DetroitBlues

I’ve got a feeling the Standard USA model line is going away and only Custom Cores will be USA made…

Lol, well said Kuz. I'm lugging around tube amps to this day. I do have a solid state, pedal amp only as a backup. That Metropoulos amp I'm using has power settings from 10/25/50 watts, but unlike most amps that offer such features, the tone doesn't change. A lot of work went into it from what I understand, but make no mistake, it's a boutique amp and isn't cheap.

Is it so much of a volume issue as it is weight? Those modelers/solid state abominations are significantly lighter. For some reason the Fender Mustang craze just came to mind. How many people here and other places raved on the 100w Mustang III combo and the Mustang IV head/cabinet? I know they were lightweight... but was the tone really there?

I have a custom ordered H535, turning 9 years old this year. When I initially bought it, I didn't want the single-ply plastic pickguard that was offered. Years before it would have been a matching flame bound maple pickguard, but cost-cutting measures reduced it to a cheap piece of plastic. A few years ago, I had a newer designed, multiply pickguard installed. Looks better to me. Fast-forward to 2023, I purchased a new H150 factory direct with a standard pickguard. For some reason, I like that guitar without a pickguard. Again looks better. I have a HOC LE H137 with soapbar P90's. To my eyes, it looks "right" with a NOS Gibson pickguard on it vs without it. Can't explain it, but some guitars seem right with a pickguard and others don't. Anyone else do this?

I'd wave the banner, but the band asked me to stop. People thought it was the name of the band...

There is a trick for pickup rings. Tape a piece of sandpaper on the top, gently glide the pickup ring back and forth until it makes the curve of the top. The tailpiece is also original.. Fine guitar all around. Hows the neck shape?

Nice looking guitar. I've also contemplated the full multi-effects route as I had a pedal board that was way too heavy and had a couple of failures that took way to long to figure out. I've simplified a lot of it and sold off a bunch of pedals to use mutli-purpose pedals. (Not really "multi-effects") How does this unit compare tonal-wise to what you had before? Here’s my slimmer board, I have swapped the Timmy and the BM so I can use the BM as a volume/clean boost. The Wampler has two inputs and two outputs so I can save presets as either a preamp effect or use in the effects loop.

I used to put the single coil sized humbuckers in my Strat's for year, that sounded good, but never quite what I wanted. When I got a Tele style guitar (Reverend Buckshot), I did the same thing again. Still sounded okay. My last Reverend was a Trickshot which again, I used a ZexCoil in the bridge. Sounded okay again. A couple years ago, I bought a used Highway 1 (1st Gen) Strat that had a single coil sized rail in the bridge pickup. That sounded awesome! I've since starting using a Dimarzio Chopper T in the bridge of my Am Pro II Tele and I absolutely love it. Its noiseless, has some great spank, but still sounds like a single coil. I've since converted both my Strats to Dimarzio single coil rail pickups. A Chopper in a Player Series Strat and a Fast Track 2 in a "vintage" American Standard. Both sound great; just another option if you want a noiseless option that still sounds like a single coil

Nice score. What did you change on it or what did the previous owner change? Those old 140's have a seriously deep dish carve on the top, so much so, the pickup rings would crack. Hard to tell if the pickups were swapped, but the rings are new(er) and I think the top-hat knobs are also a replacement part. Only other thing I saw was the screws for the tuners were black. Nothing wrong with any of that, but if you paid a higher price then you'd like, I hope it wasn't sold as an all-original with a repaired headstock.

Wowzers, that's some series string gauges. I used 12's on an acoustic, but I'm basically strumming chords. On any electric, there is just no way I could do that when it comes to vibrato, bends, etc. Hats off to you!

Have you tried that yet? It seems relatively new which may explain why I really haven't seen anyone talk about it.

You can bet any guitar from 2015 or earlier that has a huge neck, it was most likely neck carved by Marv with his famous "Marv-Carve". I know there was a unique H157 that Marvin did several years ago from the neck carving to the paint. Maybe others would know this, but I also believe any unique custom one-off may have been worked by Marv.

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…

Planned to sell? Otherwise, I’m not worried about it. Yet. I’m more curious to see scammers trying to pose these as USA models. But the neck heel and belly cuts give it away. Sellers could sand away serial numbers and some older Heritages have three screw truss rod covers, so swapping with a blank is possible

My guess is someone trying to mark it up as a profit. It is a preorder listing

Found the first advertisement for the new Ascent+ H150. Seller is asking just shy of $1000 for the new Chinese import. Rather pricey, but way cheaper than a new USA H150. Doesn’t seem that long ago, you could find a decent H150 for just around a $1000 and a H140 for under $1000. It had me wondering why Heritage would do this and it dawned on me. A few California based guitar companies such as ESP and Schecter do make USA guitars, but they are purely custom shop. Similar models are imported from Asian manufacturers to fit the need of everyday consumers for best value for the money. Maybe this is what Heritage is doing. Making USA made Heritages Custom Core only as they have a bigger price tag. Take the focus away from the $2500 H150 to a $4000 H150 CC. Makes sense I guess to free up the factory to focus on the expensive guitars and move away from the cheaper ones. Wouldn’t be surprised if Harmony is slowly phased out for their import models. This maybe why we are seeing the evolution of Heritage to be more of a modern guitar company and not what many of us knew from decades ago. It’s been almost ten years now since the owners sold the company. No surprise anymore this is what it takes to keep the name on the headstock. Right or wrong, this is what it is.

Glad to see this thread going strong. Even at a small gig, I really enjoy a tube amp. Think it sounds just a hair better has a 2x12 instead of a 1x12 cab. Still amazing to hear playing live!

Is the label the only way to tell it’s an Ascent?

Other than artists and social media in influencers, I’ve never heard anyone able to use the bespoke program ever since they announced it.

Knowing Greg, the selector change is probably a lot to do with volume swells. I’ve known about him for many years, even met him in person a few time since he has an artist model(s) with Reverend guitars. By no small coincidence, Heritage and Reverend do have some deep connections, so it doesn’t surprise me Greg has a custom model H535.

That a headstock break by the tuner? Nice find, especially interesting to read it has a big neck.

Now you can custom relic what you have... You can shoot holes into them now. Somewhere, there are YouTube videos of them.

Excellent eye! Never would in a million years watched anything by the Bangles, but its nice to see early adopters. Wonder if the folks of Heritage knew about them or not interested.

Reading this article this morning in Guitar World that Celestion is coming out with an "ear-saving" Peacekeeping speaker that allows you to crank your tube amp to its natural saturation level, but the speaker has a built-in attenuation to keep the volume levels down. Maybe this means I can use a 4x12 cabinet as a bedroom amp? Celestion’s ear-saving Peacekeeper speaker lets you dial in the “sweet spot” of a driven amp at modest volumes

One heck of an upgrade, pickups, hardware, etc. Double Creams are definitely Brentrocks approved! Hopefully this one stays in the family. Congrats!