondering about it!

My gear is good gear. Fralin's luthier did my 2 custom Teles, I have the Crook Custom mentioned above, a RainSong, a Larrivee L05 and have owned most of the good value guitars (Tokais, Grecos).

The Nighthawk is a guitar that looks cheesy and sounds terrific! If I have to sell all my guitars (about 15), this will among the last 3 electrics to go. It's that good. If you EVER find one with the original pickups.... GET IT. For under 700-800, it really is a fantastic value because it has all the major points you want: comfort, great tone, stays in tune, and is sonically versatile.

And if you have one to sell, tell me!

My Nighthawk Landmark is a '97 (American of course), 22 frets, 3-way selector, one volume, one tone that's a pull-pot for coil splits. The pickups are standard issue for this model, a pair of Mini Humbuckers (named so for their physical size, not their sound). Mine is a Navajo Turquoise burst, gold hardware. Standard bridge, no tremolo. Pretty much everything is stock with this except for Schaller the strap locks I stalled.

Suits my musical style just fine. The pickups are hotter than the 3-pickup custom I've been using. Well, at least the bridge position one is. Not too noisy, but plenty powerful. I had to take some of the mid range out of my amp to compensate. Bright trebles, full bottoms, good sweet tone over all. Extremely versatile. The neck position is a little too bassy. But there's ways around that. Plenty of sustain once I took it in to be worked on.

The setup & action was horrible. I had to take it to a guy. Now, I bought mine used, but if I had to guess I'd say that the original owner bought it new and never had it adjusted. There were dead spots on the neck, poorly intonated, flew out of tune, etc. New set of strinsg and $130 worth of setup work from the best guy in town and now it plays like a dream. But the paint, finish, frets, etc were beautifully manufactured at the plant. Nothing was bad that could not be fixed.

Yes, this guitar will withstand live gigging. I'm taking it with me on tours this winter and spring without much of a backup. DEFINITELY get some straplocks for these guitars because the pegs are in such a place that they are conducive to strap slippage. I've heard that Gibson cut some corners with these guitars with the nut and tuning pegs. My Nighthawk is holding up just fine, but the last one I was playing I had the nut replaced with a bone nut for about 50-60 dollars.

Never had to deal with them.

I love these guitars. The two pickup, the three pickup, the Landmark's...I love 'em all. Great sounding guitars, extremely playable, incredibly versatile, what more could you ask for?! I was cry for years if I ever lost it or if it was stolen. I love it so much if I ever get up the money again I'm going to buy another one. I probably paid too much for mine, but I've been watching them go on eBay for as much as 1300 to 1400 used (remember, they're out of production now so they'll probably increase in value). If I had to select a favorite feature it would probably be the coil tap. It really adds a whole new dimension to the guitar. The only I wish it had was a bone nut and better tuners as stock features. I love these guitars. You can't go wrong.

And YES, I CAN get uber close to that Les Paul sound. Think about it: mahogany body, a pair of hot pickups (the mini humbuckers were used on the Gibson Explorers [ala Dave Grohl] and Les Pauls for awhile). In fact, check that, I can nail that sound with the right amp. But I can get stinking close to that strat/tele sound too (the brighter, pinging attack tone). Contact me if you have any questions about these guitars. Also, check out this website: www.blueshawk.info.

I gave it a "9" for total value because NO guitar is worth a perfect "10". That's reserved for guitars that cure cancer, discovery penisuiline, and invent perpetual energy machines.

