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Who loves this Pic??? Happy Holidays!!

I love the old story about these common men giving Gibson the finger and doing their thing with the old fashioned methods. That ended in 2016. I lived through it and, like all things, it has come to an end. I have my guitars and friends so I am perfectly happy.

We visit this topic from time to time, but it is always a joy. One of my favorite finishes is the chestnut sunburst. One nice feature is that the color difference between maple and mahogany isn't stark. Here are two older instruments. Note how the artists spraying them went for a slightly different result.

Brent bought them all

Still have my 1993 H-475. Incredible guitar!

What's the difference between grits and polenta? (about fifteen bucks) 😇

Hey, some of just buy some guitars and then.... KEEP THEM! I've been looking at several guitars, and then I decide instead to just go pick up one of the guitars I already have, and the need to buy something fades away. Buy some new strings and make it sound fresh and new! I have seen a few on Reverb, and actually saw one on the local Craigslist. They're out there.

That looks like VWB, a Marv speciality

Kuz told me the finish on my H535 P90 is a special Marv Burst, I love it. I really like the transitions...

I have such a guitar as you describe, Sir Jon, and likely brought it to a PSP.

I have 2 Chestnut Burst.

They are all great, especially the old way. Vintage Wine Burst is a nice one.

Dark almond burst (upgrade)

I started looking around for shirts and the main thing I got from this exercise is I have way too many t-shirts! Here are a few but I know I attended more PSPs than this sample. I'll find them some day.

These are a couple designs I worked on back around 2010 - 2011.

Good times indeed. T-shirts for PSP1 same logo as banner so maybe JimW had something to do w/them as well. And the HOC guitar, that I still play, is a sunburst 555. Think Kenny won the white 555 the next year. I really liked that Caddy (from PSPIII, I missed II) - floated on the freeway and made the Minnie to Michi trip many many times.

80’s Heritage H-170 goldtop, I sold it with EMG’s (81 and 85)

I wish I had pics of our band in that era. That was the 7 man band, "Objection Overruled" with the brass section, guitar, organ, bass, and drums. Those were the days when you didn't waste film on stuff like the car, unless your girlfriend was in the shot! Taking pictures was expensive back then. A couple of bucks for the film, another 3 for developing and prints. You got 12 to 24 pics from your 110 Instamatic camera with the 1/2" negative. When you were getting $10-15 for a 3 hour gig, you didn't waste money on pictures! Something that many people don't realize is how little the dollar buys with many things today, and how some things have become incredibly cheap. I often look at how many hours do we need to work to buy something. (I'm pulling out my old man rant now!) When I started working in the late 60s, I was making $1.40/hour. I don't know what my dad was making in '66 but to buy my Kent guitar would have taken 2 full weeks of pay. That $400 Gibson ES335 I wanted would have taken more than 2 months wages! That obviously wouldn't happen when you have a family with 3 kids, a house, food, car, etc. Considering that you can work at McD's for $12/hr, an Ascent H-137 would be 3 days work, even after taxes. When I see people not blink as they shell out $300 to $1000 for an I-phone, it makes buying a guitar almost an impulse buy! If the Ascents are anywhere close to my Tribute ASAT in playability, then that's a really easy way to get into playing guitar, or even grabbing a "beater" guitar to take along without having to worry about it getting stolen or busted. Things are probably a lot different if you're in Vietnam or the Philippines making about $2 an hour, it's like the US in the 1960-70s. There, buying an Ascent is a lot more realistic than buying a Custom Core H-150.

I've been reading the thread on TGP about the Ascent guitars. It's almost hilarious reading the condemnation of the wood, the bolt neck, etc. At least a dozen of the posts were the of the "well, I'm not interested!" type. DUH! Anyone who thinks the Ascent line is aimed at Gear Page snobs is crazy. These are people who will spend $100 on a pair of bumblebee caps or $200 on vintage aged pickguards and poker chips. They aren't going to buy a $180 guitar. It's not aimed at ImABigStar on TGP who has 30 guitars, a dozen Marshall stacks, two Klons and plays for his dog at night. It's a guitar for little Timmy who's in 5th grade and wants to learn guitar. Daddy will spend $180 for Christmas. If little Timmy ends up learning to play, then maybe in 4 or 5 years he can get a real H150. When I was 10, you bought a crappy Sears Silvertone for $20 in the classifieds. Then you might get a crappy Japanese made guitar at a pawn shop for $100. Then, after several years you would move up to a used Fender for $200. You didn't start out buying a $400 Gibson just to try to learn to play G C E... 1 2 3 G B F... 1 2 3.

