A Guitar And Gear Support Forum

I probably shouldn't even mention this or people will rush off and claim them all, but this is very intriguing...

SX Hawk with mahogany body, tune-o-matic bridge, and two P-90s? That might be the answer to the Strat/LP hybrid I've been jonesing for, particularly if it could take full-size humbuckers and a Gibson-scale conversion neck...

That was my first Rondo guitar back in 2008! Love that guitar (altho it doesn't get played much these days with the myriad of others)!

The one thing I found was the neck angle with the TOM was high, the bridge pup was almost out of the pickguard. I ended up filing the bottom of the bridge to get it lower. I do see the pickguard is shaped a bit differently now.

I have one of those with a trem instead of the tom. Interesting! Mine sounds not at all stratty.

ILuvTeles wrote: ↑Tue May 18, 2021 9:24 pm The one thing I found was the neck angle with the TOM was high, the bridge pup was almost out of the pickguard. I ended up filing the bottom of the bridge to get it lower. I do see the pickguard is shaped a bit differently now.

Very interesting - that matches up with what I'd read about TOMs on Strat-type bodies. Is the neck on the Hawk actually angled? Usually I see that TOMs on Strat bodies have to be recessed, but the Hawk's bridge isn't, so either the neck would have to be angled or the neck would have to sit unusually high off the body, and either way the pickups would then have to ride unusually high like you say.

I do like the idea of a Strat-shaped body where everything else, as much as possible, is LP-like, but I'm wondering if trying to go hardcore that route is just setting myself up for frustration and I should just get a hardtail Strat body...

@glasshand - The issue came up when trying to give the guitar a good set-up. Remember, this is several years ago, but I don't think the neck pocket angled, at least not adequately. I lowered the bridge as far as I could & put a shim in the neck. The guitar played fine, but I wanted to get the bridge even lower, so I filed the bottom of the bridge. If my memory serves me right (& my picture kinda confirms) the posts sat on top of the pickguard - it looks like the new pickguard design does not. Like you mention, recessing the bridge & posts would also help.

I would not let it stop me from buying the guitar. Just something that you need to keep in mind.

@ILuvTeles Thanks! At $180 I'll probably just bite the bullet and do it (hey, I have a birthday coming up, it's my birthday present to myself).

@glasshand - You deserve it!

Wonderful candidate to rip those P90s out, slap in a set of Mini HBs and a Fine Tuning Tailpiece in it...so I just ordered one...$198 shipped.

Well, if @LightWingStudios went and grabbed one, I couldn't very well sit around and dither about it, right? Order placed (thanks to my loving and enabling wife!)