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I was contemplating running my 50W Marshall head through my 1961 Hammond (as a speaker cab). It has twin 12 in speakers but only about 15W. Probably won't try that now🔥.

I've had the chance to play the prototype a little while ago. The guitar is very light and resonant. Compared to the Benedetto next to it, it's a toss up. The bracing is carefully shaved. I don't know if it's tap tuned, but the plate was carefully carved and is thin. It takes significantly more time by the best luthiers at Heritage to make this. That was the goal, sort of like the Citation. Another reason the price may be higher than you expect is that there was quite a bit of time put into creating the design and execution of the first guitar. I'll bet Heritage makes 5-10 of these per year max. I would have to be in a much higher tax bracket to get one of these. The first reason is that I would be fearful of the first ding. The second reason is that the tone caters to those with exquisite tonal taste when in the hands of a master. That's not me. The design, and yes, the headstock, is elegant. When you see and hold it, you'll know you are in the presence of something special. I wish Heritage all the luck with this. It brings the company to a notch higher in the acoustic jazz world, for sure. Personally I'd like inlays for appearance sake. I don't know if that's guilding the lilly though.

Very nicely played. I'm always in awe of the way you jazz guitarists improvise. My brain just doesn't work that way! 😁

Not sure what the difference is, but it’s not going to sway me either way. I won’t be spending that kind of money on a guitar…

Thank you for listening! I'll do more train and post again!

Thank you always rockabilly69!

Based on the time stamps, we were literally writing them at the same time.

This is one reason I almost prefer ANOS... at least I know they work. Some dealers pretty much won't even touch / test the NOS stuff.

I haven't seen the body size listed. I'm guessing 18" like their large jazz guitars. From the pictures published I don't see fretboard markers, my preference for them is 4mm pearl dots. I wonder if you can specify a "Ghost Stinger" as an option?

Good to have you back! Nice tune!

agree it's good to see Heritage making big archtops again. And especially a new model! The Cadillacs of the guitar world

nice song, great jazz guitar tone, and great playing!

Hi, I play autumn leaves with Heritage's archtop guitar. If you have time, please listen to it. Thank you.

The archtop market is different from the normal electric guitar market. There aren't a ton of companies making them. Most are smaller hand builds and most often they are made to order. While $13k isn't cheap, it really isn't out of line with other custom archtop builders. American Archtops go up to about 16 grand, Wilkie archtops start at 15 and go to $25k. Marchione runs $25 to 50K. The affordable archtops are from Eastman, running from $2500 to $5500. I do find it interesting that Heritage is staying somewhat active in the market with the Eagle, 575, and now the 517. It's a nice looking guitars, for sure.

Looks nice! There's 3 different threads here about the same gtr. Don't you guys read before you post? Big news though: the 1st new model in a long time. Undertstandable.

yeah, the Tube Shop was solid. So far I have had very limited success with NOS tubes. maybe it is user error but I find they fail at a much higher rate than my experience with new production tubes - both preamp and power sections. I've not liked JJs at all until they came in this 3rd Power amp. they sound great in this amp. they sound a little different but as good as TAD 6L6GC and Telefunken 6L6GC.

I mean, Chicago Music Exchange has a used one from 1994 for about 3700. I was tempted.

They need to resurrect the H-516. Gimme that with a fat neck and some P90s. Jazz, blues, rock, country. It would be a do it all guitar. I’m convinced it would sell for less than $13k.

Easily affordable for the working jazz musician.

Not tap tuned, tone-tapped spruce top

A speaker that is rated at twice the amp power rating has long been the safe standard, or the combination of multiple speakers equaling twice the rated power. I personally don’t think that is really necessary though. I have now built 3 6g3 amps and paired them with 65 watt Scumback M75 Speakers. I would use lower wattage but there isn’t one until you get down to 25 watts. The amps have varied in output based on the power transformer used and plate voltage supplied. The lowest wattage of the three was 12.9 clean and 17.4 cranked all the way up with 355 volts on the plates. That would be fine for a 25 watt speaker. The first one I built I used a vintage spec PT and had 440 volts in the plates which gave almost 30 watts when fully turned up, that would not be good for a 25 watt speaker. So from a manufacturing standpoint, a company would spec a speaker that can cover variations like that. Smaller builders may have much less variation or can even spec the speaker based on a single build. I’m comfortable with a speaker that is around 10 watts more than the amp is rated for something lower wattage like a 17 watt amp. I built a JTM 45 that maxes out at 42.78 watts (JTM 42.78?) and I’m comfortable using the same 65 watt M75 in that amp but I probably wouldn’t go lower than that. The last gig I used that amp on I had a 200 watt Eminence Em12n speaker and it sounded great, especially clean. There is zero speaker breakup but the dirty sound is just a little sterile compared to the M75 that gets a little breakup and adds some warmth to the sound. Some may prefer the 200 watt speaker though, to each their own. The amp has a master volume and I turned it down to the level the sound guy wanted, then when I got home I measure the output. I played the gig at 14.5 watts dirty and about 8 watts clean with a 200 watt speaker. 8 watts with an efficient speaker is louder than most people realize and with todays stage management makes amps like the JTM 45 obsolete without a master volume or attenuation. I have a 20 speaker that is going into yet another 6g3 variant I’m building only this is a single channel and uses 6k6GT power tubes and should max out at 10-12 watts and be perfect for most places I play.

Now that's a gorgeous archtop! And Henry Johnson is the perfect player to endorse it. Unfortunately it's priced over my pay grade at $12,999. https://heritageguitars.com/products/custom-shop-core-collection-h-717-archtop-guitar-honey-burst

A new model. Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!

Gotta love HJ! Great guitar and great player! Thanks for posting!

It definitely is reasonably priced for what it is, and now that Gibson has pretty much pulled out of that market entirely, it was time for Heritage to get back into it. Still, I'd think you'd at least be able to specify a color for that price. Then again, compared to flat top acoustics, archtops are definitely a much higher end and more limited market item. I was always amazed at how Heritage was able to offer different types of archtops at a relatively low price compared to G-brands. I wonder how it compares to the archtops that Heritage used to make like the Sweet 16. Which of them were tap tuned? I admit I never paid nearly as much attention to the Jazz Box side of things.