I bought my first G&L. It seems unique.

[2023CLFSkyHawk]

Hey guys!

I went to a local Guitar Center that had a few used G&Ls, and they handed me this Purple Skyhawk with a Rosewood fretboard (something I would never have even considered).
I played it for about 2 1/2 hours. I knew right there and then this was the guitar for me.

After I purchased it, they told me about how it was sold to them by Isaiah Sharkey.
This musician is evidently given free guitars from all different manufacturers and he sells the majority of them to this Guitar Center.

It is a G&L CLF Research Skyhawk
from August** of 2023 (Memo informed me)

It seems unique in a few ways.

I emailed G&L asking for information about it and got this much:

"BODY WOOD: Swamp Ash
BODY COLOR: Purpleburst
NECK WOOD: Gloss - Vintage Tint"

It has a Caribbean Rosewood fretboard.

It seems to have gotten PLEKed but I cannot verify this yet.

I noticed that there are ZERO Purpleburst, Rosewood-fretboard Skyhawks that exist, (since they brought back the Skyhawk in 2017-2018).
This is the only one.
It also seems that there were not any CLF Research Skyhawks manufactured in the year 2023 at all except this one. (None that I can find, anyway).
I am wondering what else is unique about it.

If anyone can help me find out more about this beautiful guitar it would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks for taking the time to read my post!

Serial Number: CLF2305153

Body/Serial Images:
https://imgur.com/AVlirC9
https://imgur.com/4HDX85W
https://imgur.com/DIzykli
https://imgur.com/gnExLih

Fretboard Images:
https://imgur.com/2jP1ycZ
https://imgur.com/BOrTIPc
https://imgur.com/e2sRKzN

[rowdyruffboy]

That is a very nice Skyhawk indeed! Can see why you fell in love with it. If it plays anywhere near as good as it looks, you got yourself a great one. Craig will likely chime in here soon and be able to tell you specifics on what was offered and all the options for the Skyhawk and years, usually with option spec lists attached. A great start would be emailing Memo at G&L and sharing the serial number with him to see what more you can find out. The email for that is Repairs@bbesound.com.


Edit: Reread that you already emailed G&L, not sure if it was through Memo, but the serial and spec lists should help with some more info.

[2023CLFSkyHawk]

That is a very nice Skyhawk indeed! Can see why you fell in love with it. If it plays anywhere near as good as it looks, you got yourself a great one. Craig will likely chime in here soon and be able to tell you specifics on what was offered and all the options for the Skyhawk and years, usually with option spec lists attached. A great start would be emailing Memo at G&L and sharing the serial number with him to see what more you can find out. The email for that is Repairs@bbesound.com.


Edit: Reread that you already emailed G&L, not sure if it was through Memo, but the serial and spec lists should help with some more info.

It was not through BBE, although I emailed them a day or so ago.

[Craig]

Hey guys!!

I had been searching for my first G&L and was deciding between an ASAT Special and a Legacy.
The number one thing I wanted was a Maple fretboard.
After having played a USA ASAT (Maple), a USA ASAT Special (Maple), a USA Legacy (Maple),
I went to a local Guitar Center that had a few used G&Ls, and they handed me this Purple Skyhawk with a Rosewood fretboard (something I would never have even considered).
I played it for about 2 1/2 hours. I knew right there and then this was the guitar for me.

After I purchased it, they told me about how it was sold to them by Isaiah Sharkey.
This musician is evidently given free guitars from all different manufacturers and he sells the majority of them to this Guitar Center.

It is a G&L CLF Research Skyhawk
from May of 2023

It seems unique in a few ways.

I emailed G&L asking for information about it and got this much:

"BODY WOOD: Swamp Ash
BODY COLOR: Purpleburst
NECK WOOD: Gloss - Vintage Tint"

It has a Rosewood fretboard but I am not sure which type of Rosewood.
(See images. The Rosewood is beautiful)

It seems to have gotten PLEKed but I cannot verify this.

I noticed that there are ZERO Purpleburst, Rosewood-fretboard Skyhawks that exist, (since they brought back the Skyhawk in 2017-2018).
This is the only one.
It also seems that there were not any CLF Research Skyhawks manufactured in the year 2023 at all except this one. (None that I can find, anyway).
I am wondering what else is unique about it.

It came without the vibrato arm, which is specific to CLF Research Skyhawks (3/16") and G&L is sold out of them for about a month.

If anyone can help me find out more about this beautiful guitar it would be greatly appreciated!
OR if anyone can help me acquire a vibrato arm for it, that would be amazing as well!!

Thanks for taking the time to read my post!

Serial Number: CLF2305153

Body/Serial Images:
https://imgur.com/sERhDgf
https://imgur.com/DIzykli
https://imgur.com/gnExLih

Fretboard Images:
https://imgur.com/BOrTIPc
https://imgur.com/e2sRKzN
https://imgur.com/2jP1ycZ

Welcome to our site!

