H-535 Custom Core?
- Thread starter Zeldoom
- Start date
Bigger headstock, the little spear like insignia in the center of the headstock and the Heritage logo (sans “The” ) - that’s not enough for you to pay $4K?
TalismanRich
New member
The bigger headstock isn't that much of a selling point. It's a touch more weight, but I don't think it would create neck dive or change the sound. You really can't go for much lighter wood, it's already full of open space. The pickup change? Heck people are yanking out the 225s and replacing them in the CC150s. They did the same with HRWs, then they sell the HRWs as if they are gold. You can buy a hundred different pickups today!
The 555 had an inlay in the headstock, and the "sans The" isn't a selling point, it will have ZERO effect on anything. I like the headstock inlays on my 157 just fine.
Block or enhanced fretboard inlays are a plus over dots to me. Binding on the headstock, I like. Multilayer binding looks nice but not a necessity. Gold hardware, it's not mandatory. With some colors it looks great, with others, silver works better. 5 piece necks looks sharp, and I always wondered if they would be more stable since you can have the grains crossed to minimize the tendency for a piece of wood to move in a single direction.
None of this has much to do with trying to reinvent a "vintage spec" guitar, which is more what the Custom Core seems to be aiming at. I'm not one who worships at the altar of the '59 LP. I don't necessarily agree that the only guitars that have "magic" were built in 1959. '58s and '60s were essentially the same spec. The fact that it stopped from '61 to '68 meant that the pool of those original guitars was small. Therein lies the resulting supply vs demand issue. Yeah, it's cool that it's old, but other than the fact that certain people played certain guitars on certain albums they were just standard production guitars. You don't see the same thing with 22 fret Washburn Hawks. Bob Marleys Hawk sold for $1.2 million, yet you can buy a late 70s Hawk today on Reverb for under $1000.
That's not so much an issue with the 335/345/355. It's been in constant production since 1958, with gradual changes over the years.
So what would a Custom Core 535/555 bring to the table, other than some upgraded parts?
The 555 had an inlay in the headstock, and the "sans The" isn't a selling point, it will have ZERO effect on anything. I like the headstock inlays on my 157 just fine.
Block or enhanced fretboard inlays are a plus over dots to me. Binding on the headstock, I like. Multilayer binding looks nice but not a necessity. Gold hardware, it's not mandatory. With some colors it looks great, with others, silver works better. 5 piece necks looks sharp, and I always wondered if they would be more stable since you can have the grains crossed to minimize the tendency for a piece of wood to move in a single direction.
None of this has much to do with trying to reinvent a "vintage spec" guitar, which is more what the Custom Core seems to be aiming at. I'm not one who worships at the altar of the '59 LP. I don't necessarily agree that the only guitars that have "magic" were built in 1959. '58s and '60s were essentially the same spec. The fact that it stopped from '61 to '68 meant that the pool of those original guitars was small. Therein lies the resulting supply vs demand issue. Yeah, it's cool that it's old, but other than the fact that certain people played certain guitars on certain albums they were just standard production guitars. You don't see the same thing with 22 fret Washburn Hawks. Bob Marleys Hawk sold for $1.2 million, yet you can buy a late 70s Hawk today on Reverb for under $1000.
That's not so much an issue with the 335/345/355. It's been in constant production since 1958, with gradual changes over the years.
So what would a Custom Core 535/555 bring to the table, other than some upgraded parts?
Both, my '64 Memphis Reissue 345 and my Murphy Ultra light aged '61 335 are approximately 0.25" wider in the body (rim width) than both my 555 & 535. Ren, told me specifically that the 535/555s are a little narrower (to reduce feedback) and the F holes are a little wider on Heritages. If your 335 is not a reissue of a particular vintage year, maybe your 335 is a little narrower than the vintage year reissue Gibbys?I which direction are in a 535 1/4" narrower than a 335? My '19 measures the same as my 335 did (the 535 replaced the 335). These guitars have pretty big dimensional tolerances.
rockabilly69
New member
skydog52
Well-known member
Gitfiddler
Charter Member
I like your 535 specs and also hope Heritage offers more options/upgrades.
Back in the pre-Plaza days, Heritage built a bunch of non-spec guitars and custom one-offs subject to customer requests.
My 2008 was ordered with a custom color, chunky neck, ebony fretboard and Phat Cat p'ups. I swapped in Seths.
I love this golden girl.
greywolf66
New member
and finally .. there here!
I checked again on this, and custom shop not available as of today. I have dreams…