MartyGrass

I see these in a different light. The guitar seems decent by this review. The price point is attractive to the begining and intermediate player due to the price. Those who can pay more and want "better", there are other places to go. I don't own anything in this series but have played a couple. I also recall one of my favorite rock players, Randy California of Spirit, played a Sears Silvertone in his early recording and performing days to great reviews. I have modded my H-150/157s over the years in some cases. The didn't "need" mods, but some fret work and slot cutting helped. If I were back in 6th grade, there's no way I could afford a new American built H-150 or H-535 from my paper route. If the Ascent+ was available, that may be within reach. I have an emotional bias though. I grew up in Kalamazoo. I'd take the temperature of the community since they are my audience. I don't think there would be resentment if I got the Asian version, especially as a kid. I can tell you that in Kalamazoo years ago, a lot of guys played Fenders and Gretsches. They never got any pushback for disloyalty. Rather, my friends liked trying them out. Quite a few were loyal Fender players. Some worked for Gibson. Brand loyalty has advantages. And if QC is solid, one advantage is you pretty much know what you're going to get before you open the case. If the Ascent series does have the quality and tight specs, those are strong positives. I don't own one, but I'm not allergic to them! A major reason I had a good early experience, 6th-10th grade, was a glut of Gibsons in my city. I got a Firebird V with a Kalamazoo amp from a neighbor for 6 weeks of paper route money. If I were not in Kalamazoo at the time, I'd probably would have had to go Asian! Let me mention that the Ascent line is still owned and managed by the Heritage company owners. If they can produce very good guitars with a significantly lower price in Asia, they likely have to strongly consider doing that for their investors. It is likely mandated. But it's our choice as to what we buy, and we buy for different reasons. My choice has been to buy locally. That's easy when the product is good and it supports your neighbors. If I were 13 again and had to earn the money for a guitar, amp and lessons, and a used Gibson or Heritage would cost more than a new Ascent, the lofty ideals of "buying American" may not be reachable. Lastly, the Ascent series idea came from somewhere. It may be what allowed the new Heritage owners the ability to maintain the original Kalamazoo site for the Heritage models. IDK. Recall that whatever the original Heritage factory owners were doing was not survivable, leading to its sale. Projecting from my youth when I'd stare at the Gibson catalogs, quite a few kids who get an Ascent will move up into a Heritage or Gibson or Fender or PRS. From what I see, the Ascent seems like it could work as an entry point for a kid into a lifetime of guitar.

Heritage has made thin bodies with solid tops but not as a sustained model. I don't know the worth of a solid top over a full center block with mounted controls and two pickups on a thin body. Maybe. I don't recall such a model. The Gibson Johnny A used solid woods in a small hollow archtop. I really couldn't hear a difference in recordings with this design compared to a weight relievied H-150 or Gibson Les Paul Supreme. But that's just me. I know people who hear things that I have no idea what they're talking about.

At 24:50 of the video you will see Rob. He gets maybe two seconds tops of this video- no more. I point this out as an example of the incredible talent Heritage has. Of course Pete Farmer is a seasoned excellent luthier. Rob has been a luthier building solid bodies, flattops and archtops for decades. He also is a master in designing and building pickups. An entire video of an interview with just him could take up an hour easily without being boring. He's rewired creatively severaly guitars for me without breaking a sweat. The talent Heritage has is impressive. I have been in the plant since the Gibson days. IMO, the factory has never run better from a quality perspective. That is not to say Gibson and early Heritage didn't make masterpieces. They did, of course. Nowadays the consistency seems to be very high. Dogs and borderline instruments don't appear to make it through. We should be proud of and grateful to these guys. I'm impressed.

Yes, a push-pull turns it off and on plus adjusts the volume. Every time I strap this bad boy on it takes a minute to reorient. I remember this guitar well from when I saw it at the factory. Stunning!

I don't know that this is my favorite, but it is up there. I posted this years ago. It's a 1999. If you flip the last three digits upside down, it's the mark of the beast. Pete Moreno did the circuitry. There are push-pulls for coil splitting and for blending the middle pickup.

One other thing to note on the original photo is residual buffing compound on the f hole edge. That is easily removed but should not have come from the factory that way. Years ago it slipped by sometimes.

I'll add two more pics. This is one of their Gretsch Synchromatics.

It's hard to choose favorites. Here are two. The first is a Johnny Smith 18". The second is a H-530 custom made with humbuckers.

I'll choose one focal point, the bridge base. Was it drilled at an angle, were the holes too large, or did the angle migrate over time due to factors like heavy strings with slight reduction in string tension due to storing? It's not expensive or difficult to replace the base or to fill the holes and redrill them. Tuner alignment seems to be much better these days. It was a common issue in the earlier days. That's a third world complaint since the tuners generally function when canted. But it is annoying to not line the tuners well. It's not that hard to get that right. This discussion is in part about what is the function of the electric guitar. Is it merely a tool that allows musical expression? Is it a tropy or work of art? Is it a blend? Is it an extension of our ego? The cost of perfection in the complex process of creating guitars is quite high. That includes wood sourcing, which can involve experience, expertise, traveling, patience, etc. The final step for the factory is shipping to the retailer. These acts may seem simple to the naive. They are not. Every step between can be complex. There is the business of maintaining employees, particularly skilled ones. The point is that there are a lot of things that have to go exactly right to get an excellent instrument. These steps each cost money, yet guitar sales is a very competitive area. So then what is the purpose of the instrument? A couple of days ago I saw a Beatles tribute band during its tour. A lot of finesse went into making the show excellent. The audience loved it. But I looked at the guitars they used. They had a Les Paul, a couple of J-160Es, some Ricks, a Hofner, a Fender and an Epiphone. The finish was worn off in the strummed areas. There were dings and scratches evident. These were superb musicians. They appeared to play effortlessly. The natural ease of playing and the resulting sound told me that their focus was primarily their performance, not their tools. We have all known people who have great pride in the appearance of their possessions. This can include their homes, their cars, and even the tools in their toolbox. With ownership comes responsibility. Some say this is a midwestern mentality: you own it, you maintain it. But I've lived in enough places to know that this thought is more universal and pretty much essential for a manageable life. Things have slipped through Heritage in the early days, back when the viability of the company was in question and the owners were pushed to their limits. Things are much better for years now. My advice based on the experience of decades is that you learn to take care of your stuff. And if you don't like something, don't buy it unless you can fix it.

This is my Roy Clark. It's the size of a 535 with a deep single cutaway and a bit more bling.

I've had a few guitars that came with HRWs. Archtops with a single pickup sounded great. The bridge pickup being a HRW was too bright for me. I tried but couldn't come to terms with that. Many had a positive experience though.

My favorite Heritage inlays are the abalone blocks. I haven't seen an example come out of the factory for a very long time. The H-555 inlays are less than subtle. The design came from the same guys who produced the controversial headstock. Both have grown on me. I don't even notice. If I do, it's part of old Heritage's personality, and I smile.

Heritage began with an arrangement with Schaller for pickups and hardware. I assume they got some discount for bulk purchases. But there were some complaints about the pickups, not the engineering but the tones. Decades later, I believe that they are pretty decent and have more options for adjusting the heights. I think that many had a prejudice against them or simply wanted to personalize their guitar with the pickups of their choice, often expensive ones. Nowadays I don't hear as many complaints. Of course everyone can have an opinion. Here's a comparison with Seths v. Schallers. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9mURVofPTnY

After the repair.