I can’t quite put my finger on it…

[brentrocks]

But there is something special and or different about the custom core H150s.

I just sold a beautiful 2020 Standard that played awesome, it sounded awesome, but the custom core just played a little better and sounded just a little better.

why? What was the secret ingredient in the custom cores to make them that much better?

 

Feel free to discuss… LOL…

[rockabilly69]

36 minutes ago, brentrocks said:

But there is something special and or different about the custom core H150s.

I just sold a beautiful 2020 Standard that played awesome, it sounded awesome, but the custom core just played a little better and sounded just a little better.

why? What was the secret ingredient in the custom cores to make them that much better?

 

Feel free to discuss… LOL…

This is a discussion so.... Some things that "MAY" contribute: thinner finish, direct transfer of bridge energy through the ABR bridge posts, instead of pot metal Nashville bridge inserts like the regular H150s, the light weight tailpiece, lighter more resonant wood, perhaps better fret dress and nut cutting on their premium line (that is speculation). 

When I changed the bridge post on both of my H150s to the Faber BSW kits (screw in), I heard improvements in both of them. I haven't touched them since. Also when I first got the H150s, they were both in need of fret dress, and I cut new nuts for both of them. They were both abysmal in those areas, and my second H150 I bought brand new.

[ElChoad]

I was under the impression that the nuts are cut by the Plek machine now. Of course, if you other wasn't Plek'd, that wouldn't apply. I am now kicking myself in the ass for getting a Standard, but the mods I have done and am planning should make it pretty special. When my Sweetwater balance goes down enough, a Custom Core will be on my list.

[bolero]

Vitamin Edwin!

[DetroitBlues]

Heard the neck angle changed too....

[yoslate]

10 hours ago, bolero said:

Vitamin Edwin!

Chris, This!  The changes are, for the most part, small, but there are a lot of them, and they are identifiable...I think.  Those changes are like a formula or a recipe, tweaked by a brilliant chemist or chef (Edwin, Pete?), both of whom rely on a deep, empirical working knowledge of chemistry.  And then, somehow, that empiricism turns into voodoo in the result.  And, to quote Brent,..."LOL."

[PunkKitty]

47 minutes ago, yoslate said:

Chris, This!  The changes are, for the most part, small, but there are a lot of them, and they are identifiable...I think.  Those changes are like a formula or a recipe, tweaked by a brilliant chemist or chef (Edwin, Pete?), both of whom rely on a deep, empirical working knowledge of chemistry.  And then, somehow, that empiricism turns into voodoo in the result.  And, to quote Brent,..."LOL."

It may be a bit of chemistry, but guitars are all physics and geometry.

[yoslate]

2 hours ago, PunkKitty said:

It may be a bit of chemistry, but guitars are all physics and geometry.

I was speaking metaphorically.

[High Flying Bird]

4 hours ago, PunkKitty said:

It may be a bit of chemistry, but guitars are all physics and geometry.

I think Mojo too. 

[rockabilly69]

Edwin, when he was at G i b s o n, he was the anti-christ, not he's Michael the Archangel, ?????

I said it when he first came on board he was gonna steer the ship right! I'm glad you love your Custom Core Brent! It looks like a sweety pie!

[Gitfiddler]

10 hours ago, rockabilly69 said:

Edwin, when he was at G i b s o n, he was the anti-christ, not he's Michael the Archangel, ?????

I said it when he first came on board he was gonna steer the ship right! I'm glad you love your Custom Core Brent! It looks like a sweety pie!

Well said.  Edwin Wilson brought his brand of 'secret sauce' to Heritage. 

 

[HANGAR18]

These new Custom Core models have gotten my attention.

 

Thanks Brent... hahaha

[zguitar71]

It’s probably the combination of many small things to come together to make the difference. They are both made with the same machines and jigs so the lighter wood must be part of the difference. 

[yoslate]

39 minutes ago, zguitar71 said:

It’s probably the combination of many small things to come together to make the difference. They are both made with the same machines and jigs so the lighter wood must be part of the difference. 

This is exactly what I've been saying, since I got mine.  Though not at all short on that indefinable quality of "funk," my Custom Core exhibits the same sort of consistent attention to detail in the build that approaches, say, PRS....

[zguitar71]

6 hours ago, yoslate said:

This is exactly what I've been saying, since I got mine.  Though not at all short on that indefinable quality of "funk," my Custom Core exhibits the same sort of consistent attention to detail in the build that approaches, say, PRS....

I love that Heritage is getting to the level of PRS. I’ve owned two of them in my life but I just cannot bond with them; however, they are so top notch in quality they were both hard let go. At $3500 a CC H150 is great considering the Gib and PRS custom shop or Artist are quite a bit more and I know the H150 is exactly what I can bond with. 

[yoslate]

3 hours ago, zguitar71 said:

I love that Heritage is getting to the level of PRS. I’ve owned two of them in my life but I just cannot bond with them; however, they are so top notch in quality they were both hard let go. At $3500 a CC H150 is great considering the Gib and PRS custom shop or Artist are quite a bit more and I know the H150 is exactly what I can bond with. 

