Heritage quality sparks Gibson debate at Fender

[JAM]

When I announced the acquisition of my H-535 to my Brothers and Sisters on the Fender Forum, I received very hearty congratulations.

But the thread slowly morphed into a critique of Gibson quality.

I thought you loyal ‘Heritagists’ would be interested in some of their comments:

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The Heritage instruments are very sweet guitars and their build quality consistently "out-Gibsons" Gibson at every turn.



Outstanding score, nugget!



RAWK ON!

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+1K...The Heritage instruments are very fine and they literally do build them like Gibson used to.

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Great! You don't see any of Gibson's quality issues in Heritage. That's why I love them.

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And not a sliver of "baked maple" to be found anywhere!

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Just an example.

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Would it have killed someone to spend three minutes dressing those inside edges down with some 220-grit before that body was assembled ?

 

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That Pic was taken at NAMM 2013, it's a Gibson Custom Shop 335.

They (Gibson) make (made?) fantastic guitars. But you can really buy a lemon, even in the highest price regions. Haven't seen a lemon from Fender CS yet. Better and best OK, but such a wrong thing from the Custom Shop ??

 

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'Nuff said !!

 

cheers!

 

Jim

[H]

Let's be careful here. Gibson makes thousands of guitars each year and, yes, there are examples of poor quality, bad design and sloppy workmanship in that number.

 

However, I have Fenders and Heritages that exhibit aspects of these problems too. Two of the five Heritages I've owned have had poor fingerboard binding. It's common on the earlier guitars to see misaligned tuners. I've had several Teles with finish issues around the pocket and bridge areas.

 

The only brand of guitar that has been consistently excellent in build quality in my own experience is Rickenbacker.

 

The best thing we can do with our guitars is play and enjoy them in each other's company.

[JAM]

@H...

 

Their words, not mine. Not trying to initiate controversy at all.

 

I simply thought it might be of interest to those here to know in what high esteem Heritage Guitars are held by some pretty diehard Fender fans.

 

cheers!

 

Jim

[rockabilly69]

Let's be careful here. Gibson makes thousands of guitars each year and, yes, there are examples of poor quality, bad design and sloppy workmanship in that number.

 

However, I have Fenders and Heritages that exhibit aspects of these problems too. Two of the five Heritages I've owned have had poor fingerboard binding. It's common on the earlier guitars to see misaligned tuners. I've had several Teles with finish issues around the pocket and bridge areas.

 

The only brand of guitar that has been consistently excellent in build quality in my own experience is Rickenbacker.

 

The best thing we can do with our guitars is play and enjoy them in each other's company.

On my last H150 the bridge and tailpiece inserts could have been installed better, the frets need some levelling, and the nut was cut badly! It turned out to be a great guitar after I addresses these issues. My friend who used to be a Heritage dealer (and one of the best guitar repairman in know), told me he was constantly fixing some small niggle on every new Heritage that came through his shop. But the same guy told me he still loved Heritage guitar!

[TalismanRich]

WHat does it say when one of top threads on the LP forum about Historics is called "The Official Historics and Reissues Modification Thread". Seriously, spend $5 grand on a guitar, and then send it off to have it disassembled, and rebuilt?

[Genericmusic]

My two favorite sayings when it come to guitars; "Heritage...when Gibson just isn't good enough" and "If it wasn't built on Parson's Street, its not a Gibson."

[Gitfiddler]

I'm just glad that Heritage brought its own quality up over the years. Early on, that was the knock on the brand. They really have their QC act together now.

 

As for Gibson, they can and do build some amazing instruments. But as stated above, their ability to let a few dogs leave the factory still occurs...made worse by the nosebleed high cost of admission to Gibson Historicland.

[Thundersteel]

 

The only brand of guitar that has been consistently excellent in build quality in my own experience is Rickenbacker.

 

Add Hamer to that list.

 

 

 

Two of the five Heritages I've owned have had poor fingerboard binding.

 

ALL of my Heritages I've owned, except one or two, have had finish problems. If they can address these issues, they can turn a great guitar into an excellent guitar!

[bolero]

I'm really glad Heritage ditched the schaller hardware...it was ugly & clunky. plus I think those schaller pickups did a disservice to the sound

 

I have two old H150's that, once I replaced the stock schaller pups, turned into "wow this guitar sounds incredible".

 

that's when the decision to sell my Gibson's & keep the Heritage's took root...

[smaj]

We have never sent a PRS back here at the store either.

[Blunote]

Not only did the factory fail to properly finish the cut edges, the wood look cheap! No grain, nothing of interest.

