James535 Posted January 1, 2013 Author Posted January 1, 2013 My 555 is very similar to your 535, here is mine with my alterations to it. Ooh, nice. Think I have made the right choice. Thanks for sharing the pics
James535 Posted January 1, 2013 Author Posted January 1, 2013 Nice 535 James. Also like that Tele. 52 Reissue? And your SG reminds me of my 60 LP SG from my youth. Remember the "Les Paul" truss rod cover. Mine had a regular tailpiece though. And the LP is killer. Nice collection. Thanks for the reply. Yeah the tele is a 52 reissue model, 1996 built if I remember correctly. I fitted the Les Paul truss rod cover to it, I loved the early SGs with them on, always thought they looked great. So not long after getting the guitar I ordered the cover from Gibson and got it on there! The LP is a gem, the fretless wonder description they gave these guitars really is the truth! Cheers!
Guest HRB853370 Posted January 1, 2013 Posted January 1, 2013 What is that engraved metal plate at the bottom below the stop tailpiece? Is that for aesthetic purposes? It definitely gives the SG a "different" look!
James535 Posted January 3, 2013 Author Posted January 3, 2013 What is that engraved metal plate at the bottom below the stop tailpiece? Is that for aesthetic purposes? It definitely gives the SG a "different" look! Yeah, it's purely aesthetic on my guitar. It's the Derek Trucks 50th anniversary signature model, so its based on his main guitar. On his SG it used to have a tremolo system that he removed and had a normal abr tune-o-matic system fitted. He left the nice engraved part fitted to the guitar for aesthetic purposes, so as does the signature model too. I love the look of it, definitely makes it look a little different to the usual 60s reissue models you see most.
James535 Posted January 3, 2013 Author Posted January 3, 2013 Right, update time on the bridge situation! The parts arrived today and I'm happy with the quality of both items. I have not long fitted a set of strings to the guitar so I'll leave fitting of them for a couple of weeks, but I'm looking forward to getting them on the guitar. Here are a couple of photos for the projects sake...
James535 Posted February 26, 2013 Author Posted February 26, 2013 Little update here. I'll be dropping the 535 off at John Diggins guitars here in Birmingham today to have the TonePros tune o matic and stop bar fitted along with a good set up. It is something I could do myself as it is straight forward, but how much John charges it really isn't worth the risk of something going wrong to be honest. Also seeing as he has the guitar I am getting him to do one of his famous set ups. He is well renowned in the area for his set ups, so it will be interesting to see how it feels on its return. I've always just done it myself and been happy, be nice to have it done by a professional for once. Looking forward to getting it back already! James.
brentrocks Posted February 26, 2013 Posted February 26, 2013 Great guitars man! I also have a '68 Gibson...SG melody maker...gotta love the old Kalamazoos
James535 Posted February 26, 2013 Author Posted February 26, 2013 Great guitars man! I also have a '68 Gibson...SG melody maker...gotta love the old Kalamazoos Thanks man:) I think I've got to the point when I own pretty much all the guitars I have always wanted..for now anyway! Ahh yes, I saw your post. Looks stunning. I love melody makers, such great style. I have just taken the guitar to Jay Dee guitars for the work. Decided to get them to do a fret dress on it to, it should come back better than ever! Just have to begin to save some money for the classic 57 pickup change next...
houndhome Posted February 26, 2013 Posted February 26, 2013 Hi from a Heritage owner not too far away from you,I live about 45 miles west of Birmingham.Aside from the Heritages (H555,H575,H150Ultra,Golden Eagle,Super Eagle) I also own,amongst others a very early John Diggins from 1976,made as an at-home job when he was working for John Birch,and using John Birch pickups etc.A wild guitar made for a friend of Jack Woodruffe who ran one of Birminghams top guitar shops at the time,its a stereo solid Rickenbacker lookalike with twin 6/12 string necks.When I took it back to him to fix a minor electrical fault(in the mono switch,the only alteration done later) he remembered it well,put it on his bench,plugged it in and ran his hand over the strings,then came up with the comment "Yep,take the top off an egg wouldnt it!"
JAM Posted February 26, 2013 Posted February 26, 2013 Great looking Gits there Gents... Seems we have similar taste in Fender/Heritage... A FSR Limited Edition American Vintage ’57 Stratocaster and a ’99 ‘Nashville’ Telecaster Deluxe Series (modded) My 2010 H-535 cheers!
James535 Posted February 26, 2013 Author Posted February 26, 2013 Hi from a Heritage owner not too far away from you,I live about 45 miles west of Birmingham.Aside from the Heritages (H555,H575,H150Ultra,Golden Eagle,Super Eagle) I also own,amongst others a very early John Diggins from 1976,made as an at-home job when he was working for John Birch,and using John Birch pickups etc.A wild guitar made for a friend of Jack Woodruffe who ran one of Birminghams top guitar shops at the time,its a stereo solid Rickenbacker lookalike with twin 6/12 string necks.When I took it back to him to fix a minor electrical fault(in the mono switch,the only alteration done later) he remembered it well,put it on his bench,plugged it in and ran his hand over the strings,then came up with the comment "Yep,take the top off an egg wouldnt it!" Your Heritage collection sounds brilliant. Nice to hear there are lots more local to me. I live in Halesowen but work in Birmingham, so not far away. The Diggins guitar story is great, any photos of the guitar? I love his work. Such a humble workshop too, with some real gems hidden away on the benches. He had a fretboard on the bench today setting the cross inlays in, presume it was a Tony Iommi model. Looking forward to seeing the fret work on the 535 though, he did a re fret on my 68 Les Paul many many years ago and they are still unbelievable. The ultimate fretless wonder!
