Want To Help Me Spec Out A Custom Order?

[AnH555]

Last time I checked Allparts they carried push/push pots. It's just something I think is nifty, like a ball-point pen. Somebody once posted here on the HOC a pic of a Heritage that he claimed had stainless steel frets. Didn't look like it to me, but they might have been stainless. I'd guess they'd do it for a reasonable upcharge. Might have to send them the fretwire, and the push/push pots.

[Halowords]

Last time I checked Allparts they carried push/push pots. It's just something I think is nifty, like a ball-point pen. Somebody once posted here on the HOC a pic of a Heritage that he claimed had stainless steel frets. Didn't look like it to me, but they might have been stainless. I'd guess they'd do it for a reasonable upcharge. Might have to send them the fretwire, and the push/push pots.

 

Yeah, here are the push/push pot (250K & 500K respectively):

http://www.allparts.com/250K-Push-Push-Pot-p/ep-0283-000.htm

http://www.allparts.com/500K-Push-Push-Audio-Pot-p/ep-0296-000.htm

 

And SS fretwire (just in case they'll do it):

http://www.allparts.com/SearchResults.asp?search=stainless+steel+fret&x=0&y=0

 

As an aside, how long do they usually take to get back to you once you email them (or do you generally just call them up out of the blue)? Just curious, for all I know they're having a round-table debate on it and it hasn't been that long, but also wanting to make sure my email didn't get lost in their spam folder or something.

 

-Cheers

[tulk1]

 

As an aside, how long do they usually take to get back to you once you email them (or do you generally just call them up out of the blue)? Just curious, for all I know they're having a round-table debate on it and it hasn't been that long, but also wanting to make sure my email didn't get lost in their spam folder or something.

 

-Cheers

You're probably not going to get much response for specs in an email. My advice - get your specs all together in a concise sheet. Call them. Tell whomever answers that you are spec'ing out a guitar and want to run your specs by them to see if it's all doable before taking it to your dealer. Tell them who your dealer is, and to expect a quote request from them. Then go over the specs. Depending on how they feel that day, you may get a wonderful response, or you may have to drag it out of them. :-) But calling is always best.

[Halowords]

You're probably not going to get much response for specs in an email. My advice - get your specs all together in a concise sheet. Call them. Tell whomever answers that you are spec'ing out a guitar and want to run your specs by them to see if it's all doable before taking it to your dealer. Tell them who your dealer is, and to expect a quote request from them. Then go over the specs. Depending on how they feel that day, you may get a wonderful response, or you may have to drag it out of them. :-) But calling is always best.

 

Yeah, I tried that saying I was interested in spec'ing out a custom order and they said, more or less, go over it with the dealer.

 

So, I did just that. Well, I emailed the dealer. I'll call him later in the week, just wanted to give a nice, clear list of what I wanted first and then discuss it with him in case it didn't make any sense. But yeah, I thought they'd be all like "well, what're you thinking, let's iron this out." Granted, I didn't say "I've got this list of uber-specific specs that I want to see if you'll do", and to be fair the dealer can probably answer my questions by and large. I might call and specifically ask about the finish unless I go w/ a stock option though, if only because I have kind of a super-specific finish possibly in mind.

 

-Cheers

[rjsanders]

when i put together my custom order, i went over to favorite dealer w/specific guitar i admired (a Chapin) & phoned in the exact measurements of the neck to Heritage (it was either Ren or Bill P., i forget which). the dealer is a luthier, so that made it nice, too...

[Halowords]

So I sent in my finalized list of options to the dealer to get approval.

 

The only thing I'm indecisive about is the finish. At least until/unless they tell me some of my options are no-go's.

 

I'm thinking something of asking for something either like this:

 

 

Only with darker outlining to provide a bit of a Mocha-and-Blonde-Cream look. With maaaaaaybe the slightest bit of a burst around the edge. I'll try to modify the picture first to see of it looks alright darker, it's just hard for me to augment these things and have them look right without Photoshop. Kind of like a blonder Antique Natural finish on this one from SouthPawGuy's with maybe a brownier and more blended sorta finish on the flames:

 

Or going with a dark-ish brownish shaded OSB finish (something from the OSB pics on-site here), something close to these:

 

Or this without the yellow so much as a browner center:

 

You probably get the idea.

 

For how, just waiting to get the reply on if this is all workable, the cost, and then discuss/finalize the finish so I can wait a few months for construction & delivery. Thanks for all the insight though, it's much appreciated.

 

-Cheers

[Halowords]

Well, I got off the phone with Heritage. Which was a mistake, because now you-know-what will be on my mind ad infinitum until I get this done. Anyway....

