FACTOIDS & TRIVIA

The Nighthawk was introduced in April 1983 as a companion to the S-500. It was very similar to the S-500 in cosmetics though the headstock is smaller. The circuit is identical to the S-500's, but the Nighthawk utilized pickups with a lower DC resistance and lower magnet gauss. More importantly is that the pickups are positioned differently compared to the S-500. This resulted in a guitar with a smoother voice with a lower output. The Nighthawk was generally offered with a mahogany body, but a few ash and maple body examples exist. In late 1983, a Washington D.C. based band called “Nighthawk” threatened G&L with a law suit over the use of the Nighthawk name. Rather than contest the rather dubious claim, Leo and company simply renamed the guitar to Skyhawk. The last Nighthawks were made in December 1983 with a production total of 269 guitars made before the name change. The Nighthawk was offered in several colors with the most common being black. The Nighthawk shown here is one of only 24 made with a natural finish.

 Body: Solid; 4-piece mahogany

 Finish: Natural, nitrocellulose lacquer

 Neck: 2-piece maple, bolt-on

 Fingerboard: Ebony; pearloid dot markers

 Number of Frets: 22

 Pickguard: Black-white-black plastic laminate with powder coated aluminum control plate

 Bridge: G&L Dual Fulcrum Vibrato, chrome

 Nut: Plastic

 Tuners: Schaller Mini, chrome

 Pickups: Three, G&L Magnetic Field Design single coil with adjustable pole pieces

 Controls: Master volume, treble, and bass, 5-way pickup selector

 Scale Length: 25 1/2 inches

 Neck Width at Nut: 1 5/8 inches

 Body Width at Lower Bout: 12 7/8 inches

 Body Depth: 1 5/8 inches

 Weight: 9.0 lb