Another Comparison

[rcameron@queens.org]

I had known about Heritage Guitars for many years, but i was never able to see or play one here in Hawaii.  I have always played only Gibson's and Fender's.  About 2 months ago i saw the Heritage factory tour on You Tube and i was hooked.  I had to have one that was built where the original Les Paul's were made.  And so my quest began.  After a month of e-bay, craigs list and HOC members i finally got a 1998  H150 for $1100.  It arrived this past weekend.  I just had to let you folks know of my comparison betwen my LP Standard and my H150.  The first thing i noticed was the mable top on the H150.  I was much more figured than my LP... it had a classic look to it.  It was heavy.  About 2 pounds heavier than my LP.  I was the surprised the head stock logo was screened.  I had always assumed that it was inlay-ed.  The next was perfect 60' thin profile.  Thinner than my LP.  Just a great neck!  As for playability and tone I had to give that to my LP.  I think the fact the H150 is new to my hands is one thing but the over all feel of my LP is better.  The tone on the LP is also deeper, but  visually the Heritage is the hands down winner.  It is simply a beautiful guitar and I'm so happy that I bought it.  I'm sure I'll get much more use to the "feel" of the H150 as I play it more.

[jacques]

I'm sure it will take you some time, but in the end quality should prove itself. The wood and construction of a Heritage is better and the only thing I can think of that may be a weak point are the pickups. I'm not sure wether Seymour Duncan '59s were the standard back in 1998, so maybe your 150 has Schallers? In that case you might consider a swap. I am very happy with my '59s, but I've read some enthousiastic reviews of a 150 with Seth Lovers or Antiquities. There have been more comparisons on the HOC and they were all in favour of the 150.

[pushover]

:this_thread_is_useless_withou

 

Friendly.. reminder to post pix of your new baby..  :wink:

 

Interesting comparison... What pickups do you have.. My own comparison, between my 157 and a LP studio is that as far as feel and playability is concerned there is NO (nada.. zilch.. zippo) comparison between the two. The Heritage is just "tighter", all around. I get that same feel in my new (to me) 535. As far as sound was concerned.. I really preferred the sound of the Burstbuckers on the LP over the stock Schallers on the Heritage, but since I have put 59's on it, and it's MUCH better. Still not the same as the BB's, but that's o.k. and by comparison my Heritage definately sounds deeper and very dark.. compared to the LP.. maybe its the wood..

 

Anway.. enjoy your new guitar.. Give it a chance to grow on you..

[Gitfiddler]

As a great generality, I find my H150 and H157 comparable to and in some ways, a cut above GBrand's Historic gits.

 

The price difference is so significant, that it makes Heritage a true bargain.

 

And by the way,  :this_thread_is_useless_withou :this_thread_is_useless_withou :this_thread_is_useless_withou

 

 

(We are SO bad!)

 

Aloha! 8)

[les paulverizer]

I've always been a Gibson Les Paul user; people that know what I do identify me with the Les Paul; as simple as that.

I got my H150 last November ('07) and even though at first I gravitated toward my usual Paul's, I soon realized that "habit" and "familiarity" played a big part.

It's the same old story; the album's ya like best are the one's that sorta "grow" on you.

Ya meet someone, and ya think they're the greatest thing and after a while ya only end up sein' them once in a while; on the other hand people ya only sort of kinda like at first but that "grow on you" tend to be real friend's for life!

My H150 (bought in absolute pristine condition at the Texas Guitar Show) came with the stock Shaller pup's and straight away within 3 day's I swopped 'em for Seymour Duncan Antoquity's; as soon as I did that everythin' fell into place.

I know that Alex Skolnik has DiMarzio Super Distortion's on his H150 and as soon as I get hold of another one I too will fit some "high gain" pup's, just to experiment; either DiMarzio's or Seymour's.

The thing with me was that, since this guitar is what it is, I wanted to get it as close as possible to the "real thing"; have a time travel machine, rewind yerself to 1959 and get yerself one of those guitar's that in 40 years time people will have to sell their house in order to be able to afford, if ya know what I mean... 8)

Every time I listen to one of my favourite album's I end up hearin' thing's I never heard before; the same applies to my favourite movie's.

Well; every time I play my H150 I find I can do thing's I didn't know I could do. It's a damn "organic" guitar!

Now I know just what Mark Knopfler meant when he said that unless ya play an original '58 or '59 ya can't possibly know what it's like! 8)

What I found is that it's all in the subtleties; for example, I can use the "middle position" (and experiment with it) a lot more with this guitar than with any other Paul's; every sound comes through as bein' more...kinda "legit", if ya catch my drift... :wink:

Let's put it this way; Music is my life, I play A LOT and very regularly (thanks God!), and if I have to grab just one guitar it's gonna be the Heritage now.

