# NGD! Epiphone Nighthawk Custom Reissue!! 56K is a no-go here



## Mordacain (Jan 28, 2011)

Since I started the thread on this guy I thought it only appropriate that I post the first user experience post on it too.

I'll make it quick and to the point: I frikkin love it! On to the pics!!

First up, some beauty shots:
















And closer detail:





















Grovers = 






Playability-wise, this feels different than the last Nighthawk I played. Granted, that was over 14 years ago and my memory might be a touch foggy (could have been a Blueshawk) but I seem to remember the neck feeling a bit thicker. This is still vaguely thick, but is actually a bit thinner than my strat neck and with much broader shoulders than either the strat or the Prestige 2570. Its supposed to be a Thin D and I'd say that's approximate. It feels to me like a chunkier Wizard II with nicer shoulders. Either way, the combo of the neck profile and thickness yields itself well to every style I've thrown at it. Its great for 1st position chording, greasy-soloing, heavy-fisted blues strangling....really just about everything I can throw at it. I can't really shred so I can't comment on that but I can note that its very comfortable to play with a classical hand position. Its really quite a unique neck in my playing experience and I love it! Here's some shots to detail the profile and neck joint:















The heel on this is not bad. It would be better were it a neck through with no heel, but the thinness of the body makes for easier upper fret access than a Les Paul.






The only real problem with the setup was the action was wicked high...which I think is just to cover up that the height adjustment screws are too long and dig in to your palm. I have that same issue with just about every instrument with these style saddles, so no issue as they can be fixed. I had taken this shot to show the height difference after I adjusted the bass side strings down to a good playing height (sadly my camera focused on the pickup not the saddles as I thought I had it):






She sounds lovely. The stock pickups are surprisingly good. I actually really dig the slanted humbucker though I will probably be trying the slanted JB model when it is released as well. Split it sounds very much like a Telecaster bridge, pretty hot and punchy. It was clear that they thought of these pickups in a split capacity during the design. If I added a brass plate to the bottom it would probably be hard to tell from a standard Tele bridge. It combines well with the mid for punchy funk, and some Knopfler-esque picking on a clean channel with the tone rolled off a bit.

The neck mini-humbucker is not bad but it might get replaced as well. It sounds like a less boomy PAF. In single it sounds pretty much like a strat single, but honestly I prefer the split tone of an Air Norton in neck. It does combine very well with the mid pickup for some nice mellow out of phase strat tones. 

The middle pickup here is a very pleasant surprise. It is hot and phat and sounds more like a P90 to my ears than what I would usually hear from a strat middle. It overdrives really well and is actually balanced with the neck and bridge pickups in both tapped and in full humbucker modes rather well with no huge volume differences (once I adjusted the pickup heights on all to balance).

I'll see if I can't record some quick clips through Amplitube or something to give an idea of the tones.


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## ROAR (Jan 28, 2011)

Thanks for all the pics man.
That looks way sicker than I thought it would.
Congrats!


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## MaxOfMetal (Jan 28, 2011)

Looks killer. 

Congrats man!


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## skyeDCCCXX (Jan 28, 2011)

Not digging the slanted pickup. Beautiful guitar though. Congrats!


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## AcousticMinja (Jan 28, 2011)

These came out finally? Awesome! Looks killer too!


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## Grand Moff Tim (Jan 28, 2011)

That's friggin' hot.


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## Mordacain (Jan 28, 2011)

Thanks guys, I'm digging it a lot. Epiphone seems to have really stepped up their quality over the years since I last purchased one. I've only found one finish flaw so far and its a binding mishap (which seem to be the most common mistakes). I'm actually really surprised with the quality, especially for the price. In a major change of pace, the frets are finished really, really nice. If I had to put it to a test I'd say they are just as nice as on my Prestige RG2570.

I don't really have a good metal amp anymore but on the general software presets she sounds pretty good, if a bit muddier than I'm used to after the Steve's Special but with a JB I think it would rock pretty hard. I'm always after a "Do Everything" axe as I like to have my vintage and the heavy at the flip of a switch.


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## MaxOfMetal (Jan 28, 2011)

The quality of Chinese Epiphones has been skyrocketing ever since Gibson bought their own factory to make them in Qingdao back in 02'. You'll pretty much find that whenever a company actually starts making their own branded guitars, instead of relying on an OEM, at their own factory the quality will go up as it's cheaper to run a factory in most cases than pay an OEM to do all the work. Which is why I have so much faith in the new Ibanez Premium line. 

