pcns Posted October 25, 2018 Posted October 25, 2018 Hi all, My name is Todd, from Warren Michigan. i hang out with a bunch of guys from the Dr Z amps forum and a big fan and user of Dr Z amps. a buddy of mine hosted an event at his house this past summer after recently purchasing a few Heritage guitars. I have been aware of Heritage guitars but have never had one in my hands before. I was very impressed and have been casually looking and learning since then. Looking forward to learning more about these fine instruments and who make them. My background, I own Pro Cables N Sound, we make high end musical instrument cables. I play lead guitar for my local church praise band and have been playing in various bands 30 plus years. I have 2 sons who both play guitar, my wife plays bass and daughter is learning drums. Lots of guitars and amps in our house! We are a Scouting family, both my son's are Eagle Scouts, we are active in our local church. I am the youth leader for our high school age kids and have been working with the students to start a band. Todd
Kerry Posted October 30, 2018 Posted October 30, 2018 Alright, I am really jazzed to have purchased my first Heritage. I just bought a used H-150 from a great music store in Atlanta called Atlanta Discount Music. My H-150 has a faded top that's a cross between a dirty lemon burst and an almond burst with a AA to AAA flame top. Mine was made in 1994. To me , it is really great to know that my guitar was hand made by the guys and ladies that have some great history with Gibson guitars. I have been recommending Heritage guitars to all of my musician friends. Next, I'll be buying a H-535.
Spectrum13 Posted October 30, 2018 Posted October 30, 2018 Good start to cult membership. ATL Discount is a fine shop.
WOHBuckeye Posted November 10, 2018 Posted November 10, 2018 My name is B.J. I'm from Ohio, if you can't guess by the screen name. I've played guitar since the mid-90s, I picked it up right after graduating. I had been a major music fan since my pre-teens, thanks to my religious parents. They deemed 80s music like Devo and Twisted Sister, Madonna and the hair bands evil, so I found a box of my dad's old records from the 60s, and asked mom if I could listen to those. She said since they were dad's, they must OK. So I got heavy into Steppenwolf, the Stones, some mid to late Beatles, and picked upVan Halen along the way. I saw Nirvana and Weezer, decided I could play guitar if they could, and got addicted. Then I saw this Stevie Ray Vaughan guy on MTV Unplugged. The "stripped" down show where all these marquee bands played, except they had twice as many people playing. Stevie went out by himself, rocked the crowd, I was entranced, and I've been blues ever since. I just bought a 23rd anniversary H-535, the nicest guitar I've ever owned, It took a while to save up, but it stayed on the shelf long enough for me to get it. This guitar feels like history to me, and it's a very special instrument, especially since I had to sell my first Heritage earlier in the year when we had some money issues. I'm usually a Strat guy - I have a 2008 Mayer Sig Strat that I had a satin refinish to match a 62 the local shop had, and a 2017 Olympic White American Professional Strat. I have a 68 Custom Deluxe Reverb, maybe the best amp Fender has made since the Rivera's, or even the 60s. Other amp is a 90s Kendrick 2112, a Tweed Deluxe at 25 watts with black tolex instead. Made up for the 68 Bassman I had to sell. I love guitars, I love music, I'll give anything a shot, and mostly I love playing. Everybody love everybody. Thanks for letting me share in the community here. One of these days I want to head to Kalamazoo and visit the factory. I don't know if they allow that still. Maybe they'll let me pick out a guitar to buy. Anyway, I think Heritage guitars are special, and much better than their cousins that relocated down south, at least contemporarily.
TalismanRich Posted November 12, 2018 Posted November 12, 2018 Welcome, BJ. That's a great story about digging out your dad's records of Steppenwolf, Stones, etc. I grew up on that stuff and it still holds its own today. As for SRV, grab his El Macambo DVD if you haven't seen it. The man could PLAY! The 535 is a great choice, classic design, a wonderful sound and they cover a lot of sonic territory. Heritage does still conduct tours and if you've never seen guitars being built, its gives you a good appreciation of what goes into making these wonderful instruments. The original 4 owners are moving on, after building guitars for about 60 years but I think Jim Deurloo is still around some. If you can spend some time talking with Rendal Wall, be prepared for some good stories. The man is a legend.
skydog52 Posted November 12, 2018 Posted November 12, 2018 Welcome aboard BJ. Love your story. Good to see the younger generation digging the blues. Rich is right. Do the tour if you can. If you like guitars you will dig it. Post some pictures when you get a chance. We all love dreaming of the other ones!
