Good Replacements for Epiphone Nighthawk?

[Shilo]

So after a long time of searching I have decided to purchase an Epiphone Nighthawk Custom Reissue. Through all of the research I've done it's been suggested to replace the volume pots, tone switch, and pickups. I know that Seymour Duncan has released a pickup for this guitar but thats just the bridge pickups. Any other good replacements? And for the 5-way switch and the volume pots, any suggestions? I would like to upgrade my guitar but not sure with what to do so.

[charlie brown]

So after a long time of searching I have decided to purchase an Epiphone Nighthawk Custom Reissue. Through all of the research I've done it's been suggested to replace the volume pots, tone switch, and pickups. I know that Seymour Duncan has released a pickup for this guitar but thats just the bridge pickups. Any other good replacements? And for the 5-way switch and the volume pots, any suggestions? I would like to upgrade my guitar but not sure with what to do so.

 

Have you bought it, yet...or even played one? The other guitarist in my band, has one,

(for the last 2 years) hasn't changed anything, but the strings, and LOVES it! It sounds

awesome, "as is!" He also uses a vintage '68 Gibson Les Paul Custom, but the Nighthawk

now gets most of the action! He uses a Vox AC-30C1, as well. Great combination.

 

I would say, IF you buy one, PLAY it, for awhile, before you decide to change anything.

Granted, you may find...for your purposes, you'll need to do those mods. But, I'd certainly

give it a fair turn, first!

 

CB

[BaZie]

I agree with charlie brown. You can find a shop where you can play the guitar with your own amp and effects and check it it suits your taste and style. It may happen that you buy the guitar but you are not quite satisfied with the sound. If you suspect that you could improve it with pickup replacement, you can try. Replacing pots, wires and switches IMO is necessary only when they don't work properly.

As regards Nighthawk pickups. Seymour Duncan makes "slant" humbucker for bridge position in two versions, AFAIR SH-1 ('59) with vintage tone and low output and SH-4 (JB) with high output and more aggressive tone. The price is the same. Probably SH-1 gives less output than stock Epi pickup.

For neck position, you can try any mini-humbucker you find as long as the dimensions are compatible and the pickup has 4 wires (if you want to keep all pickup switching capabilities). Seymour makes three mini-humbuckers but this is NOT the only one brand that makes them. You could try cheaper manufacturers, like Entwistle (cheap but with many good opinions), Tesla etc. Some Tesla pickups are known as sounding similarly to Seymour Duncan so maybe that's worth considering.

IMO the most problem you'll find with middle single coil, because its mounting is a little unusual and it may be difficult to find a direct replacement (Seymour Duncan himself admits he can make such a pickup through a Custom Shop).

 

I have had a Nighthawk for few months and I must say it's a nice guitar. The neck PU gives a very deep but strong sound, the bridge is also strong and good to play hard rock or even metal. They sound different from Alnico Classic or Alnico Classic Pro pickups that we know from LP or similar guitars. I lack some bite, but it can be compensated with adding some treble using guitar tone pot. It that it's similar to few other guitars with H-S-H configuration and coil splitting I've known.

 

I am still very impressed with Nighthawk sustain. It seems the sound lasts forever...

[brad1]

You know, there a lot of people who replace pups. But if you are going to replace them, it seems to me you should do it because you don't like the sound emanating from them, not because your research has discovered that many people have replaced them.

You don't mention how long you've played or what experience you have with upgrading, so we are only guessing when it comes to your knowledge and expertise in the matter.

 

I'm with CB and BaZie.

[Oldhippie]

I agree with brad and the others.

I opened this question as a topic here in the forum.

Why should I buy guitar that sounds like I want it to sound ...and change everything than?

Question ?? If this guitar would come with Seymour Duncans out of stock, would you change it to something else than?

But if you buy a guitar to work on it as a hobby, that´s another question........

But for me, I buy a guitar because I liked the sound while testing it in a shop. All of my guitars have the stock pups.

[daveg]

I'm a recent Nighthawk owner and I am still exploring the available CLEAN sounds.

 

I have dug out an old TC Electronic Dual Band Parametric Equaliser and found that adding a little treble to the NH Clean sounds really helps.

 

I'm enjoying my Nighthawk!!

 

DG

[Bluemans335]

I've replaced the PU's on all my Epi's (and I have a bunch of them) except for recent models that have the new upgraded PU's. I recommend playing it stock and see what you think. You may like it as is, or just want to swap out one PU.

 

If you replace PU(s), look for used ones on eBay, they usually are half the original cost. Also, if you get 4-wire leads on them, instead of single, you can do some interesting wiring in the future.

[Shilo]

Thanks for the good responses. I do love the sound of the stock pups, I'm just worried as to how long they will last. The Seymour Duncan's are the same and previde the same tone, but are just better. However I am lost as to if: the pots and tone switch are to malfunction or lose some capabilities I'd like to know what to replace it with. I love the tone, and the tone keeps with the new pups ( I've tried stock and after market) I just want to know some reliable hardware.

[Bluemans335]

I do love the sound of the stock pups, I'm just worried as to how long they will last.

