Guest HRB853370 Posted August 17, 2012 Posted August 17, 2012 Curious- why did Heritage stop including the pigtail bridge/tailpiece as standard equipment in favor of a top wrapped stop tailpiece on the 137? Seems that having the added advantage of being able to adjust the individual strings would be something customers would want.
DetroitBlues Posted August 17, 2012 Posted August 17, 2012 It's a more traditional setup of the original student guitar, the LP jr. Minus the pickguard.
Guest HRB853370 Posted August 17, 2012 Posted August 17, 2012 It's a more traditional setup of the original student guitar, the LP jr. Minus the pickguard. I know you always like to chime in first on things, but are you certain that is the answer? I seriously doubt that would be the reason.
DetroitBlues Posted August 17, 2012 Posted August 17, 2012 I know you always like to chime in first on things, but are you certain that is the answer? I seriously doubt that would be the reason. Ok, I be a little more simple.... Because its cheaper that way... Same thought process behind the development of the Les Paul Jr and Les Paul Special...
Guest HRB853370 Posted August 17, 2012 Posted August 17, 2012 Ok, I be a little more simple.... Because its cheaper that way... Same thought process behind the development of the Les Paul Jr and Les Paul Special... Whats the diff between a LP JR and a LP Special?
bolero Posted August 17, 2012 Posted August 17, 2012 junior = 1 pickup maybe everyone didn't like the pigtail, it does look more modern?
DetroitBlues Posted August 17, 2012 Posted August 17, 2012 junior = 1 pickup maybe everyone didn't like the pigtail, it does look more modern? The pigtail is new. The first wrap around tailpiece was just a normal stop tailpiece. A few years later, the compensated or "lightning bolt" tailpiece was developed. The pigtail adjustable is a rather modern piece of hardware...
GuitArtMan Posted August 17, 2012 Posted August 17, 2012 I owned the second H-137 made and it came with a Pigtail bridge. I've heard rumors that Pigtail is just slow to deal with, and that was before the passing of Steve Rowen in 2009.
Guest HRB853370 Posted August 17, 2012 Posted August 17, 2012 I owned the second H-137 made and it came with a Pigtail bridge. I've heard rumors that Pigtail is just slow to deal with, and that was before the passing of Steve Rowen in 2009. What became of that 137 after you sold it to Brent and he sold it to somebody who sold it to somebody else? Do you know who has it now? I should have bought that damn thing when somebody had it for only $950! And do you miss it?
rjsanders Posted August 17, 2012 Posted August 17, 2012 Whats the diff between a LP JR and a LP Special? Jr. = one pickup, Special = two (originally, anyway...) re Pigtail, Steve Rowen, the owner-designer-etc., died almost 3 yrs ago. only Heritage knows why the change, but maybe Steve's wife decided to retire or something. i don't know...Steve was a heckuva guy to talk to, a real pleasure. i've had one of his wraptails on my 137 and a complete set of hardware for my '98 LP. great stuff, imho.
Guest HRB853370 Posted August 17, 2012 Posted August 17, 2012 Jr. = one pickup, Special = two (originally, anyway...) re Pigtail, Steve Rowen, the owner-designer-etc., died almost 3 yrs ago. only Heritage knows why the change, but maybe Steve's wife decided to retire or something. i don't know...Steve was a heckuva guy to talk to, a real pleasure. i've had one of his wraptails on my 137 and a complete set of hardware for my '98 LP. great stuff, imho. Well, the Pigtail website is still active.
fretless Posted August 17, 2012 Posted August 17, 2012 I asked Mr. Wolfe several 137 questions a while back and he said IIRC the change was made after the maker passed , they were very hard to get after that for a while . My '09 had a MIJ wraptail until I just recently upgraded to a Faber wraptail which has dead on intonation .Solid Wraptails also sound different , subtle but different . as I recall fwiw it intonated fine before w/ the stock MIJ bridge .
fretless Posted August 17, 2012 Posted August 17, 2012 I just bought this sweet compensated wraptail but it's for a angled posts and I'm saving it for a future kit build but it's a super sweet piece of hardware , gotta angled wraptail , check it out http://www.mojoaxe.com/
DetroitBlues Posted August 17, 2012 Posted August 17, 2012 Nice old guitar, love the checking! Wonder why it has that crazy pickguard
Guest HRB853370 Posted August 17, 2012 Posted August 17, 2012 Wonder why it has that crazy pickguard I know it, totally unnecessary and it botches up the look of the guitar.