GenoBluzGtr Posted November 21, 2018 Posted November 21, 2018 Hi there... I'm Geno. - originally from the deep south, live now in the DC area (Maryland). I recently picked up my first Heritage guitar, a very nice 2003 H535 that the previous owner had modified with Wolfetone Dr. Vintage pickups. Very impressed. Makes me want to find a good H150 now... I will be lurking in the marketplace. I'm 55 years old, retired from the Navy Submarine Service 16 years ago, and currently work as a DoD contractor. My background is in Underwater Acoustics, but spend most of my time these days climbing Cell towers to install gadgets for Uncle Sam. I've been playing guitar for 37 years, and in bands for the past 20 years pretty consistently (work permitting). Cover bands, classic rock, blues, country, oldies, etc. I prefer have always preferred Vintage Tube amps, but for the past year and a half, I've been gigging exclusively with a Line 6 helix and really like it. No more heavy cabs for me - the Helix has cured my amp and pedal GAS, so I have more $$ now to buy guitars.
TalismanRich Posted November 21, 2018 Posted November 21, 2018 Welcome Geno. Nice 535 you have there. Interesting comment on moving to the Helix. I am hearing more and more about people going the modeling route for gigs because it's lighter and easier, plus you can cover a lot more ground. I'm sure in a crowded, noisy bar, you probably can get close enough that 99% of the people couldn't tell the difference.
HANGAR18 Posted November 21, 2018 Posted November 21, 2018 2 hours ago, GenoBluzGtr said: Hi there... I'm Geno. - originally from the deep south, live now in the DC area (Maryland). I recently picked up my first Heritage guitar, a very nice 2003 H535 that the previous owner had modified with Wolfetone Dr. Vintage pickups. Very impressed. Makes me want to find a good H150 now... I will be lurking in the marketplace. I'm 55 years old, retired from the Navy Submarine Service 16 years ago, and currently work as a DoD contractor. My background is in Underwater Acoustics, but spend most of my time these days climbing Cell towers to install gadgets for Uncle Sam. I've been playing guitar for 37 years, and in bands for the past 20 years pretty consistently (work permitting). Cover bands, classic rock, blues, country, oldies, etc. I prefer have always preferred Vintage Tube amps, but for the past year and a half, I've been gigging exclusively with a Line 6 helix and really like it. No more heavy cabs for me - the Helix has cured my amp and pedal GAS, so I have more $$ now to buy guitars. Welcome to the neighborhood!
Gitfiddler Posted November 21, 2018 Author Posted November 21, 2018 Welcome to the cult, er, um, I mean club! Some classy looking Heritages!!
