Gibson Nighthawk

1994 Gibson Nighthawk, made in Nashville
22 fret, solid body with maple laminate top, with flame
This one is the 2 pu issue, vol, tone, and 5 position swith
Mini-humbucker in neck position
Mahogany neck, Rosewood fretboard, double parallelogram inlay
Bounded neck and body
Bridge style is through the body
Standard Gibson tuners

I bought this guitar with the idea of playing Bluesy Jazz and having some high room on the neck. It works great for that purpose with the right amp and settings. Currently playing it through a small Roland cube, but also a Rivera Chubster. Produces great sound. I also own a Gibson ES-175 and ES-135. I would say the tone offers a brighter pop, and is much less muddy, but can still give a really warm, unique tone. For some types of Jazz, this is great. Particularly if you are working the bluesy end of things. It fits into the tonal range of Ed Bickert, Lorne Lofsky, and others who have used solid body guitars in their Jazz work. The Nighthawk is a somewhat unusual choice perhaps, but it holds up.

Action is very fast. Frets remind me of the ES-335 I used to own. Great for bends.

The one I have is a real road warrior. It looks like it's been dinged, hit, scratched, and stepped on. It still looks great, but worn. I think these guitars are a bit like Tele's in that they can take a great deal of abuse and not suffer too badly... not that you want to do that to an instrument. This one holds up.

No idea. But one thing, if yours doesn't come with a hard shell case, they can be hard to find.

I'd say this is a great little guitar that is tremendously versatile. Although I don't rock out much, or play metal, or country, the guitar will work for those styles.

I have a Custom Nighthawk with 2 pickups (the firebird set-up) gold hardware, Fireburst finish. Stock pick ups. 2 Dials, volume and tone. 5 way tone switch. At first I ordered the 3 pick up option but it was the summer of 98 and Gibson had just stopped making these so I had to go wit hthe 2 pick up version. This is actually something I'm lot happier with now (ten years later). With the five switch selector, the tone is extremely versitle, I never would've needed the 3rd pick-up. The only feature I would add would maybe a seperate tone and volume for the second pick-up. But thats a maybe.

I love the sound of this guitar. It's a unique Gibson - capable of crunching like a Paul or relaxing like a Tele. For lead I throw the five way selector in the second to lowest notch - the distortion is unreal out of this selection. The clean tones are bright, for a tele lipstick pick-up clean tone, throw the selector in the middle option, and for a Les Paul clean, move it all the way to the top. Tones for this guitar are extremely versitle. I've never needed anything else really.

Ok, this guitar is gorgeous. Now, I can't say that for all Nighthawks because I've seen some really ugly Nighthawks. But when Gibson does them right, they look so so good. Usually when I pull it out someone will comment on it its finish.
The action is high - which is annoying sometimes. But its very adjustable. I just havent gotten around to doing it yet, the frets are a bit high even after ten years so I'm thinking of getting them filed down a bit. I would say the neck feels like a SG neck but a little more wide. The ebony fret board is awesome. The inlays are these eagle star burst looking things. Ive honestly never seen them on another Gibson. They are beautiful and unique.

Never had to bring it in. It's a rock. I've dropped it (ouch) a few times and it's still fine! It's got some dings but still looks and sounds wonderful.
It DOES go out of tune often, that aspect hasn't changed in ten years.

Gibson guys are good on the phone. But I've never called them about this guitar.

I'd give it a 9.5

Basically - If your looking for an extremely versitle guitar that is lightweight this is your match. I would do my best to get a custom job one because this really makes so much difference. The standards are pretty ugly usually and the neck just isn't as nice for playing.

Only problem is they are hard ot find these days. Especially the nice ones. Try Ebay.

1993 American made.
Single-cutaway solid body, flame maple over mahogany.
Mahogany neck with rosewood fretboard. Standard Gibson headstock.
Two humbuckers: the 500 in the bridge and a hot mini in the neck position.
Jumbo frets and nice "aged" trapezoid inlays.
Strings feed thru the fixed bridge like a tele.
5 position switch enables good variety of tones.
Single volume and tone controls are a limitation.
Neck is also unique for being scaled to 25.5 inches or Fender specs.

