Warren Posted February 7, 2020 Posted February 7, 2020 Hi everyone on the forum, My first Heritage is on a truck, hopefully gently rocking and rolling its way to my residence. It's a December, 2017 Cherry Red H-530. My small guitar collection is lacking in the hollow / semi hollow department. That style has only recently been represented by a Epi JB ES-355, and that's got a block. My every day playing guitar is a Collings DC-S and I'm thinking that the Collings paired with the Heritage should cover all the tonal possibilities I would likely ever need.. The Lollar P-90, even in the single pickup DC-S, provide a lot of tonal variations with just a volume and tone control and both guitars got 'em. My rig is basically different layers of boost with some modulation in order to obtain a big sound at low volume: compressor/fuzz/boost/vibe/overdrive/delay-reverb into a solid-state Tech 21 Trademark 60. I play almost exclusively at home these days. Will post pics once it arrives, since until then it didn't happen. - Warren
skydog52 Posted February 7, 2020 Posted February 7, 2020 Congratulations on your H-530. You are going to love it. I recently obtained one and I am enjoying the P-90 sound. It’s been awhile since I had a guitar with them. Enjoy!
FredZepp Posted February 7, 2020 Posted February 7, 2020 Waiting on a Heritage to be delivered... that's a good feeling. Fine tune the set up and enjoy that 530. Congrats.
Warren Posted February 7, 2020 Author Posted February 7, 2020 Hey Skydog52, I sought out a hollow body with P90s intentionally after abandoning all of my other guitars and officially going steady with the Collings DC-S. The vintage 330s Gibbies are out of my price range, and the Casinos aren't cheap either. (Thank you Beatles). The Heritage version checked all of the boxes, and it has Lollars too. Big win. Speaking of boxes, it still hasn't arrived.
Warren Posted February 7, 2020 Author Posted February 7, 2020 5 minutes ago, FredZepp said: Waiting on a Heritage to be delivered... that's a good feeling. Fine tune the set up and enjoy that 530. Congrats. WIll do FredZepp. It's very mild today but I'll still let it get acclimated to its new surroundings and see how she settles. Of course, while bashing out chords and lead lines. I imagine a full hollowbody is more likely to experience temperature influenced variations.
Warren Posted February 7, 2020 Author Posted February 7, 2020 It has arrived and it's magnificent. Arrived in perfect condition. Super low action, nut is cut perfectly. Slim neck, should be a ripper. I might have to remove a spacer under the bridge pickup as it's super close to the strings on the side toward the neck and has obviously been getting in the way. For now I lowered the bridge pickup screws that had also been raised quite a bit above the cover. Very nice weight, no dents or dings, only one or two very small scratches. I'll plug her in momentarily and give her a spin. I have high expectations.
Gitfiddler Posted February 7, 2020 Posted February 7, 2020 Very nice H530! Congratulations. As another (former) owner of a 530, I'd recommend playing it a bit before removing the shin spacer under the bridge pickup. It just might be OK tonally. I left mine alone, but adjusted the individual P90 pickup screws to compensate as needed. Welcome to the HOC.
Warren Posted February 7, 2020 Author Posted February 7, 2020 HI Gitfiddler, I plugged it in as it was and it rocked my face off. Literally I no longer have a face. Just skin and holes where my eyes, mouth, and nose used to be... I plugged it into my rig as it was with no adjustments to anything and started stepping on pedals. It can totally do the hard rock thing with controllable feedback. The action is too low for me but I'll leave it alone for a day or two and see how she settles. I set up my old Zoom Q2HD camera and recorded some jamming. Sounds awesome. Would cut through any mix. I can tell I'll have fun with this one. Very different from what I'm used to in a big way but it totally wants to rock. I think. Yup
Spectrum13 Posted February 7, 2020 Posted February 7, 2020 That cherry 530 looks right at home in your gear cave. We feel your joy.
