Special Invitation To New Members

[skydog52]

Just now, SeanP said:

Hey all!!!

New Heritage owner here.  Im Sean (SeanP username....good irish lad... Sean Patrick).

Just picked up a used 2017 H-150 standard from Detroit Guitar (I live in Michigan).  It was essentially brand new...definite case queen...even had the plastic still on the pickups.  I have drank the cool-aid....I have 3 other single cuts that will now be getting sold to start saving for a custom core....or another standard lol.

Welcome to the Club Sean! You started off with a beauty. Enjoy

[nharrison]

Hello all, I'm Neil from the Orlando, FL area.  

I had been without a Les Paul for about 6 months.  I was only playing my fenders anyway, and decided that if I ever did want a LP again, it would not be the one I had (2015 classic), so I traded it in with another guitar for a nice CS Tele.  I got the itch to own a HH guitar again, and started thinking about another Les Paul with a different neck profile.  My favorite shop in the area, Jimmy's Vintage Music, has a great selection of used quality guitars, so I played a bunch.  LP Standards, an old 1980 LP Firebrand, a PRS 594 10 top, an R7, and R8... and a beautiful aged Pelham blue H150.  You on this forum can probably guess which one I walked out with.  it really came down to the R7 vs the H150, and the 1K price difference was an excellent tie breaker.  I don't know if it's the one piece body or the pickups, but this thing sings.  I'm super impressed with the SD 59s, and the aging process, like the rest of the build, is Custom Shop quality.  

The weight is amazing, checked in at 8lb 12oz.  Seems low compared to the standards I'm seeing listed online.  Anyway, I didn't see much Pelham Blue in these forums, and it seems to be rare color overall, so I thought you all may enjoy some pictures.

 

[img]https://i.imgur.com/Au91R0F[/img]

[img]https://i.imgur.com/DnO64p4[/img]

[img]https://i.imgur.com/9GV7p6U[/img]

I swear every forum has different formats for uploading images. What's the magic formula here?

[nharrison]

[skydog52]

Just now, nharrison said:

Congratulations and Welcome aboard. That one is special and I also love Pelham Blue. Enjoy!

[Sam01]

Thank you for the add. I really appreciate this and hope to answer a few questions I have about a H-535 I received this year. First. I guess I've been playing bass and guitar since I was 10 and that would have been about 60 years ago. Never my profession but was always my aspiration and I was very fortunate to have played "Hired Gun" with some very good local musicians in and around Montreal Quebec, but mostly as a bass man, Blues, rock, country and many years on the stand-up bass playing bluegrass. But no more night gigs for me and the last several years I've focused on my guitar playing and jazz tunes.

My guitars include 2 Gretsch's, a Gibson L4, Strat and Tele, and Epi 335 but recently my buddy left me his 1996? Heritage H-535 ASB. Beautiful guitar and amazing build quality. Serial no. starts V117xx. I understand that this is a custom VIP edition with space control bridge and fine tuners and I have many issues/questions.

1. I have no idea exactly what the 3 mini toggle switches do. Can you advise?

2. If you can see in photo, the nut is poorly spaced ..that low E is noticeably wider than the rest and I'm planning to relace with a 1 11/16" tusq nut...right size I think but not sure if it's Gibson or Epi style.. suggestions? 

3. The main pup selector and mini toggle are all badly oxidized.. and cut out and scratchy. I've been spraying Deoxit with some improvement, But thinking of replacing, Is the main pup selector a standard Gibson Switchcraft A-AB-B? Should I replace the switches?

All in all, plays very well and deserves some TLC. Would love to hear your group thoughts.

John Samborsky

Austin, Quebec CANADA

 

[Sam01]

15 minutes ago, Sam01 said:

Thank you for the add. I really appreciate this and hope to answer a few questions I have about a H-535 I received this year. First. I guess I've been playing bass and guitar since I was 10 and that would have been about 60 years ago. Never my profession but was always my aspiration and I was very fortunate to have played "Hired Gun" with some very good local musicians in and around Montreal Quebec, but mostly as a bass man, Blues, rock, country and many years on the stand-up bass playing bluegrass. But no more night gigs for me and the last several years I've focused on my guitar playing and jazz tunes.