I'd go as far as saying a lot of the current "higher end" Epiphones coming out of China are on par with the pricier Elitist series which were MIJ.


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## Scar Symmetry (Jan 28, 2011)

Looks awesome man


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## Mordacain (Jan 28, 2011)

MaxOfMetal said:


> The quality of Chinese Epiphones has been skyrocketing ever since Gibson bought their own factory to make them in Qingdao back in 02'. You'll pretty much find that whenever a company actually starts making their own branded guitars, instead of relying on an OEM, at their own factory the quality will go up as it's cheaper to run a factory in most cases than pay an OEM to do all the work. Which is why I have so much faith in the new Ibanez Premium line.
> 
> I'd go as far as saying a lot of the current "higher end" Epiphones coming out of China are on par with the pricier Elitist series which were MIJ.



 I can certainly see this being the case. My old Epi Les Paul, while being tolerable is really a turd compared to this. Granted I grew up with that guitar and broke her in over many years, but out of the box....just no comparison.


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## MaxOfMetal (Jan 28, 2011)

Oh there will still be plenty of Lemons. I'm sure they still have QC quotas (as in they only allowed to fail "x" amount of guitars and need to pass "y" amount, look at it as grading on a curve at times). They are still budget guitars after all. 

I'm happy that these are looking so good. I've had epic amounts of single-cut GAS as of late and always remeber the Nighthawks being unique and quirky, yet still awesome.


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## GuitaristOfHell (Jan 28, 2011)

I never thought I'd say this in a million years but,... that Epiphone looks sweet as hell and now I want one.


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## Grand Moff Tim (Jan 28, 2011)

MaxOfMetal said:


> The quality of Chinese Epiphones has been skyrocketing ever since Gibson bought their own factory to make them in Qingdao back in 02'. You'll pretty much find that whenever a company actually starts making their own branded guitars, instead of relying on an OEM, at their own factory the quality will go up as it's cheaper to run a factory in most cases than pay an OEM to do all the work. Which is why I have so much faith in the new Ibanez Premium line.
> 
> I'd go as far as saying a lot of the current "higher end" Epiphones coming out of China are on par with the pricier Elitist series which were MIJ.


 
So.... those improvements have carried over to the Indonesian Epis, too? Unless I'm missing something, that Nighthawk is an Indo.


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## MaxOfMetal (Jan 28, 2011)

Grand Moff Tim said:


> So.... those improvements have carried over to the Indonesian Epis, too? Unless I'm missing something, that Nighthawk is an Indo.



My understanding is that Gibson has also acquired a plant in Indonesia that's being run similarly to the Chinese plant. Supposedly they're going to start moving solid body construction to Indonesia while keeping acoustic, hollow, and semi-hollows in China. The factory in China was originally just doing acoustics, so it's not too much of a surprise.

I was not aware that these were Indo though until I saw this guitar. The few Epi LPs at the GC over on Fullerton are MIC and pretty solid builds. Once again, very reminiscent of the Elitist stuff. One of them, a white LPC does seem to be a lemon though, it's got a fret pulling up out of the SUPER DRY fretboard.


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## Grand Moff Tim (Jan 28, 2011)

My Slammer (by Hamer) Centaura is an Indo, and I liked it well enough when I got it eleven years ago. If things have gotten better since then, I'd probably feel pretty comfortable getting another Indo. The price point on this Nighthawk is mighty tempting. And they make it in sunburst...


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## MaxOfMetal (Jan 28, 2011)

Indo is getting better and better as the factories streamline production, and better trained employees become more prevalent. 

It may be hard to imagine for some, but a number decades ago, guitars made in Japan and parts of Europe were looked on as being just as inferior as those that are now made in China and Indonesia today. Even South Korea has become significantly more accepted than it was compared to how it was received, even a few years ago. 

If you said to someone they'd be spending $1200 on a South Korean made guitar in 1990 it'd be equivalent to telling someone they'd be buying a Chinese made guitar for $4500 today. 

The fact of the matter is, as CNC tech becomes cheaper and easier, as well as more advanced (thus can handle more tasks), we'll see guitars remain cheaper while the quality rises in regions we once regarded are inferior to quality instrument production.


