Diamonds on the 'stock, maple top, diggin' the scene with the 157(x2) lean...

[JackBaruth]

Hard to believe, but I've never owned an H-157! Might as well fix this... and might as well get a PAIR of them, right?

 

 

The one on the left is a 2011 natural ultra (I think) top... the one on the right is Skydog's 2008 D-VIP. No, I did not buy it off eBay... it went through a few hands, virtually speaking, before all the deals were done and it was actually shipped to me.

 

I'd been obsessed with trying out the HRW/D-VIP tone... but I was surprised. These are generally thin-sounding pickups compared to the Throbaks and Sheptones I have in most of my LP-pattern guitars. No matter how you fuss with the system, you never really get the full-bodied roar of a Sheptone. What to do? Let's crank the phase and add some brand-new effects to the mix:

 

 

The Spaceman Gemini III arrived today as well. With the Ge/Si switch set pretty far to the left and the drive cranked through my Evil Robot, all these Hendrix tones started appearing. The thin HRW sound was just the thing for a big fuzz crank... the very glassy-sounding note definition from the clean tone makes for a very precise fuzz tone, like a Strat.

 

The Ultra Natural has 59s in it, I think... they actually seem pretty good and I might not do the default Sheptone swap.

[Guest HRB853370]

But where are the "pole-dancer" truss rod covers on these?

[JackBaruth]

But where are the "pole-dancer" truss rod covers on these?

 

Another problem with the Heritage headstock: nobody makes TRCs.

[squawken]

Very classy collection!

[Spectrum13]

 

Another problem with the Heritage headstock: nobody makes TRCs.

 

Yes you can. Check to England site for Heritage TRCs.

[bolero]

wow what a nice pair!!

 

 

 

 

love the natural finish one

[nicknickhall]

Jack,

Love the pictures of your incredible guitars.

 

re: bolero's signature, I dug Woodstock too. August 1969 I was a junior counselor at Camp Wawayanda near Liberty NY. My counselor friend Gary, asked me if i wanted to see a concert the next day. I asked who is playing and he started naming bands and did not stop. Gary had a couple extra tickets for the first day of the festival. They were expensive, $8 a piece, so i had to think about it, but throwing caution and a week's pay to the wind I decided to go for it. So Gary's girlfriend, Sara Lee (guess what song her campers sang to her 24 x 7 ) and my friend Karen and myself jumped into Sara's '63 Ford Falcon (with 3 on the tree) and headed to Max Yasgur's farm which was a mere 50 miles to the west. We got within 10 miles and were stuck in the mother of all jams so when we got to the point where we were about to burn out the clutch we parked on the side of the road and started walking in. Five miles later we came over a hill and there was the stage at the bottom of a bowl, already surrounded by more people than I'd ever seen. This was about 2 pm on Friday. It was certainly an adult portion of craziness on all sides. The crowds had already beaten down the fence that the promoters had thrown around the field, so it was announced that it was a "free concert". Damn, there went my $8. That was some crazy summer.

[Blunote]

Jack,

Put the pole dancer truss rod cover on that '08 and those HRWs will stiffen right up!

[bolero]

Jack,

Love the pictures of your incredible guitars.

 

re: bolero's signature, I dug Woodstock too. August 1969 I was a junior counselor at Camp Wawayanda near Liberty NY. My counselor friend Gary, asked me if i wanted to see a concert the next day. I asked who is playing and he started naming bands and did not stop. Gary had a couple extra tickets for the first day of the festival. They were expensive, $8 a piece, so i had to think about it, but throwing caution and a week's pay to the wind I decided to go for it. So Gary's girlfriend, Sara Lee (guess what song her campers sang to her 24 x 7 ) and my friend Karen and myself jumped into Sara's '63 Ford Falcon (with 3 on the tree) and headed to Max Yasgur's farm which was a mere 50 miles to the west. We got within 10 miles and were stuck in the mother of all jams so when we got to the point where we were about to burn out the clutch we parked on the side of the road and started walking in. Five miles later we came over a hill and there was the stage at the bottom of a bowl, already surrounded by more people than I'd ever seen. This was about 2 pm on Friday. It was certainly an adult portion of craziness on all sides. The crowds had already beaten down the fence that the promoters had thrown around the field, so it was announced that it was a "free concert". Damn, there went my $8. That was some crazy summer.

 

 

wow that must have been amazing!!

 

re: the 157 w/VIP system, it must be easy to wire those pups up to a standard setup? and then maybe use the switches as coil splitters, or something?

 

I remember trying a blue prospect w/VIP out at PSPIV but fiddle as I did, I couldn't honestly get a sound I liked out of it...always sounded thin. is there a setting in the VIP that effectively makes the pup sound like normal humbuckers?

[dbetts41]

Jack,

 

The 157's are cool & all but that green 150 is outrageous!

[DetroitBlues]

Jack, you have an incredible collection of guitars and gear. I guess the job market must of picked up for you after all. Congrats. And who said diamonds were just a woman's best friend?

[JackBaruth]

Actually, I am out of work as of March 20, with no replacement in sight, and the H-157 with the VIPs is on hold pending sale

 

Oh well, I was lookin' good for a minute!

[DetroitBlues]

That's a bummer. At least you still have some time. Crossing the fingers for you.

[heritagefan7]

Great collection Jack---Both are just outstanding guitars...Truly beautiful.

[Genericmusic]

Another problem with the Heritage headstock: nobody makes TRCs.

 

You can order Heritage TRC's from Custom Inlay

http://shop.customin...ritage_c158.htm

[MartyGrass]

That H157 natural has a Seth in the bridge and 59 in the neck.

 

 

 

As far as diamonds in the headstock, Heritage has good taste. Here's Gibson going off the deep end with their 100th Anniversary L5. There's a real diamond in the headstock that dots the i. You know that's mojo. But this axe will never be seriously gigged.

 

 

[JackBaruth]

The D-VIP 157 is sold! A storm is coming to the Pacific Northwest!

 

However, it looks like I won't be trapped in the miserable situation known as "single H-157 ownership" for long...

[rjmajik]

The Pacific Northwest is looking forward for that storm and is ready

[DetroitBlues]

The darker one was unusual because the pickup selector was by the controls. At first I thought it might be a Millie, but even then its not in the right spot. That was definitely a custom order by someone...

[JackBaruth]

The darker one was unusual because the pickup selector was by the controls. At first I thought it might be a Millie, but even then its not in the right spot. That was definitely a custom order by someone...

 

Every D-VIP Heritage that I've seen has that arrangement. I am guessing the idea behind it is to make adjustments of two controls on the fly a bit easier.