Gibson 20th Anniversary Nighthawk Standard

Gibson introduces the 20th Anniversary Nighthawk Standard, featuring upgraded electronics and visual embellishments.

Gibson 20th Anniversary Nighthawk Standard

We know that Gibson will always find a reason to create specialized versions of their existing guitars, case in point is this new take on a model that they first introduced in 1993.

The 20th Anniversary Nighthawk Standard starts with the typical solid mahogany and maple top combination that Gibson is fond of. The body is carved into a single cutaway body that resembles the Les Paul shape, only slimmer and with a deeper cutaway. Its ribcage contour makes the body look uniqe and at the same time more comfortable to play.

The guitar has a 25.5″ scale length and features a glued in solid quarter-sawn mahogany neck. The neck is carved into a comfortable profile that measures 0.963 at the 12th and 0.818 at the 1st fret. On top of the neck is a rosewood fingerboard that features split parallelogram inlays.

This new Nighthawk model comes with a special three pickup configuration, featuring a trio of different but complementary pickups. It has a Nighthawk Mini-Humbucker in the neck position, which is described to provide a throaty growl. The middle pickup is a NSX Night Nighthawk Single-Coil, which are described to be snappy and funky, emphasizing the mid range. Finally it has an angled Nighthawk Lead Humbucker on the bridge side, designed to provide powerful and big tones suitable for lead work.

For shaping your sound, the guitar comes with a master tone and volume knob that allows for traditional on-the-fly adjustments. As part of the Nighthawk’s modernization, the guitar features a push-pull tone pot that allows for coil tapping, giving brighter single-coil sounds. A five way pickup selector is also available for mixing pickup sounds.

Another unique feature of the Nighthawk design is its string-through-body bridge. All the hardware are gold-plated, including the bridge, strap buttons, Gibson Deluxe tuners. Even the pickup rings and covers follow the gold overall theme of this instrument. Rounding off its features are the Amber “top-hat” knobs.

The Gibson 20th Anniversary Nighthawk Standard has a list price of $2,498 and is available in Antique Natural or Fireburst finish. For the complete specifications, you can visit
Gibson.

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1 thought on “Gibson 20th Anniversary Nighthawk Standard”

  1. I've never been a big fan of
    Shaun

    I’ve never been a big fan of the nighthawk. It always reminded me of some kind of ESP with a Gibson headstock. It just looks like a rip off of a Les Paul. I’m sure some people like it for the different pickup configuration though.

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