2017 H150 vs 2005 H150

[hopkinwfg]

Howdy... any grown Heritage fans here who can comment on the tonality and workmanship on the 2017 H150 vs 2005 or late 2000s H150 ? 

 

Has there been any change or is still as consistent as per before on its tone and workmanship quality ? 

Been eyeing for a LP and guess there has also been a talk that a Heritage H150 is better build and tone quality wise is better than a standard Gibson LP ? 

 

 

[DetroitBlues]

Quality is more consistently better than Gibson.  There are some minor improvements such as better cut nuts and initial setups.  Otherwise, the same techniques have been used for the past 100 years in that building.  One of the charms of a Heritage, truly a historical work of art.

[hopkinwfg]

Thanks detroit blues... but how are the tone of a Heritage H150 or H157 vs a Gibson Historic ? 

[DetroitBlues]

Tone is very, very subjective.

Both use the same woods, Heritage uses Titebond II glue.  Gibson may use Hideglue.   

Heritage uses Nashville tune0matic, while Gibson historic uses ABR-1 (or they should be)

Then we get to pickups, wiring harnesses, pots, switches, and capacitors.

Heritage uses USA sourced CTS and Switchcraft and Seymour Duncan Pickups.

Gibson is a mystery, all their own stamped products.

Now here's the true difference...

Gibson True Historic: $7,739 (per Sweetwater website)

Gibson Standard Historic: $4,229 (per Sweetwater website)

Heritage H150: $2,500 (average on Reverb.com)

You can custom order pickups and hardware to match Gibson's True Historic, but you'll be thousands less than a Gibson.

Plus, you can hand select your woods, neck shape, finish, not just hardware and pickups.

[hopkinwfg]

Cool ! But is like Heritage H150 be comparable to Gibson Historic ?  Say that Heritage H150 tone are more crystal clear and have good punch and bite ? Than say a Gibson ?

[Kuz]

The main difference between the two is this.... (in my opinion)

1) Weight; Heritage Guitars used to be much heavier than their Gibson counterparts.  I would still today ask for an exact weight of the 150 you are interested in.  Heritage used to care very little about the weight of their guitars.  They seem to be more concern today.  If you look at the online Gibson dealers, I rarely see a LP Historic over 9.25lbs.  For older Heritages, that used to be an extremely light Heritage.  Heritage was always more concerned with tone over weight.  Now they are thinking more of both.

2) Nashville hardware (Heritage) vs ABR & Light aluminium stoptail (Gibson);  Personal, I hate the ugly heavier Nashville tuneamatic bridge and heavy stoptail hardware.  Historic Gibsons use an ABR-1 bridge & aluminium stoptails.   You can (as I have) switch out the hardware to retro fit a locking ABR bridge &  aluminium stoptail.  I just wish Heritage would stop using the Nashville hardware. 

[Kuz]

25 minutes ago, hopkinwfg said:

Cool ! But is like Heritage H150 be comparable to Gibson Historic ?  Say that Heritage H150 tone are more crystal clear and have good punch and bite ? Than say a Gibson ?

Impossible to say as tone is 85-90% about the wood and will vary from Gibson to Gibson, and Heritage to Heritage.

[Kuz]

35 minutes ago, DetroitBlues said:

 

Gibson is a mystery, all their own stamped products.

 

Actually Josh, I find Gibson to be AMAZINGLY accurate on all their components, their dimensions, and weights.

Check out this link to how specific they get about this Memphis made 345... http://www.gibson.com/Products/Electric-Guitars/2015/Memphis/1964-ES-345TD.aspx 

[hopkinwfg]

Thanks Kuz... but whats the weight of say a good sounding Heritage H150 ? 

I have no real knowledge of tone wood but i also have no idea on good tone wood would weight more or its just hardwares of the guitar more...

Like if i wanna very biting, nice mids with abit scooped tone and clear on overdrive with the kinda 'light crunch' tone ... 

[DetroitBlues]

You're just going to have to try them.  Not sure where you live or if there are dealers near you.  The factory has a nice collection for people to try as well.

See what sounds good to you.

 

[hopkinwfg]

23 minutes ago, DetroitBlues said:

You're just going to have to try them.  Not sure where you live or if there are dealers near you.  The factory has a nice collection for people to try as well.

See what sounds good to you.

 

No am from asia and no way i can test out a heritage H150 here... i heard many comments about H150 being either totally replacing away a Gibson or gibson standard or either way negative opinions... 

 

To how true their comments lies... i dont know how many of them will go with quality build and tone vs brands... 

 

 

[Polo]

First off, I simply wanted to tip my cap here to both DetroitBlues and Kuz for a wonderfully drafted and factual dialog regarding these two brands!

The folks over at Heritage ought to consider having however's been pretending to be the marketing department over there memorize this info so that they can begin implementing into some of their marketing efforts. 

 

@Hopkinwfg:  The only thing I can offer regarding your comparative concerns would be to say that I'd be willing to bet $100 that 6.5 out of 10 potential buyers wouldn't be able to consistently tell the difference between a Gibson Historic and a similarly appointed H150 if they were to be doing a blindfolded A/B test of the guitars.

....and regarding the weight, I'd guess the stock H150's will typically be between 9lbs and 9.5lbs, however, I'd also like to point out that I personally own 2 newer H150 CM's that are both 8.5lbs. Point being......You've got some poking around to do.

