Jimbob

Sweet-lookin' guitar! Congrats!

I might also add that when I spoke with Mike the other day, I asked him if the routing on the Build 1215 might look like the black line pattern on the photo posted below, and while he said he wasn't at liberty to say for certain, he did say that it was close. Upon examining my guitar a bit further, I have a pretty good hunch that the edited red line is probably a little more realistic. Again, my hunch is that the Standard II guitars likely have some routing done as shown in the image while still using their heavier mahogany. But, it's really just a guess at best:

Yeah, I've been very curious about this as well. These new Standard II models seem to be falling into the same weight ranges as the Custom Core models, but I do know that the CC models are solid while using lighter-weight mahogany. I just purchased an H-150 "Build 1215" directly from Heritage, and it weighs in at around 7.75 pounds. There's another one currently for sale on the Pasadena Craiglist website that's claiming a 7.3-pound weight. I do know that these "1215" builds use the lighter mahogany while also routing out a chamber in the lower-left bout of the guitar to reach this kind of weight. With that being said, I was talking with Mike earlier this week about how they did the weight-relief routing on the 1215, and he hinted toward the idea that I should look at the announcement scheduled for yesterday because he thought that Heritage might post some images of how they're routed. That obviously didn't happen, but to me it's sounding as though the Standard II models may be using the heavier mahogany that's typically used for their Standard line but then routed to relieve some of the weight. I clearly don't know if this is correct or not, but it would be easy to tell if one were to tap a fingernail over the routed area to hear the hollowed chamber........that is, if someone can get their hands on one.

Well, like I said in my previous post, when I was at the factory a few weeks ago, I noticed that all of the standard series guitars that were about to be shipped out had this wider headstock on them. Regarding the question about when the wider headstock was released, I agree with the other poster who said that they originally came out with the Custom Core models, which I believe were released in 2020 (not certain about the exact timing). However, I am quite certain that these newer and wider headstocks were released just this year for the standard models, and my guess is that they've only been around for the last couple of months or so. The only difference that I can see between the Custom Shop models vs the standard models is that the standard headstock lacks the center inlay. While I have no idea what the big announcement may be, but aside from that, my guess is that the wider headstock will become standard on all models that previously had the narrower one. At least that's my take on it.

Just curious, but did your guitars arrive today? And if so, what headstock came with them?

I was at the Heritage factory three weeks ago, and I didn't catch any talk about anything happening on the 25th. Speaking of headstocks, though, I did notice that some of their new standard models are now sharing the same headstock design as those found on the Custom Core models. I asked Mike about that, and all he said was "yeah, many of the new models now have the newly-designed headstock." That's about all I've got.

Yep! Absolutely! Funny, but I should really know better than to describe a certain tone that I'm hearing for any given product, for every time I do someone will have a difference of opinion. But yet, often times amps, types of guitars, effects, strings, or even the actual player himself never become part of the conversation. The fact of the matter is that tone is very subjective, and there are simply too many variables involved for us all to arrive at the same conclusions.

I agree, they don't sound "hi-fi" in that recording. There's some nice tone going on there! I just recall my pickup rabbit hole experience from 10 to 15 years ago when I picked up a set of Imperials, and compared to the others they just didn't sound right to me. Of course, it could've been the guitar I installed them in, too. No pickup is likely to work well in every guitar, either!

Yeah, I agree about ThroBak's consistency. I've had several sets of them without any issues, and the SLE-101s are the ones that have remained. Between Tom Holmes' pickups and ThroBaks, I haven't felt a need to look any further. Wolfe's Legends can't be beat for the price, either. I did have one set of Imperials about 10 or 11 years ago but, frankly, they just didn't do it for me. If I remember correctly, they had sort of a "hi-fi" type of high-end that just didn't sound very vintage-like to my ears. I do understand why some folks really like them, though, for they do have a certain tonal quality about them that's appealing to many. As far as ThroBak's customer service goes, thankfully I've never had to deal with it, but I do have to admit that it would certainly put a bad taste in my mouth if a company didn't honor its lifetime warranty for a defective product.

Just curious, but what set of Throbaks did you have installed, and what was it that you didn't care about them? The reason I ask is because I'm thinking of installing a set of Throbak SLE-101s into my H-150 CC goldtop, and it happens to be a set that I've always liked in the past. Of course, a 575 is an entirely different beast than a 150, so I can understand why the Imperials might be preferred for that guitar.

Congrats on the new guitar purchases! There's certainly nothing wrong with a nice plain top regardless of brand! Also, I've mentioned this before, but the bridges on these new H-150s and other Custom Cores have been upgraded to the more traditional zamac/brass tune-o-matic style bridge and, in my honest opinion, they're vastly superior tone-wise to the Pinnacle bridges that were installed up until 2025. They may not be locking, but the materials do matter! Can't wait to hear how you like the new guitars!

Sorry to hear of your trouble with the Schaller tuners! This scenario reminds me of a time back in the '70s when there was a huge debate about installing heavier Grovers on Norlin-era Les Pauls. Of course, at the time Gibson was installing those shoddy chrome tulip tuners that no one cared for, and everyone was raving that not only were the Grovers far superior, but the shear mass of the tuners themselves helped to give the guitars better tone and more sustain, or at least that was the claim. I don't recall how much of a tonal difference they really made, but I do find it interesting that modern-day Gibson Les Paul Historic Reissues continue to feature lighter-weight Kluson-style tuners. Rarely do we see anyone replacing them with the heavier Grovers or Schallers these days, but I'm sure there are exceptions. That said, I think we posted about this before, correct? Anyway, I decided to try the Gotoh SG381 tuners after reading the reviews that Kuz and a few others had written here. They're a direct drop-in replacement for the Heritage tuners, and I honestly didn't notice a bit of a tonal change in the guitar. I also tend to be super picky about what I'm hearing out of a guitar, too. The biggest difference that I noticed was that the tuning quality of the Gotohs was far superior to the Heritage tuners, so I've never felt any need to look any further. Plus, they're relatively inexpensive: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B012EBV47A?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_fed_asin_title

Well, to be honest, I use a small hand truck to get my amp from the car to the stage and back - same within my house to the car - so the only lifting I really need to do is to heave it in and out of my car and perhaps occasionally on an amp stand or on to the stage itself. Thankfully, the lifting is so minimal that it doesn't bother me much. If I know that I'll need to haul an amp up and down a full flight of stairs, though, I'll definitely choose a lighter amp. My primary amp is a Two-Rock TS1 combo, and even though it's a 100-watt beast of sorts, between the loop and the master volume control, I can dial it in for the kind of tone I like at any stage volume without having any issues. I'd be the first to say that I'd go for a modeling amp or a much lighter tube amp if I could produce the same kind of vibe that the TS1 puts out, but since I have yet to find anything that'll do that, I just tolerate the weight. Funny, but since the TS1 1x12 combo is still relatively small in size, the other guys in the band think I'm just using a small amp. Little do they know that I could run that same amp at the Madison Square Garden and get away with it.......LOL.

I have a bad back as well, but I'm still lugging around a 60-pound combo. It's heavy, but I still manage to get it in and out of gigs. I just love the sound of big iron and tubes.