Prototype, Franken-tar, or Hot Rod Gone Bad?

[jfrobi]

Hello all,

 

A fun puzzle for all! Any insight which the accumulated knowledge here in attendance could shed on this mixed-up guitar would be greatly appreciated!

 

I grabbed this off of The Bay mid to late 90's for pretty cheap money right at the beginning of my own being bitten by the Heritage bug. Best as I can tell, it's a fantastic neck surrounded by somebody's failed experiment in guitar customization, but before I start pondering what to do with this, I thought I'd get some feedback to be sure I'm not messing with something that might be of value.

 

This is just about the nicest playing neck and fingerboard I've owned on a solid body. It is stamped C04306 on the back of the headstock. A slick finished maple fingerboard with medium white MOP markers terminates in an unfortunate body refinish job. This flat primer gray finish is and has always had a tacky feel to it - I mean sticky, not just tasteless - and has taken a beating. And it's not something sitting on the surface as any attempt to clean it leaves the cleaning cloth embedded in the gray stick-up. Very strange (and I don't remember it being part of the ebay description). Whoever refinished this just didn't know what they were doing. The body is basically contour-less excepting the rounding over of the edge all the way around and feels cheap or over-simplified.

 

No wiring cavity markings of any sort. Nothing in the pickup cavity (with the exception of a date on the pickup - Dec 9 1978, more evidence that this is Franken-tar I suppose), and a big '6' or '9' written in permanent marker in the neck cavity and back of neck where it nests therein.

 

On the remotest chance that I have a piece of history poorly neglected here in my possession, I wanted to get some insight before I correct the refinish job, or parts the thing out. I took it apart as I was photographing, and it may or may not get put back together.

 

Any feedback is very appreciated! Closest I've ever arrived at myself was that it's got some VIP in its genes somewhere, even if just the neck.

 

Thanks very much, JFROBI

 

 

[tulk1]

Hi. Well .... the old gray Heritages show up from time to time. Bolt on necks, 1 pickup, weird gray paint job, strange pickup mount. Like yours. But I don't recall them having that type of bridge - very Tele-esque. I'd say you have one of the lesser known, weird little experimental Heritages. And I'm having a senior moment remembering the model number - 127 or something like that. I do believe it's in the "discontinued" models on the Heritage website.

 

edit: H120, maybe? Altho' not in gray.

[PunkKitty]

It's a nice find. Congrats!

[jfrobi]

And/or maybe some STAT in its genes. Thanks tulk1 for reminding me about the discontinued list.

[brentrocks]

that would be a H 101....VERY COOL

 

those pickups were left over from Gibson

 

[jfrobi]

Eureka!!! I can't believe you nailed it. Is that photo even on their website? I haven't been able to find it.

 

Gibson left-over pickups... explains the date stamp on the pickup. Fascinating.

 

Any one have thoughts on the finish? That's it in Brent's photo, at least what it started out to be. Like a quasi granite texture effect, but now it's literally gummy to the touch; pretty gross actually. Must have been experimental. You can almost see it failing already under the strings in the bass photo seems to me - collects every mark and touch. I know they offer this sort of stuff granite texture paint in spray cans now. Any body see a detrimental effect if I refinished the body?

 

Thoughts on value?

 

Thank you Brent!

[brentrocks]

no prob...glad i could help......that photo is from and old Heritage dealer pack they used to distribute in the mid-80s. There are a bunch of 5x7 cards with their various models, most of wich are no longer in production.

[tulk1]

Value? Not much, really. Well, not in terms of collectibility, anyway. If it needs a refin, then I'd say go for it. Or .... why not call Marv or Ren at the shop and ask one of them about the finish? Would be interesting to hear what they say.

[FredZepp]

Ha... yeah, we've seen one of those before and it's an odd finish.

 

I'd like to have one of the bass guitar versions.....

[DetroitBlues]

Many on here know, I'm not afraid to refinish a guitar. If its stick and thus unplayable, might as well refinish it. Make it the guitar you want. Only one catch, you won't get you money out of it if you choose to refinish it. Very cool guitar, I'm guessing a "C" serial number makes it a '86. Couple more years and it could be considered "vintage"

[jfrobi]

Thank you to all who commented. Now that I know it's an all original and genuine Heritage model, it will surely get put back together as it was after a carefully chosen refinishing process is undertaken for the gummy and marked-up body.

 

What a shock to compare this design experiment with the timeless design and craftsmanship of my Golden Eagle. I was convinced it was somebody's hack job! I repent! But I guess the 80's left notorious marks on design in lots of areas - A Flock of Seagulls hair anyone?

 

Cheers!