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More About the Epiphone Nighthawk...

Epi1

By Epi1
in Epiphone Electrics

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buliwyf

buliwyf

Posted
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A few years ago I had a Gibson Blueshawk,I think the only thing I didnt like was it had a vari-o-tone switch on it.I loved the sound and the size of the body felt great.My fellow bandmates used to say it looked like a LP that had liposuction.You can put me on the list for the EPI Nighthawk it looks killer,BTW "Epi1" Any chance getting one in white seems most guitars come in black but hardly ever in white and i think it would look great in white.

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Nexx

Nexx

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I hate to disagree, but I think the "Magic" of the original Nighthawks are in the Stock Slanted M-Series Humbucker. Although it is nice to know there's a slanted Pick Up replacement.

 

 

I thought the magic was from a nice piece of mahogany @ 25.5 scale and string-thru-body construction + comfortable saddles for the bridge... all made with love.

 

I actually like the sound from the neck mini humbucker the most. Using a high-gain amp setup you can get a pretty amazing sound from that thing with the volume and tone turned down.

 

 

All personal preference of course. But I will say a lot of former nighthawk owners I've known over the years ditched theirs because of the difficulty in changing and playing around the bridge pickup.

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bigneil

bigneil

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fantastic looking guitars ! I didn't know Epi' made them too ! I have never seen one in the shops. I almost bought a Gibby one in the mid 90's, but in the end I wanted to get away from 25.5" scale, i ended up buying Gibby LP studio in black with gold H/W, which was very nice, but part of me always wishes that i had gone for the Nighthawk. :-({|=

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Hungrycat

Hungrycat

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fantastic looking guitars ! I didn't know Epi' made them too ! I have never seen one in the shops.

 

Well, if you'd read the post, you'd have seen that they don't come out until February. But I do agree they are nice looking guitars, especially the Honeyburst. [drool]

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FirstMeasure

FirstMeasure

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I thought the magic was from a nice piece of mahogany @ 25.5 scale and string-thru-body construction + comfortable saddles for the bridge... all made with love.

 

I actually like the sound from the neck mini humbucker the most. Using a high-gain amp setup you can get a pretty amazing sound from that thing with the volume and tone turned down.

 

 

All personal preference of course. But I will say a lot of former nighthawk owners I've known over the years ditched theirs because of the difficulty in changing and playing around the bridge pickup.

I'm not surprised....

 

The Bridge Pick up gets really Brown Sounding gain, so it's very "Brian MAy" or "EVH" sounding. I can get Modern Billy Gibbons tones out of it with out even trying.

 

The Mini Humbucker gets a lot less Gain and more body. Great Woman Tone with the tones rolled back about 1/2 way, and Searing Texas Blues ala Johnny Winter with it Wide open and gained out with a Tube Screamer or just Amp Gain.

 

That spectrum of sounds is usually to Broad for most players, but for a cover artist like me that's just what the Dr. Rx'd. My nighthawk is my #1 stage axe, I have a Strat for the only thing my Nighthawk won't do, and that's sound like a Strat (which it was supposed to do).

 

I agree that the Neck Material and 25.5 in length are integral parts of the Nighthawk Recipe, but changing the bridge pick up would just trim off some of the guitars Unique Personality. But that's just my take on it [wink][biggrin]

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Amino Moore

Amino Moore

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I was picking up my son at his guitar lesson and one of his fellow students had an Epi Nighthawk from the first run back in the 90's. It sounded really good and looked good. That model was a bolt on neck sunburst with gold hardware and the OBL pickup at the bridge.

I really like the look of the pics of the new model in the first post. I have been put on notice that I don't "need" anymore guitars. Sounds like it's time for me to paint a bedroom or two and buy some new curtains! Maybe then I could talk her into just one more. [biggrin]

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Nexx

Nexx

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I'm not surprised....

 

The Bridge Pick up gets really Brown Sounding gain, so it's very "Brian MAy" or "EVH" sounding. I can get Modern Billy Gibbons tones out of it with out even trying.

 

The Mini Humbucker gets a lot less Gain and more body. Great Woman Tone with the tones rolled back about 1/2 way, and Searing Texas Blues ala Johnny Winter with it Wide open and gained out with a Tube Screamer or just Amp Gain.

 

That spectrum of sounds is usually to Broad for most players, but for a cover artist like me that's just what the Dr. Rx'd. My nighthawk is my #1 stage axe, I have a Strat for the only thing my Nighthawk won't do, and that's sound like a Strat (which it was supposed to do).

 

I agree that the Neck Material and 25.5 in length are integral parts of the Nighthawk Recipe, but changing the bridge pick up would just trim off some of the guitars Unique Personality. But that's just my take on it [wink][biggrin]

 

 

The slant humbucker is definitely a classic rock pickup no question about that. I want something that's either a little more balanced and less muddy or with way higher gain & sharper output.

 

I have a spare bolt-on epi nighthawk so I may get a mahogany 25.5 warmoth body made with 2 regular humbuckers and a nighthawk bridge and see what happens. As a bonus I can take the gold hardware off the old nighthawk body and save it for a new epi nighthawk. The nickel hardware on the new models looks a little off to me.

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dougg330

dougg330

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Wow.

I've been selling off guitars because I thought I had too many. Now I know there's one more I've got to have. The Nighthawk looks spectacular.

I had read good things about the Gibson version and was always mildly interested... but at that price, I'm wildly interested. And if the quality is anywhere near my IBJL Casino, I'll order one the first day they come out.

Nice work, Epiphone dudes.

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FirstMeasure

FirstMeasure

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The slant humbucker is definitely a classic rock pickup no question about that. I want something that's either a little more balanced and less muddy or with way higher gain & sharper output.

 

I have a spare bolt-on epi nighthawk so I may get a mahogany 25.5 warmoth body made with 2 regular humbuckers and a nighthawk bridge and see what happens. As a bonus I can take the gold hardware off the old nighthawk body and save it for a new epi nighthawk. The nickel hardware on the new models looks a little off to me.

Now that you mention it, it does look a little off with the Chrome Hardware. I'd like to get a look at your Warmoth Frankenstein if you ever go ahead with it. Sounds like a nice idea.

 

I'm glad they're trying to reproduce the old Gibson set neck version, I'm just hoping it will be near the quality of the old Gibson model.

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kevin134

kevin134

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I like that this is coming out. Almost makes me want to wait on a possible purchase I was to do tomorrow. As for the Double Cuts, I also would love to see one coming out again. Since the Tak will not be available here, what about a Studio or Special DC? With P90's? Or With MiniHB's?? For that matter any LP with Mini HB's?

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