Are NEW Heritage Guitars Still a Good Value?

[HANGAR18]

"We Are The World...We Are The Children..."

 

 

 

 

 

hahaha! It's funny that you invoked that song. Paul McCartney and Stevie Wonder were in different continents when their parts were filmed for the music video for that song and then they were "video photo shopped" into looking like they were both in the same piano at the same time.

[Gitfiddler]

 

hahaha! It's funny that you invoked that song. Paul McCartney and Stevie Wonder were in different continents when their parts were filmed for the music video for that song and then they were "video photo shopped" into looking like they were both in the same piano at the same time.

 

Wasn't that Michael Jackson and Paul McCartney singing "Ebony and Ivory"??

 

Quincy Jones produced the "We Are The World" song with dozens of in-studio super stars. Remember the "Leave your egos at the door..." quote from Q?

 

Or I could be wrong.

[HANGAR18]

 

Wasn't that Michael Jackson and Paul McCartney singing "Ebony and Ivory"??

 

Quincy Jones produced the "We Are The World" song with dozens of in-studio super stars. Remember the "Leave your egos at the door..." quote from Q?

 

Or I could be wrong.

 

Wow. I guess I drank more microbrew than I thought last night. I definitely got my 80's pop mixed up.

Originally I thought it was Michael Jackson and Paul McCartney for the Ebony & Ivory song but I went to youtube to check my facts and all I saw were Stevie Wonder and Paul McCartney versions of that song so I thought I had gotten it wrong.

Furthermore, it seems that I also mixed up that song with the we are the world song. My double goof up.

But now that I am thinking a lot more clearly, I still say Gibson is junk. hahahaha

[Guest HRB853370]

 

Wow. I guess I drank more microbrew than I thought last night.

 

Yeah and still going at 4:36 AM!!

[rockabilly69]

 

Gibson continues to look for alternate, low cost materials (like baked Maple fret boards and plastic inlay instead of real Mother of Pearl among other things) while Heritage is said to often buy high quality Maple and other tone woods from North American wood suppliers. Even though Gibson might try to do a historic re-issue here and there, you never really know what materials they are going to sneak in there because they are not bound to any sort of published standard and the guitar you buy doesn't specify what ingredients went into it. Yes, you might get a good one but it's a crap shoot.

 

As for hardware, the last $4K Gibson I saw at the store had some silly new technology where the pots had a push/click feature as opposed to a push/pull that many of us are familiar with. Well, this particular brand new guitar got pulled off the wall for repair because that fancy-pants push/click pot went "BOING" and wouldn't stay clicked into place. That's all you need when you're playing a gig, to have one of your pots go BOING in the middle of a song and then that guitar is out of commission until you get a new (non-standard) pot installed.

 

Gibson (imho) is junk and you can tell them I said so.

 

Well I just looked at the current LP Custom that sells for $3999, and it's not the LP Custom I was talking about (I was referring to the Custom Shop '68 reissue that isn't even avaliable anymore, and the 50's reissues) the new custom does cut more corners than I would like (weight relieved body, Nashville style bridge, rosewood fingerboard). Gibons's Historic Reissue Custom is over $6000 now!!! So if you're looking for a custom that's definately a smart move to go Heritage H157! But when it comes to H150's I will stand by my statement that if money isn't an issue I would prefer the Historic reissue. Money WAS an issue with me though, so I bought two H150's, and modified them! And both do the job for me. It takes me a long time to make that kind of money being a fulltime musician, so I would say without a doubt Heritages are GREAT values! And I am one of the biggest Heritage fans around, that's why I joined this forum,, because I think they are a great value.

 

As for Heritage sourcing North American woods, just like Gibson, neither their Mahogany or Ebony (the main woods in a custom) are sourced from America. And the quality of the Mahogany used on the back of the last few years of Gibson Historic series LP's is the best I've ever seen hands down. Whereas the Mahogany on the back of most Heritages is generally heavier, and for as much gigging as I do that weight takes it's toll on me. I'm a small person and even with a padded strap I can feel the difference. Gibson is regulary bringing down the weight of the Historic LP's to somewhere between 8 and 9 pounds, and some of the tones I've heard from these guitars are incredible. Heritage H150's are generally between 9 and 10 pounds with most being on the higher side of that.

 

I would say Heritage is a better value across the board comparing to Gibson USA regular production LPs. And even comparing to Historics they are great value, as historics are ridiculously priced!!! But I still think the current Flametop R0's and R9's are still the best Les Paul guitars coming out of a non-boutique builder in the world, and in no way should be referred to as "JUNK".

