H-530 Customized

[JayLo]

Hello, Heritage community.

New member here with a (new to me) Heritage H-530. After decades of playing ES 330s, 335s and 345s I have finally found my gigging guitar.
The H-530 is light, has the long neck and killer pickups. The workmanship is excellent, and the price (used) was just unbeatable. 

As with all of my guitars, I just can't let a good thing alone:
I added a Bigsby (for my playing style), and replaced the knobs and the switch tip (for looks).
In order to tame the brightness of the pickups I'd like to switch out the metal saddles on the bridge for nylon saddles. But I can't get out the screws.
Has anyone done this? Or would I need to replace the entire bridge? If so, which one?

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you so much.

J

[bolero]

Never swapped saddles out, but that is a great looking gtr!! Congrats!

I have an old Gibson EB-0 with nylon saddles though, and it sounds dull so you might be onto something. Although I think it's mostly due to the pickups

[JayLo]

Thanks.
Probably a combination of both, pickup and saddles.
My ES330 and 345 have nylon saddles. Easier on the strings, too, especially with a Bigsby.

[Genericmusic]

 

[skydog52]

Nice One!  I like how you think.

H-530 is a great platform IMHO.

[Spectrum13]

I have a prospect with P90 same color and minus the crowbar is a mini copy of yours.   To tame the brightness I suggest changing out the pots from 500 to 300 or 250. There are better controls aftermarket and more uniform taper will rolloff the highs smoother. 

 

 

[JayLo]

Interesting take.
But I'd rather not mess with the electronics.
Thanks, though.

[rockabilly69]

Here's two Tonepros nylon saddle bridges one with the Nashville insert style, the other with ABR-1 style posts...

https://www.stewmac.com/search/?q=abr-1+g+formula

another one from amplified parts...

https://www.amplifiedparts.com/products/bridge-set-abr-1-nonwired-nylon-saddles-nickel

 

or you could get crafty

https://solodallas.com/d-i-y-home-made-nylon-nashville-abr-1-saddles

 

 

[JayLo]

Thanks, rockabilly69.

I saw those bridges but wasn't sure whether they fit my 530. The Allparts looks pretty straight to me. And the Tonepros, 96$+ship.+tax?
I already have a the plastic saddles and figured that maybe someone has already done this conversion.

[DetroitBlues]

Could always swap the bridge itself 

[big bob]

A rosewood compensated bridge like on a 575 would do the trick!

[JayLo]

I found a used TonePros bridge since the nylon saddles didn't fit the Heritage bridge.

I'll install it and report back.

[ElNumero]

Hi JayLo, I just recently purchased a 530 (see my recent post on it for a photo) and I was wondering which Bigsby did you install on that 530 and was drilling required?

Thank you

[JayLo]

Congrats on your H-530.

I installed a Bigsby B3 like this https://reverb.com/item/45502370-new-bigsby-b3-vibrato-kit
After taking off the trapeze tailpiece I discovered that two of the holes line up with the B3 and I needed to drill only two small holes.

Make sure that you get the B3 for thinking semi acoustics guitars, NOT the B3 for large arch tops. The latter has a different hinge which is pointed and longer.

Good luck with the installation.

[JayLo]

Congrats on your H-530.

I installed a Bigsby B3 like this https://reverb.com/item/45502370-new-bigsby-b3-vibrato-kit
After taking off the trapeze tailpiece I discovered that two of the holes line up with the B3 and I needed to drill only two small holes.

Make sure that you get the B3 for thinking semi acoustics guitars, NOT the B3 for large arch tops. The latter has a different hinge which is pointed and longer.

Good luck with the installation.

[JayLo]

Oops: Should be thin semi acoustics.

BTW, the Bigsby springs are quite stiff. I prefer the softer type and installed one from Reverend Guitars ($10)

[JayLo]

I received the Tonepros AVR 2 bridge but it does not fit. The holes of that bridge are too small.
Am I missing something? 

What other brides (with nylon saddles) would fit?

Thank you all for your advice.

[DetroitBlues]

2 hours ago, JayLo said:

I received the Tonepros AVR 2 bridge but it does not fit. The holes of that bridge are too small.
Am I missing something? 

What other brides (with nylon saddles) would fit?

Thank you all for your advice.

Yes, sounds like an ABR-1 bridge.  Need a Nashville style.

[rockabilly69]

5 hours ago, JayLo said:

I received the Tonepros AVR 2 bridge but it does not fit. The holes of that bridge are too small.
Am I missing something? 

What other brides (with nylon saddles) would fit?

Thank you all for your advice.

Did you use their posts or are you using the ones that came with your guitar?

[JayLo]

The posts that came with the guitar.

The AVR2 fits on my '67 short neck ES-330, though.  Understandably, I'm confused now. I'll do a little research on the Nashville bridges. There are posts where people say that they are interchangeable.

Has someone here ever replaced the bridge on their H-530? And with what?

As always, I appreciate any helpful comments.

BTW, just received my Reuion Blues gig bag (RBCSH Continental Voyager) for that guitar. Great gig bag. I highly recommend it.

[JayLo]

Update:

I tried to replace a saddle on my Heritage bridge and it broke. I contacted Mike at Heritage and he sent me a complete bridge the next day, free of charge. After two weeks it was "lost" by FedEx and Mike sent me another bridge immediately.
From my experience, customer service at Heritage is just beyond outstanding! I couldn't be more pleased.

Still trying to find a bridge with nylon saddles that fits my H-530. (Post is 4.14mm in diameter.)
I wrote to Tonepros asking about which of their locking bridges might fit my guitar. No response. On their website under"Contact" there isn't even a phone number listed any more, just a form to fill out which I have done three times already. 
Does anyone know if they still have customer service/support?

Lastly, I'd like to replace the grover tuners with locking tuners without drilling holes. Any suggestions?

As always, thanks for all your help.

[JayLo]

Looking for a Heritage H-530?

Saw this on CL South Jersey.

https://southjersey.craigslist.org/msg/d/somerdale-heritage-h530/7472637382.html

I'd grab it if I didn't have one already. 

[JayLo]

Update:

Replaced the original bridge with a Tonepros NVR2G - N with the nylon saddles. A direct replacement incl. the posts. 
Works like a charm.
I did this to tame the harshness of the pickups but also to make it easier on the strings because of the Bigsby.

[JayLo]

For those who are interested:

The neck pu on my H-530 sounded dull when turning down the volume just a bit. A common problem on many guitars.  
After some research I installed a treble bleed on the front pot. I tried several resistor combinations, all in parallel (also called the Duncan variation):

Just the .001uf cap  – very little difference

cap + 100k resistor –  still very little difference

cap + 150k resistor – a bit better

cap + 220k resistor – I liked this one the best.

I had done this on my telecaster years ago but wasn't aware that there are so many possibilities. Check online and you'll find a ton of combinations and comments.
For those who have basic soldering skills, this is a cheap way to take care of this problem. Online the parts were less than $10 incl. shipping.