GIBSON BLUESHAWK GUITAR


The Hawk series of Gibson guitars includes a wonderful assortment of great guitars, including the Hawk, NightHawk Standard, NightHawk Special, NightHawk Custom, BluesHawk, Landmark BluesHawk, and last but not least, my personal favorite, the B.B. King “Little Lucille.” Like any family, each member of the Hawk family is a bit similar to its other relatives, but there are also some important differences as well. The guitar that I shall be discussing in this review is the Gibson BluesHawk.


It has always been a mystery to me that the BluesHawk is not a more popular guitar. I regret not having purchased a new “Little Lucille” when I had the chance a few years ago. The BluesHawk is one of the most versatile guitars ever made by the Gibson Company, and its tonal palate is simply awesome.


To those who are not familiar with a BluesHawk, the shape of the body is very similar to a Gibson Les Paul. The body of the BluesHawk is very light, and weighs in at an average weight of about 6 ½ pounds. The average weight of a Les Paul Standard is about 9 pounds. I must give approximate weights here because every guitar is made of different pieces of wood, and people who work with wood know that every piece of wood, even pieces cut from different parts of the same tree, will weigh different amounts, and thus, I can only give close approximations for weight.


The top or front of the BluesHawk is made with solid Maple, and is about ¼ inch thick, and it has a beautiful figured grain. The back and sides of the guitar are Poplar, and the neck is Mahogany with a Rosewood fingerboard. Very few guitars I can think of have this particular combination of tonewoods in this particular configuration. Maple is a relatively heavy, dense grained tonewood noted for its sharp bite on the upper frequencies, in addition to its superior sustain. Mahogany is also a relatively dense tonewood that adds bite, and accentuates the midrange frequencies of a guitar, and also adds to the sustain of the guitar. Poplar is a rather lightweight tonewood that is noted for its resoundingly rich full low end, and resonant warmth. A Rosewood fingerboard is also a wood that is noted for its warmth.


People unfamiliar with the BluesHawk often mistakenly think of it as a smaller version of a Gibson ES-345 because it has F holes and a Varitone circuit switch. However, that is where the similarity ends. The ES-345 has a laminated Maple/Poplar/Maple top, bottom, and sides, and it also has a solid Maple block of wood running down the center, to which the pickups, bridge, and tailpiece are attached. In this regard the ES-345 is similar to Les Paul’s original “Log” design, including hollow side wings. However, although the BluesHawk has F-holes, it does not have anywhere near the acoustic like resonance of a Gibson ES-345. The BluesHawk is actually a solid bodied guitar like a Les Paul, with several very small cavities cut into the body, with small F holes on the front of the body. Although these cavities obviously have some small effect of the sound of the guitar, they do not make any significant contribution to the acoustic resonant properties of the BluesHawk, but they do serve to cut down on the weight, and in this regard, they serve a similar purpose to the weight relief holes which are drilled into the bodies of almost all modern Les Paul Guitars made today.


And now on to a discussion of the incredible, and somewhat unique electronics of the Gibson BluesHawk, and believe me I do not use the word incredible lightly here. First I would like to discuss the pickups. The BluesHawk has Blues 90 Pickups. Although these look like typical P-90 Pickups, there are some significant differences between Blues 90 Pickups and P-90 Pickups.


Like a P-90 Pickup, the Blues 90 Pickup has a “soap bar” appearance and cover, and both types of pickup use Alnico V magnets. Purists please note: Some older P-90 Pickups from the 1950’s occasionally, although rarely, used Alnico II magnets when Alnico V magnets were not available at the Gibson factory. However, this was the exception, and not the rule. As most of you who are reading this review are already probably aware, Gibson P-90’s are single coil pickups, which preceded the invention of the Humbucking Pickup. Thus, P-90’s tend to be a bit noisier than Humbuckers. However, Blues 90’s have a “dummy coil” situated directly beneath the active coil of the Blues 90, and the presence of this “dummy coil” serves top cancel the hum that is typically associated with a single coil pickup. Thus in effect, the Blues 90 Pickup has much of the biting blues tonal characteristics of a P-90, but without the unwanted hum associated with a single coil pickup.


