Help me identify my heritage guitar?

[Mccflo99]

Hi everyone,

 

Just bought a used heritage today for my birthday, my first.

 

The serial number is S23205

 

Based on the chart on this site, that means this guitar was built on the 163rd day of 2002 and it was the 5th guitar but that day.

 

The guy I bought it from said it was a Millenium double cut with OHSC.

 

Info such as model name and number, approximate used value, or any other information you can offer would be of great value.

 

Here are pics:

 

 

 

Thanks,

Chris

[pressure]

Others more knowledgeable than I will chime in, but let me give my take on this Millie. It was a custom build because it doesn't have f-holes, it does have the Heritage HRW (Heritage Ren Wall) pickups. The Bigsby and the tuners are not standard but look Fab. Somebody spent time and money to get that guitar made. Good times.

[Rod]

That's what it is. With HRW's even! Very nice!

[Millennium Maestro]

Yup. Millennium Dc as stated earlier, HRW's , ordered with no f holes.. Really nice guitar, welcome to the fold!

[pegleg32]

Take off the cover plate on the back of the guitar and on the backside you will find info on the guitar also.

[Mccflo99]

Thanks to everyone for the responses.

I went ahead and took off the cover plate and it says this was a Custom made solid body millennium double cut and that it's the first one made with D-VIP and HRW's!

It says it was made by Rendal Wall for Jody Rhodes.

I noticed that on an older version of the Heritage site, Jody Rhodes was a listed artist that endorsed Heritage guitars:

http://doublephelix.com/Heritage/Artists.php

Based on this, if you you cold possibly provide any more information, I'd be grateful.

Question that immediately come to mind are:

What is D-VIP?

Who is Jody Rhodes? (I couldn't find anything on her (or him))

 

Anything further you guys can offer would be awesome.

 

Thanks,

Chris Elliott

[Vanschoyck]

The D-VIP is a custom wiring configuration ("Double Vari Phase"?,) there should be some mini toggle switches (I can't see from the picture if there are any.) I'm sure you'll get more details from those that know them.

 

Nice score on that guitar.

[Mccflo99]

Thanks for the response.

 

Yep, there are two tiny switches. You can see one of them in the picture above if you zoom.

 

Chris

[tulk1]

Huh, a solid Millie double cut body. I have a Millie with No F-Holes. But mine is the semi-solid like the production models. What you basically have is an H157 with a Millie bod. Very unique. Ren developed both the D-VIP and the HRW's, hence why his name is "made by" on the label. He doesn't actually make guitars in the shop ... that I'm aware of. But, he did invent some cool electronics and hardware. Congrats on your one-of-a-kind Heritage Millie.

[kidsmoke]

Well mcFlo, what a way to make an entrance, and Happy Birthday!

 

 

That's quite a provenance for a guitar it sounds like you more or less stumbled upon! More important than that though..how does she sound? What kind of music do you plan to play with it, and what kind of rig?

[Millennium Maestro]

You have a good one there, I love the wiring... AND its solid body for the rockers!

[TalismanRich]

Why not take advantage of getting the info directly from the source. Join us as PSP in July, pull that baby out and ask Rendall "whats the story here?". Ren has a million of them and he seems to enjoy telling them.

[Mccflo99]

Great news everyone, I located the original owner and got the full scoop on this guitar and boy it's a good story.

 

The original owner lived close to the Kalamazoo factory and was friendly with Rendal and his father. He was a listed Heritage artist for many years on the Heritage website and was a regional act, who was invited to perform on TV by Rem's original fiddle player from his TV show days. He worked directly with Rendal, who built this guitar from him. He said this was a one off, one of a kind guitar that was special made just for him and that there hasn't been one made like it since.

 

The color is a see through black finish, also unique. The back is solid mahogany and the top is carved maple. He went to the Kalamazoo factory to hand select the neck, as well as the all ebony fret-board. While working with Rendal on designing the guitar, Rendal said "this is going to be one heavy guitar," being all solid, but the owner didn't listen and had him build it anyway - and the guitar is definitely heavy (between 11-13 pounds). The guitar has an ebony pick guard. The original owner said Heritage had to special order all of the gold hardware.

 

He got rid of it because the guitar WAS too heavy as Rendal had suggested. He also said he played in an orchestra group and the guitar was the loudest guitar he had ever heard. He said "it's more conducive to rock because it's very loud even at 1 or 2, which the orchestra I play in did not appreciate."

 

Pretty cool find. I'm going to have lunch with the original owner next week some time and let him take a look at the guitar and get more info from him.

 

I am still waiting on another response from Heritage as well, to see if they have any additional information.

 

 

 

Well mcFlo, what a way to make an entrance, and Happy Birthday!

 

 

That's quite a provenance for a guitar it sounds like you more or less stumbled upon! More important than that though..how does she sound? What kind of music do you plan to play with it, and what kind of rig?

 

I have a crate amp with double inputs and will likely use the guitar for recording songs rather than playing live.

 

 

 

Why not take advantage of getting the info directly from the source. Join us as PSP in July, pull that baby out and ask Rendall "whats the story here?". Ren has a million of them and he seems to enjoy telling them.

 

Sounds interesting. What is PSP and how does one attend?

 

Thanks everyone!
Chris Elliott