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## Grand Moff Tim (Jan 28, 2011)

MaxOfMetal said:


> Indo is getting better and better as the factories streamline production, and better trained employees become more prevalent.
> 
> It may be hard to imagine for some, but a number decades ago, guitars made in Japan and parts of Europe were looked on as being just as inferior as those that are now made in China and Indonesia today. Even South Korea has become significantly more accepted than it was compared to how it was received, even a few years ago.
> 
> ...


 
Yeah, I remember the guffaws back in the day about SK-made guitars. My Hamer Echotone and Rock Bass Corvette 5 are both korean, and I couldn't be happier with either of them.

My MIJ Jackson almost has me wondering how anybody could've ever mocked MIJ guit-fiddles...


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## Miek (Jan 28, 2011)

Really unique guitar with a killer top? Hell yeah.


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## darren (Jan 28, 2011)

You guys didn't see the "Made in Indonesia" sticker on the back of the headstock?


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## Grand Moff Tim (Jan 28, 2011)

darren said:


> You guys didn't see the "Made in Indonesia" sticker on the back of the headstock?


 
I did, which is precisely why I asked


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## stuz719 (Jan 30, 2011)

MaxOfMetal said:


> Indo is getting better and better as the factories streamline production, and better trained employees become more prevalent.
> 
> It may be hard to imagine for some, but a number decades ago, guitars made in Japan and parts of Europe were looked on as being just as inferior as those that are now made in China and Indonesia today. Even South Korea has become significantly more accepted than it was compared to how it was received, even a few years ago.
> 
> ...





As I've said elsewhere, there's a space for someone to start producing Prestige-style ranges in Indonesia or India - they are rapidly gaining the know-how to compete with the more developed producer nations at a much keener price.

Now, I'll put a small wager here that in 10 years from now we'll be looking at budget lines produced in West and sub-Saharan Africa...


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## MaxOfMetal (Jan 30, 2011)

stuz719 said:


> As I've said elsewhere, there's a space for someone to start producing Prestige-style ranges in Indonesia or India - they are rapidly gaining the know-how to compete with the more developed producer nations at a much keener price.
> 
> Now, I'll put a small wager here that in 10 years from now we'll be looking at budget lines produced in West and sub-Saharan Africa...



Yep, just take a look at what Suhr, Eastman, and now Ibanez are doing. They're making ~$1000 guitars, which supposedly play like ~$2000 guitars in China and Indonesia. 

I doubt we'll see anything out of Africa until the region stabilizes a bit more, and I don't see that happening, at least enough to support a significant guitar industry, in only another decade. India and Vietnam though, those are definitely promising. Maybe even some of the poorer former USSR states?


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## kuvash (Feb 9, 2011)

I see the specs. list these as having an ebony fretboard....yet ,I did see an earlier mention of the first ones (that I saw) were rosewood.Is it one or the other?Choice?You pays yur money and you takes yur chances?
Does any one know?Either way I am going to get one,it will fit in very nicely between my Ep.SG and my teles,a JA90 Thinline and a Spalted Maple HH....Perfect!

kuvash


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## poopyalligator (Feb 9, 2011)

Cool guitar dude! I use to have a gibson one a few years back. It was a sweet guitar. Congrats!


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## Chickenhawk (Feb 9, 2011)

:WantToHaveSexWithYourGuitar:

That needs to be a smiley.


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## craig-sansum (Feb 10, 2011)

nice looks great man an neck looks really comfy


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## caskettheclown (Feb 10, 2011)

HA you said heavy fisted. (insert ex girlfriend joke here).

Seriously i'm jelly though. That looks fucking beautiful.


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## Mordacain (Feb 19, 2011)

kuvash said:


> I see the specs. list these as having an ebony fretboard....yet ,I did see an earlier mention of the first ones (that I saw) were rosewood.Is it one or the other?Choice?You pays yur money and you takes yur chances?
> Does any one know?Either way I am going to get one,it will fit in very nicely between my Ep.SG and my teles,a JA90 Thinline and a Spalted Maple HH....Perfect!
> 
> kuvash



Sorry for delayed response. I believe it is still Ebony, just very light in color. Doesn't feel like Rosewood to me and the grain is too tight regardless.


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