Jimbob

The headstock repair looks to be a pretty solid and clean job, too! Nice score!

Mike at Heritage told me a few weeks ago that the Custom Core line would start installing the vintage-style "tune-o-matic" bridges for 2025, and it appears as though they've started shipping them out as well. Mike also said that these were made up with a zinc body with brass saddles, so they're obviously attempting to get them a bit closer to the original thing. I currently have these bridges on both of my H-150s and, just as one might expect, they do indeed have a vintage vibe going on: https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/H150CSTE--heritage-custom-shop-factory-special-h-150-electric-guitar-tiger-eye

I like the keystone knobs on these headstocks, too!

Congrats on the H150 goldtop! I picked up a new 2023 goldtop myself a couple of weeks ago! Great guitars!

Those tuners work very well with that guitar!

I don't personally feel that anything made in China is crap - quite the contrary - but I do feel that the stock Heritage tuners on the CC models, regardless of where they're made, are of average quality at best. They just feel sloppy with way too much play in them. Why Heritage decided to use these tuners on guitars with this level of quality is beyond me, but they simply don't stack up compared to Gotoh or many other tuners out there.

I think I came across a thread a few weeks ago where someone said that they were made in China, apparently because they could do the Heritage logo. I don't recall where I read that, though.

You know, I feel much the same way. While the new CC models are significantly lighter than the standards, and while they make for a very good modding platform, they would indeed be a very tough guitar to beat if their parts were all top shelf along with some nicer tops throughout. After all the mods I've done to these guitars, I'm pretty happy with them, but if there's one minor gripe that I continue to have, it's the shorter frets. For what they call a "Jescar medium jumbo" fret, it feels much more like a lower vintage fret. While I'm certainly doing okay with the frets just as they are now, if I ever need to do a fret leveling on either of them, I think I'd likely opt to have a refret job done instead. I have no idea about the Schaller M6 tuners and whether or not they'd fit.

Thanks! The new bridge is the one Mike sent me from Heritage. So far it's working pretty well, too, and I certainly didn't lose anything tone-wise by replacing the Pinnacle bridge. It now has the same tuners as the burst above; the Gotoh SG381-P4N keystones. They're a significant upgrade from the stock tuners.

Thanks! Well, I've actually been into Heritage guitars since the early '90s, at which time I picked up a '92 H-535. In '96 I bought an Eagle Classic from Jay Wolfe, and I still have both of these guitars (I'll post a photo below). I've since owned and sold two other H-150s, a natural H-535, an H-110, and an H-170.. The H-150s I owned were great guitars, but both of them weighed over 10 pounds. I eventually sold them to purchase three R8s, two of which were chambered. They were also great guitars, but I do tend to like the tone of the solid bodies a bit more. The solid R8 was a Dave's Guitar Shop limited run that I should've kept, but so it goes. Long story short, I've had an eye out for a while now hoping to replace some of those H-150s and R8s, and once I discovered the Heritage CC H-150s a few weeks ago, I sort of went on a spending spree!.....LOL. So, here I am back at the HOC and posting again after a rather lengthy hiatus from the place.......🙂 I haven't seen a "cadillac green" guitar in person, but they look pretty sweet online! I like the Pelham blue, too. I picked up the goldtop primarily because I wanted something different from the cherryburst, but it just so happened to sound and play a little better than the other H-150s that I tried at Dave's, too. Like most H-150s, these CC guitars are nice and lively-sounding, but it's the weight of them makes them much more tolerable to play on stage as well, especially for a guy my age with an aching back. Is that pole piece that you're speaking of bent? Or is it just installed with a tilt to it? The reason I ask is because I noticed that the pole pieces are quite easy to remove, and Heritage does have new replacement pole pieces ( and ABR-style bridges & thumbwheels) that can be ordered directly from Mike. Apparently Heritage is going to start installing this more traditional bridge system on their CC models sometime this year, but I have yet to see one online. This is the reason that they have them available.......that and for Heritage owners wanting to upgrade their guitars from the Pinnacle system. Anyway....hope to see that cadillac green H-150 posted here one of these days.......🙂 And oh, here's that photo. A '92 H-535 and a '96 Eagle Classic. I just noticed that the 535 has a plasic pickguard that I installed to save the flamed maple one from getting too scratched up, but the maple guard is on back on it:

I had no idea that Heritage was having guitars built in China. I do like those body carves on the back, though.

