MartyGrass Posted June 26, 2012 Posted June 26, 2012 I was at 225 Parsons this week to meet Jack and drop off some pickups. I noticed on his workbench a blueburst Kenny Burrell that I had seen on eBay a few months ago. It is a Super KB that was shrunk down to a Sweet 16 size and had a mini-humbucker in it. It was a yellow center, blue periphery burst. So it had to be the same guitar. While the guitar was on eBay, this was posted. http://www.heritageownersclub.com/forums/topic/14546-kenny-burrell/page__hl__burrell__fromsearch__1 I contacted the seller and asked if there was a neck problem. He told me no. Well, there was. It's in the shop now. Small world. The second story involves a H550 with a Charlie Christian pickup. I dropped a guitar off at Pete Moreno's shop and noticed the H550 in the back. It was a beautiful cherry burst with wonderful flames everywhere. The lacquer was off of it and some sanding had been done. So I asked about it. Pete said there was nothing wrong with the guitar, but the owner wanted it changed to a honey burst. Heritage declined to do it because the top was altered for a CC pickup. They sent him to Pete. This was originally a single pickup humbucker guitar, so it was an excellent choice for a CC pickup, which the owner's local luthier completed. Personally, I cannot understand someone changing the finish though. It is difficult to sand all of the red out, but Pete is trying. It makes me sad to see such a beautiful instrument go through all that just for the "color of its skin". I told Pete that if the guy doesn't like a beautiful cherry burst, maybe he bought the wrong guitar. (I'm being polite in case one of you guys own this.) Pete could tell I was aggravated so he showed me something worse. He had an Alvarez dreadnought that the owner tried to refinish and botched. The owner sent it to Pete to complete. It also needed a bridge and a pickguard. Pete explained that he could buy a new similar guitar for the $450 that Pete would charge to refinish it and install a bridge and pickguard. The guy still wanted the work done. Strange world.
FredZepp Posted June 26, 2012 Posted June 26, 2012 I think that some folks just want to see Pete work his magic... so they find him some challenges to overcome.
brentrocks Posted June 26, 2012 Posted June 26, 2012 i saw that cherryburst 550....it was perfect....but yet he wants it refinished????
DetroitBlues Posted June 27, 2012 Posted June 27, 2012 I'm not a fan of Cherry Burst either and I had my old 140 refinished. Turned out really nice....
Hfan Posted June 27, 2012 Posted June 27, 2012 Lately all my guitar purchases are used ones, and the finish is pretty low on my list of priorities. I keep what they come with and have found I like some finishes I would never have chosen if left to my own devices..Silver (Fender Blizzard Pearl), Olympic white and trans black come to mind).
light01 Posted July 26, 2012 Posted July 26, 2012 Hello FredZepp! Its my first time so see a blueburst! That is really beautiful!
heritagefan7 Posted July 26, 2012 Posted July 26, 2012 Lately all my guitar purchases are used ones, and the finish is pretty low on my list of priorities. I keep what they come with and have found I like some finishes I would never have chosen if left to my own devices..Silver (Fender Blizzard Pearl), Olympic white and trans black come to mind). +1
hotfordcoupe Posted July 26, 2012 Posted July 26, 2012 The color of the finish is important to me also but not at the expense of possibly ruining a good instrument.
unikh550 Posted July 29, 2012 Posted July 29, 2012 Hi, MG, That's my H-550. After writing ad nauseum about it on this site so much last year, asking for suggestions, etc., I took the plunge 3 months ago. If I had known about almondburst back in '98, I would have ordered it that way. The dealer said that the red would not be so bright after hand sweat, polish, etc., had landed on it for a few years, but.... that stop sign red never changed a bit. We settled on the honeyburst instead of the dark antique natural because he couldn't get the red out with the wood bleach. I didn't want to cover up what I've always felt was the flamiest H-550 i've ever seen. So, the lighter brown of the honeyburst should be great. Actually, there are a few structural problems with the guitar. Looks like Heritage did not give a reinforcing strip of wood (that curvy strip) around the inside of the jackplate. Thus, when I leaned over last year to pick up some sheet music, the amplifier cord plug mashed right through the side wood by the jack. It was locally repaired, but Pete said that he would do it the way it should have been originally done at the factory. There are also some slight pinholes where I had a Tal Farlow pickguard made and installed, then removed it, and also some slight cracks on the guitar's top right around that 1 lb honker of a pickup. Also am having new tuners put in that don't match the holes from the Imperials, so he has to do some filling, coloring, and drillin'. Am making do with an excellent Epi Joe Pass with a spruce top that I've rented for $10/week, and have dialed in with my Polytone Minibrute IV to sound very close to the CC (minus the midrange bite). However, you tell Pete to bring it to the front of the shop, for I miss it, as do some of the club regulars in Bloomington, IN. Why did I do all of these changes over time? Because, like my guitar hero, Barney Kessel,no manufacturer makes a guitar with a Charlie Christian. Ordered it with no inlays, knobs, pickguard, or pickup, and Heritage reinforced the top for my friend to put the CC in. Lollar and CC pickups in Britain make repros, but they sound nothing like the real thing. Paid $1,500 for the guitar, and will have doubled it over the years with the mods, including Pete's. Will have some friends put me on Facebook and Youtube (am technically nongifted), and will have them burn some CD's and do a webpage for me. When I have it all up, I'll let you all know so that I can have honest appraisals of my playing and singing.- Charley Bevell