The CLF Research Skyhawk model was the return of the Skyhawk model and was released in 2018 and is still in production.
Reference posts in our G&L Knowledgebase Forum:
Production List of G&L Instruments (USA)
Jan 25, 2018-Jan 22, 2019 G&L U.S. Specifications & Options
1/1/2023-2/29/2024 Fullerton Deluxe & CLF Research Series PL
8/1/2024-present Fullerton Deluxe & CLF Research Series PL

Because this guitar was apparently a G&L artist's (Isaiah Sharkey) guitar, it is not surprising that it is different from the standard production specifications.
Did you get the factory Specifications Sheet with the guitar? It should have been in a G&L large envelop with the Certificate of Authenticity.
I will contact one of my G&L contacts to find out if the guitar was built for Isaiah Sharkey and if so, what the build specifications are.

From your photos, I can see that the fingerboard wood is Caribbean Rosewood (aka Chechen), which is one of the standard wood types available for fingerboards.

Our G&L Registry is not an official database of all G&L's instruments production, but rather it is a collection of G&L instruments submitted by members of this guitarsbyleo.com
community. See: G&L Registry FAQ.

Congratulations on your "new to you" G&L guitar!

Hope this helps.

[2023CLFSkyHawk]

Hey guys!!

I had been searching for my first G&L and was deciding between an ASAT Special and a Legacy.
The number one thing I wanted was a Maple fretboard.
After having played a USA ASAT (Maple), a USA ASAT Special (Maple), a USA Legacy (Maple),
I went to a local Guitar Center that had a few used G&Ls, and they handed me this Purple Skyhawk with a Rosewood fretboard (something I would never have even considered).
I played it for about 2 1/2 hours. I knew right there and then this was the guitar for me.

After I purchased it, they told me about how it was sold to them by Isaiah Sharkey.
This musician is evidently given free guitars from all different manufacturers and he sells the majority of them to this Guitar Center.

It is a G&L CLF Research Skyhawk
from May of 2023

It seems unique in a few ways.

I emailed G&L asking for information about it and got this much:

"BODY WOOD: Swamp Ash
BODY COLOR: Purpleburst
NECK WOOD: Gloss - Vintage Tint"

It has a Rosewood fretboard but I am not sure which type of Rosewood.
(See images. The Rosewood is beautiful)

It seems to have gotten PLEKed but I cannot verify this.

I noticed that there are ZERO Purpleburst, Rosewood-fretboard Skyhawks that exist, (since they brought back the Skyhawk in 2017-2018).
This is the only one.
It also seems that there were not any CLF Research Skyhawks manufactured in the year 2023 at all except this one. (None that I can find, anyway).
I am wondering what else is unique about it.

It came without the vibrato arm, which is specific to CLF Research Skyhawks (3/16") and G&L is sold out of them for about a month.

If anyone can help me find out more about this beautiful guitar it would be greatly appreciated!
OR if anyone can help me acquire a vibrato arm for it, that would be amazing as well!!

Thanks for taking the time to read my post!

Serial Number: CLF2305153

Body/Serial Images:
https://imgur.com/sERhDgf
https://imgur.com/DIzykli
https://imgur.com/gnExLih

Fretboard Images:
https://imgur.com/BOrTIPc
https://imgur.com/e2sRKzN
https://imgur.com/2jP1ycZ

Welcome to our site!

The CLF Research Skyhawk model was the return of the Skyhawk model and was released in 2018 and is still in production.
Reference posts in our G&L Knowledgebase Forum:
Production List of G&L Instruments (USA)
Jan 25, 2018-Jan 22, 2019 G&L U.S. Specifications & Options
1/1/2023-2/29/2024 Fullerton Deluxe & CLF Research Series PL
8/1/2024-present Fullerton Deluxe & CLF Research Series PL

Because this guitar was apparently a G&L artist's (Isaiah Sharkey) guitar, it is not surprising that it is different from the standard production specifications.
Did you get the factory Specifications Sheet with the guitar? It should have been in a G&L large envelop with the Certificate of Authenticity.
I will contact one of my G&L contacts to find out if the guitar was built for Isaiah Sharkey and if so, what the build specifications are.

From your photos, I can see that the fingerboard wood is Caribbean Rosewood (aka Chechen), which is one of the standard wood types available for fingerboards.

Our G&L Registry is not an official database of all G&L's instruments production, but rather it is a collection of G&L instruments submitted by members of this guitarsbyleo.com
community. See: G&L Registry FAQ.

Congratulations on your "new to you" G&L guitar!

Hope this helps.

I received nothing with it. No Spec Sheet, No hard case, no COA.

[2023CLFSkyHawk]

I spoke to Memo, and he made the 3/16" vibrato arm available again.

He also said this guitar is from Aug 23, 2023.

[2023CLFSkyHawk]

Nothing?

[Craig]

Nothing?

See my reply to your PM.

[Craig]

I contacted Memo and asked him to send me a PDF copy of the Factory Specifications for your guitar.
Note that Memo used the older (2/2011-1/2017) Custom Build Specifications template instead of the
current Specifications template (2/2017-present). Also, the full model name should be CLF Research Skykawk and
the body color should be Purple Burst Thin Urethane. One other point, this guitar would not have been Plek'd, because G&L
did not restart production Pleking until January 2024 and the completion date of the guitar was August 23, 2023.



While there is no reference that this guitar was built for a G&L endorsee, I think it is reasonable to believe what Guitar Center said that
it was sold to them by Isaiah Sharkey, who is in fact a G&L endorsee.

Hope this helps.

PS, should I hear from Steve, I will let you know what he has to say.