Gibson Blueshawk
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Gibson Blueshawk is a relatively recently designed (1996-2006) Gibson model designed mainly for blues players (hence the name). It superficially resembles the Les Paul in that the body outline is similar. The Blueshawk was discontinued by Gibson in Spring 2006. The Little Lucille is a variant on the Blueshawk that features a stop tailpiece and tune-o-matic bridge - the Little Lucille was endorsed by BB King.
The Blueshawk however has a number of highly distinctive features that distinguish it from virtually all other Gibsons. The Blueshawk's body outline is the same as a slightly earlier range of guitars - the Nighthawks (1993-1999) - but unlike the Nighthawks, the Blueshawk is a semi-hollow bodied guitar with twin f-holes.
Other distinctive/innovative features include:
- 25.5 inch scale length (the same as many Fenders, Gibson's typically have a 24.75 inch scale length)
- through-body stringing and bridge construction similar to the Fender Telecaster
- Blues 90 pickups (a modified version of the P-90 pickup)
- noise reduction circuitry which employs a dummy coil
- a Varitone circuit (similar to that used on the Gibson ES345) - the Varitone circuit is a mid-cut filter with a choice of five centre frequencies
- the Blueshawk is a light guitar (less than 7lbs) - the body is made from poplar, capped with maple - the body is small and relatively thin and has two cavities - the hardware is minimal.
The Little Lucille is a variant on the Blueshawk design - the Little Lucille features a Tunomatic bridge and stop tail-piece and has no f-holes.