 

PU's don't wear out, or break. There's no moving parts in them. They'll last longer than you will.

 

Nice guitar on your avatar BTW. Few guitars are as beautiful as an alpine white SG Custom with a maestro. Is that an Epi or Gibson? I've got one of the Epi's they put out in the mid 2000's.

[BaZie]

PU's don't wear out, or break. There's no moving parts in them. They'll last longer than you will.

 

The magnet may demagnetize with time, especially if placed near strong magnetic field or after mechanic shock.

[hawkfanatic]

The switch is a cheap one and will likely not last a long time. Pots are ok, but also cheap. I replaced mine with an american strat 5 way and CTS pots asap as i always do witch cheaper imports. No reason not to since it's cheap to do. As for pickups, you can replace the bridge with almost any humbucker if you remove it from it's baseplate and bolt the coils and spacers onto the stock pickup's baseplate. I've used several so far including a dimarzio super distortion. Humbuckers almost all have standardized hole spacing for the 4 screws that mount the coils to the plate, and the stock pickup's spacing is the same as non slanted humbuckers. So most will work. This is assuming you are good with doing things like this. It's pretty easy, but for all i know you could be mechanically/electronically handicapped. The stock bridge pickup is actually not bad, but it lacks defination a bit with distortion. The neck pickup sounds great for solos, but if you use distortion and are the type of player that rolls back your volume knob to clean up, trash that thing because it's way too hot for that. If you want any kind of decent NON muddy rhythm sound replace it with a much lower output mini. I have no idea what they were thinking when they put such a hot pickup in the neck. Even split it's too hot for that. I used a dimarzio thats about 1/2 the output but there are many others available. The middle is ok as is IMO, but if you ever decide you want to replace it, the only one i know of that makes that oddly mounted pickup is benson customs.

 

Do as others said and see how you feel in time b4 replacing pickups. But it's a great solid guitar and it makes no sense to leave those cheap pots and switch in it so i'd replace those asap, and the jack too. They should last many many reliable years, but the stock ones will not. I havn't seen many import 5 way switches that lasts more than a year or 3.

[BaZie]

[...]I have no idea what they were thinking when they put such a hot pickup in the neck. Even split it's too hot for that.

 

I measured DCR in Nighthawk PU's. Probably neck and bridge are so hot to make their DCR comparable to the middle one when split. The DCR in my guitar are:

Neck 14.15 / split 7.04

Middle 7.56

Bridge 16.05 / split 7.96

[hawkfanatic]

Yes, but as i said even split it's too hot. I could get a very clean tone when rolled off with my middle pickup alone. But the mini split was muddy when i try that. Resistance doesn't tell the whole story.

[BaZie]

Yes, but as i said even split it's too hot. I could get a very clean tone when rolled off with my middle pickup alone. But the mini split was muddy when i try that. Resistance doesn't tell the whole story.

 

I think it's muddy, too. But I can get interesting sound out of it when using overdrive. It's nice warm for playing solos. For clean tones, Alnico Classics are far better.

[hawkfanatic]

Oh, I agree 110% on the solo tone. It's absolutely fantastic for that. I just have no use for it for anything else what so ever. And i love neck position tone for rhythm and jangly riffing and such. I think most people do to some extent. So it's just way too one sided. I use the neck for things other than distorted solos 90% of the time.

[BaZie]

I have changed neck mini humbucker to Entwistle HV-M. AFAIK, it has Alnico 5 magnet and about 8 kOhm DCR (stock probably has Alnico 2 and about 14 kOhm DCR). This Entwistle is brighter, and not as fat as the stock one. But the resulting power is similar unless you switch to single coil mode which seems a bit too weak. But HV-M is one of the cheapest mini humbuckers on the market (about 25 GBP). I think it's worth trying it.

[Shilo]

Thanks for all your great feedback. I actually ended up with a gretsch electromatic pro jet. A limited edition custom version with a bigsby. It floats my boat pretty darn well... (I think it sounds frickin' amazing!!!) But thanks for your help

[Cougar]

It floats my boat pretty darn well...

 

So its weight doesn't sink the boat? Glad you're diggin' it. Heck of a guitar.

[BaZie]

I consider changing middle pickup in Epi Nighthawk. It's not as easy as bridge or neck, because the cavity is not drilled like for standard Stratocaster single coil. I think it would be possible to mount the pickup using Epi's screws and screw holes, but there's not enough room for the place where coil wire is soldered to cable. I wouldn't dare cut this piece of plastic off.

However, I think it could be possible to replace the stock single coil with a lipstick-type one. I think the only requirement is that the lipstick fits in the pickup cavity, as the baseplate can be replaced with something that fits Nighthawk perfectly. Has anyone tried this? Are there any lipstick-type single coils you could recommend for Nighthawk?

Thanks in advance for any suggestions.

[mighty4th]

I agree with Charlie Brown too. Why are you considering a guitar you think you need to rip out the guts from? I have played the Nighthawk for a year and a half totally stock and have no concerns with it. If I didn't like the electronics I would not have got it in the first place. Keep shopping around and find an axe that really suits you,