James535 Posted February 26, 2013 Author Posted February 26, 2013 Yes Jam, seems we do! Great looking guitars there, the Strat looks fantastic. Reminds me of the Red one David Gilmore played on the pulse tour(if I remember correctly), Is the finish on your 535 slightly translucent? Or solid colour? Looks nice
houndhome Posted February 26, 2013 Posted February 26, 2013 Here are photos of the John Diggins,a big heavy handful! I live about 25 miles from you in Tenbury Wells,though I do have an uncle in Halesowen.
James535 Posted February 26, 2013 Author Posted February 26, 2013 Wow, impressive thing isn't it! He knows how to build the weird & wonderful that's for sure. Love it bud!
JAM Posted February 26, 2013 Posted February 26, 2013 Yes Jam, seems we do! Great looking guitars there, the Strat looks fantastic. Reminds me of the Red one David Gilmore played on the pulse tour(if I remember correctly), Is the finish on your 535 slightly translucent? Or solid colour? Looks nice My Heritage is opaque Black... but the pick guard is translucent Black. Bit of a mismatch to my mind and I may try to get a solid Black one to replace it. Anyone know where I could find one ? I know Heritage offers it in solid Black - it's on their Custom page. cheers! JAM
H Posted February 27, 2013 Posted February 27, 2013 If you're not worried about it being made of wood, why not take your existing pickguard to a signwriter and have a new one made from BWB signwriters' plastic? I kitted out a black Rick 360 with all black pickguards like this a few years ago.
James535 Posted March 8, 2013 Author Posted March 8, 2013 The 535 should be ready to collect on Monday, looking forward to its return. Hopefully better than ever. Then in a few months time the move over to the Gibson classic 57 pups will commence. I'm still not satisfied with the tone from my SD 59s, too muddy for my taste and I adore the 57s in my SG so I think it's the right move. Currently in the process of looking at purchasing my first home so there won't be much spare money soon!
James535 Posted March 16, 2013 Author Posted March 16, 2013 A late post, but I got the 535 back from Jaydee guitars. It has to be said, it has come back better than ever! John did say he found a few frets to be a little off, some were a tad high and others a tad low. But he worked his magic and wow what a difference. The fretboard almost springs to life now and feels faster if you get what I mean! It was a great guitar to play anyway, I did notice the odd fret around the 12th that didn't feel great but kind of put up with it to be honest. But it was definitely worth having the fret dress done now and wish I had done it sooner, it's breathed new life into the old dog. The minor fret wear that was around the 2nd and 3rd is now a distant memory too. As for the bridge and tailpiece swap, all is well! Looks a lot cleaner and tidier with the slightly smaller Tonepros and Gibson items and doesn't look quite as cumbersome as the original items. Of course I have retained the originals if I wanted to return to them:) I haven't had chance to grab the nice camera properly to grab a photo of it as soon as I can James.
bobmeyrick Posted March 16, 2013 Posted March 16, 2013 ...I live about 25 miles from you in Tenbury Wells.... I always stop in Tenbury Wells when I'm on my way down from Nottingham to Brecon for the jazz festival in August - a much more pleasant drive than going via the M5/M50!
James535 Posted July 30, 2014 Author Posted July 30, 2014 Holy thread bump batman!After a very busy year or so of life, I thought I'd pop back on here and see what's happening in the Heritage world. Update on my H535, it's still going very well! Become my more regular gigging guitar of late, straight into my Super Reverb on ten has been a serious pleasure to use and the guitar has caught the eye of so many people. Always nice to explain what it is and the Heritage story each time.As of this weekend it will be gaining another guitar sibling in the form of a 1948 Gibson ES-300! She's an absolute stunner with tone to die for, single P90, Natural finish to match my 535. So needless to say I'm looking forward to bringing it home on Saturday morning. Will upload some photos of course :-) James.
barrymclark Posted July 30, 2014 Posted July 30, 2014 Holy thread bump batman! After a very busy year or so of life, I thought I'd pop back on here and see what's happening in the Heritage world. Update on my H535, it's still going very well! Become my more regular gigging guitar of late, straight into my Super Reverb on ten has been a serious pleasure to use and the guitar has caught the eye of so many people. Always nice to explain what it is and the Heritage story each time. As of this weekend it will be gaining another guitar sibling in the form of a 1948 Gibson ES-300! She's an absolute stunner with tone to die for, single P90, Natural finish to match my 535. So needless to say I'm looking forward to bringing it home on Saturday morning. Will upload some photos of course :-) James. Being a Danny Cedrone fan, that is awesome about the ES 300!
James535 Posted July 31, 2014 Author Posted July 31, 2014 Being a Danny Cedrone fan, that is awesome about the ES 300! Thank you very much! Yeah such an influential player and tone, definitely was a selling point to the guitar for me! Reading up further into the ES300N from '48, it appears they only made around 80, 83 I think I read. So it feels a privilege to have found one, and one that remains such a good player at that. I'm going to take it to my local guitar tech who worked on my H535 and returned it even better than ever, just to give it a set up and once over. Can't wait to get it and share some pictures.
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