mikelamusic Posted May 12, 2010 Share Posted May 12, 2010 Hey all! Brand new here. I've been very fortunate to pick up 2 new guitars this month for almost nothing! I picked up a Blueshawk, and a Wildkat is on it's way. Until now I have never owned (or even really played) a Gibson/Epi, and have been starting to do a lot of research. I have never played or even seen a Wildkat in person, I've just been so hooked on it based off of everything I've seen and read online that I couldn't resist. Traded in some old useless gear and ordered it through GC for about $250. Anyway, my question is are these two going to be somewhat similar animals? Bigsby aside, both semi hollows that lean heavily on the "semi" side, Blues 90's in the Hawk, P-90's in the Kat. The Kat is obviously a bit bigger and has less tonal options since the Hawk has the varitone switch. I've seen some of you describe the Kat as a warmer Tele, which is kind of what I consider the Hawk (and then some). Again, I only ask this given that I'm buying the Kat blind. I've been playing the BHawk for the last month and love everything but the color! I'm super excited to add the Kat to my small collection. I've been watching the same YouTube videos on the Kat for a month and am dying to play this thing! Thoughts? Mods for either? Already getting a roller bridge for the Kat and Sperzels for both. Thanks guys! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted May 12, 2010 Share Posted May 12, 2010 Hi and welcome here. I wanna see that blueshawk' date=' pleeeeeeeeaaaaase! Peter A big +1 welcome and pictures please..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ricochet Posted May 12, 2010 Share Posted May 12, 2010 I've never played a Blueshawk so won't offer my opinion there. I do love my Wildkat. It had some weak points which needed immidiate attention. The acute angle from the second bigsby-roller to the bridge makes it hard to use the Bigsby and stay in tune. Fitting a roller bridge would be a good solution for this, alltho I'm not big on them myself(tonesuck). I fitted an alu Compton bridge, lasercut from one piece of alu, to stunning effect. Twice the sparkle and sustain. Ultimately I exchanged the B70 with a B3 without roller bar. No more tuningissues alltho it did change the tonal indentity of the guitar. Sperzels or similar lockingtuners are a recommended. The P90s are pretty "high-output" (between 11-12KO) with metal covers. First time plugging in my amp with the standard "crunch LP" setting, I was in squeel pig city. Replacing the chrome covers with plastic ones will yield some improvement, but I also think the PU could do with an upgrade. Very thin and honky on any amount of gain. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
antwhi2001 Posted May 12, 2010 Share Posted May 12, 2010 Hi, I have an Alleykat, and used to own a Blueshawk. They feel very different; I think the Blueshawk has Fender scale neck, and slimmer neck profile. The Wildkat will be bigger all round...thicker neck, bigger deeper body. The Kats' P90s will be slightly higher output than the Blues 90s on the Blueshawk, which are a unique version of P90 (thinner sound, good for old school Chicago blues, but a bit weak by modern standards). Ergonomically, you'll probably like one more than the other. As far as sound goes, the range you can get from a Blueshawk with Varitone is incredible, but the problem I found was that to get the best from it you also had to tweak your amp a bit for each sound. The sounds I was happy to switch between on a gig, where I didn't want to be messing with the amp between songs, were few....so I sold it. I considered ditching the Varitone and installing standard P90s, but it seemed a shame to mess with a discontinued Gibson, so I left it stock and sold it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrw1960 Posted May 12, 2010 Share Posted May 12, 2010 Welcome Friend! Wanna see the BH pic also! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
antwhi2001 Posted May 12, 2010 Share Posted May 12, 2010 My Hawk.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ricochet Posted May 12, 2010 Share Posted May 12, 2010 Was there an Epi-version of the Hawks ? Tho Body seems to be smaller than a LesPaul Yes' date=' see: http://www.blueshawk.info/intro.htm Here's an outline of a LP in red. I roughed in the blueshawk, you get the idea . [img']http://www.gretsch-talk.com/forum/members/ricochet-albums-other-stuff-picture5179-blueshawk-over-lp.jpg[/img] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
midiman56 Posted May 12, 2010 Share Posted May 12, 2010 I dunno ... I'm sure they are good guitars, but something about those small-body semi's just don't appeal to me. The "F" holes always look HUGE on 'em, and the pickguard just seems to crowd everything. I bet they are great little players though ... Jim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrw1960 Posted May 12, 2010 Share Posted May 12, 2010 Would you consider selling the Blueshawk? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikelamusic Posted May 13, 2010 Author Share Posted May 13, 2010 Hey all! Thanks for the input! I'll post some pics hopefully by the weekend. I should have the Kat by then too. They just updated my arrival date to tomorrow instead of Monday! Stoked! I do really love the feel of the Hawk. The neck feels good, not too thick for me as I prefer a thin neck. I dig the sound too, but Antwhi2001 I agree, there are a lot of tones but only a few that I'll use regularly. I've only played it through 3 different amps and have liked the sound of all of them. I have a 60's Gibson Discoverer Tremolo which I think delivers a beautiful tone with my Hawk and my Strat. I'm not too amp savvy yet though (been playing mainly acoustic for years). Again, my only complaint with the Hawk is that I'm not a huge fan of the red finish and gold hardware. I considered spraying it, but also didn't want to mess with a discontinued Gibson. I'm going to switch out to chrome hardware though. Just need to find the bridge/saddle to fit. By the way, what's the easiest way to post pics? Gibson BluesHawk Epiphone Wildkat Fender Strat (93, MIM, just resprayed and fixing up, first guitar) Ibanez Artwood acoustic/electric Ibanez acoustic (PF I believe 93, my first acoustic) Lanikai Uke CK-C Ovation mandolin MC148 Magnatone double neck console steel slide (vintage 40's, 50's???) Gibson Discoverer Tremolo (60's) Mini Fender Tonemaster Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eggs Posted May 13, 2010 Share Posted May 13, 2010 MlaM, Welcome, & great post man... really looking forward to your pics[cool] ! eggmuffins Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vestapol Posted November 17, 2010 Share Posted November 17, 2010 My Hawk.... Just noticed the black control knobs appear to have gold-colored centers. I have two Hawks, each with silver-colored centers in the knobs. Is the gold an illusion? Or is there a way to get these gold knobs? Doug Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigneil Posted November 17, 2010 Share Posted November 17, 2010 welcome to the forum nice looking guitar Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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