Made in 1996 in Gibson's Tennessee facilities. It sports a fixed (classic Gibson of course!) neck through the body but with a 22 fret 25.5 scale instead of the traditional 24.75; this allows the longer and lower string placement over a Fender hardtail style bridge with individual and fully adjustable saddles strung from the back of the body. 2 special alnico mini-humbuckers are controlled by a master volume, a push/pull coil tap master tone control, and a 3 way Tele type selector switch; all of this is neatly placed on the lower bout and the access panel to the controls cavity is also located on the lower bout in back, in very solid body Gibson style of course. Gibson doesn't break tradition with the woods used for this axe, the heart and soul of the sustain comes from a big, solid mahogany neck, rosewood fretboard, mahogany body and a maple top. The guitar sports the unusually beautiful (it really grows on ya!) glacier blue finish which is iridescent and softer in texture than typical metallic blue colors on guitars. For my taste this is the ultimate color match of all the Landmark hues as it totally compliments the all gold harware. Retro Kluson Gibson tuners with the greenish plastic tulips round out the hardware. A very neat white single ply binding adorns the maple cap of the body and that is pretty much it in terms of the fripperies, tasteful pearl dot inlays and side markers adorn the fretboard. Frets are the squarish and taller medium gauge, very nice feel on the radius of the wider fretboard. For sheer ingenuity, intuitive ergonomic feel, all of this and incredible looks, great price, come on! Gibson really outdid themselves with this century celebration design. Features that really work is more like it! If it had a Floyd Rose it would be an 11!

Sounds are so elusively beautiful to describe but very easy to get, very tight and warm, even on the thinner and brighter coil tap modes so I will have to disagree with the Fender comparisons. Sure, it quacks incredibly in the coil tap middle position and gets shimmery rolled up brightness in the bridge position, jaunty and yet not as jangly as a Tele but it is definitely not your standard fare single coil sound; all that mahogany, maple and alnico basically tell any alder/ash Fender body and bolt on maple neck thingy and lots of glorified laminated plastic "I can do my own thang" and it certainly does! While others reviewing their Nighthawks found some displeasure with the thinner sounding coil tap neck p/u position, I found that its middle range, open and centered tone is full of pleasure. Push down the tone control and this svelt leopard climbs up a tree, changes its spots and bounds to the ground like a fiercely striped tiger! Gibson fans, don't forget that mini humbuckers on the Les Paul Deluxe around '73 enjoyed some measure of notoriety (the good kind) and I think the inspiration to try that again stems from that design and not from the Firebird. The immense solid range the neck p/u has in first position is staggering to say the least, you get that wonderfully mid rangy solid punch in mid position with just a touch of quack, not the gaggling kind as in coil tap mode, and the bridge position produces full spectrum of pronounced bright plectury tones. Yes, I'm talking about only one guitar! If anything and if you would press me to make comparisons, I would do it reluctantly because I think the Nighthawk is that much of an indivualistic and versatile stand out. I like thicker strings and play with D'Addario .50 gauge chrome flatwounds with a .013 high E string and this guitar handles them like hand in glove. I run this lean big cat through a Crate 60w all tube combo amp and it is a perfect compliment to the guitar's wide range of musical applications, be it jazz, blues country, rockabilly and straightahead hard rock. Metal heads no doubt love the sustain; it's warmer with great mid range, bright but not the punchy whiny brightness as a Paul with standard ceramic humbucking p/u's The jazz sounds especially are a luxury because very few solid bodies can get that almost woody tone of a hollow body as the Landmark Nighthawk can and not fall short on depth because of the woods used in most. Gibson body design here was a bold break through and the chief designer of the Nighthawk knew quite a bit on a conceptual level that widening and flattening the lower bouts (the result here is a decpetively small looking body with a long neck), a flat uniform top and some sound chamber cavities here and there under the maple cap, and having the solid upper bout remain clean with no routing in it for a toggle control would produce a very lively yet even sustain with crisp dynamic intensities, very responsive to string attack. The deep florentine cutaway gives way to an exquisite neck body joining and the strat style sculpting of the upper mid bout area in the back harkens back to when the Les Paul lites were the rage in the late 80's. The long mahogany neck rings with beautiful sustain through out too and it is definitely not the slim line profile LP neck (thank goodness).

Set up was as expected, slacked truss rod for neck bow, light strings for high action in the mid range of the neck and the p/u's were set high. Everything was reset to optimize what I liked, something I enjoy doing and Gibson quality really comes to the fore with a proper set up.
Finish was superb save for the less than perfect fretboard finish, c'est la vie...