Thanks! They seem to give the guitar a bit more of a vintage vibe, too. Funny, but I was loving this guitar so much that I drove over to Dave's Guitar Shop earlier this week and pickup up another one......😁 This one got the newer ABR-style bridge and thumbwheels that came directly from Heritage. The pickguard is an old LP/P90 guard that I shaved down to fit this one. It's going to get the same tuners as well. I'm really enjoying these CC models. I only wish that I would've picked one up when they first came out:

I ended up going with the Gotoh SG381- P4N tuners. They're not locking, but they're a step above the stock tuners.

I also swapped out the pickup rings, not so much because of the color but because the existing rings were pretty tall. The strings were actually getting pretty close to hitting the bridge pickup ring. I just happened to have a set on hand that fit a little better as well as matching the pickguard, so it was a stroke of luck that the colors actually matched. I might just make a wooden pickguard for my CC H150, for I really liked the old ones as well. They added a nice taste of "elegance" to the guitar! I still have an old 535 and an Eagle Classic with them.

I just checked into this, and it appears as though a WD LP pickguard can indeed be ordered without holes, but I would check to make sure that the dimensions are correct before ordering. I also noticed that @Lkdoghad ordered one from MojoAxe, and that thread can be found here: I'd probably call call or email the guy at MojoAxe while asking him specifically about the Heritage CC model. Perhaps Lkdog will pipe in here as well? Since I've had this CC H-150, I'm actually thinking of purchasing another one.......LOL. If I do, I'll likely talk with MojoAxe. EDIT: BTW, on the MojoAxe website, scroll all the way to the bottom of the page to find the Heritage pickguards: http://www.mojoaxe.com/

Yeah, when I was first started fooling around with swapping the bridge, it looked as though the protruded portion of the Pinnacle thumbwheels being on the underside would come very close to hitting the body. However, once I put the ABRN bridge on with the altered 8-32 thumbwheels, it became apparent that I would've had enough room to use the Pinnacles. By that time I had already had a few thumbwheel holes enlarged, so I stuck with them. Also, while I gave the locking Faber bridge a try, for whatever reason my guitar just lost a little something, mostly just a slight loss in sustain. Everything looked good and tight and felt solid but, once I put the ABRN on, it resolved that issue. I'll have to try the locking bridge again at some point in time. I do have the feeling that some guitarists will evenutally run into some issues with the 8-32 posts, though, for I'm not aware of any other guitar maker that uses them. On the other hand, I would think that the larger post size would also add some strength to the system, so perhaps that might be a good thing? Regarding the 8-32 thumbwheels, I had a longtime machinist friend enlarge the holes free of charge but, if push comes to shove, with the 8-32 thread count that matches the 6-32, it's a relatively easy job for any pro machinist to enlarge it to an 8-32. It's a bit of a hassle for sure, but doable. Thanks for the kind comment on the burst finish! I just had to grab it when it popped up for sale a couple of weeks ago, and I'm loving this guitar! The bonus is that it's a pretty sweet-sounding instrument, too! Regarding the quality aspects of the Faber ABRN vs the Heritage bridge, at first glance I think I have to favor the Faber. It just looks a little more polished and refined. But, the Heritage bridge is clearly a faithful design of an ABR-1. While I don't know what kind of alloy it's built from, I instantly noticed that it's heavier than the existing Pinnacle bridge. I'm thinking that it's probably a zinc/aluminum mix of some kind, but I wouldn't know. The string saddle slots will also need some attention since they're only slotted for the placement of the string and not to the actual gauge of the string. Since I only took the time to see if the Heritage bridge fit okay, at the moment I'm not able to provide any kind of a tone comparison between the two. All in all, though, it seems that the Heritage bridge will certainly do an adequate job! One thing that you'll notice is that the Heritage bridge will slip over the 8-32 posts quite easily with just a tiny bit of play. Conversely, since the Faber ABRN has a hole diameter size of 4.2mm, which just happens to be the same nominal diameter of the 8-32 posts according to my digital calipers, you'll find that the Faber bridge will feel just a bit tighter upon slipping it over the posts. I certainly didn't have to force it down, by any means, and while it did align perfectly, it will be just a tiny bit tighter. I personally like it that way simply because it seems to make the system a little more solid. But, as they say, YMMV. And oh......one more note......when I first installed the ABRN bridge, I noticed that the posts were actually turning just a bit while putting the thumbwheels on, so I took two thumbwheels to tighten the posts down so that they'd bottom out into the post hole. This brought the posts down on each side by about 1/8", so while it may not be necessary to do this, the posts won't sit quite as high as they previously did. On the other hand, I just felt that it couldn't hurt to make as much contact with the post and body as much as possible, so that's what I did. The G-pickguard was just a part that I had on hand from owning Les Pauls previously, so I decided to see if it would fit. I found that the screw hole near the neck pickup was about 1/16" off, so I just filed a bit of an extension of that hole to fit the existing hole in the body. If you zoom into the photo, it is visible, but not enough for me to worry about it. I also found that the mounting bracket was as a slight angle, too, so I just put a felt washer along the binding side so that the mount wouldn't dent the body. If I ever do another one, though, I think I'll try to find a pickguard with no holes so that I can drill my own. If I'm not mistaken, I think WD has them. Anyway, I hope that helps, and thanks for asking!