[Gitfiddler]

"Can't we all just get along?" Rodney King (RIP)

 

 

Gibson 68 Custom hangin' out with a close Kalamazoo cousin. (Both are 9lbs)

 

 

 

 

[bolero]

I have a lightweight H157, that is all mahogany.....with ebony fretboard, chunky neck

 

it is a much better instrument than any Gibson Black Beauty I've played...and I owned a very good Historic 57 RI for a couple years, before I got this

 

it was also priced far south of what Gibson is charging for their reissues

[rockabilly69]

"Can't we all just get along?" Rodney King (RIP)

 

 

Gibson 68 Custom hangin' out with a close Kalamazoo cousin. (Both are 9lbs)

 

 

 

 

YES!!!

 

 

And Bolero, I give the nod to the Gibson Custom Shop Historics, but I ALWAYS find exceptions to the so called rule and take each on a guitar by guitar basis! One of my

favorite guitars is a totally stock Epiphone Dot and you should know by now I'm typically a tone chasing perfectionist. I can't count the amount of ES335's that it has smoked!

I remember when I got my first H150 and was so pleasantly surprised by how good it sounded, though it was a boat anchor:)

[Kuz]

YES!!!

 

 

And Bolero, I give the nod to the Gibson Custom Shop Historics, but I ALWAYS find exceptions to the so called rule and take each on a guitar by guitar basis! One of my

favorite guitars is a totally stock Epiphone Dot and you should know by now I'm typically a tone chasing perfectionist. I can't count the amount of ES335's that it has smoked!

I remember when I got my first H150 and was so pleasantly surprised by how good it sounded, though it was a boat anchor:)

 

I wish I would have known you better when you placed your custom order. I have always put weight limits on my custom orders... the heaviest 150 I have is 9lbs 4oz... and I always shipped them my pickups and requested hardware (Throbaks and tonepros).

[rockabilly69]

 

I wish I would have known you better when you placed your custom order. I have always put weight limits on my custom orders... the heaviest 150 I have is 9lbs 4oz... and I always shipped them my pickups and requested hardware (Throbaks and tonepros).

 

I wish you did too Kuz:)

[bolero]

YES!!!

 

 

 

 

that is a nice trio of guitars!!

 

 

I like how you are impartial in your tastes

[rockabilly69]

 

 

that is a nice trio of guitars!!

 

 

I like how you are impartial in your tastes

 

Whatever get's the job done:)

[rockabilly69]

 

I wish I would have known you better when you placed your custom order. I have always put weight limits on my custom orders... the heaviest 150 I have is 9lbs 4oz... and I always shipped them my pickups and requested hardware (Throbaks and tonepros).

By the way Kuz, that's my heaviest H150 too. It used to be 9lbs 6oz, but I changed to lighter hardware:) My other H150 is 9lbs even (which is one of the reasons I bought it!)

[rockabilly69]

And speaking of weight, I've got a buddy with a 2011 R9 that is in the high 7lb range that totally smokes, he put some throbak MXV SLE101s in it, check it out....

 

 

(7lbs 11oz to be exact!!!)

[pro-fusion]

Does Gibson even do LPs without swiss cheese bodies anymore? I haven't played any new LP in years that felt or sounded solid.

 

Heritage is a good value for what it is, and a crazy value compared to the Gibson custom shop, which I find to be a rip-off.

 

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2

[HANGAR18]

 

Well I just looked at the current LP Custom that sells for $3999, and it's not the LP Custom I was talking about (I was referring to the Custom Shop '68 reissue that isn't even avaliable anymore, and the 50's reissues) the new custom does cut more corners than I would like (weight relieved body, Nashville style bridge, rosewood fingerboard). Gibons's Historic Reissue Custom is over $6000 now!!! So if you're looking for a custom that's definately a smart move to go Heritage H157! But when it comes to H150's I will stand by my statement that if money isn't an issue I would prefer the Historic reissue. Money WAS an issue with me though, so I bought two H150's, and modified them! And both do the job for me. It takes me a long time to make that kind of money being a fulltime musician, so I would say without a doubt Heritages are GREAT values! And I am one of the biggest Heritage fans around, that's why I joined this forum,, because I think they are a great value.

