NGD: SX Hawk, mahogany, 2xP90, stop+TOM

glasshand · Mon Jun 28, 2021 2:35 pm

I've been toying with the Strat/Les Paul hybrid concept for a while, and then I found this: SX Hawk RN Mahogany P90 NA Stop TPG
The SX Hawk, with its Strat body shape, but in mahogany, with a tune-o-matic bridge and stop tailpiece, and two P90s? And for only $180? I had to take the plunge.

First impressions: this thing is really well-made for $180. The neck edges and frets are particularly nice, especially at this price point. I've seen guitars costing five times as much with worse frets than this. The weight is moderate - I haven't weighed it yet, but Rondo's claim of 8.5 pounds feels about right. The pickups are pretty good; not great maybe, but they sound like P90s. The hardware is all generally pretty decent; nothing to write home about, but functional. The tuning machines are probably the cheapest-feeling part - typical low-cost Asian mini tuners. Fit and finish everywhere are pretty good. They definitely went for the thick-and-glossy clearcoat, but for $180 what do you want? So far I've played it a couple times at practice and been entirely happy with it. The setup was even quite good out of the box.

The only thing that feels especially Strat-like, other than the body shape, is the 25.5" scale neck, and for that reason I decided to pull the neck to see about the the possibility of replacing it. Also, I wanted to see how the body was routed, in case I wanted to change pickups. (I don't have any mini-humbucker-equipped guitars...hmm.)

This picture exaggerates the figuring in the fingerboard a little.

This was the closest thing I could find to a blem. That dark spot actually seems to be discoloration of the wood itself under the clear finish. And that light area is actually a bit of flame in the neck (again, the picture exaggerates it a bit).

The bridge area. You could actually get the bridge a bit lower if you wanted.

Pickguard off! You can see that it's routed very specifically for the P90s, which was a bit of a surprise to me - I was expecting something more generic.

Neck pocket. The width looks just a smidge over Fender-standard 2-3/16; the length might be 1/64" under the standard 3"; and it's a little deep at about 6/8".

The one "oops" I could find - somebody messed up on this one screw hole for the pickguard.

BatUtilityBelt · Mon Jun 28, 2021 3:18 pm

Congratulations! The Hawk is an interesting hybrid - I have a similar one, only with trem, maple fretboard, and walnut body stain. The P90 specific routing surprises me too.

Partscaster · Mon Jun 28, 2021 5:53 pm

I have 3 mahogany dual p90 hawks w/ trems. They sound good stock, IMO. I did try pickup swaps with Loller, Tyson Tone lab, and Gibson p90s, and these guitars just sound better and better. Soon I will rout out the trem cavities to accept full sized blocks with full trem swing range. They are huge SX sleeper giant tone guitars IMO.

Mon Jun 28, 2021 9:47 pm

I have the exact same guitar which arrived last Monday...LOVE the Natural look.

I fully concur with all the points you made. I used it in my latest recording session. The P-90s are more than serviceable.

This is my 3RD SX Hawk.

The other two?

Transparent Blue, 3 Single Coils & Trem

Candy Apple Red, 3 Single Coils, Tune-O-Matic Bridge and Stop Tailpiece which I have a Fishman Triple Play Midi Controller Pickup mounted too.

Sleeper guitars, great mod platforms and ridiculously priced.

nomadh · Tue Jun 29, 2021 12:40 pm

I am both so tempted by this unique design and yet soooooo full on guitars I just cant move forward. I'm also interested in the thinline ash strat but I've been off strats for a few years for some reason.

redman · Tue Jun 29, 2021 1:18 pm

WOW that's nice guitar the one problem I find with it is it's giving GAS.

Tiga · Tue Jun 29, 2021 2:07 pm

I really like that guitar. You know if had a Gibson scale neck I might have to take the plunge.

glasshand · Tue Jun 29, 2021 3:18 pm

I'm definitely considering mods.
- Gibson scale neck? Warmoth can certainly provide that. It looks like the pocket should be compatible. It would probably cost twice as much as the rest of the guitar, but hey...
- Mini humbuckers? Would be easy to do.
- Full size humbuckers? That would require some routing, but should also be possible.

Even just a different pickguard would allow for volume / volume / master tone controls, and I do miss having independent volume controls a little bit.

Partscaster · Tue Jun 29, 2021 4:51 pm

nomadh wrote: ↑Tue Jun 29, 2021 12:40 pm I've been off strats for a few years for some reason.

I am now whole hogged into strats again. LP's distracted me for a few years while I modded a collection using mostly Callisto's. Now, its back to strats. Mainly matching pickup specs with body, neck, and electronic variations of some respective years. I have an early 50's motif, a 58'/59', a 65', and two projects aiming at 63' and 68' specs.

More to this thread's point, my 59 pickup set was too bright, but punchy and rich sounding. I did swap it into a thinline alder body and it was better. But i just tried the pup set in a mahogany body... it became a bit too dark. So, then swapped out the rw slab neck to a maple neck and its getting close to where I want it. Might next swap some caps and maybe pot values. Strats are fun to mod with. And the mahogany bodied strats can really add to the mix. They certainly seem well suited for p90's as these SX's demonstrate.

dabbler · Tue Jun 29, 2021 6:11 pm

Partscaster wrote: ↑Tue Jun 29, 2021 4:51 pm ... Strats are fun to mod with. And the mahogany bodied strats can really add to the mix. They certainly seem well suited for p90's as these SX's demonstrate.

You got that right! I had one of the Ash-bodied SX strats w/P90s and it sounded OK. But after I got the Mahogany-bodied one I let the Ash one go. SX does a good P90!

Jaymo · Fri Jul 02, 2021 1:02 pm

Too bad they don't offer them in lefty.
I'd love to have a mahogany bodied Hawk with P90s and a TOM.

glasshand · Wed Feb 02, 2022 9:14 pm

Postscript: I still really like this guitar, but remember what I said about "I've seen guitars costing five times as much with worse frets than this"? Well, that lasted until the dry air of winter. It's got pretty nasty fret sprout now. I guess that can happen to anything, though. Also the bridge has developed a bit of a rattle. Given that it's a $2 no-name Chinese bridge I am not too surprised, and at least it's an easy fix.

nomadh · Tue Feb 22, 2022 4:48 pm

glasshand wrote: ↑Wed Feb 02, 2022 9:14 pm Postscript: I still really like this guitar, but remember what I said about "I've seen guitars costing five times as much with worse frets than this"? Well, that lasted until the dry air of winter. It's got pretty nasty fret sprout now. I guess that can happen to anything, though. Also the bridge has developed a bit of a rattle. Given that it's a $2 no-name Chinese bridge I am not too surprised, and at least it's an easy fix.

Great to hear an update. I am still so tempted by that interesting guitar. And I still in no way need another friggin guitar and want to sell at least a few.

Partscaster · Tue Feb 22, 2022 6:42 pm

glasshand wrote: ↑Wed Feb 02, 2022 9:14 pm Postscript: I still really like this guitar, but remember what I said about "I've seen guitars costing five times as much with worse frets than this"? Well, that lasted until the dry air of winter. It's got pretty nasty fret sprout now. I guess that can happen to anything, though. Also the bridge has developed a bit of a rattle. Given that it's a $2 no-name Chinese bridge I am not too surprised, and at least it's an easy fix.

I keep a room between 40-55% humidity and all my guitars are good in there, including 3 mahogany hawk strats.