However, there are much greater and more significant differences between the a P-90 and a Blues 90 Pickup than those noted above. In an interview with J.T. Riboloff, the designer of the Hawk series of guitars (which can be read in full by accessing the archives of the Gibson website, or by going to a website devoted to the BluesHawk at www.blueshawk.info), I learned a number of important facts concerning the Blues 90 which I did not know, which I will share with you here. Gibson P-90 Pickups have a steel core, with a magnet seated below the core, and the pole pieces are adjustable screws. However, on the Blues 90, the pole pieces are actually six small magnets, and the core is a magnet itself. The result is that the Blues 90 has a brighter sound, more cutting bite, and a faster attack than the fatter sounding P-90 Pickup. As you can see, although these pickups may look very much alike, there is a big difference between P-90 Pickups and Blues 90 Pickups. In short, you can’t judge a pickup by its cover.


No discussion of the remarkable electronics of the BluesHawk would be complete without discussing the 6-position Varitone Switch. The Varitone circuit is not unique to the BluesHawk. The Varitone circuit first debuted on the Gibson ES-345 in 1959. The Varitone circuit is basically a “notch filter” with 6 available positions. Moving up the dial progressively cuts out more and more frequencies. The following are the 6 positions and related frequencies that each position creates:


Position # 1: The Varitone circuit is bypassed, and the sound is a basic unaltered Blues 90 sound, which in some respects is similar to a P-90, but with a bit more bite and a quicker attack.

Position # 2: -5dB at 1875 Hz., and it sounds sort of like some humbuckers do.

Position # 3: -6dB at 1090 Hz., and it sounds sort of like some humbuckers do.

Position # 4: -7dB at 650 Hz., again the sound is like some humbuckers sound.

Position # 5: -10dB at 350 Hz., and it sounds sort of like a Fender Stratocaster, especially in the neck pickup position.

Position # 6: -14dB at 150 Hz., and it sounds sort of like a Fender Telecaster, especially in the neck pickup position.


While we are on the subject of electronics, the BluesHawk comes with two Blues 90 pickups, as described above. There is only one Master Volume and one Master Tone control for both pickups. However, the Master Tone Control has a push/pull pot to bypass the 6-way Varitone Switch. This can be a very useful feature for the gigging musician. For example, lets say you are performing live. You can have the Varitone Selector engaged to Position 6, which will sound similar the sound of a Fender Telecaster, and it will give you a bright funky chord sound. When it is time for your solo, you can simply pull the Master Tone Control up, and that bypasses the Varitone circuit. In that position, you will have the basic unaffected sound of the guitar without the Varitone engaged, and you can take a wickedly burning solo. Then push the Master Tone Control back down, and re-engage the Varitone circuit back at Position 6, and you are instantly back to playing a chunky Telecaster rhythm sound.


For more specific details on the Blues 90 pickup, as well as details on every subtlety of the BluesHawk, the reader is encouraged to go the BluesHawk website (www.blueshawk.info) which is devoted to lovers of this guitar, and there is detailed information here on every aspect of the BluesHawk including specifics on the unique electronics, Varitone switch, and internal wiring. Additional information is available in the archives of the Gibson website. There is much more information on the BluesHawk available at these sources, and it is incredibly fascinating to read, especially if you are a guitar fanatic like me.


What type of player is best suited to a BluesHawk? The answer is just about any one. This guitar can do just about anything you could ask of a guitar. It has a very wide variety of sounds, which will allow you to play just about any type of music with it. It is light in weight, and therefore you can gig with it all night long without having to make an appointment with your Chiropractor for the next week. The weight issue is no small matter to musicians who are live performers. It is something that is especially important to people who are smaller in frame or stature, and thus it may be a guitar that is suited to younger players, and also especially to women musicians.


I want to be certain that no one reading this review thinks I am making a sarcastic slight about women musicians when I wrote this comment about the BluesHawk being a good choice for women musicians. Allow me to elaborate a bit. The BluesHawk’s light weight, contoured body, and narrow neck, with a slight “V” profile, is in many respects a guitar that is ideally suited to the smaller hands and slighter frame of the average female musician. It is a surprise to me that no one, especially female guitarists, has noticed this before.


The bottom line for me is this. The BluesHawk is a fabulous sounding guitar, that can cut just about any type of music. It is amazing to me that this guitar is not more popular among gigging musicians because of its amazing versatility and very light weight. I wish I had one.


Well, I would like to thank you all very much for taking the time to read my review of the Gibson BluesHawk. But now, I must get back to my practicing.


Recommended: Yes