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frequently asked questions about the BluesHawk...
 | Find out about • |
| Have Gibson made left-handed 'Hawks? - not as far as I know. |
| Is a hard case available for Hawk guitars?  |
| Is the BluesHawk a semi acoustic like a Gibson 335? |
| What does the Varitone circuit do? |
| What is a dummy coil and why does the BluesHawk have one? |
| How do the BluesHawk and NightHawk differ? |
| I think my BluesHawk has an extra sound between pickup settings - what's going on? |
| What happens when I pull the tone knob out? |
| How many basic sounds does the BluesHawk have? |
| Are the pickups P90s? - if not how do they differ? |
| Anything you can't find an answer to? - contact the blueshawk and he'll do his best to find an answer. |
| Is a hard case available for Hawk guitars? |
No - As far as I can tell there is no longer a separately available hard case for 'Hawk guitars. I have recently heard that Gibson, who used to sell cases to special order, have stopped supplying cases separately. I understand that the Little Lucille is still supplied with a hard case as standard, the Blueshawk however comes with a gig bag.
As 'Hawks are not a good fit in a Les Paul case, about the only option if you want a hard case is to use a generic rectangular case. However, these are generally made to fit Teles and Strats and so require some additional padding to accommodate a 'Hawk.
| Is the BluesHawk a semi acoustic like a Gibson 335? |
No - the BluesHawk is a semi-hollow, solid bodied guitar which has smallish cavities cut into the body. These cavities connect with the outside world via f-holes cut in the top of the guitar. The lower of these two cavities also houses the control circuitry. Gibson, in their catalogue, say the BluesHawk has "semi-acoustic touches" (quite what that means is not clear) - see sounds for what effect this has on the sound of the BluesHawk.
Semi-acoustic guitars, like the Gibson 335, are differently constructed - they have laminated top, bottom and sides, somewhat like a conventional acoustic (albeit a thin one), and they have a solid length of wood from neck to tail, on which the bridge/tailpiece and pickups are mounted. You end up with a sort of solid guitar with acoustic wings, that is both louder and more "acoustic" in tone than a solid guitar. "Jazz guitars" (Gibson's terminology, not mine) are constructed more like a conventional acoustic (usually with a cutaway), with one or more magnetic pickups mounted on/in the top - they do not have a solid block of wood inside the body, running from neck to tail.
| What does the Varitone circuit do? |
See the Varitone page for the answer.
| What is a dummy coil and why does the BluesHawk have one? |
See the pickups page for the answer.
| How do the BluesHawk and NightHawk differ? |
The BluesHawk and NightHawk share the same body & neck shape & size, however the NightHawk does not have body cavities/f-holes, nor does it have Blues 90 pickups with dummy coils and Varitone. The NightHawks came in a range of pickup options but never with Blues 90 pickups. See more about NightHawks here.
| My BluesHawk has an extra sound between pickup settings - what's going on? |
See hints page for the answer.
| What happens when I pull the tone knob out? |
The Varitone circuit is switched off and has no effect on the sound of the guitar. The idea behind this feature is to allow you to move quickly from a Varitone sound to the straight pickup sound - when soloing for example. It also allows you to move quickly from a straight pickup sound to a preset Varitone sound.
| How many basic sounds does the BluesHawk have? |
18 - that is - three pickup combinations times 6 varitone positions. Position 1 of the Varitone is the vanilla flavoured pickup sound - the same as with the tone knob out. Some people say 21, but they are assuming Varitone position 1 alters the sound of the pickups - it doesn't. If you are lucky you may get 6 additional sounds with your pickup selector halfway between the "neck" and "both" positions of the pickup selector. See above.
| Are the pickups P90s? - if not how do they differ? |
The BluesHawk and Little Lucille pickups are Blues90s - see the pickups page for a more complete explanation.