DetroitBlues Posted July 30, 2012 Posted July 30, 2012 Hi, MG, That's my H-550. After writing ad nauseum about it on this site so much last year, asking for suggestions, etc., I took the plunge 3 months ago. If I had known about almondburst back in '98, I would have ordered it that way. The dealer said that the red would not be so bright after hand sweat, polish, etc., had landed on it for a few years, but.... that stop sign red never changed a bit. We settled on the honeyburst instead of the dark antique natural because he couldn't get the red out with the wood bleach. I didn't want to cover up what I've always felt was the flamiest H-550 i've ever seen. So, the lighter brown of the honeyburst should be great. Actually, there are a few structural problems with the guitar. Looks like Heritage did not give a reinforcing strip of wood (that curvy strip) around the inside of the jackplate. Thus, when I leaned over last year to pick up some sheet music, the amplifier cord plug mashed right through the side wood by the jack. It was locally repaired, but Pete said that he would do it the way it should have been originally done at the factory. There are also some slight pinholes where I had a Tal Farlow pickguard made and installed, then removed it, and also some slight cracks on the guitar's top right around that 1 lb honker of a pickup. Also am having new tuners put in that don't match the holes from the Imperials, so he has to do some filling, coloring, and drillin'. Am making do with an excellent Epi Joe Pass with a spruce top that I've rented for $10/week, and have dialed in with my Polytone Minibrute IV to sound very close to the CC (minus the midrange bite). However, you tell Pete to bring it to the front of the shop, for I miss it, as do some of the club regulars in Bloomington, IN. Why did I do all of these changes over time? Because, like my guitar hero, Barney Kessel,no manufacturer makes a guitar with a Charlie Christian. Ordered it with no inlays, knobs, pickguard, or pickup, and Heritage reinforced the top for my friend to put the CC in. Lollar and CC pickups in Britain make repros, but they sound nothing like the real thing. Paid $1,500 for the guitar, and will have doubled it over the years with the mods, including Pete's. Will have some friends put me on Facebook and Youtube (am technically nongifted), and will have them burn some CD's and do a webpage for me. When I have it all up, I'll let you all know so that I can have honest appraisals of my playing and singing.- Charley Bevell Wait a second... If Heritage did not install a pickup, why would they reinforce the jackplate? Did they install the wiring harness, pots, and jack, and left a hole for the pickup? Or was all that done as an aftermarket job somewhere else? Perhaps the person who was going to install the electronics would have been the one to do the work. the other structural issue seem to be from post-production work which I wouldn't consider a Heritage "flaw" but rather just the cost of modifying your guitar to your own liking. Sorry if I'm being a little defensive, I'm just trying to understand how the guitar was build originally... As far as the Red goes, the original reds way back in the day use to fade. I had a ACB from '85 that was rather bright 25 years later. I don't think the paint is made the way it used to be...
unikh550 Posted July 31, 2012 Posted July 31, 2012 Hi, Detroit Blues, this is what i ordered, and received, in '98: H-550 (you wouldn't believe the flames everywhere), no inlays, pickguard, knobs, pots, wiring, pickup, toggle switch, pickup, nor standard bridge (ordered ebony bridge; got a rosewood one- no foul). Came with chrome imperials and H-tailpiece. Heritage put in the jack hole and reinforced the top for the extra weight of the CC, which I had bought from Island Guitars in HI from their Vintage Guitar ad a few years before. I had asked Gibson if they'd make me an ES-135 with no pickups, ibanez an Artstar with none, Gretsch....you name it. Then Eugene Sharpey from Akron, OH was a dealer at a guitar show in Dolton, IL. The rest was fate and history. Had a guitar shop put on the Kessel bowties (know his 350 didn't have them), which I had ordered from Gibson (doubt if they'd do that today), and my friend, a perfectionist, put on the CC when experienced repairmen all cowered with fear. Heritage farmed that out to Pete this time. Thus, like Kessel, I made this 550 my very own one-of-a-kind, which it really is because it sounds out exactly what I imagine. Don't know why MG and Pete are being so melodramatic, as if I don't know what i'm doing. Pete was very helpful and encouraging when I dropped it off (A LONG TIME AGO, P-E-T-E!!!), and I explained it to MG in a previous thread. If I had taken off the CC and sold it without a pickup, with tiny pinholes, the holes where the CC had been, and two very weak tuners, i would be lucky to get $800 for it. Then I'd have to find someone to put the CC in another guitar, etc.,...do you see how uneconomical this is? Pete's giving me a fantastic price for all of this work, which is why I haven't pestered him in two weeks, and three weeks before that. It's all good, and you'll all see it, and see me play it once my pals put me up for view. Have been playing jazz for 40 years, and have sang it for 3. Am a perfectionist who knows what he wants out of his instrument, both aesthetically and sonically. All of these mods have been well thought out. Realize that most people would not have done this, but then most people would not order a guitar w/o a pickup either. The red would not fade, so a change had to be made. -Charley Bevell, Bloomington, IN (812) 876-9064
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