This beautiful example of one of Gibson's better experiments has got to be genius. The Gibson Nighthawk was Gibson's attempt at creating the worlds most versatile guitar. And to be honest, they actually pulled it off. This guitar has a huge amount of range. You can get glassy Stratiness out of it and with the flick of a switch you can fall into full creamy Humbucker "Les Paul" heaven. Originally scorned by both Fender and Gibson fans, the Nighthawk never really took off and was discontinued just a few years after its carnation.

My Nighthawk was bought about 15 years ago (1996) from a shitty little guitar shop in an area I now avoid. It was just sitting there, hanging on the wall at the back of the shop. It hadn't been cleaned in a little while, that much was obvious. But the tone that poured out of it was incredible and the feel was just fantastic! For me it took every element I loved about Strats and every element I loved about Les Paul's and rolled them into one. With the Paul's carved top replaced with a flat one and the size shrinked down to smaller than a Strat, this guitar feels really comfortable. The scale is longer than a Les Paul which for me is a must! Les Paul frets just seem too close together. Probably because I began learning guitar on a Strat. The pickup selection is extremely diverse, with a slanted 500T pickup in the bridge and a really thick sounding mini-humbucker sitting at the neck you can go from one extreme to the other. With the switch all the way down, the humbucker is coil tapped and turned into a single coil. Because of the slanted design, you get a full, Strat cut through that really sings when playing cleanish Clapton leads. And with a switch in the upward direction the humbucker is activated for some Angus Young mayhem. Next position gives you a single coil from the bridge and a single from the neck, which results in really thick lows and punchy tops. This is a very twangy setting and to me sounds more like a Telecaster than anything else. Next switch is the neck single coil only, which has loads of detail and sounds quite Humbuckery for some reason. The last setting puts the neck mini-humbucker into action and is huge and thick on a clean amp setting. So you can see just how versatile this little guitar is.

The build quality is another thing that blows me a away on this guitar. It is just superb. In my opinion Gibson's build has really gone downhill over the past few years with some of the new Les Paul's being border line shocking! What is Gibson going through? Why are they making all these changes that suck? I picked up up a new Les Paul the other day at my local guitar shop and was horrified! Honestly. This guitar felt really cheap and nasty. Perhaps it was a bad example but I've played Epiphones that blow it out of the water. And what is with the new PCB based wiring? What a pain in the balls man! What about modding? Obviously Gibson dont want people poking around at their wiring design. But where does it end? That Firebird-X was an abomination. Will the Les Paul go the same way? Or has it already? I immediately put the Les Paul down and grabbed an Epi Explorer Korina. And that rocked! So perhaps Gibson should spend a little time reflecting on their products and less time trying to dream up a new vomit inducing guitar that costs 3 arms and 2 legs. Ok enough about Gibson short sightings, lets carry on about My Nighthawk.

So why a prodigal son you ask? Well, this relates both personally and globally. I was living in London, where the guitar was being stored. I was offered a job all the way down south (No! Not Brighton!) South Africa (Yes! That far south!) and had to leave my Nighthawk with a buddy in Cornwall. There it sat for almost an entire year. I do not trust DHL, Fedex or any of those guys. So I waited for someone who was going over, to grab it for me and bring it back in person. I got it back about a month ago and man I am glad to be playing it again. I forgot how beautiful it is and how amazing the tone is. In my opinion this is the best guitar Gibson ever made. But then again, I would say that wouldn't I. Also a returning son to the rest of the world. Gibson Discontinued the Nighthawk in 1998 because of the lack of interest. It seemed that guitarists where still to conservative back then and with loads of new brands, with new styles and tone variations in the world today, guitar players have woken up to the Nighthawks endless variations and demand increased . As a result a reissue appeared in 2009. Are the new ones as good as the old ones? Dunno! Haven't even seen one in a guitar shop yet. But if Gibson's latest is anything to go by, its not looking positive.