H150 - What is it?

[Bonefish]

So, I have a 1996 H150CM Gold Top and am often asked what type of guitar it is. I don't quite know how to answer the question. I think it'd compare to a classic Les Paul (standard?) before the days of hollowed chambers, but don't really know. How would you describe it? Is there a specific Les Paul that it closely resembles?

[Millennium Maestro]

As I always say "Its a handcrafted, made in america, American Classic" built the way real guitars are supposed to be made!!

 

You do realize it came from the hands of the guys that made the most prestigious Les Pauls in Kalamazoo, its nothing like the swiss cheese other companies make!

[Guest HRB853370]

So, I have a 1996 H150CM Gold Top and am often asked what type of guitar it is. I don't quite know how to answer the question. I think it'd compare to a classic Les Paul (standard?) before the days of hollowed chambers, but don't really know. How would you describe it? Is there a specific Les Paul that it closely resembles?

 

I would say its a solid body guitar made incredibly well with awesome tonewoods!!

[602a]

I'd show them a picture of a 57 Gold Top and tell them the same hands make both of them. It's American made and part of History.

[Millennium Maestro]

I'd show them a picture of a 57 Gold Top and tell them the same hands make both of them. It's American made and part of History.

Frank You da man!!

[yoslate]

I think it'd compare to a classic Les Paul (standard?).... Is there a specific Les Paul that it closely resembles?

 

Many Gibson Les Pauls resemble your Heritage...! Horse first; cart behind....

[pegleg32]

 

Many Gibson Les Pauls resemble your Heritage...! Horse first; cart behind....

 

But only the best classic Les Pauls, not the cheap Gibson wannabes of today.

[Bonefish]

Y'all are hillarious. I was fortunate enough to make the wise decision to buy my H150 at a local guitar shop for <$700 while I was still in college (10+ ys ago). I have always loved her and she is very dear to my heart. She is my first electric guitar and I can't imagine ever letting her go. So, I'm very familiar with Heritage and the quality of their workmanship; and I'm quick to point that out. However, it occured to me that when I say that it resembles a classic Les Paul, that could mean anything. I just wasn't sure if there was a year or model that would help provide some contextualization for those who have not been as blessed as I to truly enjoy the Heritage experience.

[brentrocks]

The H 150 is everything that you want but nothing that a newer $3000+ Gibson will give you

[tulk1]

What type of guitar? It's the Awesome!! type.

[the jayce]

Their the les paul standards of yester year with nicer figured tops. Your fortunate to own one. Conrats...

[JackBaruth]

Let me see if I can answer the question

 

Fundamentally, an early H-150 is a perfected Norlin Les Paul.

 

What I mean by that:

• Short tenon. Until recently, all H-150s were short tenon.
  
• Norlin tailpiece and knob placement, which is NOT vintage correct. A couple of folks in Nashville worked very hard and took a lot of measurements in the Nineties to create the R8/R9/R0. They found out that the location of the tailpiece and knobs had shifted over the years.
  
• Most Heritages have a split two-piece wood body. Modern Gibsons are largely either one piece (R9 and so on) or multiple-piece (Studio, Professional).
  
• Like most Norlins, the H-150 is solid and not chambered or swiss-cheese weight-relieved. There are, of course, chambered H-150s.
  
• Hardware isn't vintage. No bumblebee caps, 500k pots, and whatnot.
  

I think the most important thing to realize is that the H-150 is not a descendant of the 1952 Les Paul or the '59 burst. It is the descendant of the 1969 Les Paul Deluxe. Which is to say... when Gibson resumed production of the Les Paul they did so with all-new jigs and a body shape which was related to, but not identical to, the original sunbursts.

 

Marv Lamb is not Tom Murphy. The original Heritage guys are as unsentimental regarding 1959 as you or I might be about a job we worked a long time ago. They don't believe the original guitars were somehow accidental Holy Grails which need to be replicated as closely as possible. I bet you if you quizzed them they would all admit that they think the Florentine H-140, with its smaller body, easier handling, and very similar tone, is a much better guitar than any painstaking '59 recreation. They don't believe that one-piece bodies are magic, they don't believe that there is a certain magic glue which imparts tone, and they don't think that it's necessary to measure two hundred '59 bursts and mathematically average them into a CNC-milled R9.

 

You can sink nine grand into a Historic Makeovers R9 tigerburst with a reglued neck, a recarved top, aged pickup rings, artiifical finish checking, and metal screws which have all been dipped in satlwater. At that point you will have a replica of the 1959 guitar. Won't have been made in the same place. Won't have been made by the same people. Won't really sound like a 1959, since no two 1959s sounded the same.

