Guitarbean Posted February 20, 2014 Posted February 20, 2014 It's been lots of fun following this thread!
jimsoloway Posted February 20, 2014 Author Posted February 20, 2014 Sorry for the delay. I got home quite late and had to deal with a few things before I could really get started. A few quick comments and then I;m going back to experimenting with it. First the nailed all the specs. The neck is a very round C and a bit more of a handful than I normally would expect on a Heritage without being huge. No pickguard, no strap buttons, my tuners, pickup and knobs. Even my wiring kit. The finish is exactly what I was hoping it would be: very reminiscent of the finish that Lloyd Loar used on the backs of his mandolins. It's a finish I've always loved and it's a really tough finish to get right. I thought they had it figured out but it's one thing to see it in photos and another to see it in person. It's probably the closest I've ever seen to the originals and it gives it a wonderfully vintage look. The Ivory binding on the body reinforces that perception. Coupled with a top that is beautifully figured in a very natural and somewhat random wide curl and it really does have the look of something off of Loar's bench. Big ups on all of that. It feels very familiar to me in a lot of ways. The size and shape are almost identical to the Peerless Cremona 16 that I've been playing for the last few months and it's a joy to have the Hipshot locking tuners and the DiMarzio 36th Anniversary that I have on Soloway plank that's been my #1 guitar for the last couple years. I know exactly what to expect from both the tuners and pickup and they are a huge improvement over the Cremona. The unbound fingerboard with the bound peg head probably looks a little odd to most people but I really prefer an unbound board. My vision is not all that great and the contrast with the white side markers is fabulous. I'll take function over fashion any day and this is really functional for me. The one thing that wasn't at all what I'm used to was the set up. No one ever seems to believe me when I tell them how far from the strings I want the pickup and this was way to close. The result was that as son as I plugged it in and played a few notes the amp immediately went into overdrive and the whole room began to shake. A few quick turns with a screw driver and the 36th Anniversary sounded pretty much like I was hoping. The action was also to low so I've been working on the setup for about 20 minutes now and it's getting close. I took a few photos when I first opened the case, but with no daylight, they aren't very good. I'll try to get some decent shots and recordings done in the morning but for now I'm just keep dialing it in and enjoy playing it for a while.
jimsoloway Posted February 20, 2014 Author Posted February 20, 2014 I've got it pretty much dialed in now an it not only sounds great, it sounds exactly like I was hoping it would. I'll definitely have something recorded by the end of the day tomorrow.
Keith7940236 Posted February 20, 2014 Posted February 20, 2014 Fantastic news, looking forward to hearing how she sounds!
jimsoloway Posted February 20, 2014 Author Posted February 20, 2014 A few quick shots in it's new home. More later along with some sound.
Spectrum13 Posted February 20, 2014 Posted February 20, 2014 They pulled a 1959 ES175 with one pup out of the back room modified the headstock and slapped on a new label. Enjoy your closet classic!
jimsoloway Posted February 20, 2014 Author Posted February 20, 2014 Thanks guys. And here's the first recording. It's the intro to my current version of Little Wing. I thought it be a appropriate plea to start since it used the lowest notes in the C# tuning.[soundcloud] [/soundcloud]
jazzrat Posted February 20, 2014 Posted February 20, 2014 I posted at the other forum about how nice and defined the bottom end is even with the drop tuning but the sustain is also especially nice. Man...I can see this guitar taking your beautiful clean playing to new places!
SouthpawGuy Posted February 20, 2014 Posted February 20, 2014 Thanks guys. And here's the first recording. It's the intro to my current version of Little Wing. I thought it be a appropriate plea to start since it used the lowest notes in the C# tuning. [soundcloud]Listen on Soundcloud.com[/soundcloud] Nice soulful tones from that one
NoSnowBlower Posted February 20, 2014 Posted February 20, 2014 Thanks for the great post..If it isn't too much to ask?. More please
jimsoloway Posted February 20, 2014 Author Posted February 20, 2014 There will definitely be more. Next up will probably be a video and I'm so pleased with how well this guitar records that I feel like I can move on my plans to start recording the next album with it. That was my number one reason for getting this guitar: for recording. I'm sure will become much more than that but I've been holding off on the new album for several weeks until this guitar arrived and now I think I can start moving forward.
Redsand Posted February 20, 2014 Posted February 20, 2014 The sonic values are incredible, please keep us updated on the progress of your album, seriously Jim, I'm blown away with the vibe and totally inspired! I get a very similar peaceful feeling listening to the Koln Concert by Keith Jarrett.
Beagle216 Posted February 21, 2014 Posted February 21, 2014 Good gracious, the tone of that!!! I am GASing hard!!! Haha. Good thing I can't afford to buy one!!! God what a beautiful tone!!!
rockabilly69 Posted February 21, 2014 Posted February 21, 2014 Thanks guys. And here's the first recording. It's the intro to my current version of Little Wing. I thought it be a appropriate plea to start since it used the lowest notes in the C# tuning. [soundcloud]Listen on Soundcloud.com[/soundcloud] Great tone, beautiful guitar, love that finish as I'm a vintage style sunburst fan! Congrats on getting a guitar that turned out exactly how you wanted:)
H Posted February 21, 2014 Posted February 21, 2014 I could listen to that all day! Great build and congratulations on your perfect music machine.
DC Ron Posted February 21, 2014 Posted February 21, 2014 Beautiful guitar, beautifully played. Well done and Congrats!
Gitfiddler Posted February 21, 2014 Posted February 21, 2014 Jim~Great tone and style! I really like how the acoustic properties of your 575 come through in that recording.
jimsoloway Posted February 21, 2014 Author Posted February 21, 2014 Thanks all. I can't begin to tell you how happy I am with this guitar. When I finalized the specs with Jim Deurloo, I decided to max out the acoustic properties and he warned me that I'd be giving up a bit of sustain in the exchange. With all solid woods and X-bracing, I was also a bit concerned about feedback issues. It turns out that my concerns and his warnings were unfounded. The sustain is almost like a solid body. Really for an arch top it's almost freakishly good and I haven't heard even a hint of feedback yet. It does like to be played a lot stiffer than I'm used to but I seem to be adjusting quickly and that seems to be a very small tradeoff for how good it sounds. The 36th Anniversary PAF is everything I was hoping for and between the guitar and the pickup, it's an incredibly easy guitar to record. There's just no noise at all. Probably the only change I'd make is to leave the dots off the fingerboard. That was my origin plan and given how bold the side dots are on the unbound neck, there's really no reason to have anything on the fingerboard. Oh well, maybe on the next one So huge props to everyone at Heritage. The whole process was a joy from beginning to end and you guys have built me a wonderfully musical guitar that seems to make me smile every time I play it.
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