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.

Ha! I had to look that up to see what the Brockburst was all about out, but yeah, I thought that the flamed-maple was pretty amazing on this one. It's even nicer better in person and, thankfully, it sounds pretty sweet, too! It's getting heavily modded, though. The next mod is a tuner swap.

Thanks! I just had to grab it when it came up for sale a couple of weeks ago:

Late to the party here, but I recently purchased a 2022 CC H150, and I've tried doing a similar mod as well. I also started with Kuz's idea of using the Faber Tone-Lock bridge while using the existing Pinnacle thumbwheels and lock nuts, and I also beveled out a bit of the metal from the underside of the bridge so that the Faber bridge would sit as it should on the Pinnacle thumbwheels (photo below). Everything seemed to fit perfectly well but, for whatever reason, the change seemed to deaden the tone of the guitar a bit while also losing sustain. Whether it was just a dead-sounding bridge or if the connection went awry in some way or another, I don't really know. With that being said, I decided to try another approach after determining that these CC bridge posts are actually an 8-32 thread pitch as opposed to the standard 6-32 thread that Gibson and older Heritages have typically used. I then proceeded to have a machinist friend enlarge the holes on some thumbwheels I had on hand to the 8-32 thread pitch so that I could put a Faber ABRN bridge on it. Since the post diameter of the 8-32 posts measures out to about 4.2mm, I became a little concerned as to whether or not the ABRN bridge would actually fit, but it fit perfectly! Granted, it was just a tiny bit tight, but I certainly didn't feel any need to force it on. If anything, it helped to make this system a little more solid. But, in my honest opinion, this system is pretty clean and is now working flawlessly, and once I tested the guitar again, all of the tone and sustain I had previously lost with the Tone-Lock system came back and then some! Needless to say, I'm quite happy with it! I also just happened to have a set of Faber's locking tailpiece studs on hand, so that became a part of this mod as well. I might also add that while it's entirely possible to simply turn the Pinnacle thumbwheels upside down if one is looking to place an ABRN on the thumbwheel's flat side, I also became a bit concerned about the center protrusion on those thumbwheels hitting the body of the guitar if the bridge height needed to be set too low. Of course, using a pair of standard thumbwheels with the holes enlarged solves that problem.