Nobody writes blues lyrics with polenta in them

I've owned many Heritages, since 1988, with the TKL cases. The H-150 and H-140 cases were perfect fits. I'm sure the H-137 has a similar tailored fit. I don't see any reason to transport them in anything else. My Peerless archtop arrived in a case which fit so poorly the president of the company sent me an apology and the company redesigned the case for the remaining of that model's inventory. I researched cost effective options to transport it and settled on a Mono OM/Classical gig bag which fit like a glove. The guitar has resided and traveled in that gig bag for the past 10 years without incident or intonation issues (floating bridge, floating pickup, and pickgaurd). That was a case where a gigbag was a good fit, no pun intended.

I picked this baby up in Kalamazoo yesterday!! 2013 Heritage H137 KORINA!!! One piece Korina body and neck Rosewood fretboard Lollar p90s Grover Tuners Locking Tonepros hardware Heritage case and case candy CTS pots/mylar caps It has a fat 50s neck. It’s only 7 lbs 3 ozs.

Thin and properly applied poly doesn't sound much different than a properly applied nitrocellulose finish. The difference in finish is far, far more apparent on acoustic guitars where the body and especially the top play an enormous role in the sound of the guitar. The idea that "poly is bad" came the era when it was applied so thickly to guitars you could chip it off with a chisel and get 1/8" flakes of it coming off. Poly has a lot of advantages, the biggest is it doesn't take much time in the factory. Once it is cured, it is stable. Not to mention the solvents and worker exposure. Rickenbacker is using a UV-cured finish currently, very little solvent is used, and it cures in minutes upon exposure to UV light. For the owner, poly doesn't shink, doesn't react with stuff, isn't easily damaged by common chemicals, like alcohol or acetone, and it is quite easy to make minor finish repairs, as it sands and polishes easily. Harder to make deeper repairs, since it is insoluble once cured. All that being said, I like nitro a lot. It feels right and I like the way it sinks into the grain over time, especially on spruce top acoustic guitars. Nitro finishes are very repairable for the experienced luthier with the proper equipment since lacquer can be blended with fresh lacquer to make nearly invisible repairs. Then we can get into the merits of hand-applied varnish finishes...

Hoping to see him rock this Marvbird.

You're basically saying my buddy is full of it, and equating him with so called internet modding experts. The guy I'm talking about is one of the finest players I know, and he is one of the best amp guys I know who's got a killer ear for tuning amps. If I was going to trust anybody's opinion on sound it would be his, not some internet expert. And BTW he didn't do it for a tone change, his guitars had overly thick finishes that he thought would feel better if they were thinned, and they guy that knocked them back did a great job and rebuffed them to a gloss. And as I said, the finish looked, and more importantly felt great when finished. The tone thing was just an added bonus that he wasn't expecting and he didn't say it was a massive improvement. I don't think you have enough practical experience to call this BS. Yes, wood doesn't breathe, but thinner finish can help the wood vibrate more (if the wood isn't just plain dead). On a good piece of wood, thick poly finishes dampen resonance. And many people that call this BS are playing with potted pickups that have zero ability to hear any difference in the improved resonance. I've done quite a few finish experiments. And I've stripped three different guitars of mine with poly finishes, and all three of them looked, felt, and sounded better than when I started. You can keep on believeing what you want about finishes, but I will believe what I've felt, seen, and heard. Gibson has sprayed too many guitars with thick overly plasticized lacquer, and many people I trust, who've thinned them, or better yet, refinned their guitars can hear a difference. And another thing that distinquishes poly and urethane (and even overly plasticized nitro), from a properly shot thin nitro, is that it's way harder to repair finish flaws with poly/urethane/plasticizednitro. Certain finish repair people I know won't work on certain gibsons because of the plastizers That's another reason alot of us prefer a good thin nitro finish.