My guitars include 2 Gretsch's, a Gibson L4, Strat and Tele, and Epi 335 but recently my buddy left me his 1996? Heritage H-535 ASB. Beautiful guitar and amazing build quality. Serial no. starts V117xx. I understand that this is a custom VIP edition with space control bridge and fine tuners and I have many issues/questions.

1. I have no idea exactly what the 3 mini toggle switches do. Can you advise?

2. If you can see in photo, the nut is poorly spaced ..that low E is noticeably wider than the rest and I'm planning to relace with a 1 11/16" tusq nut...right size I think but not sure if it's Gibson or Epi style.. suggestions? 

3. The main pup selector and mini toggle are all badly oxidized.. and cut out and scratchy. I've been spraying Deoxit with some improvement, But thinking of replacing, Is the main pup selector a standard Gibson Switchcraft A-AB-B? Should I replace the switches?

All in all, plays very well and deserves some TLC. Would love to hear your group thoughts.

John Samborsky

Austin, Quebec CANADA

 

 

[TalismanRich]

The switches control the Var-i-phase  VIP system.  You have both a phase adjustment and coil tap. 

They work like this:

The 2 Lower Knobs (Looking down at Controls from playing position) Left:Master Volume Right: Master Tone

Upper Knob is the Vari-Phase Control  -  On 10: In Phase,   On Zero: Out of Phase.
Note: Vari-Phase only works when Mini-Toggles 2 and 3 are Down

Again Looking Down from Playing Position
Mini-Toggles are #1 #2 and #3

#1 Toggle Up: Is Neck Pick-up Coil Tap Down: Tap Off
# 2 and #3 Toggles Down is Vari-pHASE for Bridge PU
#2 and #3 Toggles Opposite each other 1-up 1-down is "Stand by Dead" or Both Coils
#2 and #3 Toggles Both Up is Coil Tap Bridge Pick-up!

If you pull the wiring harness, you'll want to carefully map out the switches.   It's not anywhere close to the standard 4 knob  / Vol-Vol  Tone-Tone with 3way selector setup. 

 

The nut should be standard Gibson style.   The Heritage guys were all ex-Gibson people, and as such, that's how they designed their guitars.

A V serial number indicates a 2005 build.   The  Serial number scheme is explained here:  Date Your Heritage

 

 

 

[Sam01]

Thanks! Had no idea how this operates.

[Sam01]

Earlier this year I got some info from Heritage historian Ren Wall, who sent me some info as well.

yes we outfitted our production guitars with the Schaller TP-6 finetune tailpiece  for custom orders and normally they had the same type tailpiece without the fine tuners. Just the hook-in style.

This should help you as it is the single VIP schematic. For 3 mini- switches.

Coil tapping ( neck pickup) and phase rolling for the bridge pickup.

new 1-11/16" nuts can be ordered throughwww.stewmac.com

 Hope this helps.

 ren Heritage

[Sam01]

and I'll try to get a pic in here...

[ramsa]

Hi. I am Dave from the Knoxville, Tennessee area.

New H150 Standard in Traditional Sunburst bought through Reverb. What a white knuckle purchase! Turned out perfect, and could not be happier. Wichita Band Instruments was the seller, and the H150 arrived fast, and spotless condition. I HATE buying sight unseen, but this one stole my heart. (Really love the subtle flametop on mine!)

About 20 years ago I had bought an H150 Goldtop off Ebay that had a custom ebony fretboard. Never could bond with that one.

Anyway, glad to have this new one, and hang out with you cats...

 

[Guitgamer]

Hi Everyone, My name is Greg or Guitgamer. I became a fan of Heritage after I bought an artisan aged H-150 standard over this past summer of '22. Like many of you have said.. In every way, the quality of this guitar is so impressive and special that to have that type of final result really says something about this company. I'm very happy to be here and to show my support for such a company that understands the importance of the product before the dollar. Great to be with you all!