Solid Gibson quality and as with all of their tilted back headstocks, the greatest concern is its snapping there if it falls. If you get the guitar in new condition, it is fairly easy to maintain its beautiful finish, hardware and all, very durable. A great OHSC goes a long way to insure this too.

I haven't dealt with Gibson concerning the guitar yet and in the years to come, I hope the company continues to flourish and provide great customer support when I need it. Gibson Gold warranty means just that.

Great guitar to play and own and a perfect compliment to my other electric, a hollow body jazzer Yamaha AEX 1500, the 2 axes cover a lot of territory straight through a great amp with minimal effects. I would definitely have to replace it if something terrible would happen to it and I certainly hope that it never comes to that.

Usa made, 22 frets, volume pot tone pot, 3-way switch, 2 mini humbuckers, my finish is the navajo turquise which kicks ass, shaped like a small les paul, u probably know the rest. inc hard case. also coil tap on both pickups!!!

Fuckin awesome guitar, im only 13 ive had it for 3 years and its a beaut, id never sell it. I play rock/metall like metallica, creed, pantera, dream theatre, shit like that. It handles it all, also great for blues, and good for gettin a steve lukather sound my favourite guitar player!!!! People say it sounds halve way between a strat and a les paul, not to my ears, just sounds like a weaker les paul, but with alot of character and is still powerful. I might do some modifications and see if i can cram 2 emg 81, 89's in there. May not be possible :(, but i don't really need to these pickups are good, i just like to be different!!! Seriously a great guitar for any styles, apart from thrash, death metal!!!! oh playin it through a mesa rectoverb and loads o pedals!!!

had to ajust the action slighty, everything else was floorless.

i have giged with it everywhere without a backup (my other guitars are shit!) i had to change the strap buttons to clip-locks though :(

awesome, nothing is worth a ten though!!!!!

This is one of my wife's guitars. She bought it a few weeks ago.
It took some time to figure out Gibsons instructions on interpreting the serial number but if I understand them right this guitar was build in 1996 and Gibson stopped the production of this model in 1999. Its A solid body guitar in three tone sunburst (Mohave). Body and neck are mahogany (body with maple top), fretboard is made of rosewood with dot inlays. The headstock is standard Gibson tulipshape provided with Gibson de luxe Klusontuners. The bridge looks like a Fender bridge with seperate saddles. It's string thru body style. It has 2 minihumbuckers (same as Gibson's Firebird). It's featured with 2 controls, volume and a push/pull tonecontrol (coiltab). It has a three-way-selector. The hardware is in gold. My wife had the strapknobs changed in Schaller straplocks of course in gold.
It looks really nice and doesn't has the weight of a Les Paul. Though it's second hand it looks brand new.

Not amplified it already has a good tone and amplified with my Fender Siverface Twin Reverb it sound's real warm and still bright. With pulled coiltab it sounds a little Fenderlike. This guitar is used by my wife as rhythm guitar in our band and we play rock & Roll, blues, country, country rock. I really appreciate (as leadguitarist) the warm strumming sound of this guitar. My wife used to play on a Cort MGM, also a good guitar but I prefer the sound of this Nighthawk.I tested it for a while and found pretty much diffent sounds in this instrument. The three-way-selector and coiltab gives enough variance in tone. Looking at our music this instrument fits in perfectly.

The set-up is good though I don't know if this is the factory set-up, because it was bought second hand. It's a guitar without any exotic features but build with care and craftmansship.
Furthermore I don't have any remarks on this guitar.

Though it looks a little fragile I think it will survive our gigs (4-6 per year)and rehearsals. We also give a lot of attention to the maintainance of our guitars. The hardware has proven on other Gibson models to be very durable so I think that's not a concern to us.
The finish looks good but only time will tell if it's stays in place.
As I told earlier the strap buttons were changed into Schaller straplocks (the button on the top shoulder of the guitar stands in an odd angle). Can't really tell if we can depend on it. My wife just bought it couple of weeks ago.
Though we always play with a backup I think with this guitar my wife can do without it.

Never dealt with Gibson and hope I won't have to.

