Heritage H-525 w/humbuckers?

[hallpass]

How common are the humbucker equipped H-525 guitars? Not to downplay the P90 version, but I really think it could be my perfect jazz/funk/rock guitar with humbuckers. Do used ones ever come on the market?

[Millennium Maestro]

There are dealers that would custom order with prior ownership. Keep your eyes open, I may know where a new one is!  

PM me if you want me to see about the new one!

[TalismanRich]

I don't really play jazz, but the P90s  do really nice for rock and funk.   I would think jazz would sound just as sweet.

[hallpass]

On 5/21/2021 at 8:34 PM, Millennium Maestro said:

There are dealers that would custom order with prior ownership. Keep your eyes open, I may know where a new one is!  

PM me if you want me to see about the new one!

I'll PM you to possibly hear more even though I don't know I can swing one right now!

23 minutes ago, TalismanRich said:

I don't really play jazz, but the P90s  do really nice for rock and funk.   I would think jazz would sound just as sweet.

Yea, I'm sure they do too...Grant Green made me sure of that! I'm just so used to humbuckers, their warmth and fullness and noiseless. Full sized though as mini humbuckers I've tried are bright.

[PunkKitty]

If you find a used H-525, you can contact Wolfetone to build pickups. Wolfe is having a 25% off pandemic sale. https://www.wolfetone.com/product/dachswolff/

[motoputz]

the p90's can sound incredible with a little fiddlin' about, but those wolfetone's look to fill the bill

[Gitfiddler]

I dearly love everything about this H-525 Custom, so when an opportunity arose to purchase a similarly shaped G i b s o n ES-135 I bought it.  My intention was to have one strung with flats and the other with roundwounds.

To my surprise, the distant cousin semi-hollow 135 had none of the sweetness of the full hollowbody Heritage.  Basically it sounded dead next to the very lively P90 full hollow H-525.  The ES-135 even had excellent sounding 57 Classic pickups.  Its heavy construction and thick center block killed any chance of being toneful.

After about six months of trying to like the ES-135, I sold it to a very happy working pro guitarist.  He said it was the perfect guitar for his ES-335-meets-ES-175 playing style. 

That said, IF you can locate or get Heritage to build you a FULL HOLLOW H-525 with humbuckers, I bet it would sound amazing!

Here's a photo of my short-lived experiment comparing similarly shaped, but tonally different guitars.

[High Flying Bird]

I played an H-525 in 2019 at the songbird guitar museum in Chattanooga.  Playing it without an amp told me it was a very, "Alive," guitar.  Tones of tone.  However I don't like the hot P-90s used by Heritage.  I have owned 3 guitars with them and I can never get them cleaan enough for my taste. 

[PunkKitty]

Here's another option from Curtis Novak. You will have to contact him for specs. 
https://www.curtisnovak.com/shop/dogear-paf/

[MartyGrass]

On 5/24/2021 at 3:15 AM, High Flying Bird said:

I played an H-525 in 2019 at the songbird guitar museum in Chattanooga.  Playing it without an amp told me it was a very, "Alive," guitar.  Tones of tone.  However I don't like the hot P-90s used by Heritage.  I have owned 3 guitars with them and I can never get them clean enough for my taste. 

The stock ones do run a bit hot.  Heritage put P-90s on a Super Eagle in the early 90s that were more mellow.  I'm guessing they were either locally wound or left over in the old factory parts boxes.

I have this H-157 that's Les Paul Custom 1954 inspired with a standard wind SD P-90 at the bridge and a SD Staple at the neck.  The latter is gorgeous sounding.  I don't think it's worth the cost to put the staple pickup at the bridge, not for the minimal difference compared to the regular P-90.  The richness of the tonal complexities at the neck are well captured with the staple pickup IMO.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L7-MVzCtFPA&t=3s

Thoughts on Phat Cats, sir?

[High Flying Bird]

14 hours ago, MartyGrass said:

Thoughts on Phat Cats, sir?

I got phat cats for the Heritage I bought my daughter for Christmas several years ago.  Guitar Center had them listed at below the suggested price.  The neck pup was only $58.00.  My buddies and I liked the tone so well I went back a few months later and get another set for my 535 and replaced the HRWs in it with the Phat Cats.  They clean up very nicely and can scream if needed.  For a fairly cheap pup they sure have the tone. 

[zguitar71]

On 5/23/2021 at 9:22 PM, Gitfiddler said:

I dearly love everything about this H-525 Custom, so when an opportunity arose to purchase a similarly shaped G i b s o n ES-135 I bought it.  My intention was to have one strung with flats and the other with roundwounds.

To my surprise, the distant cousin semi-hollow 135 had none of the sweetness of the full hollowbody Heritage.  Basically it sounded dead next to the very lively P90 full hollow H-525.  The ES-135 even had excellent sounding 57 Classic pickups.  Its heavy construction and thick center block killed any chance of being toneful.

After about six months of trying to like the ES-135, I sold it to a very happy working pro guitarist.  He said it was the perfect guitar for his ES-335-meets-ES-175 playing style. 

That said, IF you can locate or get Heritage to build you a FULL HOLLOW H-525 with humbuckers, I bet it would sound amazing!

Here's a photo of my short-lived experiment comparing similarly shaped, but tonally different guitars.

The only G-brand that works as a 525 replacement, imo, is the original ES 225 that the H525 is replicating. I have a ‘57 ES225 and it is a killer guitar. I always wanted a 525 too. The 225 has a graduated plywood top and is fully hollow, it is much like a baby 175. The G brands that came out after the 225 my look the part but the construction isn’t the same and they just don’t do it for me.