MartyGrass Posted April 4, 2012 Posted April 4, 2012 The 1992 JS arrived. It is near mint with no fret wear. The seller told me it is NOS, meaning it was never sold retail. The finish is natural, not antique natural. The binding is white. For a 20 year old guitar, I don't think it's seen much sunshine. It's very light at 6.1 lbs exactly, which is very light for such an archtop. I can't tell whether it's tap tuned by feeling the braces, but the top is thinner than all of my other archtops except the Unity, which is tap tuned. It is loud, too. Heritage says it's tap tuned, and it sure seems like it. The neck is medium thin, which is fine, and the nut is 1 3/4", which is excellent. I was relieved that the bridge string spread is 2 1/16", a 1/16" wider than usual. That's how it should be but is the sort of thing that could easily get screwed up if someone wasn't paying attention. The cable from the pickup has a RCA jack on it to disconnect with PG changes. What I don't like about that is that the cable can vibrate against the wood. I didn't hear that yet, but I've had to secure the cable to the top on several Heritages so far. The bridge base has not been sanded down to fit the top yet. I'll take care of that. The spruce is tight grained without grain spread or claws. It's excellent wood with little character. I tuned the guitar. It needs a little relief taken out, which tells me it probably has not been under tension for all of these 20 years. That's an easy fix. I'm very pleased with the guitar. I know it will feedback like a bitch due to the thin top, but I can accept that. That's the price of exceptional acoustic tone. I'll post better pictures when the weather allows. This JS is another Heritage archtop masterpiece showing simple elegance and beauty.
eljay Posted April 4, 2012 Posted April 4, 2012 the tin man seems like he is most pleased! easy to understand.
pegleg32 Posted April 4, 2012 Posted April 4, 2012 Hey Mark, glad you found a real "keeper". I know how much you like those big archtop boxes. By the way, I am loving that Gibby Lucille you sold me - it is just beautiful, plays like a dream, and with great tones to be had.
koula901 Posted April 4, 2012 Posted April 4, 2012 That is gorgous! Another beautiful blonde in the house!
NoNameBand Posted April 4, 2012 Posted April 4, 2012 Looks like another fine acquisition. Congratulations MG. You did it again.
DetroitBlues Posted April 4, 2012 Posted April 4, 2012 I tell you the one the best parts of many Heritage guitars is the part the audience never sees... The back of the gutiars are just incredible. Five piece neck, book matched flame maple back, and the five ply binding? Its a work of art few even know is there!
Kuz Posted April 4, 2012 Posted April 4, 2012 Love it!!!!! Simply love the Heritage JS guitars. How does it compare to the other JS you had???
MartyGrass Posted April 4, 2012 Author Posted April 4, 2012 How does it compare to the other JS you had??? This one has prettier wood on the neck and more flame on the rims. The condition is more pristine. Otherwise they are about the same visually. The neck is slightly thinner on the new one and it is lighter. Here's a picture of the old one's back, which is not too shabby either.
iim7v7im7 Posted April 4, 2012 Posted April 4, 2012 And they said that you didn't have a brain....:-) Beautiful guitar, enjoy it. Bob
Genericmusic Posted April 4, 2012 Posted April 4, 2012 That is really nice. How does she play? What string set are you going to use?
Kuz Posted April 4, 2012 Posted April 4, 2012 What are the differences tonally between the two? Maybe you haven't had a chance to set it up yet and put on a new set of strings. Just curious.
pressure Posted April 4, 2012 Posted April 4, 2012 Another beautiful JS. Congrats. Do you know what pickup is in it? I have a 1990 sunburst and Ren said it was a low output pickup.
MartyGrass Posted April 4, 2012 Author Posted April 4, 2012 That is really nice. How does she play? What string set are you going to use? I haven't heard it amplified yet. It's set up nicely without taking out any of the relief, so no need for adjustments. The strings on it are FWs and feel like 12-50s or so. I'm going to have to sort through my strings at home to figure out exactly what's on there. The strings don't have colored thread wrapping on them, so they are not TI's. The balls, from 1st to 6th strings, are steel, purple, green, black, red and bronze colored, in case anyone knows what they are. Depending on how they sound, I'll figure out with what to replace them with.
brentrocks Posted April 4, 2012 Posted April 4, 2012 Wow Mark....your archtop collection is really great!
MartyGrass Posted April 4, 2012 Author Posted April 4, 2012 Another beautiful JS. Congrats. Do you know what pickup is in it? I have a 1990 sunburst and Ren said it was a low output pickup. Any pics?
Guest HRB853370 Posted April 5, 2012 Posted April 5, 2012 I tell you the one the best parts of many Heritage guitars is the part the audience never sees... The back of the gutiars are just incredible. Five piece neck, book matched flame maple back, and the five ply binding? Its a work of art few even know is there! 5 pc neck? I think it is a 3 pc, I don't believe you can count the seams where the pieces are joined.
FredZepp Posted April 5, 2012 Posted April 5, 2012 5 pc neck? I think it is a 3 pc, I don't believe you can count the seams where the pieces are joined. Yes.. the small pieces count too.. a 5 pc. indeed. And a sweet looking JS. Probably pretty nice just to play acoustically ... It has a nice classic look, that's for sure. And a nice looking backside...
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