Washburn Hawk Wing Series

1978 Washburn Hawk Wing Series Guitar
Tobacco Burst finish over 3 piece maple/rosewood/maple neck with Ash "wings" on double cutaway body.
Carved arch top
Rosewood fingerboard, jumbo frets, MOP dot markers
Brass nut
String-thru body
2 Humbuckers (switched to Chrome LP style)
3 way toggle
Grover tuners (aftermarket)
2 3-way Coil tap switches (after market)

I play everything from blues to Death Metal and this tone monster can play them all! It's awesome for classic rock, AC/DC type stuff. The bridge pickup on this thing is super meaty. Awesome for raunchy rock and roll and thunders through my HK 60DFX. I would love to hear it through a Marshall stack! The neck pickup delivers a sweet jazzy tone that can make you weep. The tone and harmonics from this guitar are just fantastic. Nothing beats good wood!

My pickups aren't stock and have coil taps so I have a different range of sound than the guitar originally came with. It isn't a sound for everyone but man it's perfect for me!

It's 30 years old and plays great for any age. Love the LP neck and the jumbo frets. The figuring on the ash wings is beautiful and it has a great feel to it. The finish is chipped or peeled in some areas.

Again, 30 years old and I got it in a pawnshop so I guess it's taken the worst it's gonna get.

I called Washburn about this guitar to find out what model it was (the guitar has no markings other than a serial number). They were very helpful and emailed me scans from an old 70's catalog. That's how I was able to identify it as a 1978 Hawk.

I was impressed they took the time considering I bought a used instrument.

I have been playing bass in bands for 23 years and guitar for the last 2. I have a Warmoth custom strat and a Jackson. I haven't played guitar for very long but I know a well constructed instrument when I hold one and man, this thing is a TANK! If there was one thing I could change it would be the coil tap switches. Pullpots could have done the job without drilling into the finish and have a cleaner look.

When I saw this guitar hanging in the Pawn Shop I thought; "That's a pretty guitar, if I can get it cheap I'll make a few bucks off it on ebay." After I restrung it and jammed with it a bit I knew it was going to stay mine.

I have always wanted a Les Paul and now I don't need one.

Washburn Hawk, trans black finish with off-white body and neck binding.
Body is curved top Les Paul style but with a unique double cut-away design which looks superb. solid brass nut and string saddles set on top of a hefty chrome bridge with string thru body design. Neck is a 3 piece, through body type. Pick-ups are original Washburn uncovered twin humbuckers. Rosewood fingerboard with mother-of-pearl dots and 22 jumbo frets. Standard 3 way p/u selector and 4 black speed knobs for volume and tone.

This is a raunchy rock guitar with sustain in abundance (see spinal tap :o), but would suit other styles too. It's quite possible that the pick-ups could be changed to suit individual preferences, but since they already sound good and the off-white finish matches the rest of the guitar I've never bothered. Lovely lead from the bridge pup and smoother tone from the neck as expected. The sound of this guitar is really heavy/meaty, great rock riffing with absolutely tons of resonance and sustain. Nice !

No flaws, Guitar was fully playable in the shop, but I had it properly set-up by a pro, who rubbed down the frets and cut-down some of the chunky brass string saddles to get the action really low and then adjusted the intonation. The slim Gibson length neck is now a thing of beauty to play.

Solid and bomb proof, this guitar is well-made made from quality components and will last forever in the hands of anyone except perhaps a certain Mr. Townshend !
The tuners are Washburn branded, but solid as a rock.

Never needed warrant support but recently asked for more information from Washburn regarding this guitar and they sent me good info, including photocopies of original brochures and advertising from 1979 ! That's great service :o)

The guitar was suggested to me by a friend at a London music shop, who has gone on to great things as a rock guitar maestro of some note. He had been recommending this guitar to all his friends and I managed to get one of the last ones just as they were discontinued (his shop bought all the remaining stock they could get).
He reckoned that with a proper set-up (which I had done) that this guitar was as good as anything in the market at any price (which it was and still is). Do you think I like this guitar ? ;o)
I've since been equally impressed with my Washburn bass.
With the name 'Gibson' on the headstock, these instruments would fetch 3 or 4 times the price, so as a brand they get my vote.

