Re: nighthawk vs. blueshawk
Both are superb for what they do, it's amazing that they didn't take off, and I'm considering building a mahagoney 25.5 inch with p90s, dummy coil and veri-tone ala, the blueshawk-
Here's what I liked about them-
Both are the most 'fender' like gibsion I've ever played
You can get just about any sound in the book
The nitehawk pups sounded just like a LP delux I once had, but less sustain which made it better for what i was playing
Very good for the $
The reason I didn't buy
I've got other guitars that also do a good job of getting the fender and Gibson sounds
I'm not thrilled with Gibson quailty, but then again these were not expensive gtrs
Bottom line, if you need a versital gtr these fit the bill and amazing that they seemed to have relatively little impact on other manufacturers- The vari-tone isn't a new idea, but fits gibsons so, so well- They are often mid-rangy so there is lots that can be accompished with well planned filtering.
I can't say enough good about them-