 

Alternately, you can spend two grand on a Heritage H-150 and get the guitar that the original 1959 crew thinks is the best guitar to make, made by those people and their apprentices, in the original factory and with many of the original tools.

 

Or you can be like me, do both, and laugh at yourself.

[Fernando]

 

But only the best classic Les Pauls, not the cheap Gibson wannabes of today.

 

And they're not cheap, either.

[FredZepp]

 

 

Fundamentally, an early H-150 is a perfected Norlin Les Paul.

 

I think the most important thing to realize is that the H-150 is not a descendant of the 1952 Les Paul or the '59 burst. It is the descendant of the 1969 Les Paul Deluxe.

...........................................................

 

Alternately, you can spend two grand on a Heritage H-150 and get the guitar that the original 1959 crew thinks is the best guitar to make, made by those people and their apprentices, in the original factory and with many of the original tools.

 

Or you can be like me, do both, and laugh at yourself.

To suggest that someone is making a Norlin Les Paul will bring up a lot of negative connotations for a lot of players....

 

Those guitars were famous for ...

1. 3 piece tops
   
2. Pancake body
   
3. neck volute
   
4. maple necks
   
5. over sized headstocks
   
6. huge cutaway binding
   
7. cost cutting on lumber at times
   

 

I would definitely say that a Heritage is much closer to an original Les Paul than a Norlin.

It's well documented that the old crew was fighting with Norlin on their designs and cost cutting measures constantly.... they wanted to make them like they used to.

 

I must say that I really like old LP Deluxes and norlins... they are just a very different guitar than a Heritage.

 

I agree with you on owning both ... and it is cool to let the original makers decide some of the details rather than be a slave to copying every detail.

[Kuz]

Yep, I agree exactly with what Fred said above..... That is what a H-150 is too me!!!!!!!

[mtpatty]

I have two H150's and a Gibson LP; none cost more than $ 1400.00...in fact no guitar I own cost more than $ 1400.00...

[mark555]

I am pretty sure I saw a few LP Deluxe's with a three piece maple neck, but I am happy to be corrected here. Any one remember the L5S Solid body single cut?

[dbetts41]

Let me see if I can answer the question

 

Fundamentally, an early H-150 is a perfected Norlin Les Paul.

 

What I mean by that:

• Short tenon. Until recently, all H-150s were short tenon.
  
• Norlin tailpiece and knob placement, which is NOT vintage correct. A couple of folks in Nashville worked very hard and took a lot of measurements in the Nineties to create the R8/R9/R0. They found out that the location of the tailpiece and knobs had shifted over the years.
  
• Most Heritages have a split two-piece wood body. Modern Gibsons are largely either one piece (R9 and so on) or multiple-piece (Studio, Professional).
  
• Like most Norlins, the H-150 is solid and not chambered or swiss-cheese weight-relieved. There are, of course, chambered H-150s.
  
• Hardware isn't vintage. No bumblebee caps, 500k pots, and whatnot.
  

I think the most important thing to realize is that the H-150 is not a descendant of the 1952 Les Paul or the '59 burst. It is the descendant of the 1969 Les Paul Deluxe. Which is to say... when Gibson resumed production of the Les Paul they did so with all-new jigs and a body shape which was related to, but not identical to, the original sunbursts.

 

 

Marv Lamb is not Tom Murphy. The original Heritage guys are as unsentimental regarding 1959 as you or I might be about a job we worked a long time ago. They don't believe the original guitars were somehow accidental Holy Grails which need to be replicated as closely as possible. I bet you if you quizzed them they would all admit that they think the Florentine H-140, with its smaller body, easier handling, and very similar tone, is a much better guitar than any painstaking '59 recreation. They don't believe that one-piece bodies are magic, they don't believe that there is a certain magic glue which imparts tone, and they don't think that it's necessary to measure two hundred '59 bursts and mathematically average them into a CNC-milled R9.

 

You can sink nine grand into a Historic Makeovers R9 tigerburst with a reglued neck, a recarved top, aged pickup rings, artiifical finish checking, and metal screws which have all been dipped in satlwater. At that point you will have a replica of the 1959 guitar. Won't have been made in the same place. Won't have been made by the same people. Won't really sound like a 1959, since no two 1959s sounded the same.

 

Alternately, you can spend two grand on a Heritage H-150 and get the guitar that the original 1959 crew thinks is the best guitar to make, made by those people and their apprentices, in the original factory and with many of the original tools.

 

Or you can be like me, do both, and laugh at yourself.

 

Very well put Jack... and I too have been in that same boat owning both...

[Bonefish]

Thank everyone, good info!