Dick Seacup Posted August 17, 2012 Posted August 17, 2012 I don't pretend to know why the factory went with the wrap tail. But I do pretend to know that I prefer a single wrap-tail bridge to a stop-tail setup. I'm pretty sure I've seen an adjustable wrap-tail bridge piece on the aftermarket, and there are compensated models available too (one is posted up above). My Hamer Studio FM has a wrap-tail. I think it sounds better than the next model year when they went back to the stop-tail (they did wrap-tail on the Studio FM for three years, I think)...more 'round' and 'warm' without losing a whole lot of definition. I'm just pretending I know what I think I hear, though, so YMM(and probably should)V. The pickguards one of our members turns out for the H137s look pretty damn cool, too.
tbonesullivan Posted August 18, 2012 Posted August 18, 2012 maybe it was harder to source them. maybe people wanted something more traditional. wraptails with adjustable intonation are more expensive, but not excessively so. Some however would prefer a solid block of metal for the best sound condition.
GuitArtMan Posted August 18, 2012 Posted August 18, 2012 What became of that 137 after you sold it to Brent and he sold it to somebody who sold it to somebody else? Do you know who has it now? I should have bought that damn thing when somebody had it for only $950! And do you miss it? Somebody here has it (or had it). I'm playing start style guitars nearly 80% of the time these days. When I feel the desire the play a 24 3/4 scale guitar my Don Grosh set neck just kills for that.
Kuz Posted August 18, 2012 Posted August 18, 2012 Just to interject my thoughts. Terry McInturff recently built his first wrap-around style Carolina Custom (Single Cut LP style guitar). He used the the Gotoh (Wilkinson) wrap around bridge which may be the ugliest wrap around out there. I called and asked him why, and he said because it truly the best wrap-around bridge out there for several reasons. 1) He doesn't like tail pieces that slide into the studs (they can move around too much), he only likes tail pieces that are screwed down by the studs. 2) He says the other "intonatably" saddle wrap around bridges have too many moving parts (ie the saddles) that move and vibrate individually robbing tone & sustain. So while this might not be the best looking wrap around bridge, according to Terry it is "not perfect, but the best out there right now". http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Bridges,_tailpieces/Electric_guitar,_non-trem_tailpieces/Wilkinson_Gotoh_Adjustable_Bridge_Tailpiece.html I know Heritage has used these before and maybe tone, reliability, and sustain are the reasons why.
davesultra Posted August 18, 2012 Posted August 18, 2012 It would not suprise me if it was a combo of all the above. They still make the Pigtail, but they are a bit pricey compared to the compensated wrapover they use now. My '08 has the current wrapover (lightning bar) and it intonates just fine. As long as it works and sounds good, it's fine by me!
Guest HRB853370 Posted August 18, 2012 Posted August 18, 2012 Just to interject my thoughts. Terry McInturff recently built his first wrap-around style Carolina Custom (Single Cut LP style guitar). He used the the Gotoh (Wilkinson) wrap around bridge which may be the ugliest wrap around out there. I called and asked him why, and he said because it truly the best wrap-around bridge out there for several reasons. 1) He doesn't like tail pieces that slide into the studs (they can move around too much), he only likes tail pieces that are screwed down by the studs. 2) He says the other "intonatably" saddle wrap around bridges have too many moving parts (ie the saddles) that move and vibrate individually robbing tone & sustain. So while this might not be the best looking wrap around bridge, according to Terry it is "not perfect, but the best out there right now". http://www.stewmac.c..._Tailpiece.html I know Heritage has used these before and maybe tone, reliability, and sustain are the reasons why. I think that is the tailpiece that Lyle had on his 137 John. When I saw a closeup of the photos Lyle posted, I thought it was unattractive too. But hey, if it works..
Kuz Posted August 18, 2012 Posted August 18, 2012 I think that is the tailpiece that Lyle had on his 137 John. When I saw a closeup of the photos Lyle posted, I thought it was unattractive too. But hey, if it works.. Yep, if got a guitar with that wrap around tail piece, I would have thought of switching it out. But Terry is a tone purist and if he says it's the best.... then that is good enough for me.
Guest HRB853370 Posted August 18, 2012 Posted August 18, 2012 Yep, if got a guitar with that wrap around tail piece, I would have thought of switching it out. But Terry is a tone purist and if he says it's the best.... then that is good enough for me. My ears would not hear the difference, but I can see where a purist would know the difference.
bolero Posted August 19, 2012 Posted August 19, 2012 I actually like those!! was going to post a link earlier http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Bridges,_tailpieces/Electric_guitar,_non-trem_tailpieces/Wilkinson_Gotoh_Adjustable_Bridge_Tailpiece.html
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