D VIP System?

[skydog]

It seems like the vast majority of Heritages leaving the factory don't come with this option. Is this more b/c of cost? In reading the instructions on the Heritage site, it seems like a major pain in the butt, unless you dial in a tone and just leave it. Way too technical for stage use I would think. Any thoughts on this?

[dblazer]

It's a way to have single coils or humbuckers, or a mix of the two. Simple switching, you can just switch each pickup to either one coil or both, or in the VIP position you can vary the amount the pickups are in or out of phase.

 

Once you get your combinations set in your mind the switching is easy.

 

But yes, you do tend to leave it set where you like it best.

 

I mostly switched from single coil to humbuckers, didn't use the phase adjustments that much.

 

I sold the one guitar I had with it, not over the switching but becuase I didn't like the Schaller pickups and I thought that the small semi-hollow body really didn't get that much of a different sound than a solid body.

[jacques]

I have the old Var-I-Phase system on my H127. Apart from the three tiny switches you also have one of the tone knobs which isn't a tone knob but a means to adjust the amount of ...yes ...the amount of what? By turning it your sound gets thinner and thinner until you're nowhere at all, but on the way you pass some familiar strat and tele sounds. Indeed the VIP-system is not very easy to use while you're playing (there is even a setting of the three switches I always seem to forget and which turns the sound off...). It is great though to dial in some nice single coil sounds for rythm parts.