[rockabilly69]

I really like the way both Jack and Fred explained this. I have played all variants of the Historic LPs, some were great, others not so.

But it seems that I never found one I could bond with, and I think the biggest complaints on my end were the Burstbucker pickups,

and the necks. Burstbuckers seem too muddy on the neck and too brittle on the bridge and the Seth Lovers on mine seem so much

easier to handle as they adjust to tweaks just fine. The big necks on the Historics, even the 60's profile is too much for me. The minute

I picked up my H150 it felt like my old very early Les Paul Deluxe, which I loved, so yes this to me seems like a continuation of the Norlin

era before the big cost cutting measures. Would I buy another Historic, probably, but if I could get Heritage to build me what I want for

half the cost I think I would be doing something just plain foolish.

[smurph1]

What type of guitar? It's the Awesome!! type.

LOL!!

[smurph1]

Let me see if I can answer the question

 

Fundamentally, an early H-150 is a perfected Norlin Les Paul.

 

What I mean by that:

• Short tenon. Until recently, all H-150s were short tenon.
  
• Norlin tailpiece and knob placement, which is NOT vintage correct. A couple of folks in Nashville worked very hard and took a lot of measurements in the Nineties to create the R8/R9/R0. They found out that the location of the tailpiece and knobs had shifted over the years.
  
• Most Heritages have a split two-piece wood body. Modern Gibsons are largely either one piece (R9 and so on) or multiple-piece (Studio, Professional).
  
• Like most Norlins, the H-150 is solid and not chambered or swiss-cheese weight-relieved. There are, of course, chambered H-150s.
  
• Hardware isn't vintage. No bumblebee caps, 500k pots, and whatnot.
  

I think the most important thing to realize is that the H-150 is not a descendant of the 1952 Les Paul or the '59 burst. It is the descendant of the 1969 Les Paul Deluxe. Which is to say... when Gibson resumed production of the Les Paul they did so with all-new jigs and a body shape which was related to, but not identical to, the original sunbursts.

 

 

 

Marv Lamb is not Tom Murphy. The original Heritage guys are as unsentimental regarding 1959 as you or I might be about a job we worked a long time ago. They don't believe the original guitars were somehow accidental Holy Grails which need to be replicated as closely as possible. I bet you if you quizzed them they would all admit that they think the Florentine H-140, with its smaller body, easier handling, and very similar tone, is a much better guitar than any painstaking '59 recreation. They don't believe that one-piece bodies are magic, they don't believe that there is a certain magic glue which imparts tone, and they don't think that it's necessary to measure two hundred '59 bursts and mathematically average them into a CNC-milled R9.

 

You can sink nine grand into a Historic Makeovers R9 tigerburst with a reglued neck, a recarved top, aged pickup rings, artiifical finish checking, and metal screws which have all been dipped in satlwater. At that point you will have a replica of the 1959 guitar. Won't have been made in the same place. Won't have been made by the same people. Won't really sound like a 1959, since no two 1959s sounded the same.

 

Alternately, you can spend two grand on a Heritage H-150 and get the guitar that the original 1959 crew thinks is the best guitar to make, made by those people and their apprentices, in the original factory and with many of the original tools.

 

Or you can be like me, do both, and laugh at yourself.

Man Jack! You is Smart!! How's that T-5 workin?

[JackBaruth]

T-5 is good, I am actually working on doing some acoustic duo gigs and I think I will end up using the T-5 for at least some of those.

[JeffB]

Not up on specs as much as I should be by a long shot and not that bothered by them either.

I went looking for a single cut, arch top, stop tail, two humbucker guitar, made from mahogany with a maple cap and rose wood board.

I tried all the usual suspects and came home with the best one I could find. It was a Heritage H150.

Ive enjoyed playing it ever since. In that time no other guitar I have played with similar specs has made me want to flip the H150 for it.

I play a lot of guitars all day.

Thats what my H150 is.

[bolero]

what tully said, I went through a boatload of guitars: had a really nice stable of "keepers" including a few Gibsons & even a historic black beauty..plus a bobburst LP replica, which is a fantastic instrument

 

 

but I prefer the Heritage; it took me a while because all my hero's played Fender & Gibson, and I had to remove myself from that mindset to focus on the quality & feel of the guitar instead of trying to mimic someone else

 

I couldn't find one that was any better than the Heritage...so I got rid of them & kept it

 

back to the original question, what is a H150? I'd say it's a LP style guitar with more mojo and quality than anything else you're going to find out there...not many guitars are built oldschool entirely by hand like they are, and certainly none have the pedigree that the guys at Heritage have.

 

plus I'd rather have something a little more unique & non cookie cutter. who the heck wants a Fender or Gibson? blaze a new trail