tdrommond Posted January 16, 2014 Posted January 16, 2014 Last year I sold my '94 Super Eagle that I bought from a friend, after babysitting it for a year. The price was right, but the guitar was all wrong for me. I'm not a big jazz-box guy, so that aspect was lost on me. The 18" bout and the depth of the body were the biggest problem. If I sat to play it, my right arm would go to sleep from the elbow down. My shoulder was up around my ear. The only way I found to get comfortable was to sit on the floor and let the bout rest on the carpet. The only other way to get comfortable was to stand up. After 6 months of torturing myself, I sold it to a jazz-head friend of mine. He saw it went all weak in the knees. I lightened his wallet and he gave the Super Eagle a good home I had a pretty good amount to spend on a replacement. I nearly bought a Gibson Les Paul and looked long and hard at an H-157, but decided against them both. I have several solid body guitars that I really enjoy. What I didn't have was a hollow or semi-hollow of any flavor. I looked at several Gibson ES335s. I couldn't justify an extra $1000 for a Nashville-built or $1500 for an older Kalamazoo-built. Even at that, it was mostly basic plain-top dots without any gingerbread. I was spoiled by the Super Eagle and all it's goodies. None of the Nashville Gibsons looked as well made as my Super Eagle was. So, it was a natural progression to an H-535 or 555. I found a 2000 H-535 and pulled the trigger on it this morning. It looks to be all original. Still has the Shaller hardware and pickups I've been watching it on ebay since November and finally gave the seller a call about it. Asked what he'd have to have for it. He hit me with a much better number than he'd been listing it on ebay. Not having to pay the fees to ebay and paypal made him perk right up. We settled up this morning and it will be headed my way in the next few days. I don't know if being a 15th year or Y2K edition will matter down the road, but it's a nice side note. Is there a way to know who originally registered this guitar to themselves? Or, anyone here know this particular guitar? Again, not that it really matters or adds value. Just curious. I'll get to obsess for a few days while I await it's arrival. What can anyone tell me about the Shaller hardware and pickups. I see lots that have been swapped out to regular tailpiece and bridge. The p'ups seem to get swapped pretty regularly too. Looks like Duncans are the most common choice. But, I know a lot of guys that swap stuff out for the fun of it, not for any specific benefit.
HANGAR18 Posted January 16, 2014 Posted January 16, 2014 You have chosen wisely Welcome back! What a beautiful guitar!! Well done!! Yea, what they said.
heritagefan7 Posted January 16, 2014 Posted January 16, 2014 Super nice and welcome back from the hiatus!
fxdx99 Posted January 16, 2014 Posted January 16, 2014 Love the natural finish 535s. Nice guitar - congrats. Nothing wrong with the hardware and pickups. My '02 535 had schallers that I kept for a year. For me, thought they did the Nashville finger picking sounds extremely well. I wanted a bit more 'airy' sound and swapped them for SD seth lovers that I like more for the faux blues/rock stuff I usually play.
Blunote Posted January 17, 2014 Posted January 17, 2014 They're great guitars. Mine is two years younger than yours. By then, Heritage was installing tonepros (?) bridge and tail pieces. For me, it's comfortable and very playable. Even though it's a larger bodied guitar, they're so thin it doesn't feel like you're holding a large instrument. Glad to have you back.
yuominae Posted January 17, 2014 Posted January 17, 2014 Well done! I was watching that one too for a while before buying the 555 on here. The price was a bit offputting (especially if you live in Europe), so good on you for getting it cheaper. And congrats on getting a Heritage again!
tdrommond Posted January 18, 2014 Author Posted January 18, 2014 Well done! I was watching that one too for a while before buying the 555 on here. The price was a bit offputting (especially if you live in Europe), so good on you for getting it cheaper. And congrats on getting a Heritage again! I missed a 555 that was very well bought, about a week ago. I got busy at work and time got away from me. Hope it was you. Offputting? You're being kind. I thought it was higher than giraffe ears. I called and ask what the story was. Why so long on ebay? By way of answer, he volunteered a discount. I knew that meant it was all negotiable. Top dollar based on a handful of pictures is a tough sell. Esp. on something so personal and tactile. Worked out well. Excited and nervous at the same time. I've bought several guitars on ebay, sight unseen, but never one over a few hundred bucks. I've made a few dollars on any I've sold. Hopefully, I'll be in this one right. I'll need to change my avatar when it gets here. Thanks for the welcome back.
yuominae Posted January 19, 2014 Posted January 19, 2014 Now you need a second one! Amen to that A H150 to cover the rest of the sonic spectrum? Maybe a black one to counterbalance the natural top
mark555 Posted January 20, 2014 Posted January 20, 2014 I took the schaller hardware off my 555 because I don#'t like the look of it and I replaced the pick ups with SD 59'd because I did not like the tone of the Schaller's, they seemed very brittle. However, plenty seem to like them.
tdrommond Posted January 21, 2014 Author Posted January 21, 2014 Still anxiously waiting for it to arrive. Sounds like the Shallers are bright, based on the comments I've read on other threads here. I've been playing a tele that I built. I wound the pickups for it as well. I just ordered bobbins and so forth for a couple of pairs of humbuckers, from addiction-fx. I'll wind them up and try them out. I'll post some audio files. Since it never happened without pics, here's the tele and my pickup winder. And the neck p'up being built and wound. Jeweler's bench grinder, Singer sewing machine motor and foot pedal, digital counter. Winds at about 1000 rpm and will spin one as fast as I can wind. About 15 minutes, with stops to check progress. Here's how it sounds: Sound File: http://yourlisten.com/CFlatsDad/tin-pan-ally
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