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I know someone who came from a distance to be there when Marv carved the neck of his new guitar. They had a conversation going about how much more to take off until it was just right. That was a Florentine GE. The customer sent some of the hardware he wanted used plus the billets for the spruce top. Amazing results in the end.

I can actually bend up an octave if I use 8s. As far as strings on a jazz guitar. I have found that using big ass strings gives a certain fluidity to my lines. I have them on my L5 and my 576. I don't bend on those guitars. I did some stuff with Albert King and that man had some big strings and he could bend the shit out of them. Stevie Vaughn could all bend big strings. I can't. I have guitars that I bend on, usually with 9s and guitars that I don't.

Let me fix what I said. I bend up a whole step not an octave! I would love to be able to bend up an octave but…….

When i wanted to experiment with a heavier gauge to get a bigger sound on my SKB, i intended to go from 12s to 13s. But Thomastik doesn’t make a 13 in the GB line. So i skipped to 14s. Had them on my SKB now for a few years. I would have stuck with 12s on the 550 but didn’t have any left in the house. It was an adjustment at first- definitely, but once i got used to it, it was not a big deal. Going from one guitar strung with 12 to another with 14 you can feel it for sure, but it just takes a minute to remind yourself to give it a little extra oomph all around. On the other side- i tried heavier gauges on my Martin 000-18 and didn’t really like it. I found it much harder to get what i wanted out of heavy gauge on acoustic.

A couple years ago, I bought a used Collings 290 wraptail from Willcutt Guitars and got a KILLER deal on it. Before I bought it, I asked the store manager (Eric, who is also a good pal of mine) what P-90s are in the guitar. He said that he thought they were Lollar P90s but wasn't exactly sure because it was a used guitar, but he said that what ever P90s are in it I won't want to change them because they sound incredible. The guitar was mint and it was such a good price that I didn't push the issue. I got it home and played it, and they did sound incredible! Well, I changed the stings and looked under the covers.... the guitar came with Throbak '52/'54 P90s!!! My killer deal got EVAN BETTER!!! So yes, I have Throbaks in my Collings 290 wraptail.

great looking guitar!

Marv built the Terminators!

I know ya'll have seen this pic before, but in the spirit of this thread I'll share once again. Marv built and sprayed my #1 (H-525 Custom) that includes his 50's stye thick neck carve. Man, I love this beast of a guitar!

This one does not have a huge neck. Very comfortable medium C.

I'm not sure if anyone has posted this yet or if this news is still relatively unknown, but upon speaking with Mike at Heritage the other day, he informed me that the new 2025 Custom Core H150 and other CC models will receive a new ABR-style bridge as well as the standard flat thumbwheels. In other words, the Pinnacle system is getting replaced. My conversation with Mike began when I inquired about finding some standard thumbwheels with an 8-32 thread pitch, for I was hoping to install a Faber ABRN bridge while using the existing bridge posts that share the same 8-32 thread pitch. I also became concerned about flipping the Pinnicle thumbwheels over to use the flat side, for I felt that the centered protrusion being on the underside could potentially hit the top of the body if the action was set low. For the life of me, though, I could not find any thumbwheels other than a 6-32 thread or M4 metric, so not only did I have a machinist friend enlarge the holes to 8-32 on some thumbwheels I had laying around, I also went ahead and ordered the new bridge upgrade from Mike. Well, the parts arrived today, and the bridge and thumbwheels mount perfectly on the H150 bridge posts without any modifications whatsoever. I'm not sure who's building these bridges for Heritage, but it seems to be well-built and pretty solid: Just for reference sake, I am keeping the Faber bridge and the modified thumbwheels on the H150 for now, simply because I'm loving the way it sounds with this system. Still, as long as one obtains a set of thumbwheels with the 8-32 thread pitch, it's entirely possible to use a Faber ABRN or to upgrade to the new Heritage system without any installation issues. Of course, it's getting away from the lockable version, but I tend to prefer this system myself.