H-555 eye candy

[MartyGrass]

This guitar was custom built for fellow forum member Vince Lewis, who sold it some years ago.  It is extraordinarily playable, light and beautiful.  I had the honor of holding on to it for about half a year.  Tomorrow it goes back to my friend who lent it to me.

It's hard to capture the flame in pics. Nonetheless they are worth a look.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/151972168@N02/albums/72157712723586332

 

[MartyGrass]

 

[rockabilly69]

50 minutes ago, MartyGrass said:

This guitar was custom built for fellow forum member Vince Lewis, who sold it some years ago.  It is extraordinarily playable, light and beautiful.  I had the honor of holding on to it for about half a year.  Tomorrow it goes back to my friend who lent it to me.

It's hard to capture the flame in pics. Nonetheless they are worth a look.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/151972168@N02/albums/72157712723586332

 

Those are my favorite Heritage inlays, and a nice looking ebony board ta boot! 

[golferwave]

Beautiful guitar! Great flame, color, and the stinger.  Made for Vince, what a great guy and a great player!

[kennyv4]

What a beautiful guitar!

[skydog52]

Beautiful Mark. You like those blondes!

[houndhome]

Love the flame on the back of the neck.

[MartyGrass]

Looks like I am hanging on to this.  My friend in New York and I trade/buy and sell guitars with each other.  I don't even remember what transaction got me this 555.  But yesterday he wanted the 555 back and offered to send me one of my guitars back.  A couple hours after I started this thread he told me he had a change of heart.  So I get to keep this.  He used to have over 30 guitars.  He pruned down to only three or four.  But those few keep changing!

That's fine with me.  I'm glad that didn't happen after it was in the hands of UPS.

I did get the old box out to ship it in.  There were five labels, one on top of another, from shipping back and forth to each other.  I've told him many times that the ones who always come out ahead on our transactions are FedEx and UPS.  

Here's another 555 I got from him.  He prefers maple necks.  I don't blame him.  This is a 2005.

This last one doesn't fit properly in this thread but I did get it from the same guy and is a cousin of Heritages.  It has been the big brother of the Vince Lewis H-555 for the better part of a year.

 

 

 

[Gitfiddler]

Oh My!!  ?

[rockabilly69]

5 hours ago, Gitfiddler said:

Oh My!!  ?

Oh my is right, that thing is righteous!

[rockabilly69]

7 hours ago, MartyGrass said:

Here's another 555 I got from him.  He prefers maple necks.  I don't blame him.  This is a 2005.

 

 

 

 

This guitar reminds me of me of my L5s guitars, this one...

[img]https://i.imgur.com/FBprC5G.jpg[/img]

If you ever sell it let me know. 

[rockabilly69]

3 hours ago, rockabilly69 said:

 I think this guitar looks like MGs sunburst H555

[MartyGrass]

Nothing like a well done sunset burst!

[rockabilly69]

5 hours ago, MartyGrass said:

Nothing like a well done sunset burst!

I agree, on the 70's Gibbons L5s they call "Fireburst"  I love how it looks on your H-555

[MartyGrass]

They say the fireburst, tri-burst or sunset burst is the hardest to get right.

Floyd Cramer and Marv Lamb were absolutely super at that.  There was a lady, and I forget her name, who lost her job in the great shakeup a few years ago at Heritage.  She also was a true spray artist.

The challenge with getting a good looking natural is the woods.  The challenge with the sunset burst is creating delicate transitions from color to color.  Not easy at all.

 

[rockabilly69]

Who knows, maybe Marv sprayed my L5s in 1978, he was  there!

[rwinking]

IS it just the camera angle? My L-5s seem to have fatter bodies.

[MartyGrass]

That's a thinline Super 400.

[rockabilly69]

2 hours ago, MartyGrass said:

That's a thinline Super 400.

That is one cool ass guitar, super indeed!

[DetroitBlues]

On 10/13/2020 at 7:53 AM, rockabilly69 said:

Makes me wonder if that was the basis for the Millie?

[rockabilly69]

7 hours ago, DetroitBlues said:

Makes me wonder if that was the basis for the Millie?

Aesthetically maybe, as I've seen Millies with big bindings that have that look. As for functionally though, definitely not, as the L5s is solid maple, and even the control plate area is very small, look at how close the knobs are to each other compared to other solid body guitars like an SG or Les Paul. Many of them are ridiculously heavy. The one I'm showing in my pics is almost 9.8lbs, my other one is 9.2lbs, and they are both much lighter than most of them that I've played! Of the two of mine, the heavier one sounds the best. I don't know if it's the weight though, because the other one is a trapeze tail and that may having something to do with it.

Here's an example (that I just pulled of Google), of a Millie that has a L5s vibe.

[Gitfiddler]

The overall body shapes of the Millie and L5s are similar, but the 'secret sauce' of the Millies is their construction. 

They are constructed very similar to the Gibbons CS336/356 and Supreme.

Here's a photo of the innards of the Millie that is much like the above-named Gibbonss.

[rockabilly69]

9 minutes ago, Gitfiddler said:

The overall body shapes of the Millie and L5s are similar, but the 'secret sauce' of the Millies is their construction. 

They are constructed very similar to the Gibbons CS336/356 and Supreme.

Here's a photo of the innards of the Millie that is much like the above-named Gibbonss.

yep that's BIG difference right there. I'm sure a lot of L5s owners would love to have a hollowed out version:)

 

[DetroitBlues]

2 hours ago, rockabilly69 said:

Aesthetically maybe, as I've seen Millies with big bindings that have that look. As for functionally though, definitely not, as the L5s is solid maple, and even the control plate area is very small, look at how close the knobs are to each other compared to other solid body guitars like an SG or Les Paul. Many of them are ridiculously heavy. The one I'm showing in my pics is almost 9.8lbs, my other one is 9.2lbs, and they are both much lighter than most of them that I've played! Of the two of mine, the heavier one sounds the best. I don't know if it's the weight though, because the other one is a trapeze tail and that may having something to do with it.

Here's an example (that I just pulled of Google), of a Millie that has a L5s vibe.

I think the shape is basis, but an improvement on the product.  Going from a solid body boat anchor to a hollow-body, that a definite improvement.

[rockabilly69]

36 minutes ago, DetroitBlues said:

I think the shape is basis, but an improvement on the product.  Going from a solid body boat anchor to a hollow-body, that a definite improvement.

An improvement is obviously in the eye of the beholder. The L5s guitars that I have are some of the best sounding guitars I have ever heard, and as I said, mine aren't heavy like many of them were. And their craftsmanship is off the charts good. The flame maple is gorgeous, and the ebony on the fingerboard is as black and smooth as I've seen anywhere, and the artistic touches (cupid bow, the abalone and pearl inlays, etc). If you were to hold one in your hands, you would immediately know what I'm talking about. There's a reason they were the 2nd most expensive solid body guitar Gibbons was producing in those years. The only more expensive Gibbons solid body was "THE LES PAUL", which was just a gussied up Les Paul which cost 3 x times more the Les Paul Custom! I'm sure many people love their Millies, especially the ones with the custom work like the one Pressure had made with the finger tailpiece, and the spruce top, but to me, there is no comparison, as they are two different animals.