There are two very common modifications that 'Hawkists carry out - replacing the strap buttons with strap-lock types - Schaller ones seem to be a good choice - the blueshawk and many other 'Hawkists have done this... replacing the stock tuners - the tuners of choice seem to be Kluson gold-plated tulip buttoned ones - see here for a picture - but it really isn't worth doing this unless the stock tuners are misbehaving. If you have trouble with the tuning on your 'Hawk suspect the nut - try lubricating it with a little powder pencil lead (graphite)... STOP PRESS - these ones look even better, as suggested by Hawk J - "Grover Keystones that look exactly like the stock Gibson item. They are a direct drop-in replacement for the stock tuners, no drilling required. They work much better, no slip or slack. These tuners are available for $44.26 plus shipping from Stewart MacDonald 800/848-2273 or on the web at" - www.stewmac.com/shop/Tuners/Guitar,_solid_peghead/Grover_Keystone-knob_Tuners.html. Thanks Hawk - UPDATE- I have heard from another correspondent that these tuners did not drop into his Hawk - but that he had to a bit of drilling - Jon suggests these tuners are a better choice as they require no drilling - http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Tuners/Guitar,_solid_peghead/Gotoh_Vintage_Keystone-style_Tuners.html ...and more on tuners from Sam - "Hi! Just wanted to share this '97 Blueshawk upgrade picture. My wife (the BluesHawk is her baby) wanted some new - fancier - tuners, and she was also having some difficulties with a couple of the old stock Gibson Deluxe tuners. Last week she brought home a set of Grover Imperials (along with a set of fancy pearloid buttons to replace the gold ones). Really nice I thought, but also - really BIG. I had my doubts that they would fit. Well, to keep this short - I had to drill out the holes a tiny bit to get the bushings to fit - filled the old screw holes (they were bit to narrow for these large Grover's) - drilled tiny pilot holes for the new screws - and behold - a miracle. They fit perfectly after the slight modifications. If the headstock had been a 1/4 inch shorter - these Grover Imperials would not have fit. She is very pleased with look, and says the tuners are a great improvement over the old ones. Thanks, Sam" - see the new tuners here

Have you got a BluesHawk tone you don't know about - On some BluesHawks there is an additional sound available with the pickup selector between the neck and combined positions. In this position the pickups are combined but the treble bleed network is out of circuit - giving a more mellow "Gibson-like" sound. There is no equivalent sound available between the combined and bridge position. This is not the same effect as can be achieved with old Strat three-position pickup selectors - where the sounds produced were due to differing, additional pickup combinations...
...if your BluesHawk does not give an extra sound in this intermediate position - you could use the push/pull switch on the tone pot to switch the treble bleed network in and out of circuit. However you will have to give up the ability to bypass the Varitone, and remember the new effect will only work when both pickups are selected (middle position of the p/u selector).
can you see unpainted/bright spots through the f-holes? - the blueshawk used a black permanent marker/felt tip pen to cover over places where black paint had not covered properly. If you can see wires through the lower f-hole, remove the control cavity cover and use a plastic cable tie to bundle all the wires together and pull them out of view - but take care not to detach anything or cause any short-circuits.

Working out where the Varitone is set

Because the Varitone knob has no position markers or references it is often difficult to reset the control to a new specific setting - particularly mid-song, on-stage. the blueshawk experimented with setting the knob in several different positions and found the best to be where the index line on the chicken-head knob points at the rear retaining screw-head of the pickup selector switch when the Varitone is on it's fifth setting. Give it a try and see what you think - here's how to set it up -

set the Varitone to position 5 - the last but one turning clockwise -  the one where your BluesHawk probably sounds most like a Strat loosen the knob retaining screw until the knob moves freely on the switch spindle point the knob at the rear screw-head on the pickup selector tighten the knob retaining screw

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