The Hawk or Santana SE?

[Tony_H]

Hi folks,
This is a nice little problem.
I have a Gibson The Hawk and love it, and I would like to get a nice guitar to complement it. I want a similar tone and feel if I take the two guitars to a gig, one being a replacement in case a string breaks or something else happens.

Getting another Hawk is the obvious choice. But The Hawk was discontinued in 1998, so chances are fairly low that I'll be able to score one to go with mine. Especially because I live in the Czech Rep where the only Hawks I have seen was my Ebony one and a Wine Red one that took mine's place at the shop after I bought mine.

There is a PRS dealer offering the SE range here and the prices are similar to some of the budget Gibson models. I have read many good things about the Santana SE and I understand that in terms of quality it could be as good as, if not better than, the Hawk. But the neck may feel different and the tone may be different and what not.

Can you suggest pros and cons of getting a Santana SE? I don't expect many people have actually tried the Hawk as well as the Santana SE, so I'm hoping for any commentaries about the Santana SE.

Thanks for any input
Tony

 

[Tony_H]

Re: The Hawk or Santana SE?

Bump

 

[That90'sGuy]

Re: The Hawk or Santana SE?

It seems to me that you'd be better off with your Gibson Hawk. They are good guitars and USA made, correct? I'm pretty sure Santana SE's aren't made in the US and I doubt they'd be better guitars, but I haven't actually compared the two to be able to give you a definitive answer.

If you dig your Hawk... why look for something else? I'm starting to learn "if it ain't broke, don't fix it"

 

[Tony_H]

Re: The Hawk or Santana SE?

It seems to me that you'd be better off with your Gibson Hawk. They are good guitars and USA made, correct? I'm pretty sure Santana SE's aren't made in the US and I doubt they'd be better guitars, but I haven't actually compared the two to be able to give you a definitive answer.

If you dig your Hawk... why look for something else? I'm starting to learn "if it ain't broke, don't fix it"

That's true ... maybe I just need to take my time and find another Hawk if I want two.

 

[Dills]

Re: The Hawk or Santana SE?

I have played the gibson nighthawk (if thats what you meant) and I own a santana se. Those were the 2 guitars i were last deciding on before making purchace. The hawk has betta quality wood (mahogany) and heaps of options to sounds, but i liked the simplicity and smoother tone of the se better.

I would not recommend the new santana se's (version 2) they do not feel or sound as good like the older version without the pickguard and binding. Ever since i have bought my SE (older version) it has been perfect for me and i installed a set of duncans and it sounds amazing, stays in tune well, intonates well and gets a variety of sounds.

Dills

 

[big_black]

Re: The Hawk or Santana SE?

If you like thinlines with single coils, check out the Blueshawk. Same body shape and scale, string-through body bridge, with two "Blues-90s". They are like super fat Fender singles. They can be had for pretty cheap used.

 

[Tony_H]

Re: The Hawk or Santana SE?

If you like thinlines with single coils, check out the Blueshawk. Same body shape and scale, string-through body bridge, with two "Blues-90s". They are like super fat Fender singles. They can be had for pretty cheap used.

I tried the Blueshawk and didn't like it - not my cup of tone. My Hawk is the bare-bones model with 2 HBs and a wrap-around bridge/tailpiece, and the Santana SE is closer to that in this respect (I want the wraparound version, not the tremolo version).