The last two week's I only used my favourite Gibson Les Paul (a great guitar if I ever heard one, I have to say!) but as soon as I went back to my H150, well, there was "the difference", again!

It's like the difference between Steve Perry and all the other singer's in Journey, the Sex Pistol's and all the other punk band's, the Beatles and ELO, Led Zeppelin and a whole lotta other Rock band's, Lynyrd Skynyrd and Molly Hatchet, James Brown and J-Zee (I mean, WTF????), Abraham Lincoln and "Billary" Clinton (even more WTF!), a BMW and an Acura,.....

I think I've made myself clear, I hope!

My advice, for what it's worth, is; give yerself time, go and play that guitar in a quiet room, with nobody else in the room but you - an amp and a drink, pour yer heart out, play with a pick AND yer finger's, scream AND whisper, and really l-i-s-t-e-n to what goes on in the room while ya're playin'. Ya might be surprised....

My two cent's worth... :wink:

[SouthpawGuy]

I've always been a Gibson Les Paul user; people that know what I do identify me with the Les Paul; as simple as that.

I got my H150 last November ('07) and even though at first I gravitated toward my usual Paul's, I soon realized that "habit" and "familiarity" played a big part.

It's the same old story; the album's ya like best are the one's that sorta "grow" on you.

Ya meet someone, and ya think they're the greatest thing and after a while ya only end up sein' them once in a while; on the other hand people ya only sort of kinda like at first but that "grow on you" tend to be real friend's for life!

My H150 (bought in absolute pristine condition at the Texas Guitar Show) came with the stock Shaller pup's and straight away within 3 day's I swopped 'em for Seymour Duncan Antoquity's; as soon as I did that everythin' fell into place.

I know that Alex Skolnik has DiMarzio Super Distortion's on his H150 and as soon as I get hold of another one I too will fit some "high gain" pup's, just to experiment; either DiMarzio's or Seymour's.

The thing with me was that, since this guitar is what it is, I wanted to get it as close as possible to the "real thing"; have a time travel machine, rewind yerself to 1959 and get yerself one of those guitar's that in 40 years time people will have to sell their house in order to be able to afford, if ya know what I mean... 8)

Every time I listen to one of my favourite album's I end up hearin' thing's I never heard before; the same applies to my favourite movie's.

Well; every time I play my H150 I find I can do thing's I didn't know I could do. It's a damn "organic" guitar!

Now I know just what Mark Knopfler meant when he said that unless ya play an original '58 or '59 ya can't possibly know what it's like! 8)

What I found is that it's all in the subtleties; for example, I can use the "middle position" (and experiment with it) a lot more with this guitar than with any other Paul's; every sound comes through as bein' more...kinda "legit", if ya catch my drift... :wink:

Let's put it this way; Music is my life, I play A LOT and very regularly (thanks God!), and if I have to grab just one guitar it's gonna be the Heritage now.

The last two week's I only used my favourite Gibson Les Paul (a great guitar if I ever heard one, I have to say!) but as soon as I went back to my H150, well, there was "the difference", again!

It's like the difference between Steve Perry and all the other singer's in Journey, the Sex Pistol's and all the other punk band's, the Beatles and ELO, Led Zeppelin and a whole lotta other Rock band's, Lynyrd Skynyrd and Molly Hatchet, James Brown and J-Zee (I mean, WTF????), Abraham Lincoln and "Billary" Clinton (even more WTF!), a BMW and an Acura,.....

I think I've made myself clear, I hope!

My advice, for what it's worth, is; give yerself time, go and play that guitar in a quiet room, with nobody else in the room but you - an amp and a drink, pour yer heart out, play with a pick AND yer finger's, scream AND whisper, and really l-i-s-t-e-n to what goes on in the room while ya're playin'. Ya might be surprised....

My two cent's worth... :wink:

 

Very inspiring post LP, very inspiring indeed 

 

+1 to you my friend. :wink:

 

 

in fact plus one to everyone who has contributed to this post, threads like this make the HOC what it is ... a great place for music "heads" to hang out.

[brentrocks]

i have owned a couple '79 silverburst LP customs that i thought would never be rivaled, but the Gary Moore is the s**t!!!  and H 150s in general are the s**t too!!!

 

and compared to new LPs, no contest!!!

[Kuz]

Dude, change the pickups and I bet you'll be selling your Les Paul.