 

So I just called to discuss the options and see if any of the specs would be nixed or if they would nicely say "y'know son, that might not be the best idea" or something. That and my curiosity I suppose. All of the specs I listed were approved except they don't work with SS frets (which I had been told they probably wouldn't, not a big deal), and Push/Push pots (they work with Push/Pull pots, not Push/Push, again, not a biggie). They were nice enough to go through the wish list, (super nice guy on the phone by the way whose name I totally forgot to ask until right after I hung up, nice, funny guy though, highly personable), and went through my options and said they'd get back to Jeff Hale and then we'll be off.

 

Finish, I'm thinking/planning on a Blonde shade (which in reality means Antique Natural, but it's fun to create new names for things that in reality already exist). I was hoping they could have a darker stain on the flame/quilt, but I'm not sure they can/will do that or not. I'm toying with the idea of them adding a subtle burst but otherwise keeping it a nice pale Blonde. For now though, I'm thinking this finish for the body only on a Prospect (obviously) and with a black flamed Maple pickguard:

 

 

I'm thinking I will just send in that picture once I approve the quote (or whatever I do on my end).

 

It felt pretty cool discussing this with the guy over the phone. Maybe it's cheesy, but it was neat to just sort of chat with the guy about my options sort of customize it based on, well, ME!

 

So I'm really quite smitten with this hypothetical guitar I spec'd out!

[tulk1]

David,

 

Thats the route I took when spec'ing my Prospect. Ren was exceedingly helpful with the "works/won't works" .

 

Hey, check this out. Kinda crude, but should give you an idea.

 

[Halowords]

Hey Kenny, that was really, really rad of you!

 

I putzed around with them a bit more and came up with:

 

OR

 

 

For my dream finishes.

 

So yeah, that's kind of what I had in mind. NOOOOOOOOOO idea if they'd ever be able to pull it off, but I think it looks pretty slick!

[tulk1]

Hey Kenny, that was really, really rad of you!

 

I putzed around with them a bit more and came up with:

 

OR

 

 

For my dream finishes.

 

So yeah, that's kind of what I had in mind. NOOOOOOOOOO idea if they'd ever be able to pull it off, but I think it looks pretty slick!

 

It looks like it's on fire!!! That is uber cool. Glad I could get you started on it. Send that to Mr. Hale, ask him to forward to the boys, if that is truly the effect you're after. Bet they get darned close!

[Halowords]

It looks like it's on fire!!! That is uber cool. Glad I could get you started on it. Send that to Mr. Hale, ask him to forward to the boys, if that is truly the effect you're after. Bet they get darned close!

 

Thanks Kenny! I'm always glad to have somebody to act as a buffer to make sure what I think looks cool isn't in reality ridiculous.

 

Anyway, I took your advice and just sent the following to Mr. Hale to pass on to Heritage to see if this was at all possible:

 

 

It's only slightly tweaked from the previous, going for more of a contrast with a paler Antique Natural finish and the same dark brown contrast on the quilt. I guess we'll see what they say!

[barrymclark]

I'm open to feedback.

• 
   
  
• Full-Center Block

 

If you're open to feedback, then why the full center block? FULL HOLLOW gets you all the feedback you could possibly want!

[Halowords]

If you're open to feedback, then why the full center block? FULL HOLLOW gets you all the feedback you could possibly want!

 

I'm open to controlled feedback. That said, I don't want it feedback prone so much as having the option of getting it to feedback. I am pretty sure I can get a semi-hollow to feedback if/when I want just fine. Plus, it gives me pretty much a 535 vibe in a smaller, more comfortable design

 

Valid question, but I think the full center block is more what I'm looking for. Plus . . . uh, it gives me an excuse to get a full-hollow down the road? In all seriousness though, I think I would eventually like an H-575 for acoustic purposes, and for putzing around through an amp with mild effects or just for general-purpose amplification reasons. So with that train of thought (and from a few others' opinions stating they either enjoyed, or wished they'd gotten, a full center block) the full block made sense. Good question though. Better asked now than when I get it, eh?

[Halowords]

Also, you could argue I'm slow as I realized that was probably a joke. If not, my above post stands. If so, it took me a moment to catch the wit (and see which part of my post you actually referred to, I though I had mentioned something about usable feedback so I thought you were talking about something else). Regardless, it made me laugh!

[Halowords]

Out of curiosity, is there an actual name for this finish or something like this in existence?

 

 

It looks kinda/sorta similar to a darker or more mineral-marked Honey Sunburst LP I saw, only (at least in my head) maybe a bit more cream-than-yellow in the light parts and maybe a bit darker brown and more shaded area in the dark parts. Just wondering if there's already a name I could refer to if/when describing this.