At our home we have several pieces of equipment, guitars(Music Man Silhouette, Cort MGM, Ibanez Strat, EKO semiacustic, Squier Bullit, Morris dreadnaught, Ibanez dreadnaught), amps (Fender, Trace Elliot, Peavey)etc.
If it was stolen or lost I'm pretty sure my wife would buy another Gibson Nighthawk if she can find one. Me and also my wife love the tone of this guitar it's bit between Gibson and Fender really nice.
My wife is a Gibson fan and always loved the fatter Gibson sound guitars. When the opportunity was there to buy this reletively cheap guitar she didn,t hesitate.We've compared it with a lot of guitars (Fender Telecaster, Blade Telecaster, Cort MGM,) but it fitted in best. Though I'm more attracted to Stratlike guitars I must admit that this Nighthawk has the best of two worlds.

I don't know all the years the Landmark model was made, but they are discontinued now. Mine was made in Dec. '96, so I guess it is a '97 model. The body and neck are solid mohogany with a rosewood fretboard and a (lightly) flamed maple top. There is single ply binding on the body only, and mine came in a Sequoia Red burst (red-black) finish. Hardware is gold plated. The bridge is a string through body non-tremolo piece. Pickups are two Gibson mini humbuckers and the controls consist of volume, three-way pickup selector switch and a push-pull tone control and coil tap. Tuners are the rather old-fashioned Gibson Deluxe Klusons. It has a 25.5" scale, 22 frets of she size and shape typical for Gibsons, and dot markers. For those unfamiliar with the Nighthawk, it has somewhat stylized Les Paul shape, but it is much thinner and lighter. I give the features a high rating because they are what I like and they are good for the price.

The sound was a wonderfully pleasant surprize for me. I like guitar intensive rock ranging from CCR to Ozzy, and this guitar does well in all categories. It is particularly strong in recreating vintage Fender sounds. With the coil taps on, the sound is quite tele-like, perhaps somewhat warmer. Of course, the sound gets bigger and boomier in the humbucking mode, but it still has a little Fender quality. In general, first rate country and blues sounds are especially easy to come by. Before I got this guitar, I thought coil taps were pretty much useless, but this guitar makes them wonderfully usable. I think the difference is the 25.5" scale. The other guitars with coil taps I have owned have had the 24.75" scale.

The factory intonation setup was off, but the nut setup was good, and the frets were reasonably well dressed and well seated. There is no undue buzzing and no dead spots with my fairly low action. Under close inspection a few sanding marks are visible on the body and fingerboard, but overall it has an admirable high quality look.

Shortly after bringing this guitar home, the bridge pickup went out, so I had to take it in for warranty repair. The front strap button is at an angle because of the curve in the body at that point and consequently it would pop right out of the strap hole all by itself. I quickly replaced them with pricey gold plated Schaller strap locks. Really, though, I don't see any reason not to trust this guitar in the future.

As above, I have dealt with Gibson's service and they did very well. The repairman and Gibson had the problem diagnosed, a new pickup delivered and the guitar put back together in seven working days. I consider this to be very good for the 2-3 week period before Christmas. The repairman was quick to reassure me, before he knew what the problem was, that Gibson was unsurpassed in providing excellent service to their customers. Gibson's lifetime warranty is about as good as it gets.

I bought this guitar basically on a whim after a seven year hiatus from the guitar. Prior to this I had been playing about six years and had owned a dozen or so mostly high quality quitars including another Gibson. This guitar is the best sounding one I have ever owned and it really has inspired me to take the guitar very seriously again. If something happened to it, I would seek out another Nighthawk, although it might not be easy to find this rather obscure model. I got mine at a blowout price of some 54% off retail, but it would still be a good bargain at the $900 or so street price that most people probably paid. I came very close to plopping down $1500 for a Les Paul Standard the day I went shopping, but this guitar caught my eye and I'm glad I gave it a chance. This guitar is wonderful sounding and playing, classy looking, and reasonably priced. I haven't given any 10s, because it is over used and nothing is perfect. And I can't give it a 10 overall with the problems I had, but I might be tempted if I had not had them.