Bridge humbucker (position 2) is a rip-roaring monster - this is a plus and a minus. It does NOT clean up. Tapped (pos 1), it is cleaner but still very bright.
Neck mini-bucker (pos 5)is fat, warm, and almost muddy and does not clean up very well either, unless it is tapped (pos 4). With both single coils on (pos 3) it is clean but not loud.
The volume discrepancy can be used to your advantage.

Set-up and resulting playability is incredible. The folks at Gibson did a really nice job on this guitar. Perfect action, and the tall frets help bending notes while the skinny neck makes playing cowboy chords comfy.
Tuning pegs look cool, but are not very accurate - they tend to slip.

I would gig without backup - I trust this guitar. It's built like a tank.

N/A

With slightly mellower pickups, and slightly better PUs, this would be a perfect guitar.

I own two Nighhwak, one standard one custom. They both have mahogany neck and bodies and figured maple tops. CST has an ebony fretboard while ST uses rosewood. In my case ST has 3 p.u., CST 2.

With 2+3 pick up configuration I can almost achieve any type of sound I need, from clean jazz thru crunch to chrystal lead. After having discovered those hawks I gave away my Les Paul, Lone Star Strat and PRS custom.
From live to recording everything is possible

Finish is as usual with Gibsons (I actually think something could have been done better ...).
Action is a bit high but I like it that way, it seems to me strings can move air better...I don't know ...

Long lasting, I swapped strap buttons with Shaller security lock

I live in Italy .. I never had to contact the distributor thought

They are the only electric I own, I sold out all the others and I think I'll buy some more used ...

Made in USA, approx. 97 or 98, 3 Gold Pickups -- minibucker/single/slanted humbucker, Floyd Rose Tremelo, Parallelogram inlay on fretboard, Gibson inlay on headstock, outlined body, 10 pickup combinations (with coil splitting), translucent Amber finish semi-flamed, mahogany body, rosewood fretboard, locking tuners, 5 way switch, volume and tone knob: tone knob pops up for 5 more switch combinations, passive electronics, brown leather-type case with beautiful royal purple "fur" padding with satin overlay.

Sound is great, although doesn't sound exactly like a strat, or les paul or anything else. Although the sounds does come close to these. The pickups are extremely powerful. With the coil splitting and ten different switch settings, you can use for heavy metal, rock, blues, almost anything... which what I need since I can't decide which I like most. Just flip a switch to get a completely different sound.

Finish is perfect, few very minor flaws on fretboard, but everything else is perfect. Pickups great. Amber translucent top is perfect. Action was bit high for me, but was easily adjusted via allen wrench. Uses metric allen wrench for locking tuner and action adjustment -- get a small set, its a must: was trying to use non-metric at first and didn't work, but quick email to Gibson support set me straight.

This guitar is tough. Think it would withstand quite a bit. Hardware is top-notch, all gold. I believe finish would last for some time to come. Strap buttons are solid, but I changed out for gold shaller locks. I don't play live, but everyone says always have a backup ax, no matter how good of one you're playing.

Never dealt with except exchanged a few emails about adjusting locking tuners and action -- they promptly responded. Warranty is lifetime, I think. Made in good old USA. I look at some Strats (esp. Fat Strat) before buying this, but price was pretty high for what I wanted, and some weren't even made in USA.

I've been playing about 1 yr seriously, so I'm no Rock God, but I've had a 4 different guitars over past 15 years. I have a fender frontman 25R, which sounds great, but it's no tuber. Wish I checked out used prices first, but that's okay. Would I buy it again? Hmm, don't know... maybe would be an Ibanez for half this price, but it's hard to say ... I'm hung up on the 3 pickup setup, since it's versatile and sounds so great. Nighhawk has 5 strat settings, 3 les paul, one twangy/tele type sound, and one very clean setting... hard to beat all these settings with any other ax. Wish I had bought the same thing used for a little less money. Wish it had a pickguard. But overall, you can't beat this thing with a stick. I mean, real Gibson USA quality, gold hardware, 3 coil-split pickups (minibucker, single, slanted humbucker), 10 settings -- can sound similar, though not exactly same as other guitars without switching, high output from pickups, floyd rose trem., body somewhere in size between a strat and les paul, this is an incredibly versatile ax, and has been largely over-looked by Gibson fans, bands, and the general public. If you are considering a new ax, and want the best quality, most versatile one around, buy the Gibson Nighthawk model with the three pickups and floyd rose trem... you absolutely cannot go wrong with this ax.