Superhawk - 25th "birthday" today

Here's my Superhawk. I popped the neck off during a string change last weekend, and noticed the date was Dec 21 1986. I thought today would be appropriate for posting some pics!













As you can tell from the photos, a previous owner wasn't too careful with this guitar. There are a lot of dings, but no structural damage. The back has some of the worst buckle rash I've seen, and baked-on residue from a guitar stand's padding. None of this affects the tone, though. There are also a couple of spots on the top where the finish wore through from contact.

Here are the neck and body date stamps:





It doesn't come through well in the photo, but the exposed wood in the neck pocket has just about the same grain pattern as the maple neck, with some of the streaking typical of maple.

The fingerboard is ebony, with a 12" radius. The neck is wide at the nut, and relatively shallow. It's not my preferred profile, but I can appreciate why it would be better for shredding than any of my other Leo-era instruments. The pickups are original. The previous owner had replaced them with Carvins, but they were in a bag with the guitar when I bought it.

Anyway, enjoy the pictures!

Ken

Winter solstice 25 years ago! How about that! Happy birthday to the guitar Ken. Unlike humans, where it is all downhill after 25 years, the best years of your Superhawk might still be to come.

- Jos

Happy B-day Ken. I have some that will turn 25 in 2013. I do have a Fender acoustic from 1962.-- Darwin

WOW!

Happy Brirthday Ken, verey cool. i missed one of those years ago and now you have to tease me with this. We al know black guitars sound better too.

Go on, give her a true birthday treatment.

Jos: I hadn't thought about it being the Solstice. That definitely adds something to the vibe, at least in my mind.

Just to be clear, this is the guitar's 25th birthday. Mine came and went a while ago.

One of the things I love about knowing the guitar's birthday is trying to remember what I was doing back then. I definitely remember the week, and can recall a couple of get-togethers at friends' houses. I had just finished my fall exams in my senior year of college. I can specifically remember the date of my '86 ASAT's neck, which was the last day of spring semester.

I just looked up 1986 on a perpetual calendar, and oddly enough the Superhawk's neck was dated on a Sunday. They must have had a lot of orders to fill for the holidays.

Ken

Or maybe the Sunday OT shift was to get that one ready for NAMM in January '87... Great score.

I hadn't thought of that!