Heritage Golden Eagle identification assist?

[2bornot2bop]

Hi All!

 

I need assistance with identifying the following Heritage GE guitar. It's a thin body like a Gibson Byrdland archtop.

 

It's for sale locally. In addition to identifying the model I'd like to know these 2 things:

 

1. What's the style of pickup, i.e., is it possible this is an HRW style pickup or a standard routed pup?

 

2. Surprisingly it has some obvious cosmetic issues as if it wasn't properly finished behind the headstock. Namely rough area's behind the 2 lowest tuning pegs on the rear side which amounts to 'orange peel' in addition to an obvious lack of proper finish in that area. Condition wise the guitar has several finish checks on the back, a few through the finish small dings on one front edge. But the worst obvious issue with the guitar is there appears to be a thin running crack from the lower right f hole to the guitars edge. It appears to be completely beneath the finish as if the crack had not been touched up by a luthier

 

Probably tough to approximate a value for this guitar w/o seeing it in person but I'm searching for what value to place on the guitar given it's condition. Seller is asking $2700. Playability appears fine.

 

I'm attempting to purchase my first Heritage guitar, so any information is greatly appreciated. Oh, and the serial number begins with an S.

 

Here's a few pics I took with my phone.

 

Many thanks!

2b

 

Hi All!

 

I need assistance with identifying the following Heritage GE guitar. It's a thin body like a Gibson Byrdland archtop.

 

It's for sale locally. In addition to identifying the model I'd like to know these 2 things:

 

1. What's the style of pickup, i.e., is it possible this is an HRW style pickup or a standard routed pup?

 

2. Surprisingly it has some obvious cosmetic issues as if it wasn't properly finished behind the headstock. Namely rough area's behind the 2 lowest tuning pegs on the rear side which amounts to 'orange peel' in addition to an obvious lack of proper finish in that area. Condition wise the guitar has several finish checks on the back, a few through the finish small dings on one front edge. But the worst obvious issue with the guitar is there appears to be a thin running crack from the lower right f hole to the guitars edge. It appears to be completely beneath the finish as if the crack had not been touched up by a luthier

 

Probably tough to approximate a value for this guitar w/o seeing it in person but I'm searching for what value to place on the guitar given it's condition. Seller is asking $2700. Playability appears fine.

 

I'm attempting to purchase my first Heritage guitar, so any information is greatly appreciated. Oh, and the serial number begins with an S.

 

Here's a few pics I took with my phone.

 

Many thanks!

2b

[2bornot2bop]

Sorry for the numerous posts. The system rejected my photo each time. Here's the guitar in question.

 

Model, type of pickup, and used value approximation based upon my visual inspection.

 

Thank you

[Genericmusic]

The guitar was built in 2002. For further info try this;

http://www.heritageownersclub.com/forums/topic/1905-decoding-heritage-serial-numbers/

 

From the condition in which you are stating it is in the price seems a little high.

Maybe somebody else will chime in.

Good luck with your search.

[MartyGrass]

That is probably the one the had a couple of runs on eBay a while ago. It was also in CL for a while. I can't get the pictures in, so I can't tell. But how many can there be in the Pacific Northwest?

 

$2700 would be a very good deal if there weren't any issues.

 

The finish problem near the headstock is a red flag. Heritage made very few thinline Golden Eagles. I can't imagine one slipping through with a major finish flaw. No way. Best case is that it is wear from a stand or other contact finish injury. The body crack needs to be assessed for stability.

[2bornot2bop]

That is probably the one the had a couple of runs on eBay a while ago. It was also in CL for a while. I can't get the pictures in, so I can't tell. But how many can there be in the Pacific Northwest?

 

$2700 would be a very good deal if there weren't any issues.

 

The finish problem near the headstock is a red flag. Heritage made very few thinline Golden Eagles. I can't imagine one slipping through with a major finish flaw. No way. Best case is that it is wear from a stand or other contact finish injury. The body crack needs to be assessed for stability.

 

Affirmative. The seller did say he acquired the guitar on eBay.

 

Having only seen Heritage in photographs I was kind of major league bummed about those types of issues on the very first Heritage I actually have in my hands. I kept looking to see if it had been a headstock repair for there's no good reason the factory would ship any guitar like that. Beautiful guitar at a distance...what a bummer.

 

You guys don't miss anything here. It's nice to see I'm in good hands. Okay I'll wait to buy something here from one of you. Thanks to all for your input.

[2bornot2bop]

 

[MartyGrass]

That's the one from CL and eBay. Probably the pickup is a Schaller but could be a HRW. Peeking in the f hole may give you a clue. If it says HRW, there's a fair chance the pickup has not been changed. The only certain way to know is to play it. HRWs have a distinct sound that is hard to describe. You can also pull the pickup out.

 

If you are seriously interested in buying this, you should have an archtop luthier evaluate the crack with either a scope or a mirror.

[2bornot2bop]

Thanks for the input Marty.

 

I've decided to pass on this guitar even though it's locally available and very convenient.

 

It's not a good sign when you the buyer has to locate a guitars known issues when a seller whose owned the guitar for some time isn't freely pointing them out to you. Yesterday when I pointed out the split beneath the finish on the top, even though I had to search to locate it, the seller acted completely surprised, like, oh really...that didn't create any confidence in him as a seller...it was more like buyer beware.