[skydog52]

45 minutes ago, Guitgamer said:

Hi Everyone, My name is Greg or Guitgamer. I became a fan of Heritage after I bought an artisan aged H-150 standard over this past summer of '22. Like many of you have said.. In every way, the quality of this guitar is so impressive and special that to have that type of final result really says something about this company. I'm very happy to be here and to show my support for such a company that understands the importance of the product before the dollar. Great to be with you all!

Welcome aboard! You picked a nice one to start. We all love pictures here.

This is a Fine Group of Heritage Owners.

[Guitgamer]

2 hours ago, skydog52 said:

Welcome aboard! You picked a nice one to start. We all love pictures here.

This is a Fine Group of Heritage Owners.

Thanks Skydog52. The ABB is the reason why I first fell in love with that sound when I first saw them in '96. 

[Guitgamer]

5 minutes ago, Guitgamer said:

Thanks Skydog52. The ABB is the reason why I first fell in love with that sound when I first saw them in '96. 

 

[Guitgamer]

Just now, Guitgamer said:

 

 

Just now, Guitgamer said:

 

Sorry, trying to add a pic but keeps saying it's over the 1.5mb.

[TalismanRich]

Guitgamer,   Download Irfanview,  and you can put the picture in there,  resize it to something reasonable (like 1280 horz res),  and save as a jpeg file which will easily fit in the 1.5MB limit.   With cameras and phones having 10 and 12M pixel cameras, the file size is just too large to fit the space.

You really don't need a 4300x2400 pic for posting on a forum.

[Guitgamer]

6 minutes ago, TalismanRich said:

Guitgamer,   Download Irfanview,  and you can put the picture in there,  resize it to something reasonable (like 1280 horz res),  and save as a jpeg file which will easily fit in the 1.5MB limit.   With cameras and phones having 10 and 12M pixel cameras, the file size is just too large to fit the space.

You really don't need a 4300x2400 pic for posting on a forum.

Ok I will follow what you laid out. Thanks TalismanRich

[DrFred]

Hi everyone.  I go by Fred but DrFred is my user name - just to differentiate me from others with the same name.  I have two Heritages - a 2001 575 and a 1993 Johnny Smith, both blondes/natural.  While I am a student of jazz, I have played a variety of genres.  I have played guitar from age 9 or 10.  Music has been my avocation.

Full disclosure:  I am also a member of the Jazz Guitar Forum and enjoy benefitting from the knowledge and experience of guitarists from across the musical spectrum.  I look forward to that experience here as well.

[TalismanRich]

Welcome aboard, DrFred.

Lets see some pics of that Johnny Smith.   There aren't that many of them out there.

[Rickco123]

Hello, my name is Rick. Proud owner of a '97 GE and '06 custom 575. Recently retired at 69 I picked up guitar again after a 40yr absence. Ive lurked around here for a while and picked up some pretty good intel so I thought Id join up and mabey be part of the coversation.

Thanks

[DrFred]

Welcome Rick from one newbie to another.  Enjoy retirement - it's a great stage of life, especially when you make music a part of it.

[Rpet]

Happy New Year all! Another newb to the family here. I had been away from playing for many years and picked back up last year. Was gifted the chance to get a new guitar at the holidays and went for a new H-535. When it arrived and was taken out of the case my first thought was, now this is an instrument! Made my Fender Strat Pro seem like a toy, (which is saying something really).  Am blown away by the feel, fit, and quality of the 535. Playing it, for me, is an experience. Happy to post the thoughts and glad to be here.

 

Thanks!

[yoslate]

And welcome!  Good spot, the HOC!  I've been here since 2007 and can vouch for the kinship, useful info, and...entertainment quotient.  The 535 is arguably Heritage's consistently best instrument.  Not much you can't do with one!

[Rayontour]

Hello my name is Ray.

I have some guitars.

I like guitars.

I wish I could play well.

I have a H-150 Deluxe Limited in Cherry Sunburst. I like it a lot.

I want a Kai Hansen H-157 (or 150?) pinkish/red one that may have only been made for him. ?

Thank you all for having me and Hello All!