 

As for Heritage sourcing North American woods, just like Gibson, neither their Mahogany or Ebony (the main woods in a custom) are sourced from America. And the quality of the Mahogany used on the back of the last few years of Gibson Historic series LP's is the best I've ever seen hands down. Whereas the Mahogany on the back of most Heritages is generally heavier, and for as much gigging as I do that weight takes it's toll on me. I'm a small person and even with a padded strap I can feel the difference. Gibson is regulary bringing down the weight of the Historic LP's to somewhere between 8 and 9 pounds, and some of the tones I've heard from these guitars are incredible. Heritage H150's are generally between 9 and 10 pounds with most being on the higher side of that.

 

I would say Heritage is a better value across the board comparing to Gibson USA regular production LPs. And even comparing to Historics they are great value, as historics are ridiculously priced!!! But I still think the current Flametop R0's and R9's are still the best Les Paul guitars coming out of a non-boutique builder in the world, and in no way should be referred to as "JUNK".

 

Yes, I'm sure that they may actually make a very good guitar when they try hard enough. Keep in mind also that my bitterness toward Gibson probably has a lot to do with an unsettled issue I had with them years ago where I feel like they screwed me out of a brand new guitar and I'm still feeling pretty raw about it. I'll spare you the details but suffice to say that my personal assessment of the Gibson brand probably quite skewed as a result of the incident and not completely fair and balanced.

[rockabilly69]

 

Yes, I'm sure that they may actually make a very good guitar when they try hard enough. Keep in mind also that my bitterness toward Gibson probably has a lot to do with an unsettled issue I had with them years ago where I feel like they screwed me out of a brand new guitar and I'm still feeling pretty raw about it. I'll spare you the details but suffice to say that my personal assessment of the Gibson brand probably quite skewed as a result of the incident and not completely fair and balanced.

That makes sense!

[Hfan]

 

Does Gibson even do LPs without swiss cheese bodies anymore? I haven't played any new LP in years that felt or sounded solid.

 

Heritage is a good value for what it is, and a crazy value compared to the Gibson custom shop, which I find to be a rip-off.

 

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2

Some of their higher priced models are solid and, strangely enough, some of their very low priced LP Specials..go figure.

 

 

 

 

Yes, I'm sure that they may actually make a very good guitar when they try hard enough. Keep in mind also that my bitterness toward Gibson probably has a lot to do with an unsettled issue I had with them years ago where I feel like they screwed me out of a brand new guitar and I'm still feeling pretty raw about it. I'll spare you the details but suffice to say that my personal assessment of the Gibson brand probably quite skewed as a result of the incident and not completely fair and balanced.

I have heard a lot about their QC issues. Recently I discovered the joys of P90s..long story. getting some Wolfetone P90s for my Hamer was a big part of it though. I have loved single coils forever but the stock Hamer P90s were blah and it was the only P90 guitar I ever owned so I really wasn't getting that P90 magic until the Wolfetones revelation.

 

Recently a LP Special P90 popped up on my local CL. It sat for about a month with a price reduction. It was one of an exclusive run for Musicians Friend. Nitro with ebony board solid mahogany and a hard shell case. Nothing fancy, just a good basic set of specs. There selling price new ranged from like $1,000 to $799.

 

Because I have heard so many positive comments regarding Gibson P90 pickups and because it had traditional fretboard wood, I got curious about this low priced LP. I played old Gibsons back in the prehistoric era, my last one was a 1960 LP SG that I sold probably around 1975. I tried a few modern era moderate priced LPs and wasn't impressed, went to Heritage but Gibson was still kind of calling me.

 

When I went to look at it I was expecting a train wreck..all sorts of design flaws, bad set up etc etc. I had read so many horror stories.

I was shocked though. The thing was perfect. A 2011 without a scratch, perfect set up, straight as an arrow neck, resonant etc etc. Crazy cheap too. I'm in love with it especially considering the low price. And the P90s are excellent. Go figure.

[bej]

Greetings to everyone. I registered on this site a couple years ago when I bought a used 535, but have never posted on it. I've been reading these posts with a great deal of interest. I've been looking at LP style guitars, and found a new LP Traditional (non-weight relieved) for $1600. A new H150 is going to cost $300-$400 more. I'm not really worried about resale value. I more concerned with getting the best quality for my money. I really like my 535. I'd like to save the money by buying the LP, but stories I've heard about their quality make me a little hesitant to buy one. The two H150s our local dealer has are really nice guitars. One of the H150s has a solid body, and the other is chambered. I'm hoping to pick one up this week. Decisions, decisions.