 

C'mon folks, does it really cost much money to use a nice grained veneer on a laminate topped guitar?

[hinesarchtop]

Not only did the factory fail to properly finish the cut edges, the wood look cheap! No grain, nothing of interest.

 

C'mon folks, does it really cost much money to use a nice grained veneer on a laminate topped guitar?

I like the wood on this 335. If you look closely you'll see that the outer veneer is Birdseye hard Maple which is historically correct.

[brentrocks]

Not only did the factory fail to properly finish the cut edges, the wood look cheap! No grain, nothing of interest.

 

C'mon folks, does it really cost much money to use a nice grained veneer on a laminate topped guitar?

looks like their CNC blade was dull ...and that was a NAMM guitar? LMAO!!!!!

[gnappi]

Yeah, Gibson is definitely going downhill. This weekend I bought a cool Midtown Standard and I wanted to lower the bridge P90 because it was really high, but the phillips screwdriver was spinning on the head of one of the screws. The screw head had a hole in it without the X.

 

Sheesh, no wonder it was high, some moron at Gibson HAD to turn it partially down by hand. BY HAND???

 

Rather than pick up a good screw the idiot turned it in a few turns by HAND!!! THAT my fellow Heritage owners is THE WORST example of the state of Gibson on the planet.

 

 

[gnappi]

Sorry, the screw is NOT the worst example of the state of "quality" at Gibson...

 

Recently I bought a LP Supreme and it had wood chips in the case! I've had it... never again will I buy a new Gibson.

 

 

 

[MartyGrass]

Two of the most consistent manufacturers are G&L and Rickenbacker.

[fretless]

anything made by hand will always have inconsistencies or "flaws" but it can be those so called flaws that make it special .

[MartyGrass]

Well then, I've had quite a few special guitars, some with dead pickups, stripped screws, overcut nuts, and bent tuning keys.

 

I don't mind uneven finish, overspray, or burn marks in the control cavity. But extra screw holes, gouges and scratched metal I'd rather add myself.

 

I mentioned G&L and Rickenbacker because they are generally ready to play out of the box. Few others are.

[rockabilly69]

Okay I have a Gibson quality story to tell. I bought a brand new Firebird a few years ago. There were three in the store, and the one I bought was clearly the best sounding one, by miles! I bring it home, play it through my pedalboard, and develop some very good sounds. The next night I'm going to be debuting a new song of mine at a Sundance Film Festival party. A few seconds (10 or so), into the song my guitar seems to be muting for no apparent reason. I look down and see that the neck pickup cover has fallen off and has been bouncing into the strings! A few days later one of tuners starts slipping like crazy, and I notice a crack by where the body meets the neck. I bring the guitar to my studio to resolder the cover, and I notice the

pickup springs are too short on the neck pickup to keep the pickup from flopping around. And the solder joints on both sides of the pickup failed from bad manufacturing! To Gibsons credit they sent me a new tuner, and a new neck pickup, but soon after I sold the guitar just plain tired of the ordeal! What a shame as it really was a good sounding guitar.

[rockabilly69]

WHat does it say when one of top threads on the LP forum about Historics is called "The Official Historics and Reissues Modification Thread". Seriously, spend $5 grand on a guitar, and then send it off to have it disassembled, and rebuilt?

I think that all production LP style guitars need fine tuning to the player, even Heritages.

 

I pretty much will do the same to my H150 if I decide if it's a keeper. One by one I will go through each piece of hardware determing which is best for my guitar. New ABR style bridge with new nashville inserts, new tailpiece and studs, new RS pots and Jensen PIO caps, braided harness, poker chip, reflector knobs (my fave), and maybe a little further down the road, if I decide the Pearly Gates pickups are coming up short, some Throbaks pickups. I don't like the hardware that Heritage uses and that is a big point with me. But these modifications are very inexpensive and I feel they fine tune the guitar in a way that I like it.

 

Modifying guitars to my liking is a hobby that pays me big dividends in the end! One of my stage acoustic guitars has had at least five different pickups in it but now I know first hand what works for me!

 

The things I like about my new Heritage is the wood work aspect of it, the shape of the neck, the nice Indian rosewood fingerboard, the color of the back, the handcarved top, the beautiful stain, the thin nitro. Also I like the Grover tuners. Most guitars I buy are a starting point, or a gem in the rough!

[Thundersteel]

The bridge on a Gibbon ES-137 I bought a few years ago was too high, but when I turned the thumbscrew to adjust it, the entire post spun. The hole they drilled for the post anchor was too big. I applied some JB Weld around the anchor, and sold it a few days later. I didn't really like the snot-green inlays anyway!