In Defense of Heritage 2.0

[jaywolfe]

Although it is certainly "NOT" my position to defend the Heritage guys, I am sometimes a bit concerned by comments I read about the future of the brand. Most concerns stem from a lack of info from Kalamazoo. I just want to weigh in with some observations and thoughts from the trenches- where the fingers meet the frets. I'll just list a few things, and I welcome any questions, comments, etc.

* My shop sold 11 Heritage's last week and one already this Monday am. Only 1 of those was used (Kuz's former most magnificent Amber H575 Custom, which we just re-sold).  Heritage interest & sales are STRONG. The brand is seasoned & widely accepted. When selling them, we almost never hear any discussion of the recent changes. I am now in process of increasing my spec orders for the remainder of 2018.

* Archie & Meng (the principles) have a strong focus on QC, and I can say with absolute conviction that they are doing what they said they would. The new Heritage's we're receiving are the finest ever by far. The fit, finish, nut, frets, setup are absolutely excellent! The improvements they've made are so evident and long overdue. We can now receive a new one, remove it from the carton and it looks & plays like it's been Plek'd & professionally setup. I have scanned several new arrivals on my PLEK and they absolutely do not require any further attention whatsoever. Would be a waste of $$ and just not needed.

* Sure, they've limited model mix and destroyed (for now) custom builds...BUT.......I believe this is all temporary, or at least I hope so. I am keen to see what will come next.

* Harmony- they now own that brand and their Rep Randy brought us a prototype. It's nice- plays sounds terrific. Kalamazoo made w/ hand wound Kal. gold foil pickups. We posted some pics on the Wolfe Guitars facebook page. Glad they're making them in Michigan. I told them to consider their targeted $1499 price (yikes!!) & we all felt it should be under a grand. They plan on several models. We'll see, however I can't imagine this affecting Heritage at all.

Hope this helps.

[PunkKitty]

Jay, thanks for your input.

I haven't been following much of the conversation because all of the doom and gloom affects my mental health. I've been through enough corporate takeovers to know that nothing stays the same. People ALWAYS get cut with takeovers. It's sad to see when it happens to friends, but it's part of the process. Companies do what they perceive as best for themselves. I've been doing my best to reserve judgement. I'm really interested in the evolution of the company.

I know I won't win friends with this post. But screaming doesn't help matters in this case.

[pegleg32]

Thanks Jay, I have no doubt that these folks are going to do a fine job and produce a great instrument(s). But it's not going to be the "good old days" with that great crew that existed back then. It will never be the same so c'est la vie. I'm looking forward to owning one of these new wonders.

[HANGAR18]

Groovy!

[DetroitBlues]

This is probably the most positive post I've seen about the Factory.

We know you're not about sugar coating anything Jay, so I do appreciate it.

Thanks for sharing this info.

[Millennium Maestro]

I don't think this is anything new Jay, Thanks again for reiterating what you are seeing on your end.  I think what is mostly being expressed here (due to our tight knit community with VERY close ties to the factory, employees and Golden Era and Plaza era owners/operations) is a mourning that things will never be the same and people we love have been terminate ruthlessly or simply walked.

Wolfe guitars is also going through a major change within the new dictatorship distributorship under these new operations.  Recently saw a really nice 2018 150 in the side banner advertising from Reverb from your shop Jay... Quick question, Why mislead by saying a stock guitar was special ordered with 59's when that is the only way 150s are build at the factory? You should be better than that, AND when I refer people your way I will inform them to watch out for misleading statements.

I am however enjoying my return to playing and performing on my Gibsons AND cherishing my Golden Era guitars(There is nothing like knowing who did what on your guitar).

PS. I puke in my mouth everytime when I think about Harmony moving into the True 225 Parsons St. (Original location)

[jaywolfe]

Guy- Not wanting to "mislead" anyone, however FYI- we are permitted to order H150's with almost any pickup. Just received one with Pearly gates. I'm not saying we have never made a mistake with the descriptions BUT we never intend to mislead anyone. BTW- I was the one that paid extra & special ordered all my Heritage's with Duncans back when they "all" came with those harsh sounding Schallers- which most players hated. The volume I was doing finally kinda forced them to make SD's standard, at a higher price- even though the SD's cost them the same. My words to the original owners in front of Seymour Duncan....."you're proudly making the Guitars in America, why install German pickups that many players hate?" Took a few years to convince them to change BUT the Guitars sound way better.

 

[Millennium Maestro]

Fair enough. I too am a Duncan guy for a long time.  That was a good move to move of standardizing Duncans in their models.

[Spectrum13]

 

armony
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Looking for a reissue? Watch this space...

[Spectrum13]

[deytookerjaabs]

Sounds positive. 

 

 

Though, I agree on the Harmony thing, that's messed up. I get funky vintage interest but the decision to put Harmony in Parsons is totally out of whack with perspective. Seriously, the company whose highest end archtop was the "Empanada," a budget of budget builds, now being built where Super 400's ruled supreme? Uhg, yuck. 