Bingo, zg!  For the longest time, I avoided PRS because of...what...their "perfection."  Same thing with my McInturff.  To me, they're so well done, I always felt I was at a distance form the instrument as something I could dig into, something I felt compelled to embrace.  Finally got a PRS DGT that I did really like.  But still...there was that slightly chilly "distance" that kept me from really bonding with it.  The PRS is a really great guitar!  The PRS is also on consignment.  The "bonding" with the Custom Core was almost instantaneous!   

[HANGAR18]

10 hours ago, yoslate said:

Bingo, zg!  For the longest time, I avoided PRS because of...what...their "perfection."  Same thing with my McInturff.  To me, they're so well done, I always felt I was at a distance form the instrument as something I could dig into, something I felt compelled to embrace.  Finally got a PRS DGT that I did really like.  But still...there was that slightly chilly "distance" that kept me from really bonding with it.  The PRS is a really great guitar!  The PRS is also on consignment.  The "bonding" with the Custom Core was almost instantaneous!   

That is a real thing that a lot of PRS owners go through. They find themselves owning a really expensive guitar that looks so good that you'd think it should go into a museum, and then they are overwealmed with a shyness toward actually playing the guitar because they don't want to risk scratching such a magnificent looking thing. That's happened to me too. But now I try to overcome that by remembering a few things. 1.) PRS guitars are made to be played. 2.) Paul Smith himself gigs his expensive PRS guitars in high quality gig bags and literally tosses them into the back of his vehicle when he gets on the road. 3.) PRS headstocks are virtually unbreakable as compared to the classic design of a traditional Les Paul style guitar. 4.) Scratches happen; just play the damn thing.

I bought and sold a lot of PRS guitars until I finally found the models I liked the best. So now I do the same thing with my PRS guitars. If I go anywhere, I put $4000.00+ PRS guitars in a high quality gig bag and literally toss them into the back seat of my truck. I still don't have a scratch on any of them... yet. My Heritage and Gibson guitars, I handle a LOT more gently.

[rockabilly69]

My PRS guitar used to have that distance as Rob put it, until I changed to pickups to Wolfetones. Now it is a worthy contender. I don't really play many electrics out live, but I record with them all the time, and now my PRS is a guitar I will grab to record. It really sounds great, and I never thought that I would say that about a Custom 22, because every one I picked up before sounded like a kazoo to me. It's just that I hated the Dragon pickups. I got my PRS considerably cheaper than buying a new one as I traded into it with a guitar that I got at a steal. But, I still try to take care of it and keep it looking minty, as it has a beautiful 10 top. I think that comes from growing up in a family with 9 children that just barely got by! We couldn't afford expensive musical instruments.

And I think what Danny says is true. some people do have a shyness when playing a guitar that looks like it ought to be in a museum. But I don't that it's that type of shyness that stops Rob, in talking to him. I think it's the thick glossy finish. I think when it comes down to it, Rob is a relic fan, he likes the broken in feel. I mean look at that old custom shop Goldtop he was playing, or his Nash Strat. And these new custom cores look to have a considerably thinner finish, and not so much gloss! Besides that they have some low weight mahogany, cool new pickups, a cooler headstock, and more attention to detail than the standard line. It's no wonder he's bonding.

[HANGAR18]

I can't tell you how much time I spent this week (it was a lot) looking intensely at the new Custom Core models they had available at Sweetwater.
Those and the Slash model Les Pauls they had in the USA line.

VERY close to pulling the trigger, but not yet.

[yoslate]

4 hours ago, rockabilly69 said:

My PRS guitar used to have that distance as Rob put it, until I changed to pickups to Wolfetones.

And I think what Danny says is true. some people do have a shyness when playing a guitar that looks like it ought to be in a museum. But I don't that it's that type of shyness that stops Rob, in talking to him. I think it's the thick glossy finish. I think when it comes down to it, Rob is a relic fan, he likes the broken in feel. I mean look at that old custom shop Goldtop he was playing, or his Nash Strat. And these new custom cores look to have a considerably thinner finish, and not so much gloss! Besides that they have some low weight mahogany, cool new pickups, a cooler headstock, and more attention to detail than the standard line. It's no wonder he's bonding.

This is exactly why I pay you $175 an hour!

[rockabilly69]

5 hours ago, yoslate said:

This is exactly why I pay you $175 an hour!

Check’s in the mail?

[pegleg32]

I had a PRS 408 that I played for several years. It was always easy and fun to play, a great guitar, but it was never "just right". I couldn't bond with it. Then I played my Heritage H150 for the last 3 years. I had modified it with a vintage wiring harness and had it set up properly and I really enjoyed it. I was much happier with the H then I ever was with the PRS, but I was still wanting more. I got my H150 CC about 3 weeks ago, and it truly has that "special sauce". I don't know what it is, but I know it when I hear it. I speculate that it is the overtones that I'm hearing, but whatever, it just rings like a bell. This will be my #1 for the remainder of my career. (I'm 75, so there isn't a whole lot of career left, lol.)

[bolero]

Here's a product idea: Heritage could start selling their own brand of hot sauce, called

"150 CC Special Sauce"

[yoslate]

23 hours ago, rockabilly69 said:

Check’s in the mail?

Ahhhh...yeah.  Sure.  Right.

[rockabilly69]

9 hours ago, yoslate said:

Ahhhh...yeah.  Sure.  Right.

hahahahahaha I would have just bought a shiny new guitar