Belated NGD: Tribute Superhawk Deluxe

Hello everyone, I hope everyone had a great holiday season. I've been busy at work and during the holidays, so I haven't had time to post lately. Nice to see some good lunch reports recently. Sorry I couldn't participate. And it's really nice to see Sam active on the boards again!

For Christmas my wife really surprised me by getting me a Tribute Superhawk Deluxe in blueburst. I wanted to wait and play it for a while and put it through its paces before I posted my thoughts on the guitar. So for those interested in the model, or those trying to decide if they want to buy one, here are my thoughts.

First impressions out of the box, seeing the blueburst finish in person, it looks fantastic! The photos I've seen online really don't do it justice. The guitar came with a great setup. The action is a little high, but that's just a matter of personal preference. And of course the neck... It's G&L, need I say more?

The three major issues I've seen and always read about import models are the quality of the finish, the tuners, and the pickups. There are no finish flaws anywhere on the guitar. The tuners are fine, no tuning issues at all. And the biggest surprise to me are the pickups. They sound great. I am a big fan of the Seymour Duncan hot rodded humbuckers set. I always figured if I bought a Superhawk I would replace the pickups with the Duncans. After playing the guitar for over a week, I love these pickups, especially the neck pickup. Very smooth. A tip of the hat to Paul Gagon. He did a great job with them! I am playing through a Vox AC15C, and the Superhawk sounds great through it. I really enjoy the clean tones. And the push/pull tone knob coil split was a great addition. It also handles distortion very well. The different tones I've been able to get out of the guitar have been fun playing around with. You won't find better pickups on a guitar in this price range.

I've read a lot of complaints from Superhawk fans on here and on Facebook about the Kahler tremolo being replaced with the Saddle Lock bridge. This is my first non Kahler equipped G&L, and I am glad they made the change. Especially with the import Kahlers. I like being able to just restring, tune and go. It gets old sometimes messing with the locking nut and the fine tuners. And it takes a lot of work to keep the Kahler in a stable tuning position.

The only complaint I have with the guitar is the nut. On the high E string, when I pick the open string there is a vibration, almost like it's partially palm muted. When I fret the string anywhere on the board, it's fine. It only happens when I hit an open string. I think I am going to replace the nut instead of trying to fix it. I understand in the price range there has to be some corners cut. I just hope it's an isolated incident. It's not a big enough issue for me to return the guitar.

For those who own an 80's Superhawk and are wondering how they compare, I have played plenty of Rampages, Invaders and Superhawks. The biggest difference I see are the necks. This neck seems slightly beefier than the originals. I have seen a few complaints about the neck width, I have average size hands and I can get around on it just fine. The other big difference between these and the originals are the pickups. The Tribute models blow the original pickups away. As much as it pains me to say this.... This guitar sounds a lot better than my beloved pink 84/85 Rampage.

Sorry for the long, rambling post! I will post some pics when I get the chance.
Dave

I am happy for you.

I am looking forward to the pictures.

Congrats Dave and thanks for the full report, very informative and sounds like a killer guitar. 'ya know it doesn't exist without pictures, looking forward to seeing it.

With the old weather in your area stay in and play guitar

Nice Christmas gift Dave! Tributes rock! -- Darwin

What Fun !!
I noted a dark finish on the Saddlelock when I was looking at one on ebay.
Does yours have one of those? Can you get a close up of that ?

Eager to see pics too.

elwood

cool !! ... did she find that local ??

Thanks guys. I've been really busy, so I haven't had time to take some photos yet. But I will soon. The more I play the guitar, the more I like it. I've read some complaints about the 1 3/4 neck width, but it's very comfortable to me.

Elwood, It's a chrome saddle lock bridge. I've seen some of the black ones on the Ivory finish and a few on the bluebursts as well.

Fumble Fingers, No, she got a killer black Friday deal and ordered it online from GC.

I also have a new incoming G&L that I'm am really stoked about! Hopefully I will be posting about a new Fallout any day now!

Dave

Elwood, It's a chrome saddle lock bridge. I've seen some of the black ones on the Ivory finish and a few on the bluebursts as well.

Thanks Dave.

I also have a new incoming G&L that I'm am really stoked about!

Looks like a longer couch should be on order too

good to hear from ya,
elwood