[jaywolfe]

Okay, but let's consider this:

http://www.fox-guitars.com/other-brands-gibson

 

[DetroitBlues]

45 minutes ago, jaywolfe said:

Okay, but let's consider this:

http://www.fox-guitars.com/other-brands-gibson

 

wow!

40 different brands under one roof!

[ElNumero]

As always, thanks for weighing in Jay!

[ElNumero]

23 hours ago, deytookerjaabs said:

Sounds positive. 

 

 

Though, I agree on the Harmony thing, that's messed up. I get funky vintage interest but the decision to put Harmony in Parsons is totally out of whack with perspective. Seriously, the company whose highest end archtop was the "Empanada," a budget of budget builds, now being built where Super 400's ruled supreme? Uhg, yuck. 

Well, things change 'tooker. Evidently the management of Heritage does not think it is messed up because they ARE doing it. As the TV commercial says, "oh, its happening sweetheart"!

[Spectrum13]

7 minutes ago, ElNumero said:

Well, things change 'tooker. Evidently the management of Heritage does not think it is messed up because they ARE doing it. As the TV commercial says, "oh, its happening sweetheart"!

Can't see a problem with using some square feet in 225 Parsons to build American branded guitars and employing American guitar builders. Would you rather see Acme novelties making woopie cushions and plastic vomit? Could be some offset goldfoil mojo in progress and that is a good thing.

[davesultra]

I believe I'm actually more interested in the new Harmony line vs. the new Heritage. Couldn't they have just used the old Kalamazoo brand in lieu of Harmony? Would have also liked to see the Harmony line built in a different area of the shop. It would have been nice to see Heritage stay in the same area of the complex, but I'm sure it had more to do with the cost of upgrading the facility. Just my .02

[DetroitBlues]

If those are the new Harmony models, I'll be rather disappointed.  I'd expect guitars to more or less be reissues of the more popular models like the Rocket.  

[Polo]

On 5/22/2018 at 3:36 PM, Spectrum13 said:

If the guitar here in the middle had a Heritage headstock and was priced at $999.....I'd  SERIOUSLY consider buying one.....until then I'll just keep saving up for a used Collings SoCo.

 

[TalismanRich]

To me, the new Harmony line mirrors the recent resurrection of Supro.  I played a few of the new ones and they are nothing like the Supro guitars of old except in shape.   The execution is head and shoulders above the old ones that I had played back in the late 60s and 70s.  

The Harmony guitars shown sort of suggest some of the old ones, like the Rebel and the Bobcat but without some of the weirdness that guitars were known for back in the day. 

[TalismanRich]

2 minutes ago, Polo said:

If the guitar here in the middle had a Heritage headstock and was priced at $999.....I'd  SERIOUSLY consider buying one.....until then I'll just keep saving up for a used Collings SoCo.

 

Ok, I'll be the first one to say it.....

I don't like the headstock!   

 

 

Let the flames begin.  

 

............................................................................................................................................. I must be spending too much time on TGP these days!

[ElNumero]

On 5/22/2018 at 3:08 PM, jaywolfe said:

Guy- Not wanting to "mislead" anyone, however FYI- we are permitted to order H150's with almost any pickup. Just received one with Pearly gates. I'm not saying we have never made a mistake with the descriptions BUT we never intend to mislead anyone. BTW- I was the one that paid extra & special ordered all my Heritage's with Duncans back when they "all" came with those harsh sounding Schallers- which most players hated. The volume I was doing finally kinda forced them to make SD's standard, at a higher price- even though the SD's cost them the same. My words to the original owners in front of Seymour Duncan....."you're proudly making the Guitars in America, why install German pickups that many players hate?" Took a few years to convince them to change BUT the Guitars sound way better.

 

Well Jay, my "first" Heritage guitar, an H-150, which I call Elnumero1, came from your shop equipped with the stock Schallers, which I didn't then, and don't now have any complaints about. I have never done an actual A/B comparison of the Schaller pups against the Duncan 59's but I bet to my ears, the difference is going to be negligible. 

[jaywolfe]

15 hours ago, ElNumero said:

Well Jay, my "first" Heritage guitar, an H-150, which I call Elnumero1, came from your shop equipped with the stock Schallers, which I didn't then, and don't now have any complaints about. I have never done an actual A/B comparison of the Schaller pups against the Duncan 59's but I bet to my ears, the difference is going to be negligible. 

Oh yes, there is a small group of players that like those pickups BUT the majority prefer other pickups. (I was expecting this post)

[Spectrum13]

[bolero]

Heritage switching from Schaller hardware and pickups to Seymour Duncan and tonepros was one of the the best things they did, to improve things

IMO the Schaller stuff was holding them back, and turning off a lot of players

those pups and hardware were the first things to go, when I would get a new gtr