Purchased new in the 80's Jap amde neck thru body construction, double cutaway carved top, a couple of Dimarzio humbuckers, sealed tuning machines, chromed brass bridge. Pretty much a Les Paul copy with good style.

This was my second guitar and I liked how it looked and the solid construction. It had great sustain, better as a lead guitar than rhythm.

It was well set-up by the shop that sold it to me. I do recall having trouble breaking strings that was a bit annoying. Over time the varnish did separate from the body (like 1/4") in a couple of places.

I never needed a backup. It was a solid guitar

It had a life time warranty to the original purchaser if I recall correctly. Never had a problem with any of it that would have caused me to call the manufacturer.

I've been playing for 30 years. I own a dozen Tweed and Blackface Fenders, Mesa Boogie Studio 22s, Gibson GA19RVT, An Allen Accomplice the I built, and a Gibson GA-5 Skylark. A couple of PRS, Les Paul, Fender Sub-Sonic, MusicMan Silhouette, Rick 370/12, and a couple of Strats and a couple of Teles. For the money this is a great guitar. If I still had it, I'd swap out the Dimarzios for a couple of Lindy Fralins and I think it would be a better guitar than most Les Pauls. I did play a triple humbucker Black Beauty Les Paul that had an awesome neck once, but I didn't have the money to buy that guitar back then.

Made in 1980 in Japan, solid ash body & solid ash arch top. It has a 3 piece neck which goes straight through the body with bound edges, rosewood fretboard, medium sized nickel silver frets and a brass nut. It has a wood truss rod cover as seen on only the earliest ones. 2 x Washburn Power Sustain Humbuckers, 2 x Tone pots & 2 x Volume pots, 3 way toggle selector. It has a harmonic bridge, brass saddles and string thru body arrangement. Deluxe machine heads and all chrome plated. Would have give it a 10 if it had split coil like the Falcon & Eagle of the Wing Series..............

I play rock/metal & blues from the 60's to present and it's capable of the lot. Not having split coil for the humbuckers it doesn't really get that twangy Strat/Tele sound but close enough. I currently am using it with a Marshall MG30DFX at home only, no need for anything more, a Boss DS-1, Boss CE-2 Chorus, Boss Metal Zone, Boss Blues Driver, but I luckily have the space to crank it right up also. It sounds fantastic, no other way of describing it really. Played for 22 years and haven't enjoyed playing any other guitar more than this. There's nothing I dislike about it, sometimes wish it had a trem! But there's no way on earth I'm risking it getting messed up having one fitted. The sustain this guitar gives is something else, the neck is a pleasure to play & fast. I still can't understand why folk pay stupid money for Les Pauls other than looks. I have two freinds with Les Pauls, both suitably impressed with my Hawk and one now owns two of the Wing Series guitars and prefers them.Yep, the LP sounds and plays great but no way on earth are they any better a guitar than the Hawk. I truly think the Japs made an equivalent if not a better guitar here and for a fraction of the cost.....if you can find one that is!

You can get the action as low as you like. It's pretty straight forward to adjust like most guitars, every adjustment I've ever made the intonation I've been able to get spot on afterwards. The woods used are of the highest quality, the finish is lovely all over. The machining/routing for the electronics is as good as any other. The rear of the body where the neck goes through the body as a large recess so you can easily reach any note you desire. The electronics are all original have recently been cleaned and service and are deadly quite, not bad for 25 years old! Brass nut & saddles....lovely.

Gigged hard for 12 years, stored for 10 years, played again for 3 years and still performs like new. Brass tarnishes but is easily polished. It's completely solid, it'll be around a lot longer than I will. Never needed a back up even though I have other guitars.

Never had to deal with them, I'm sure they'd give excellent service or they wouldn't be as huge as they are today..........

Been playing 22 years. Apart from my Hawk I have a Washburn Eagle and a Jap Strat. It won't get stolen, but if anyone tried they'd better run fast.......I compared it a Les Paul Std, a The Paul and a Yamaha SG. If you've never played, heard or seen one of the "Thru neck Wing Series guitars from Washburn" please do before paying out enormous amounts of hard earned cash on a guitar just because Jimmy & Slash look cool with one. The money you'll save will buy you a good stack...no b@llsh!t....!!!! Your choice!