cosmikdebriis Posted October 13, 2008 Author Posted October 13, 2008 Here's another "classic" I was working on the Moody Blues gig in Brighton and overheard one of the (English) crew telling the other how he'd imported a Gibbon from the states and saved himself some money. So... Again... I said "Have you tried a Heritage". "No" he said "I'm a label bitch". ??? I guess it just HAD to say gibbon on the headstock or it wasn't worth having. I bet Henry is laughing all the way to the bank... ;D
PacerX Posted October 13, 2008 Posted October 13, 2008 Sorry Pacer I did not think we had genX members. My rant would be for the 40 & 50 year olds. Fair enough!
unikh550 Posted October 13, 2008 Posted October 13, 2008 I like that Heritage made me the blank H-550 so that I could put my own fretboard inlay, CC pickup, Tal farlow pickguard, and chickenhead controls, which I've now changed to Ibanez Iceman knobs. Gibson would not make a Tal Farlow or ES-135 with just one humbucker, forget the other changes, without assigning it to the custom shop for a ransom. Sure, it's killed the value by making these changes, but it would be crazy to sell it since it has the tone I've always wanted- clean, barking, and whiny!- Charles
pro-fusion Posted October 13, 2008 Posted October 13, 2008 I bet Henry is laughing all the way to the bank... ;D There there's the bottom line, in more ways than one. I care not whether Henry's banker is happy. ;D I wonder how G-word will fare in the coming recession/depression/whatever? I imagine it's going to be much more difficult to sell $5,000 pieces of "guitar art" for the collector's trophy wall. A small, tightly run company making reasonably priced guitars for the dedicated players out there, on the other hand...
Kuz Posted October 14, 2008 Posted October 14, 2008 Alot of amatuer guitarists take way too much pride in their equipment. I constantly have guys coming up to me at gigs and bragging about the Gibson they own. They just heard me playing the Heritage and always comment on how good it looks. But at the same time, there's this odd condescending thing, like "I play a Gibson, don't you wish you could too." They're too vested in having that label and don't want to hear that you can get much more guitar for much less cash if you have another name on the headstock. Incidentally, players never talk like this. Even for the more gear head guys, the attitude is either you can play or you can't. Likewise, the guitar is either a good instrument or it isn't. And even if it isn't, there is more respect for the player overcoming those limitations. Charlie Parker is famous for playing a toy sax after he pawned his horn during a bender. On price, I think Heritage has to be careful. I understand being under inflationary pressure right now. But if you try to have Gibson prices with a boutique brand you risk making those Campellones, Triggs, and Buscarinos look much more affordable. Possibly the most accurate post of all time. I certainly not in the players' camp (although I wish I was). I have seen true players make pieces of crap sound INCREDIBLE. I learned my lesson when I asked one of my teachers (very good jazz guitarist- CDs or plays for Cincinnati Theater, ect) which of his guitars he took to his jazz gigs vs his more fusion rock gigs. He said "The same two, they are the only guitars I own." And here I am with X number of guitars and this guy is playing in the Cincinnati Pops Theater with a late 80s Strat! True, players only care whether you can play or not!
les paulverizer Posted October 14, 2008 Posted October 14, 2008 Very interesting thread, as usual, comin' from our Brit friend Uncle Meat....ooooops, sorry mate, I meant Cosmik Debriis...! Anyway; I've been on this Forum, the best there is in my opinion, for few months now and I don't feel like repeatin' myself so I'll be brief. Well, I'll try anyway...here we go. I'm a so called "post Van Halen" guitar player also with a penchant for old (I hate that term!) school guitarists of the Page/Green/Kossoff/West/Harrison/Beck/Duane variety, and I'm also a professional "Rock" player hence I both appreciate what vintage guitars have to offer and the fact that modern guitars/gear can do certain things old ones by and large can't. I didn't mention Jimi as I think he's Jimi and everybody else just a sublime guitar god. :afro: I also need top quality gear that can both deliver (quickly!) and be second to none in terms of reliability. Everybody knows that you cannot reinvent the wheel, (even though Eddie kinda did!) pure and simple; technology moves ahead for sure and you can try different "tyres" and stuff, but..."the wheel remains the same" (thanks Pagey!) :wink: I've come to the conclusion that there's only four guitars in the world, really: Strat's, Les Paul's, Tele's and 335's. Sure there's others, but basically those are The Four to which every other guitar owes its name. It's also true that the Tones (not to be confused with generic Sounds, no matter how good) that I find truly inspirin' generally come from vintage/vintage type instruments; not only when I listen to CD's but also when I myself am playin'. I think I've had the chance to have a go at literally 99% of guitars on the planet: Fender, Gibson, Hamer, PRS, Ibanez, Kramer, Steinberger, Jackson, Parker,....plus some superlative boutique ones like Collings, Anderson, Suhr and stuff. Nothing beats my Heritage H150, or at least it's right up there with the very best. Period. I know there's great guitars everywhere, and that's why along with my Heritage I also always bring my (Xtremely modified) Gibson Les Paul Pro and my Fender Jap '62 Reissue Strat, but the H150 feels.....real, if ya know what I mean. Also with minimal tweaking, or shall we say with a proper set up(!), any vintage style axe will turn into a monster Tone machine on which ya can shred to no end, and still retain a proper legit Tone! I've also found that lower output pup's (again we're talkin' vintage type!) for some reason improve the Tone on my shredding parts to no end...I mean, what's happenin' here????? > So, here's the question: just why the heck should've Heritage taken a different path? In this world money talks and obviously the higher you go the higher the stakes; it's been said before and I agree wholeheartedly that "Gibson" Henry is an awesome businessman and with a company like that ya either operate the way he does or you go down. It would even be impossible to stay at the level you are; it's either higher and higher or lower and lower. Look what's happenin' to PRS, but with companies like Heritage...now we're talkin'! Big enough to survive and small enough to provide real goods (or shall we say great goods!) and able to give the middle finger and carry on. And that, my friends, is Rock 'n' Roll! :wink:
yoslate Posted October 14, 2008 Posted October 14, 2008 I'll be even more brief: Tough to argue with a working man. Nice post, paulverizer!
cosmikdebriis Posted October 15, 2008 Author Posted October 15, 2008 I have seen true players make pieces of crap sound INCREDIBLE. A case in point.... Just about as low tech as you can get but sounds amazing. I'd give up my entire collection of guitars to play like this... http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=kSNA93RPoL0&feature=related Actually... That was pretty high tech... Compared to this. Though... to be fair this one does include a drum machine ;D http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=qMf-em-56Mc&feature=related
OldCrow Posted October 15, 2008 Posted October 15, 2008 Play AND sing like that! I love seasick steve.
cosmikdebriis Posted October 15, 2008 Author Posted October 15, 2008 I suppose... To be a little serious for a while... The truth is, the whole performance is so good that it wouldn't matter a damn what guitar he was playing. And as for whether his pickups were HRW's or Seth lovers or whatever boutique pickup you may prefer. Whether the frets were fat thin or even intonated correctly. Whether the guitar was mahogany or plywood... etc... etc... Including all those other things we regularly discuss in minute detail, ad infinitum.... None of it matters a toss when you've got that much talent. It's not that what he plays is technically difficult... But he just has so much soul... Bast**d... > I'm only jealous... you understand :wink:
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