My guitar collection - G&L

 
 

This G&L model very much looks like the 2 Schaller humbucker version of the Rampage, now with separate tone controls for each pickup among the rear mounted controls set in the contoured soft maple body. The wiring harness has a 3-position mini-toggle pickup selector similar as found on many G&L basses. The Superhawk was available with a couple of other options not available on the Rampage. First, a choice of a “Black Krome” Kahler™ 2320 flat mount fine-tuner vibrato, the only choice on the Rampage, or the “Krome” version, as seen on this guitar. Still, the “Black Krome” is more common on any Superstrat while costing $60 more over the “Krome” unit. Second, the 12” the fingerboard on the standard hard-rock maple neck with (pre-BBE) #3 profile and 1¾” nut also could be maple beyond ebony as found here. The package is completed by the Leo Fender string lock mechanism behind the nut and G&L branded Schaller closed tuning machines on the matching painted headstock. Another “Krome” Superhawk is shown on Greg Gagliano’s ggjaguar.com website. Production of the Superhawk stopped in late-1991 when BBE Sound, Inc. took over operations at G&L. However, decades later Jerry Cantrell, mainly known as a Rampage player, also endorsed this model reintroduced in 2011 as the Superhawk Jerry Cantrell Signature model. Although Jerry officially moved to Gibson in early-2020, a number of (archived) links for “his” Superhawk can be found among the list of G&L instruments in the References/Links section.

 

Superhawk w/Kahler

The story behind this guitar

Year:

Serial number:

Neck date:

Body date:

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Find the 1985 ad for the Superhawk on this page and look at the guitar on the right. That is shows how this Superhawk started out, shiny with a bright White finish. Now, many decades after its completion, the finish has faded to a Creme. Which is a good thing since it demonstrates it has a nitrocellulose topcoat which is known to turn yellow over time when exposed to UV. Originally it came without its vibrato arm but I was able to locate an original period-correct Kahler arm with brass tip. As expected this Superhawk is a total rocking machine. The Schaller humbuckers sound fantastic, the controls are simple and intuitive, the Kahler never fails to amaze me for its stability, and the ebony board is fast and smooth. A prime example of a guitar totally at home in the 1980s.

The story behind this guitar

1986

G020097

MAR 21 1986

SEP ?? 1985 (day is absent)

D’Addario EXL110 Nickel Wound Regular Light (10-46)