new lefty heritage h535 custom, transred, block inlays, seth lovers Issues

[ely]

Hi All,

 

Received a new Heritage h535 as described above. How would 535 owners describe the paint around the sides of the guitar and at the back(where the strap nut is) in terms of quality/uniformity. I know they are hand sprayed but I wouldnt call the paint, tidy work with no flaws. Comments. Also the belt screw in the tail of the guitar is not quite flush and there is a small crack with a poor paint job over it where the screw was put in at a slight angle - no flush to the back of the guitar. Also the nut is barely cut - so not really holding strings in palce or setup at all, is this the Norm. Anyone else encountered these issues.

 

Thanks,

 

Ely

[tulk1]

Hi Ely, and welcome to the HoC. The nut - tons and tons of discussions about how Heritage does the nut work. Popular opinion is they do enough to intonate, but leave the finishing up to the new owner. Uh .... not a fan of that idea. The guitar should be ready to play when it leaves the plant, IMO. Thing is, if it's a new guitar, new purchase, it has a warranty. Call them or your dealer. Let them know what you have found. Pics are always good. And get it fixed. The finish flaws will have little impact, if at all, on how the guitar should sound or play (obviously the nut will, tho'). It'll be a great guitar, just ask them to fix the issues.

[JAM]

Uh... Nope.

 

My 2010 H-535 (Gloss Black) is pretty flawless. The only pereceptible flaw is that the fret dots on the side of the neck binding are not in an absolute straight line (close, but not dead-on-balls straight).

 

If you have concerns, return it or contact Heritage.

 

Cheers!

 

Jim

[ely]

Hi Kenny,

 

Cheers for that. Here's a pic of the guitar from the website I bought it.

 

http://s228.photobucket.com/user/jerrysleftyguitars/media/Heritage/Heritage%20535%20Trans%20Red%20Custom%20left%20handed%20guitar/PC198289_zps251c083a.jpg.html?sort=3&o=4

 

You can see the discoloration to the left of the strap screw and the dark shadow where the screw is slightly raised and to the right. Problem is I'm in Ireland. Bought the guitar in America. I agree the nut should be setup before shipping, they cost enough. I was kinda expecting something special, the one off bankroll busting guitar, not sure how I feel. If the strap screw was fine, I prob wouldnt mind the iffy paint jib, the nut I can get setup.

 

Cheers

[tulk1]

Aha!! You got that from Jerry's. Jerry has a great reputation. Contact the man, express your disappointment. Hopefully he will work something out. Yeah, bottom line it should never have gone out like that. But as long time owners and Heritage lovers, we know it happens. Maybe one of our Ireland HOC members will reach out to you, as well. Might be something they can think of to help.

[big bob]

Have you voiced your concerns with Jerrys? He has a verry good reputation. I would start there.

[ely]

I sent him a message. He was cool on the phone when I first ordered the guitar. He's a bit far away though, It will kill me to have to send it back after my compulsive fedex tracker watching, not sure I can go through that again

 

This is the chance you take I suppose. Later.

[big bob]

I sent him a message. He was cool on the phone when I first ordered the guitar. He's a bit far away though, It will kill me to have to send it back after my compulsive fedex tracker watching, not sure I can go through that again

 

This is the chance you take I suppose. Later.

I would imagine he could send you a new nut and comp you for the install. I would let him know anyway as he is the dealer and any repair /warrenty work will go through him.

It is also my understanding that the dealer is the one who mounts the strap buttons, not heritage. at least mine have all come sans strap button, they have the one on the bottom but the one for the back/neck is left off least you want to mount on the side or horn.

[ely]

Thanks Bob,

 

Thats's interesting, the dealer does the strap button, new one on me. The one on the back of the body is fine, its the tail that's the issue. The nut, Tulk (above) gives the impression that's a factory issue/norm for heritage guitars, unless I misunderstood.

 

Cheers

 

Ely

[gpuma]

Ely, I cannot help here but let me tell you one thing: that guitar looks amazing!

Good luck!

[ely]

Cheers man.

[yoslate]

Ely.... Congrats on an absolute stunner! So often the case that the recipient of a new Heritage has to do some tweezing...as Kenny said, lots of threads on the HOC regarding that issue. Seems to me that your issues, though niggling in a new guitar, are relatively minor. Doubt it needs a new nut, just a careful notching of the one on it. A good local luthier should be able to straighten them out in short order, for a few bucks. And, while he's at it, have him put the hard eye on it, to make sure everything else is up to snuff. Throw down the cash, take it home and wear it out. I wouldn't ship that baby around for those minor concerns, that's for sure! Looks just as a 535 should! Gorgeous!

[heritagefan7]

I add my sentiment abt the guitar...it is a stunner. Thngs can happen and when they do it is disappointing, but in my experience, Heritage has always stood behind both their products and their reputation for quality. They are very personable and talented--a great combination. I would believe that b/w Jerry's and Heritage they would see this to a positive conclusion. Congrats on a beautiful instrument!

[Blunote]

Beautiful guitar!

