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parts, extras, custom 'Hawks, other info and services
guitar parts
Highly Strung - a UK based guitar parts supplier - not particularly comprehensive and don't stock specialist 'Hawk parts (but there again who does?) - they are however very quick and reasonably priced - I've used their online ordering service several times and received stuff the next day...whoopee!
Stewart-Macdonald - the big US based guitar parts supplier - the only place I know for certain that you can get a switch that will replace the Blueshawk/Little Lucille pickup switch. The switch is not an exact replacement - it is a five position switch rather than a three position - but that offers some possibilities for personal creativity - the extra two positions could be used for each of the pickups without the dummy coil in circuit, for example. The tricky thing with the Blueshawk/Little Lucille switch is that it needs to be a four pole switch so that it can switch the dummy coil in and out of circuit as differing pickup combinations are chosen.
Also good for replacement tuners - "Grover Keystones that look exactly like the stock Gibson item. They are a direct drop-in replacement for the stock tuners, no drilling required." - reportedly these are very good with "no slip nor slack"
Big D varitone control - one of the few places around where you can get a single unit Varitone circuit - and at a reasonable price. I am not entirely convinced that the critical component vales that Big D has chosen for his version of the circuit match those used in the Blueshawk/Little Lucille, so the variation in sound produced by installing the Big D circuit may not be the same as the original.
Guitar Plans Unlimited - these chaps produce plans to help enthusiasts wiring diagrams and layouts
...all at sea with guitar wiring? - you could try GuitarNuts to find out more |  |
custom-made Blueshawk - Dave at Ridgeway Guitars has built a fabulous Blueshawk-alike - the Ridgehawk - he may be able to build you one too
hard cases - recent intelligence (20/11/2005 - thanks again Slate) suggests that you may be able to get a hard case that will fit all the 'Hawk guitars at US-based online store Musicians Friend - it is advertised as a Little Lucille case, but will fit all 'Hawk Guitars - it is stupidly expensive even with discount, but it is a real Gibson hard case. More bad news comes in the form of the delivery time - the cases are out off-stock and the average delivery time is quoted as 92 days (as of 20/11/2005) - quite what this means is difficult to tell, especially when Gibson's stated position is that the cases are not available any more -this is what Gibson said to Slate in an e-mail earlier this year when he enquired about a case for his Blueshawk -
"The Gibson gigbag is the only case available for this guitar. It will protect the guitar quite well, in fact some of my personal favorite guitars that I own are in Gibson gigbags. These gigbags can be ordered through any authorized Gibson dealer. Thank you for the inquiry."
This is a pretty unsatisfactory reply - especially the use of the words - "will protect the guitar quite well" - the point is we want to be able to protect our precious 'Hawks really well - we know you can get a gigbag, one comes as standard with a Blueshawk.
The Gibson website's BluesHawk content
check out GDPRI - the discussion forums for all things Gibson - 'Hawks seem to be discussed most in this category - Other LP's, Specials, Juniors, Melody Makers - you need to Register before you can take part
Harmony Central's user reviews of the BluesHawk
- use Google groups to look at alt.guitar, rec.music.makers.guitar and other newsgroups for info about BluesHawks.
- a friend of the BluesHawk who lives in Germany - the Bluesman - has some nice BluesHawk pictures on his site - here
- another friend of the BluesHawk - Rick at the wizardsofaz website - once again nice pics...
.....and if you haven't had enough by this point Michael Burns has produced a Buttload of Guitar links amongst which this site is honoured to be included