DaveCTOK Posted December 20, 2018 Posted December 20, 2018 Hi everyone. I'm Dave, presently living in Oklahoma, originally from Connecticut. I've got a couple of the smaller solid body Heritage guitars that I picked up in the late 90's/early 2000's. One is an H-120 with the single bridge pickup (like an LP Jr.), and a really beefy neck. It was kinda rough and beat up when I got it, and it may be the plainest Heritage ever made, but it's a fun guitar to play. The other one is a very pretty H-140CM with a natural finish on the curly maple top. It's got fine tuners on the Schaller bridge hardware. I'd be delighted to find a good hard shell case for it, and admittedly, it's spent too much of it's time just living in a gig bag... partly because I haven't wanted to take it with me when away from home, and I've felt inclined to preserve it as much as possible. It's a really sweet sounding guitar. I don't know if the pickups are stock (I'm not the original owner), but I like the sound. Well, I hope you all will feel free to say hello! Dave
TalismanRich Posted December 20, 2018 Posted December 20, 2018 Hi Dave. Welcome aboard. The 120s are somewhat rare. I have seen a few among members. On the H140, if the pickups have twin adjustment screws on each side of the mounting bracket, they are probably the standard Schaller pickups. Unless someone custom ordered the guitar, thats what they were putting in most everything until relatively recently. If you have a "dot" on the end of the selector switch, that might mean it has HRWs which were Rendall Wall's proprietary pickup. RE a hard shell case for the H140, a standard Les Paul case should work. My 140 and 157 have the same case. The 140 is a bit loose inside where the 157 is snug. I just checked out the Gator case that I use for my Guild S100 which is an SG type, and it fits and would be pretty secure. It doesn't hug the horn or upper bout but it does hold the bottom snugly. The headstock is fine with clearance all around. Its the Gator GWSGBrown case. You can probably find an SG case a Guitar Center. I got my from Sweetwater. I had Dontae check out the fit for the S100 and it was perfect. They are good about checking that kind of stuff if they can. A tele/strat case probably won't work because there isn't clearance for the angled headstock. Fender types have flat headstocks and are thinner cases. Here's the Gator case with the 140 in it.
DaveCTOK Posted December 20, 2018 Posted December 20, 2018 Wow, Talismanrich! Thanks for all the info, and for the case advice & pic! Looks like I've got the standard Schaller pickups. One other thing I have noticed that I'm not sure about - or if it matters - is that the high E string is relatively far off to the side of the pickup magnet (particularly on the bridge pickup), even after I adjust the saddle on the roller bridge all the way to the inside. I suppose I can raise the pickup on that side to compensate if necessary, but other than that, I would welcome any thoughts. Is this a common issue? Again, thanks!
Retrodyne Posted December 21, 2018 Posted December 21, 2018 BTW there's a genuine Heritage case available--- I just saw on their website under "accessories"!! Cheers and Welcome Aboard! Nice H140
Gryllus Posted March 3, 2019 Posted March 3, 2019 Hi everybody ! My name is Eric and I come from France .. I recently made the acquisition (last friday) of a 575 ASB Heritage from october 1991 ... I have to refret it ; I will bring this lady to the luthier as soon as possible .. p.s : forgive ,please, my awful English !.
TalismanRich Posted March 4, 2019 Posted March 4, 2019 Gryllus, welcome to the HOC. I hope you like your 575. They're really nice guitars. Are you planning to refret with standard wire, or go to stainless steel or the new Jescar Evo wire? I like stainless steel, and it will be the last time you have to do it. Evo wire is supposed to last a long time, but has a bit of a golden color which might be an issue for some people. No problems with your English. Its so much better than my French, in spite of the 2 years of classes 50 years ago.
Gryllus Posted March 4, 2019 Posted March 4, 2019 Who knows ? .. I won't bet on my English !... about the frets , I don't know yet ... I will bring the lady to the luthier ; the rosewood fretboard has been damaged on almost one half with long nails , too much pressure on too less frets with a 012 gauge set which became rusty ..... But in despite of this , I'm already in love with this guitar .....
ssakurai Posted March 7, 2019 Posted March 7, 2019 I need to add mine here.. finally got mine of h535 ALSB with AF serial number. This was in stock more than 2years at the shop. Few knows what heritage is here in Japan.. but I was obsessed by how this guitar looks beautiful and pulled my trigger out of it! nice to meet you all?
TalismanRich Posted March 7, 2019 Posted March 7, 2019 SSAKURAI, welcome. That's a lovely color. When I ordered my first Heritage, it was an ALSB H157. The 535 is a great playing guitar. Enjoy!
skydog52 Posted March 7, 2019 Posted March 7, 2019 That's a beauty. Their most popular guitar. Very versatile. Welcome aboard!
McGee Posted March 15, 2019 Posted March 15, 2019 McGee here. Former owner of an H-150 and an H-555. Loved them both. Had to sell. Now have a 2018 SG Special with mini hums and love that too. I used to spend a lot of time on this forum but got away from it several years back. Thought I'd check in and take a look around!
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