NGD: very old Sweet 16

[MartyGrass]

Heritage produced its first Sweet 16 in 1987. The guitar I received today is from a Heritage collector who bought this new in 1989. It has seen almost no play but is definitely aged.

 

The guitar is tap tuned and has the premium wood package. It is in excellent ++ condition with patina in the gold appropriate for age. The binding is yellowed nicely.

 

The guitar is very dusty. I haven't cleaned it yet and will do so when I remove the rusted strings.

 

The neck is a medium carve, a bit heftier than what Heritage usually put on archtops in their early days.

 

The case is the OHSC but does not have "The Heritage" on it. I have seen this before with their early guitars.

 

I can't judge the sound of this guy yet because of the old strings. But the neck is straight and the frets are like new.

 

The pickup is mounted slightly more toward the bridge, leaving a gap between the neck and the pickup. This placement is about where it would be if there were a Cupid's bow at the end of the fretboard. This placement centers the "24th fret" harmonics exactly between the two pup coils. I'm not sure this matters though.

 

 

Someday I'll take better pix, after it's cleaned up. Still you can see the spruce character.

 

 

 

 

[davesultra]

Beautiful! I love the flaming on the neck.

[MartyGrass]

[MartyGrass]

[tulk1]

Love the patina on the gold. Now that I can live with. And another stunner from the early days. Mark, you do find some unique guitars.,

[MartyGrass]

Here's some signs of aging.

 

 

[brentrocks]

Nice snag Mark!

[Steiner]

Superb snatch!

 

An aged beauty; well played.

[tbonesullivan]

NICE! I keep wanting something like a sweet 16, but I really don't have the $$$ for one.

[FredZepp]

Sweet 16's seem constantly excellent and that one is no exception. I tend to prefer instruments with some mileage on them, so that one is particularly nice. Thanks for the great pics.

[Vanschoyck]

That's a neat example. I'm somewhat partial to Sweet 16's.

[bsck1]

Very, very nice! Or, is it more appropriate to say " very, very sweet"?

[big bob]

That sure is one pretty box!

[Gitfiddler]

Nice old Sweetie!

[hinesarchtop]

The 16's can be very sweet! This one looks like no exception. I like the fatter profile on the earlier guitars. I'll bet it is in the 4 lb. range.

 

What will you use to remove the tarnish on the gold hardware?

[Horace]

Geez Louise that looks like a treasure.

[Genericmusic]

[DC Ron]

VERY cool...

[whiskeymike]

Marty you have some of the best looking Heritages I've seen and this is no exception. Is that ASB?

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[peterbright]

Truly "Sweet"!

[Ned]

Very pretty indeed. My "G" serial number has the similar sharp pick guard and un marked case (as well as ebony inset on the tail piece and imperial tuners). Yours is certainly a beautiful closet queen. I am curious how you know she is tapped tuned.

 

Nicely done sir. She will thrive in you hands.

[houndhome]

Good year!! Same as my H575, serial F32205,which I've owned since

the early 90's.

[MartyGrass]

I am curious how you know she is tapped tuned.

 

Nicely done sir. She will thrive in you hands.

 

The collector I bought it from purchased a gaggle of Heritages new in 1989. He spec'd them out.

 

Back in the early days, there were two lines of archtops- standard and custom. The custom line had premium woods and tap tuning.

 

Here's an old ad that shows this. Look under "Custom Order Jazz Guitars'.

 

[MartyGrass]

Marty you have some of the best looking Heritages I've seen and this is no exception. Is that ASB? Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Almond sunburst.

[MartyGrass]

According to Jim Deurloo, the figuring you see in sections of the spruce will have a similar effect on the tone as hazelficht. It'll be brighter than most spruce. Jim says it's a result of the age of the tree . . with figured spruce being older and containing a higher concentration of a more dense cellulose.