Warren Posted February 7, 2020 Author Posted February 7, 2020 Hey! Here's a sloppily played and poorly recorded demo of the 530 straight out of the case! You're welcome! https://youtu.be/c2QmtFb4Pbk
212Mavguy Posted February 8, 2020 Posted February 8, 2020 Hi Warren, CONGRATULATIONS! Don't be surprised if she ends up becoming the favorite girl in your harem...Heritage guitars are like that. Then you will likely become unexpectedly polygamous...two, then three...at least!
yoslate Posted February 8, 2020 Posted February 8, 2020 10 hours ago, Warren said: My rig is basically different layers of boost with some modulation in order to obtain a big sound at low volume: compressor/fuzz/boost/vibe/overdrive/delay-reverb into a solid-state Tech 21 Trademark 60. Wow! Hadn't thought about those Tech 21's in a while. Had one maybe fifteen years ago (?). It was terrific! Even gigged it in a horn band.
Warren Posted February 8, 2020 Author Posted February 8, 2020 Hey yoslate, I bought mine at a pawn shop about 15 years ago so that sounds right. She's still going strong with the original Tech 21 speaker. I've watched many videos over the years featuring the amp of the day thinking of what I'd replace her with but never have because there's no need. If she ever breaks down I'd probably send her off to Tech 21 to be repaired. It Just Works.
Warren Posted February 8, 2020 Author Posted February 8, 2020 212mavguy, The H-530 is a joy to play and is immediate in its response to your playing. That's its secret - you feel directly connected to the amp and pedals. I attribute this to the hollow body letting things ring.
funkapus Posted February 8, 2020 Posted February 8, 2020 Hey! Here's a sloppily played and poorly recorded demo of the 530 straight out of the case! You're welcome! [emoji4] Nice! That's some sweet sustain.
Warren Posted February 8, 2020 Author Posted February 8, 2020 Yup funkapus, she rings. I find the hollow-body feedback to be totally controllable, maybe because the body is significantly thinner then its Gibby cousin. I am playing in my music room at a reasonable volume though, and I have to step on a bunch of gain to get her to sustain/feedback. Its got kinda a wide-thin neck. It's narrowish and thin at the nut but gradually gets wider and thicker as you work your way up the neck but never gets big or chunky. The neck has a bit of relief while maintaining a really low action. I raised it slightly but it probably was down to around .0025/64" /.003/64" on the high E with no buzz or rattle. My usual setup is .004/.005. I'll sit down with it maybe tomorrow and take some official measurements. (but probably I'll just play!) I will leave the shim under the bridge Lollar as lowering the screws (they were well above the pickup cover) has given me plenty of clearance to the strings. I was afraid she'd be neck heavy but she isn't. Very well balanced. Very happy!
Warren Posted February 12, 2020 Author Posted February 12, 2020 Thank you Gitterman. I'm loving it! I'm really impressed with the construction quality, and with how well it's set-up. Great clean and dirty tones. I'm sure I would have owned a Heritage sooner if I had ever come across one in a music store but I never had the pleasure.
bolero Posted February 14, 2020 Posted February 14, 2020 yeah! P90's FTW congratulations, that is a nice guitar!
Warren Posted February 15, 2020 Author Posted February 15, 2020 Thanks bolero. I love this thing. What an instrument! How you hold it, how you stand, how loud, how quiet all work into your tone. If I had only the chance to find a Heritage guitar as I go guitar shopping I would’ve probably owned one years ago but I’ve never come across one in the wild.
rwinking Posted February 15, 2020 Posted February 15, 2020 On 2/7/2020 at 8:37 AM, Warren said: I'm thinking that the Collings paired with the Heritage should cover all the tonal possibilities I would likely ever need.. Yeah....right.... dude, consider yourself hooked.
Warren Posted February 15, 2020 Author Posted February 15, 2020 You can't be fooled! I HAVE been crusing Reverb..... but for the first time in a long time I feel like I'm good as far as guitars go. At least for a while.
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