[donnie]

 

"As for Heritage sourcing North American woods, just like Gibson, neither their Mahogany or Ebony (the main woods in a custom) are sourced from America. And the quality of the Mahogany used on the back of the last few years of Gibson Historic series LP's is the best I've ever seen hands down. Whereas the Mahogany on the back of most Heritages is generally heavier, and for as much gigging as I do that weight takes it's toll on me. I'm a small person and even with a padded strap I can feel the difference. Gibson is regulary bringing down the weight of the Historic LP's to somewhere between 8 and 9 pounds, and some of the tones I've heard from these guitars are incredible. Heritage H150's are generally between 9 and 10 pounds with most being on the higher side of that."

And herein lies my only problem with anything Heritage does. You have to work pretty hard these days to come up with a LP RI that exceeds 9 pounds, and most are a lot less. On the other hand, it seems pretty unusual to find a 150/157 9 pounds or under. I asked Graham at Wolfe's a while back to put me down for one when he got one in and he said his list was so long he wouldn't add me to it. It would require a special order and even then, no promises.

I've never quite understood why Heritage doesn't source lighter mahogany. Obviously it's out there, and you just know Henry isn't going to pay a huge premium for it-although given he buys larger quantities. Still, how much more could it cost?

[Gitfiddler]

 

"As for Heritage sourcing North American woods, just like Gibson, neither their Mahogany or Ebony (the main woods in a custom) are sourced from America. And the quality of the Mahogany used on the back of the last few years of Gibson Historic series LP's is the best I've ever seen hands down. Whereas the Mahogany on the back of most Heritages is generally heavier, and for as much gigging as I do that weight takes it's toll on me. I'm a small person and even with a padded strap I can feel the difference. Gibson is regulary bringing down the weight of the Historic LP's to somewhere between 8 and 9 pounds, and some of the tones I've heard from these guitars are incredible. Heritage H150's are generally between 9 and 10 pounds with most being on the higher side of that."

And herein lies my only problem with anything Heritage does. You have to work pretty hard these days to come up with a LP RI that exceeds 9 pounds, and most are a lot less. On the other hand, it seems pretty unusual to find a 150/157 9 pounds or under. I asked Graham at Wolfe's a while back to put me down for one when he got one in and he said his list was so long he wouldn't add me to it. It would require a special order and even then, no promises.

I've never quite understood why Heritage doesn't source lighter mahogany. Obviously it's out there, and you just know Henry isn't going to pay a huge premium for it-although given he buys larger quantities. Still, how much more could it cost?

 

 

Check with other Heritage dealers.

[TalismanRich]

There are those who think that the heavier denser wood is better. Others want the lighter weight. I think there is more to it than just the weight of the wood. My most resonant solid body is swamp ash tele that's under 7 lbs.

 

Like you I have issues with heavy guitars. That's led me away from the traditional (in my case my 157 at 9.5 lbs) to a Mille, 535 and an old 140. I get most of the LP tones I need from the Mille and 140. If I was ordering a new 150 or 157, it would be an LW. I have really liked the sound of the chambered guitars.

 

As for why Heritage doesn't source the lighter stuff, they won't have the pull that Gibson has. I'm sure Gibson uses more mahogany blanks in a week than Heritage uses in a year.

[schundog]

I have a Heritage H-155 Millenium that is pretty light, as it's technically a semi-hollow. My H-150 is quite heavy, as it's NOT chambered. Here is one reason Gibson mahogany can seem so light.... and I'm no Gibson hater; I still own ONE; but it's a 335.

 

 

[Guest HRB853370]

 

Yes, I'm sure that they may actually make a very good guitar when they try hard enough. Keep in mind also that my bitterness toward Gibson probably has a lot to do with an unsettled issue I had with them years ago where I feel like they screwed me out of a brand new guitar and I'm still feeling pretty raw about it. I'll spare you the details but suffice to say that my personal assessment of the Gibson brand probably quite skewed as a result of the incident and not completely fair and balanced.

Aha, the truth be told! I was wondering where this resentment towards them came from. I don't see how you could get "screwed" out of a brand new guitar, but suffice to say, we will just leave it at that.

[Guest HRB853370]

I have a Heritage H-155 Millenium that is pretty light, as it's technically a semi-hollow. My H-150 is quite heavy, as it's NOT chambered. Here is one reason Gibson mahogany can seem so light.... and I'm no Gibson hater; I still own ONE; but it's a 335.

 

 

Yep, thats the chambering that they do on their Standard models now. That is why they introduced their LP Traditional back in 2008. Non-chambered body (still swiss cheesed though) but more like the LP's of the past. Not everybody was thrilled with the new chambered models when they were introduced.