 

Unlike some of the others, I can't see the issues you mention from the pics. Regarding the paint, could that be the along the line where the binding edge meets the paint?

 

I had the nut fixed on the H150 I bought new. Mine was also cut shallow except that the G string was too deep. A problem I've noticed in more than one Heritage. Apart from that, a solder joint on the output jack was faulty. Both were very minor fixes that the boys at Parsons Street took care of.

 

 

 

[Guest HRB853370]

Wow, another "lefty" in Ireland! How could that happen! You have a neighbour, Southpaw, who is very knowledgable about Heritage and guitars in general (he only owns several hundred guitars....). Give him a shout through the private message system on this forum! And good luck with that beautiful Heritage, I have a 535 in the same finish.

[ely]

Thanks Bluenote for the extra large photos. Thats her alright. In Pic 4 of the guitar base you can see to the left of the strap nut a discoloured line/small mark, a small crack runs from the screw, you can see that the nut is not sitting flush on the left hand side from the shadow .

 

In pic six you can see an example of the paint issue on the side where the red meets the binding half way between the pots.

 

Anyway thanks for all the good will from the HOC.

 

Cheers

 

Ely

[ely]

Thanks Slammer, Southpaw is Irish, there you go. Thanks for the advice.

[Blunote]

Ok, I see what you're talking about.

 

The paint edge thing is common enough. I think that's from when they scrape the binding after the guitar is painted. It's a manual operation that is sometimes less than perfect. If not that then I suppose it could be a smear from buffing if the paint wasn't completely cured. Some of the others here who are more familiar with the process could elaborate.

 

The crack and button should be repaired. Heritage would probably have you go to a competent luthier local to you. The crack can be glued and clamped so as to be invisible afterwards and just as strong as it ever was. The screw hole can be plugged & redrilled; would be worth doing if just to fit a strap lock button IMO.

 

If it were my guitar, I wouldn't be too upset.

[ely]

Cheers Bluenote - I have a luthier I use all the time. Heritage sending me by that Im guessing that you mean paying for me to get it fixed, Im agreeable with that if it happens. Ill wait and see.

 

Cheers man.

[Blunote]

That's what I meant. Just call Heritage or your dealer to work it out.

[Steiner]

Ely.... Congrats on an absolute stunner! So often the case that the recipient of a new Heritage has to do some tweezing...as Kenny said, lots of threads on the HOC regarding that issue. Seems to me that your issues, though niggling in a new guitar, are relatively minor. Doubt it needs a new nut, just a careful notching of the one on it. A good local luthier should be able to straighten them out in short order, for a few bucks. And, while he's at it, have him put the hard eye on it, to make sure everything else is up to snuff. Throw down the cash, take it home and wear it out. I wouldn't ship that baby around for those minor concerns, that's for sure! Looks just as a 535 should! Gorgeous!

 

+1

Well said Yoslate.

[bolero]

WOAH...that is a gorgeous 535, I love those inlays too!!

[ely]

Thanks guys

 

Yeah its a great looking guitar but its for work not to hang on the wall. I dropped the guitar into the luthier I use to give the once over and do a setup as per my preferences. 11's with a low action. He says the neck angle to the body is not right either, too flat, meaning the plane of strings is closer to the body relative to the neck. Hence the bridge has bottomed out and cant be lowered enough to set the action low enough. What a bloody nightmare.

[Blunote]

Thanks guys

 

Yeah its a great looking guitar but its for work not to hang on the wall. I dropped the guitar into the luthier I use to give the once over and do a setup as per my preferences. 11's with a low action. He says the neck angle to the body is not right either, too flat, meaning the plane of strings is closer to the body relative to the neck. Hence the bridge has bottomed out and cant be lowered enough to set the action low enough. What a bloody nightmare.

It's rather difficult to believe that Heritage got the neck angle wrong. They have fixtures for machining critical elements of the guitar, like the neck tenon, joint and center block.

 

It may be that you luthier hasn't seen a Heritage before. I'm not sure what the neck angle spec is, but I think it's a bit different than say a Gibson ES335, which he would familiar with. From what I've read, the neck angle on a Heritage is a bit different than on an ES 335. You might compare your guitar to my H535. On mine the height of the rear corner of the fretboard on the bass side is 5/16". From what I can see, the bridge is anchored into the center block under the top. I've still got plenty of adjustment to lower my bridge should I need less than the 1/16" action at fret 12.

 

Sorry, it just doesn't sound right.

[ely]

Hi Bluenote,

 

Thanks for those specs. I'll send him your numbers and see what he says. He commented that he has come across 335's and h535's before with same issue, on rare occasions. He really knows his stuff so I take him on his word. When I mentioned the action setup - he took one look at the bridge which was almost at the bottom - i had lowered it at home, and the neck and said the neck angle is shallow "we might have a prob getting it to your specs" which he confirmed later. I noticed the action after I lowered it but I thought since the nut wasnt cut that this would be the remedy the action.

 

I'll let you know what he said when he compares guitars.

 

Cheers man