I hate to say it, but nitro lacquer doesn't allow the wood to "breathe" (the wood is dead anyway..) It's a myth the gets posted on the internet all the time. It's just BS that people say to distinguish it from polyester or urethane coatings that are "plastic". If you're going to sand it down, you better have a good polishing wheel handy to buff it back, unless you want an "old looking" dull finish. Just be careful that you don't sand or buff through the whole finish. According to my dad, I had an uncle who used to polish his black Oldsmobile every week back in the early 50s. After a couple of years, he hit metal on a few spots!

I actually have a close friend with serious musical chops that had a local finish guy knock back the finish on his Gibson 1956 Reissue Les Paul, and on his 1959 Reissue Les Paul. I personally thought it was a mistake when he sent them off. But the guy did a great job on them, and they actually look better, and more importantly, feel better to play (less plastically feeling for lack of a better term.) Both of these guitars have pretty microphonic pickups (Throbaks in both), and he swears the guitars sound more resonant.

This sounds like an easy way to ruin a nice guitar.

Thanks guys, On a whim, I contacted Wolfe guitars. They were pretty sure that they had one but had to search for it. Bingo! It's on it's way back to where it belongs! Thanks for taking the time to assist me in my mission! Tigerpaus

I did get a replacement for my 1960s Gibson ES-345 with a 2022 version. I've now played it enough to have an opinion. First, the Varitone and the stereo features I didn't ever need. Gibson stopped putting them into the ES-345. The new version has a fuller neck than the '60s and is built to be at least as good as the earlier builds. The finish and woods look the same. Thumbs up. The guitar has Phat Cats in it, which really sound fine. I have the original pickups as well, which I haven't tried. The reports on them are generally very positive. I have a fairly recent H-535. The build quality between the two are comparable. Most "the guitar that got away" stories don't have a happy ending. This one does.

And then bought them back!

I've heard that one's memory deteriorates as we age. At least I think that's what I heard.

G, I'm sure that's made of the finest tone wood available... old growth masonite. Am I right?

I still have the bargain guitar my father bought me 60 years ago to learn on. 😉

I thought it was Corvair..... Nova..... Camaro.... Impala.... Monte Carlo..... Corvette! Dad drove the Oldmobile! It was a fine ride! Just look at those rockets.

Diminished the value? As the OP asked, I don't think Squire diminished the value of Fender nor Epiphone, Gibson. Smart business move for brand awareness. If I remember correctly, with GM you first car was a Chevy with the next promotion a Buick. When you moved into management an Oldsmobile and when the kids graduate college and move out, Caddy. Marketing 101

I did the multifx things a couple times but I prefer individual pedals in most cases.

So I went into a music store and they had a BOGO free sale going on. To my surprize they had three brand new Heritages. An H150 CC, an H150 CC Artisan Aged and 575. Basically for $4700 I got a new 575 and a CC Artisan. I struggle with the aged guitar as I usually worry when I get a new guitar that I might get a ding. So buying an aged guitar, one doesn't have to worry. However if I pay less and then not give a shit about the clean guitar I can age it myself. But the flame on the CC Artisan sold me. So now I have more guitars. I suppose that in order to pay for these new ones I will have to sell an older one. I have a K seriel number burst that is quite nice and may show up here in the classifieds soon. Pictues will show up sooner or later.

I think the term "breathe" is probably used by gtr players to describe the sound and resonance qualities rather than actual air penetration. I was being facetious with my oxygen mask comment earlier

FWIW, I'm absolutely loving the HRW's in my 2001 H535 that I bought about 6 months ago. The Faber locking hardware, and surprisingly, the Faber bushing inserts for the tail and the bridge made an absolutely enormous difference in tone. I just refretted it with Dunlop 6100, as it had possibly the worst frets and fretboard I've seen on a Heritage. But those HRW's are fantastic for the blues/rock tones I like. They really complement the excellent tone of this 535. I don't mind the SD59's that came original in my 1998 H150, they're a little "harsh". Slightly rolling off the volume and tone just a little bit makes them better. My H150 is definitely one of the more resonant ones, and lighter at around 8.75lbs.