Best of luck in your journey!

[Kuz]

2 hours ago, hopkinwfg said:

Thanks Kuz... but whats the weight of say a good sounding Heritage H150 ? 

I have no real knowledge of tone wood but i also have no idea on good tone wood would weight more or its just hardwares of the guitar more...

Like if i wanna very biting, nice mids with abit scooped tone and clear on overdrive with the kinda 'light crunch' tone ... 

 

What i do is look for (in any brand of electric guitar) is: 1st look for the weight, and 2nd neck shape I find acceptable and then ask the seller/store how that guitar sounds.  To me any guitar over 9.25lbs is a deal breaker regardless how good it sounds.  I know there is a enough great guitars out there that it has to be lighter than 9.25lbs.   I have custom ordered guitars from Heritage (and other luthiers) with weight limits on them.

BUT, if weight isn't an issue for you, then just ask the seller/stores to describe the tone of the guitar you are interested in.  Don't tell them first the tone you are looking for, let them describe the tone to you (so they don't just agree with the tone of the guitar you want).

[Yooper]

3 hours ago, hopkinwfg said:

Thanks detroit blues... but how are the tone of a Heritage H150 or H157 vs a Gibson Historic ? 

 

I wanted my H150 to sound like the '57 goldtop used by Robben Ford on his "Soul on Ten" album. I had Gibson '57 gold top reissue with '57 Classic pickups that was a great, but the 150 does it a bit better.

Pickups make the biggest difference. I used ThroBak SLE 101's to get that sound. Duncan Seth Lovers or Antiquties, Fralin Pure PAFs, and others with un-potted A2 magnets also provide similar tone. 

As for quality, they are as good as ever, or better in some regards.

[pressure]

When I want to get a particular artists guitar tone I just put on their record and listen to them, always sounds very close.

But what I want to hear from my Guitar/Amp is is for it to sound like me and i'm never dissapointed.

[ElNumero]

Having owned just a few Heritages spanning from 1992 to 2016, I can confidently say this: their finishes are the best I have ever seen, starting in about 2015. Whatever they did, its just marvelous. They still use the same technique and probably materials too, but the gloss on them is unbelievable. Some of the Heritages in the 90's and early 2000's had a rather dull looking finish, even if the wood was spectacular.  I know this didn't answer your question regarding "tone" but I though I would just toss my .02 in there about finishes. I have a couple Gibbons guitars but I would never throw away good money on one again. 

[hopkinwfg]

Thanks alot guys... i am more like enquiring on Gary moore tone... hear his live on youtube still gotta blues... 

 

So bottle end sweetness, thick and biting tones with nice mids.. 

[y2kc]

Gary Moore tone?  Gary Moore was one powerful player and his tone was in his hands. Like all great players it did not matter what guitar he was playing. There is a Youtube video  with him just sitting and going through a bunch of guitars. That tone was magic and I understand why you are chasing after it. 

Any solid body Heritage with humbuckers would be a great starting point. 

Damn that guy was good!

y2kc

[hopkinwfg]

40 minutes ago, y2kc said:

Gary Moore tone?  Gary Moore was one powerful player and his tone was in his hands. Like all great players it did not matter what guitar he was playing. There is a Youtube video  with him just sitting and going through a bunch of guitars. That tone was magic and I understand why you are chasing after it. 

Any solid body Heritage with humbuckers would be a great starting point. 

Damn that guy was good!

y2kc

Yup!! I like his LP tone ! And aggresive picking  but too bad we lost him few years back......

[Polo]

34 minutes ago, y2kc said:

Gary Moore tone?  Gary Moore was one powerful player and his tone was in his hands. Like all great players it did not matter what guitar he was playing.

Don't listen to that crazy talk!!!  In the summer of 1991 I got a pair a Air Jordan basketball shoes for my birthday that INSTANTLY made me a better basketball player, seriously, I darn near wore out our driveway shooting hoops that summer!

Simply find yourself a Gary Moore H-150.....and boom....problem solved!

[JeffB]

Ive directly compared my h150 to a 57, a few 58's and a couple of 59's.(historics)
My h150 had a deeper and tight bottom end. It was closest sound wise to the 57 gold top.
It was smoother and more powerful at the same settings than any of th historics. At the time it had sd59 pickups, right now it has an antiquity jb in the bridge and the guitar is too much for a pickup like that.
It is a heavier guitar than the historics i tried it against.
My h150 has the sound and feel i gravitate to, the historics didnt.
Gary Moore was a fearless and ferocious player and some off his best loved tones didnt involve a guitar amp.


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[yoslate]

21 hours ago, pressure said:

But what I want to hear from my Guitar/Amp is is for it to sound like me and i'm never dissapointed.

This!  Particularly this!

[kidsmoke]

Polo, I don't know what you and your Dr. decided about your medication regimen, but I think it's working wonders, and don't mess with a thing!

 

[Polo]

1 hour ago, kidsmoke said:

Polo, I don't know what you and your Dr. decided about your medication regimen, but I think it's working wonders, and don't mess with a thing!

 

https://imgur.com/gallery/9aeEQ

 

[davesultra]

I don't know all the differences between 2017 & 2005 models, but don't believe they're all that drastic. However, I do know that I'd suck playing on either one!