10 bucks or under warranty... YOU DECIDE!

[Sparky]

Gentlemen...

 

     I, like you, are a proud owner of a Heritage guitar. I ordered my Heritage in 2002 and recieved it 360 days later. Rather than call the dealership

I purchased it from to check on delivery status, I would call Heritage directly. Bill Paige would answer and he would update me. I didn't like calling the dealership, and not only that, I will never buy from that particular dealer again. Anyone wanna guess who the dealer was? Anyway, here it is 2007,

and the neck pick-up ring has split on both the top and the bottom... but not all the way through on either side. It looks as though when it was

attached, it was ever so slightly "pinched" from side to side, creating more pressure on the top of the bracket where it split. I e-mailed Heritage

and someone named "ren" responded with a price of ten smackers. Do you think the part should be covered under warranty?

[Thundersteel]

Since the warranty on Heritages is only for 1 year, I would say you need to buy the pickup ring yourself. You should be able to find them locally as well--the Gibson rings fit. My Heritages have broken rings as well, and I am considering buying rings made of wood--maybe they'll last longer than the plastic ones.

 

That "Ren" someone is none other than Rendall Wall, the inventor of the HRW pickups, as well as other notable achievements. He's a good guy, along with the other owners of Heritage.

 

I hope your dealer wasn't Ed Roman!

[Yankeefan01]

A plastic part on a guitar that's about 3 years out of warranty, no I don't think $10 is unreasonable. Again, as Steel mentioned, the Gibson rings are a perfect replacement and available at most guitar stores.

 

Also, Ren is a great guy. Always responded to my questions quickly. I learned quite a bit about my Heritage from him.

 

Oh yeah, welcome to the board! ;D

[PacerX]

Mine split too...

 

After 10 years or so.

 

Anyhoo, certain plastics tend to become brittle over time because the plasticizers in them (the chemicals that allow them to flow and stretch) literally evaporate out over time.

 

Furthermore, plastics have poor creep strength, meaning that any stress on them over an extended period of time will inevitably result in stretching, taking a set and/or utlimately failure.

 

I ambled down to Motor City Guitar and bought new ones - they had them in stock - and then swapped them out on my next string change.  No biggy.

 

Honestly, the time it takes to call somebody at the factory about it costs more than the replacement part.

 

Now, to STOP this from happening in the future from a design and manufacturing standpoint, the pickup rings have to be installed with zero stress on them - meaning that the holes in the ring and the holes in the guitar that the screws are going into have to line up pretty precisely.  Not "aerospace" precisely, but the idea would be that they have to be accurate enough to prevent compressing or stretching the pickup ring in any direction other than the direction the screw is run into the body.

[Gitfiddler]

Hello Sparky...Welcome to the HOC!

 

Gibson p'up rings are the best and cheapest replacement for your cracked rings, as stated.  You might have to shim the bottoms so that they match the top carve arch.

 

Or you can order custom made, fancy real wood rings from a vendor like this one...(Yo, Thundersteel!)

 

http://www.pickuprings.com/home

[Thundersteel]

Unfortunately, all their pickup rings have flat bottoms. I need mine to be arched for my guitars.

[GuitArtMan]

Caracked pickup rings in not at all uncommon.  It the guitar an arched top or flat top?  Make sure when you get replacements to get the correct type.

[Thundersteel]

I looked at the pickuprings.com website again, and they DO make rings for Les Paul-type guitars, though it would be a custom order. Dang it! More money I need to spend!

[Gitfiddler]

Thundersteel, it looks like they will 'custom make' p'up rings for LP type instruments now.  Probably will cost ya, but at least there's someone out there willing to do it.

 

http://www.pickuprings.com/what_s_new

 

I have a couple of Ibanez Artists (AR2000 and AR3000) that have rosewood pickup rings on an arched top solid body guitar.  The rings are currently available as a replacement part for those guitars, but I'm not sure if they'd fit Heritage or Gibson.

 

http://namm.harmony-central.com/WNAMM04/Co...300-AR3000.html

[JohnCovach]

I'd just replace the rings myself.  Some people pay more for a set of strings than a pickup ring would cost you at Guitar Center.  They can be tricky to replace if you're not careful about the little springs on either side.  But after a few tries, you'll have it down cold.

[Cryoman]

If I were Ren, I would have put a new one in the mail to you and said "Thank you for buying Heritage."  The good karma alone is worth more than $10 to the corporation.  With such a simple act, everyone of us would be further spreading the word of how great a company Heritage is....

