Members pimphat22 Posted April 23, 2008 Members Share Posted April 23, 2008 Well i needed a backup guitar so i thought i would check one of these out. I really like the one w/ the Bigsby but i figure at the price Rondo Music has them at, i can get another down the road a bit if i like it. Anyway, I play LP style guitars and i needed to spend as little as possible as quick as possible so this looked pretty cool to me when i saw it here on the forum. I pretty much modify everything to my taste anyway so it looks like a great platform. Here we go.... Out of the box it looks great! Wow! This may be the steal of a lifetime! I sat right on my porch and played for about ten minutes or so and whats this? I had black stain all over my fingers and sure as {censored}....all over the fretboard. Damn...that sucks. So as i inspected a bit more i can clearly see that the problem lies within the inlays themselves. They just dont have any sealer what so ever on them...at all. So i guess the stain kinda just rubs off after playing for a while. Anyway, this git cost next to nothing so i decided to take matters into my own hands. I went to wal-mart and bought a can of "Deft" clear wood finish. I have used this stuff a million times and it's really some amazing {censored}. I managed to rub off most of the black stuff on the maple board. Next i masked the guitar, took it outside and shot two coats of satin clear in the fretboard. The Deft is very thin and was almost instantly absorbed into the board as well as the inlays. I hit again and let it dry all day. FIXED! Looks cool too. Has a very subtle sheen to it... i like it. Ok moving on, Of course out of the box the set-up was not great but i was counting on that so i went to work this evening on the adjustments. Neck was a bit bowed but two cranks of the truss rod fixed 'er up. Bridge seems ok but intonation was out bigtime. I adjusted the bridge a few times before realizing that i just couldnt get rid of the buzz i was getting. nut was bad. D string was cut way too deep. No biggie actually, i had to bring the action up a little more than i wanted but it plays pretty sweet now. I will replace the nut eventually but i'm not in a rush. After all, it's purpose is as a backup right? my camera suks so sorry for the poor pics.... neck heel is a strange shape to me but it feels pretty good. This next pic is a little strange to me. It seems there is some sort of laminate on the headstock? Not sure what it is i just never saw that before. OVERALL?? Even with the problems i had, this is a pretty nice little axe to kick around with. Especially for that price! Pickups are pretty good. Great for hard rock i think. Clean gets a little distorted. There are also some finish flaws but very very tiny things that dont bother me a bit. Grover tuners?!?! COOL! They work nice and smooth, always a fan of Grovers. Neck is a bit on the thin side compared to my LP but not too thin at all. I'm sure if i change the nut and add some better pots this thing would rock pretty well. Like i said, this is a backup. I am gigging alot this spring so i needed something fast. I am not really into strats or i may have gone for a Squier or something. I like it! I think i will mod the hell out of it this summer. And i still may buy the one with the bigsby. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Geeter Posted April 24, 2008 Members Share Posted April 24, 2008 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members EvanAgee Posted April 24, 2008 Members Share Posted April 24, 2008 Looks sweet! HNGD! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Senor Cleavage Posted April 24, 2008 Members Share Posted April 24, 2008 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Tweedledee Posted April 24, 2008 Members Share Posted April 24, 2008 Happy new guitar day! Good idea on using Deft to fix that inlay issue. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members joekkl Posted April 24, 2008 Members Share Posted April 24, 2008 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members DRPool Posted April 24, 2008 Members Share Posted April 24, 2008 The stain thing seems to be fairly common. I'd email Kurt, maybe he can kick back a few bones to cover the cost of the deft. Great review dude and good job being handy enough find a fix. Very pretty guitar. :thu: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members solly Posted April 24, 2008 Members Share Posted April 24, 2008 HAPPY NGD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I must be the luckiest Hawker owner in the world. I have had no smearing issues with mine.....odd Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members bluesrock70's Posted April 24, 2008 Members Share Posted April 24, 2008 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members King Loudness Posted April 24, 2008 Members Share Posted April 24, 2008 That looks a lot like an old Ibanez PF-300 I have here. Really similar shape. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members wedgehed II Posted April 24, 2008 Members Share Posted April 24, 2008 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members King Loudness Posted April 24, 2008 Members Share Posted April 24, 2008 Whoops, I forgot the pic Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Into Nation Posted April 24, 2008 Members Share Posted April 24, 2008 Thanks for shedding some light on the inlay issue. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members pimphat22 Posted April 24, 2008 Author Members Share Posted April 24, 2008 That looks a lot like an old Ibanez PF-300 I have here. Really similar shape. hey you're right....pretty close. Now i need to find a case for it though. I thought it might fit into one of my lp cases but....nada. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members ihavenofish Posted April 24, 2008 Members Share Posted April 24, 2008 This next pic is a little strange to me. It seems there is some sort of laminate on the headstock? Not sure what it is i just never saw that before. the headstock "plate" is basically poly. the "inlays" are embedded into it and painted with a stencil. its actually alot like the gibson way, except instead of fibre its plastic. it does look a little wierd on an angle because its on top of the binding. ive found that pretty much all lower end asian guitars are done this way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members book_of_lies777 Posted April 24, 2008 Members Share Posted April 24, 2008 nice! once again, looks waaay better than Rondo's pics - maybe we could all chip in and buy Kurt a decent digital camera, eh? Happy New Guitar Day!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members leopardstar Posted April 24, 2008 Members Share Posted April 24, 2008 aslan, my world famous guitar kitten, say's 3 paws up :thu: HNGD when i got my 2800 lp for rondo i to got black on my finger tip's, turns out it was coming from the strings. new strings no problem-o. and one little tip about the deep cut neck string slot: loosen the string and then take a very small piece of matchbook cover, silde it in between the string and the slot, you'll have to hold it in place while you thighten up the string, but it really works wonders. then you can lower the action to where you want it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members dabbler Posted April 24, 2008 Members Share Posted April 24, 2008 nice! once again, looks waaay better than Rondo's pics - maybe we could all chip in and buy Kurt a decent digital camera, eh? Happy New Guitar Day!!! Ummm, no. You Do realize what will happen if the pics actually look as good as the guitars don't you!?!?? Major increase in sales volume... followed by increase in price!! I like Rondo's pics JUST THE WAY THEY ARE thankyouverymuch! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members dabbler Posted April 24, 2008 Members Share Posted April 24, 2008 ...So as i inspected a bit more i can clearly see that the problem lies within the inlays themselves. They just dont have any sealer what so ever on them...at all. So i guess the stain kinda just rubs off after playing for a while. Anyway, this git cost next to nothing so i decided to take matters into my own hands. I went to wal-mart and bought a can of "Deft" clear wood finish. I have used this stuff a million times and it's really some amazing {censored}. I managed to rub off most of the black stuff on the maple board. Next i masked the guitar, took it outside and shot two coats of satin clear in the fretboard. The Deft is very thin and was almost instantly absorbed into the board as well as the inlays. I hit again and let it dry all day. FIXED! Looks cool too. Has a very subtle sheen to it... i like it. Kudos for giving an easy fix for the smearing inlays!! But I'm still mad at you for apparently trying to ruin my marriage! I was actually happy with the guitars I have.... then you went and posted THIS! Congrats!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members pimphat22 Posted April 24, 2008 Author Members Share Posted April 24, 2008 Kudos for giving an easy fix for the smearing inlays!! But I'm still mad at you for apparently trying to ruin my marriage! I was actually happy with the guitars I have.... then you went and posted THIS! Congrats!! Sorry dabbler.... and thanks for the tip leopardstar! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Brian Krashpad Posted April 24, 2008 Members Share Posted April 24, 2008 Congrats! (o)(o) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members A_Gitarman Posted April 24, 2008 Members Share Posted April 24, 2008 OWWW! You're giving me GAS pains! HNGD! I'm thinking of picking up a beater LP-style guitar to bring to places that I'd rather not take my Gibby & I was just showing my wife the green one of those on Rondo's site last night... I suspected the same thing re: the inlays (no sealer) based on what I've read here & the pic that Kurt posted a few days ago. Good job on the quick fix Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members zerkalo Posted April 24, 2008 Members Share Posted April 24, 2008 The Hawker looks absolutely nothing like that Ibanez. If anything, that Ibanez looks like a combo of an SX and a Gibson LP. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members HanSolo Posted April 24, 2008 Members Share Posted April 24, 2008 So the "inlays" are not inlays, they are just painted on? How long can that last? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members leopardstar Posted April 24, 2008 Members Share Posted April 24, 2008 ^^^^^not long if it's already rubbing off on his fingers, if true, that sucks ass Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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