NighthawkChris

@Terrence, this is pretty normal. Wouldn’t worry about it one bit. Only my 94 LP has thick enough binding to cover the maple top. My others are like yours.

I’d pass. Wasn’t one for the 70s style LPs and Trogly sort of pointed out that there are some letdowns that weren’t taken after the real 70s LPs. But to me seems like this is just a 50s Standard of today where the P90s are replaced with the mini-HBs. I’d really like the volute, the closed letter Gibson logo, bigger headstock, even a pancake body would be nice for the historical aspect of it. But again, not a fan of the 70s LPs. Oh and a maple neck... So as pointed out I believe, only thing 70s about this is the pickups.

@Texsunburst59 yeah something got changed here and the tags around the link don’t work. There’s another thread about this I believe in the Forum Feedback section that might help since this affected everyone. What I do now is use the “Other Media” button that is at the bottom of the text box we use to write comments/replies. You need to copy the link you copied before and make sure you completely remove the img tags AND have a jpg/jpeg extension at the very end. This is all I know from futs’ing around with it. Obviously it seems to work for me, haha! Anyhow just FYI.

Awesome @cody78 I commend those who work on material that enriched their skills. Joe is no walk in the park... He’s played with a lot of jazz legends too which is real cool. Well, he is one too. Carry on!

My condolences. They do become part of the family don’t they? I once read a dog’s only fault is their short life. And I’m a dog guy. Have a German Shepard and another mix of something or other. They are part of our family no doubt and we try to give them the best lives they can get.

Awesome man! Can’t go wrong with a Tele 👌

You’ve been stimulated by the government. Congrats man looks great!

Here you go @Texsunburst59 Nice guitars you got there and like that quilt top!

Well, it has arrived! Had a couple issues to resolve - tuner on back was loose and a tiny pickup bushing for middle pickup was popped out - but all is resolved. And thanks UPS, the box had a gaping hole in it. Luckily it was packed good enough where it withstood those clowns booting it around their trucks and warehouses. Setup was a**, but I expect this, haha! Truss rod was literally cranked so tight that it made the neck nearly 100% straight. Well, when you're buying a used guitar that's 26 years old, you better know a thing or two I guess. Either way, Music Zoo was super cool and partially refunded me for the troubles... Can't complain there. Overall, the truss rod works and I now have relief. Frets look great, electronics have no fukkery going on - i.e. original, untouched. So wasn't a bad endeavor. Anyhow, here's the pics after it was polished up and string change, etc. Sounds like a Hawk! Enjoy!

Whelp, out for delivery... It's a bit cool today so I guess I should let the box warm up a bit when it gets here to acclimate to the house's temp. That's what I've always been told when dealing with nitro finished guitars. I guess best to be patient because it can't hurt to wait for a little bit longer. Anyhow, thanks for all the nice - and some funny - comments! Hoping to share pics ASAP what this bad boy looks like. In the words of the Terminator, "I'll be back."

Lol @rct and @merciful-evans I think after this thread I’m considering selling my Soloist too haha! Or quietly placing it in a place considered where trash ends up haha!

Geez o petes @DK33 that’s a guitar right there!

Wow @Philsr57 those are something to behold!

So waiting for this one to arrive. It's in transit at the moment, but real excited about getting this one! 1995 Gibson Nighthawk CST3 in antique natural. These don't come up very often, and this is an extraordinarily nice looking one from what I saw in the pics. Already has the Schaller strap buttons too - bonus - and they match the gold HW! The anticipation is killing me waiting for it to arrive... Hopefully it is as good as it looks in the pictures and no issues during transit/delivery.

Welcome to the forum and the rule is that you share pictures of new gear or it didn't happen, haha! And congrats on the new guitar! Love to check it out.

Yeah G&Ls are sweet. Really all there is to it. Well made guitars and can’t go wrong getting one IMHO.

Yeah those whammy pedals aren’t the same thing IME. I have this feature on my multi-effects board - old Digitech RP7 valve. I like using actual trems time to time to do some slight detuning to give a note or two some flavor. But again, I don’t dive bomb haha! Nah just messing 😂 dive bombing isn’t bad if done tastefully. But when I think of diving I think of some dork just exhausting the hell out of this sound with mega high gain distortion like a gimmick.

Well, had a nice experience with my FR on one of my guitars. Problem is that once I use the wiggle stick, the guitar strings go sharp which indicates that it is getting caught up on something. And that something is the locking nut clamps - not some masochistic device BTW, haha! I need to replace the clamps because I can feel the strings near the tuning machines vary their tension once I use the trem. So another thing that is annoying with FR trems that happens over time. I can see grooves that have been made in these and they aren't clamping as good as they should. Another thing about these is it is important to make sure that the clamps go back with the same strings they were on if they ever get removed for string change or whatever. That's what I was taught at least. Either way, not an expensive fix necessarily, but a necessary fix if I want this trem to be able to at least be used. But I still feel that setting these things up takes more time than I'd like it to. But once it gets a good setup and same strings are used for a change, setting back up isn't as time consuming with the tools I have to do this kind of work. Another thing I wanted to add is I am pretty sure it is the clamps being the issue because well, the grooves are bad that aren't grabbing the solid core strings (G, B, and E) mostly, and once I release the clamps by unscrewing them, the guitar goes back in tune and trem balances out again... These clamps BTW are on a guitar that was made in 1997, so there's some years these have been just smashed down on the strings.

Yeah they aren’t the best but could be worse. Well, apparently it’s a thing where they are trimming the fat it seems reading here and seeing for my very own 2 eyes. I’ve bought some great stuff from them over the years so not complaining.

When you say CG, we are talking about Guitar Center I take it. But yeah mine near me - 3 of them - are pretty bare as well. They seem to be more warehousing and doing online stuff or whatever. I don’t do a lot of business with GC because well, I just don’t. Maybe some pro audio stuff or a steal in their used stuff, but they are what they are. You look at their Gibson Custom stuff a lot of these ML guitars and seems to be what they’re getting. Music Zoo, sure some other shops are getting the same MLs. Oh well, I’m a used guitar purchaser mostly as this suits me best I feel. Overall just wondering is this is the trend to hype these by releasing only these guitars for their Custom Shop selection. Pure speculation at this point on my behalf.

@SteveFord yeah it just seemed where I was looking around at a few different shops that sell Gibson Custom Shop guitars only were getting in all these relics only. Well I don’t think people are rushing to the stores to get these latest releases. Could be wrong but I don’t think so.

So all new Custom Shop guitars being sold at stores are these Murphy Lab guitars - so it seems. Reissues were expensive, now the only option for a reissue is to pay a relic premium... This is why I buy used most of the time. But seems today if you wanted a new 58 reissue, you’re gonna get one aged and spend in the area of $7500! Not in the market for one, but even an SG north of $5k... We’ve talked about the extra labor and costs etc with this, but not thrilled with the decision to only put out relics that cost more than the VOS Historics. Seems like a price hike of sorts if you’re a guy who goes for new.

@Dub-T-123, looks real good man well done! Nice thread too glad you’re sharing what you’re working on here - much appreciated.

I can’t believe y’all... you all know that owning a beat to hell guitar from iconic Gibson with flat frets with little to no life on them, bent bridge, broken tuners, and a broken case to transport it plays better than any guitar ever... what’s with you all! Remember, it’s vintage!

Haha you think the most inappropriate thing here is talking about fenders. Welcome to the forum and a lot of us love guitars of all makes. Oh to be on topic, my avatar is the Nighthawk I had a heck of a search to locate it. The nicest NH I own... for now haha!