FredZepp Posted May 12, 2012 Posted May 12, 2012 The Premier Guitar Article on Heritage is in the June 2012 issue !! LINK >>>>>>>>>> http://www.premiergu...age_Guitar.aspx <<<<<<<<LINK
FredZepp Posted May 12, 2012 Author Posted May 12, 2012 Heritage Guitar has a history of going its own way. While other guitar manufacturers increasingly build their instruments in Mexico, Korea, China, Indonesia, and other places known for inexpensive labor, and in a market where computer-aided manufacturing is the norm and mass-produced instruments dominate, the team of craftsmen at Heritage do the exact opposite. By designing and building small batches of handcrafted, high-quality guitars from solid woods right here in the United States, Heritage is able to pay attention to those crucial details that define a great 6-string. Almost a third of Heritage guitars are custom built to specification—from the ornamentation to the hardware and pickups—and almost 80 percent of the business is for export, Deurloo says. “More than half of that goes to the Orient: Hong Kong, China, and Singapore. That’s the developing market. Germany and the Netherlands have always been pretty strong for us, too.” Lamb says he’s not anticipating any major design changes and that new models are released whenever an idea takes hold, such as the Millennium Pro, which was shown at the 2012 NAMM show. “We build as fine a guitar as there is in the world,” Lamb says. “We put a lot of tender, loving care into our instruments. We’re not mass-producing them. We only run small quantities—that is where we put our quality.” That quality is the cumulative result of a highly skilled team. “Every guitar we build has a little different feel because they are all handmade,” Deurloo says. “Each time a person does their part of the process, it adds individual character to that particular guitar. The sum of the people who contribute to each step—that’s what makes our guitars.”
DavesNotHere Posted May 12, 2012 Posted May 12, 2012 The secret source of the wood has been revealed! Or, is it just a red herring? The world may never know! Awesome article! Thanks Fred
davesultra Posted May 12, 2012 Posted May 12, 2012 Good read, the best one I've read yet regarding "H".
FredZepp Posted May 12, 2012 Author Posted May 12, 2012 The secret source of the wood has been revealed! Or, is it just a red herring? The world may never know! Awesome article! Thanks Fred Yes.. very detailed answer... It starts out with the wood selection,” says Deurloo, who began his guitar-making career in “white wood”—making and sanding necks and guitar bodies—for Gibson in 1958. Heritage buys spruce for guitar tops from Fred Tebb and Sons in Tacoma, Washington. For most of their necks and solidbodies, Heritage uses pattern-grade tropical American mahogany—chosen specifically for its smooth texture and straight grain—supplied by Newman Lumber Company in Gulfport, Mississippi. The curly maple comes primarily from the Great Lakes region. “We want it music grade,” Deurloo says. “It has to be clean and as figured as we can get it.” The “figure”refers to the grain pattern, which could be flame, bird’s-eye, or another grain pattern. Heritage sources ebony and rosewood fretboards from Luthiers Mercantile.
fxdx99 Posted May 12, 2012 Posted May 12, 2012 Thanks, Fred!! Great read. Millenium Pro? Couple of small pics in the article. What are the specs, anyone know?
big bob Posted May 12, 2012 Posted May 12, 2012 A nice distraction at the end of a long day! Thanks fred.
ledzef Posted May 12, 2012 Posted May 12, 2012 Great guitars made by players not bean counters looking at only the bottom line. This is why our guitars are all so special.
111518 Posted May 12, 2012 Posted May 12, 2012 A manufacturer that still sees its product as the sum total of the contribution of the people who build it. And, a journalist sensative enough to include those peoples' names, and a description of their skills. Yup .... great article. Thanks for posting.
JeffB Posted May 12, 2012 Posted May 12, 2012 so "thats" why I have one of the coolest guitars on the planet!!
SouthpawGuy Posted May 12, 2012 Posted May 12, 2012 Great guitars made by players not bean counters looking at only the bottom line. This is why our guitars are all so special. Quoted for truth !!!
SouthpawGuy Posted May 12, 2012 Posted May 12, 2012 Thanks, Fred!! Great read. Millenium Pro? Couple of small pics in the article. What are the specs, anyone know? First time I've heard the model name but isn't it the Millie with the florentine cutaway shown at NAMM last January ?
SouthpawGuy Posted May 12, 2012 Posted May 12, 2012 This one .... http://www.heritageo...__fromsearch__1
fxdx99 Posted May 12, 2012 Posted May 12, 2012 This one .... http://www.heritageo...__fromsearch__1 Ah, thanks! Can't recall seeing that one. Nice looking guitar.
golferwave Posted May 12, 2012 Posted May 12, 2012 It's always good for the Kalamazoo bunch when they get this type of article written. Vintage Guitar magazine did an article a few years ago, even showed pictures of the upstairs paint booths. The thing that struck me in this article was the amount of product being exported, I had no idea.
FredZepp Posted May 12, 2012 Author Posted May 12, 2012 .......The thing that struck me in this article was the amount of product being exported, I had no idea. Yes, those are some incredible export numbers. I was trying to interpret if he means that 80 % of all of their production or 80% of the custom built are exported. If it is of all production, that is an amazing figure... Almost a third of Heritage guitars are custom built to specification—from the ornamentation to the hardware and pickups—and almost 80 percent of the business is for export, Deurloo says. “More than half of that goes to the Orient: Hong Kong, China, and Singapore. That’s the developing market. Germany and the Netherlands have always been pretty strong for us, too.”
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