I'm guessing that the change in feel wasn't so much a thickness issue, but a surface roughness change. Feeling a couple thousandths of a change in thickness would be impossible. A change of several microns difference in surface roughness is detectable. I worked with inks and coatings for 40 years and one of the measurements was surface roughness. It affects gloss and abrasion. Too smooth can feel sticky unless there is something to cause it to glide like an oil, wax or silicone. There are multiple instruments that will measure the film thickness in microns. It would be a really simple way to test an instrument before and after attacking it with sandpaper. Then measure the surface with a profilometer. While I didn't formulate any wood coatings, I had friends that worked in labs of a few paint companies around here who did. NC was on its way out for most purposes, but it is still used for certain coatings. We still had 4 plants using it at one point. It's excellent for certain packaging materials. BTW, I once formulated a really nice NC lacquer for the brass pans on my slot car chassis. We were trying to make an overprint varnish (didn't work because of solvent restrictions). We had a bunch of different grades of NC along with different plasticizers and compatible resins. Besides keeping them nice and shiny, it insulated so it couldn't spark if they hit the braids on the track. As long as you didn't need to solder it back together it was great. It was easily removed with a mix of acetone and alcohol.

Frankie's rockin' that thing! I guess he's not so "country" anymore.

Thanks Scott!!! It was originally a wrap tailpiece guitar and it was converted to a Nashville style setup at the factory. It’s possible that it was drilled in the wrong spot?

Just got an H-150 with the SD 59's and I really love the deep tones I get with that guitar. My 535 has the Shaller's and those are really nice and especially versatile on that guitar. I really wanted the SD 59's with that new Heritage to go after the classic LP sound I was after.

I had a great sounding Pearly Gates bridge pup in an H150 once. Maybe the blue one I sold to Detroit Blues?

Good morning I ended up going with Seymour Duncan Pearly Gates humbuckers! I just got them, now I have to put them in my guitar! 👍🏻

Why not just buy a Gibson? Not trolling, but what made you get the Heritage instead of the Gibson? My first Heritage was a '98 H150 (I bought used), which was a special dealer order with Seymour Duncan 59's and tune-o-matic tail and bridge (Nashville type) instead of Schaller pups and hardware and jumbo frets. Heritage put some weird value pots in it (basically the same as Norlin era late 70's Les Pauls, 300k and 100k). I played it for almost 20 years like that. Eventually, I had to replace the output jack, so put in the excellent Dimarzio 30% taper pots at the same time (500k and 250k). Much better. Then I put Faber locking ABR bridge and locking lightweight aluminum stopbar. Then I put on a set of Gotoh SG301 locking tuners in place of the heavy Grovers. That shaved a significant weight off the guitar, 8.8lbs now, vs a bit over 9lbs. More balanced and comfortable now. The Faber stuff is great, and is more functional change than stylistic change. Locking hardware and tuners are awesome at string change. Not long ago, I bought a virtually unplayed 2001 H535. It had the typical Schaller hardware and HRW pickups. I liked the Faber stuff so much I put it on the H535, along with a set of Gotoh SG301 tuners. (the Rotomatics had gotten stiff due to lack of use). I put the Faber inserts and bushings in and holy cow, did that ever bring the tone out! I was stunned how much difference that made to the 535. I just refretted it with the same Dunlop 6100 wire too. Turns out it had some of the worst factory fretwork I've ever seen. Explains why it was unplayed so long. But now, it's a forever guitar. I love it, hands down. I've compared it with a Collings I35LC with Throbaks (excellent guitar) and I am totally happy with my 535. I even put a CNC'd nylon nut on it, because they work so much better than bone. I didn't mind the stock Schaller hardware, but I'm much more used to the conventional tune-o-matic when I play. Just more comfortable. I also own a very killer Gibson, a Custom shop 60th anniversary 1960 Les Paul v2. It is a stunner of a Les Paul as well. I know what a great Gibson should be. (where I learned the value of Nylon 6/6 nuts - which were original on all the 'bursts from the 50's and 60's) So I ask, why do you want to change your Heritages? Are you: Correcting something? Changing something for practical purposed? Changing something to suit your playing style as it evolves? Changing something for aesthetic reasons? But I would suggest if you want it to be a Gibson, find the Gibson you want and get that. There are enough, minor, but important differences, that a Heritage isn't and never will be a Gibson. My H150 is never gonna be a Gibson Les Paul, and my H535 is never gonna be a Gibson ES335, but that's OK.