 

Instead we discuss you having to poney up your money to get your guitar back in servicable condition.

 

Cheers,  Cryoman

[LH575]

I keep hearing about the great customer relations of Heritage.  I just don't see it.  They don't seem to have any time for me when I contact them thru phone or email - short, terse, and of no help.

 

If my dealer returned deposits, I would cancel the order I have with them based on that.

 

Great guitars, but I am not impressed with their service or attitude at all.

[yoslate]

Self-sufficiency is good personal quality.  No one, not even the guys who made the thing, wants your guitar quite as right as you do.  Want it "just so?"  Know what you have, and do your research to acquire what you need to "make it right" yourself, or look around until you find a talented luthier within driving distance.  Check out his work.  Give him business.  Take him out for a sandwich and a beer one Saturday afternoon.  Be gracious and not an overbearing pain is his shop, then patient enough to allow him the time to get your piece right.  Send something back to the factory for anything less than major warranty work??? 

[Sparky]

      Well... a plethora of responses ("Do you know what a plethora is... Heffe?").  First off... congrats to Thundersteel for the correct answer to the

"Name the Dastardly Distributor" question. Although I must say my experience was reasonable at Ed Romans... but I didn't deal with Ed, I dealt with Scott Krell who was personable and professional. I went out of my way to avoid Ed. He'd answer the phone and if Scott wasn't available I'd call back.... though I must say Ed would ask if he could help. Last thing anyone needs is more than one person involved in a custom order.

       I must admit, I forgot that Heritages' were only warranteed for a year... somehow I got them confused with Gibson. How the heck could that happen?

Also, while my minds on it, why is it "THE" Heritage on my headstock?  Its a "Heritage", not a "The Heritage", right?  When you have guys that build guitars dabbling in marketing... these things happen I guess.

       As far as the pick-up ring is concerned, I realize they're inexpensive and can be had elsewhere. Its my guess that at 10 bucks Heritage is probably

losing money on it anyway. I don't think any of the new processes have been implemented yet. I'd bet its still at the point where I could call and place an order with Bill and he'd probably go into inventory, pull the part himself, put it in an envelope, write my name and address on the envelope and lick

the stamp he puts on it. Here's how I see it... that is customer service to a fault. In the future, if they can make the transition from being a company

to a corporation,  Bill Paige won't be answering the phone anymore. Mr. Wall won't be responding to spare parts inquiries. No longer will the founders

be on the front lines. The mindset will be on making a profit, not on helping the guy on the phone find out when his guitar is coming out of the painting department. Heritage was a boutique guitar builder before it became fashionable... it seems to survive they have to become manufacturers in the modern sense.

     Thanks to all of you for making me feel welcome here.     

[sweet-tooth]

I believe "The Heritage" (which is on all the guitars that come out of that factory) is a reference to the old Gibson days, back when the headstock read "The Gibson".

[PacerX]

If I were Ren, I would have put a new one in the mail to you and said "Thank you for buying Heritage."  The good karma alone is worth more than $10 to the corporation.   With such a simple act, everyone of us would be further spreading the word of how great a company Heritage is....

 

Instead we discuss you having to poney up your money to get your guitar back in servicable condition.

 

Cheers,  Cryoman

 

 

Well now wait a second here...

 

The guitar is perfectly serviceable with cracked pickup rings - there are still 4 screws holding the pickup rings on.  It'll play fine, and it's just a cosmetic issue.

 

 

I agree with part of what you are saying - basically it's the Taylor model of backing up your product.  Taylor provides free replacement parts for those issues not due to abuse or neglect on ANY guitar to the currently registered owner - even if the owner bought the guitar USED.

 

I also agree that as Heritage becomes healthier, they need to get better on the customer service end.  Right now, they've got a whole range of other issues to deal with internally with new management and what was obviously a difficult financial situation.

 

Honestly, the best way to avoid the particular issue in question is to mount the pickup ring properly (i.e. with zero undue stress on it) by ensuring the holes for the screws are in the right place.  I know a way to do that, but lots of you folks aren't going to like it...

[yoslate]

Intriguing prospect for remedy, PacerX.  I sense a "redrill the holes" suggestion.  As I'd quoted the architect Louis Sullivan in an earlier post, "Form follows function."  Cost/benefit is always an engaging conundrum, isn't it?