NGD - (a different) H-162

[hobokenheritage]

Picked up this white H-162 on reverb after I'd been looking at strats for a single-coil 3-pickup sound. After a few tweaks to the setup, it's a fantastic player; low action, no buzzing, and it has a very sweet clean tone. I'm probably going to swap out the original Schaller pickups for more classic strat neck and middle pickups (preferably ones that are noise-cancelling or are set up with a RWRP middle). I also love the Floyd Rose for subtle tremolo work since everything locks and stays in tune.

 

Since I still haven't figured out how to post inline images on the forum, here are some images:

 

http://imgur.com/a/lylHK

 

I had originally mistaken this for a Stat, but now that I've got the right model number, I'm hooked on the 162's. I'd love to find another, so if anyone has a 162 they would consider selling, please reach out to me!

[DetroitBlues]

 

[hobokenheritage]

Thanks! Last time I tried to attach images, they wouldn't upload (might've been too large). Even looking at it now, I'm excited to get home tonight and tinker with it a bit more...

[kennyv4]

Congratulations on your new guitar. It looks great.

[rwinking]

So I have the red one and have added new pick ups (FS-1, Red Velvet and Mo' Joe) and it has a beautiful tone. Maybe I like the action too low, but I was told that with the Kahler trem I could only get it so low. I would love to lower it even more. Any tips?

[rwinking]

BTW, that white one is really pretty....

[Spectrum13]

If it plays and sounds as good as it looks... you are a lucky person...once again.

[hobokenheritage]

I'm really happy with it. rwinking, I had the opposite problem with the action - it was actually so low that it was buzzing all over. I raised the Floyd a bit, but not wanting to raise it higher, I decided to check the neck relief. Got out the fret board straight edge, and the neck is ruler flat. Problem was, the truss rod is loose - apparently with 10 gauge strings, the neck stays perfectly straight with no truss support to prevent forward bow. With that being the case, I couldn't loosen the truss rod to get slightly more forward bow.

 

My last option was to remove the neck, and take out some of the shim material they had placed in the neck pocket at the point closest to the body. After reattaching the neck, it is perfect. My advice would be to add a slight bit more shim material under the neck closest to the body in the pocket. The shim material Heritage used was literally a few strips of some sort of thick tape. I didn't even need to remove all of it - it's amazing how much difference a few strips of tape can make to the angle of the neck.

 

Edit: I need to make another slight neck adjustment, so I'll take a few photos when the neck is off to illustrate what I mean when I get to it tonight / tomorrow night.

[bsck1]

Congratulations on a really great looking, and playing instrument! It's very cool to read the excitement in your posts! Hope you enjoy it for a very long time.

[Genericmusic]

[rwinking]

So you got a Floyd Rose on yours? Mine is a Kahler and I am not sure of the difference. I have a Kahler on the Stat and it stays in tune nicely and I could lower the action on it. Maybe I might think about switching to the Floyd. Anybody with any experience with both?

[hobokenheritage]

Perhaps I'm using the term wrong; the manufacturer of the tremolo on my 162 is Kahler, but the tremolo unit is a Floyd Rose style, licensed by Kahler from Floyd Rose (the company).

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Floyd_Rose#Models_and_varieties

 

The Kahler on the stat is a Kahler style tremolo that (I believe) requires an entirely different kind of body routing.

[DavesNotHere]

Nice! Play her in good health.

I had a white one just like yours, I kind of wish I kept it.

I think you'll do well changing the pickups. I normally like Schallers, but in the 162 they just didn't do it for me.