OlePinelle Posted December 26, 2023 Posted December 26, 2023 Good tuesday, today I started to be a member of the Heritage Owners Club. I am living near Berlin/Germany and some years ago I bought 2nd hand a H-535 lefthand (built 2006) from France. Due to the fact that never saw something like a certificate of origin, my first question is if you know if there are fakes of H-535 existing and how it ist the best way to find out if your item is original or faked. Inside of my H-535 I find only a description of the type: H-535 as well the model: CSNB. Outside at the end is marked with silver colour the registration-number, beginn7ng with W, probalbly standing for built in 2006? My 2nd question is if there is existing a paper with all values of distance how to adjust this instrument factory-like. I not find. If there is somebody who could give me satisfying answers I would be happy. Thank you in advance OlePinelle Berlin/Germany
skydog52 Posted December 26, 2023 Posted December 26, 2023 Welcome aboard. You have a Chestnut Sunburst. Maybe you meant CNSB? Can you share some pictures of label and back of headstock?
OlePinelle Posted December 26, 2023 Author Posted December 26, 2023 Dear skydog52, thank you for your friendly reply. I will send after daylight-fotos. Another question I have is, if there is existing a sheet of measurements showing how to adjust a H-535, regarding headstock vs strings, intonation, strings vs pickups and so on. I have one from Fender regarding Stratocaster, but no one for the H-535. You can help? Kind regards OlePinelle
yoslate Posted December 26, 2023 Posted December 26, 2023 Another point relating to your question is that Heritage is a relatively small shop, not turning out large numbers of guitars. Therefore, they don't sell in quantity. They are great guitars (I've owned six, still own four), but there hasn't been much demand for the brand in the broad marketplace. There isn't much reason to counterfeit a Heritage, particularly a left handed model, because the brand is largely unknown and demand is low. Counterfeiting something like a Strat or a Gibson R9, even poorly, makes a lot more sense. There are many very knowledgeable people on this forum, skydog52 among them. You'll receive very good counsel here!
kbp810 Posted December 26, 2023 Posted December 26, 2023 For the fake question; there have been counterfeit Heritages... but far less common than the chenders and chibsons. Even then, it would mostly be the 150 that was copied. Seems rather unlikely to land a fake 535, but once you post some pictures, we can help identify any potential red flags. As far as specs, I don't think I recall ever seeing a measurements sheet with any of my Heritages. Usually the factory would do a general ball park setup, with some expectation that the player was going to do the final setup to their specific preferences. Usually it's set the action height/adjust truss as needed, fine tune the intonation using a tuner (open string vs 12th fret); then finally set desired pickup height. When in doubt, always good to consult a trust local luthier.
TalismanRich Posted December 27, 2023 Posted December 27, 2023 I've heard that the factory setup is typically the same as the old Gibson 335 specs... which are generally 5/64" for the low E string and 3/64" for the high E string as a starting point at the 15th fret. Relief is checked at the 7th fret with a capo on the 1st fret and pressing on the 15th fret. Nut height should be 2/64" for low E and A, 1/64" for high E and B. Since the old nuts were hand cut, things might be slightly off, especially with a guitar having 17 years of play wear. If you are getting any buzz on the first fret, it's easy enough to have the nut replaced. Depending on the player and the strings, you might choose different setup specs. As for fakes, it's unlikely you'll find any counterfeit 2006 Heritage guitars. Until 5 years ago, you could buy H535s and H150s for $1500 or less all day. Leftys are more rare, but would be much more trouble for a counterfeit factory to make. A year or 2 ago, I saw some ads on DHGate for fake Custom Core H150s, but that's because at the time they were commanding premium pricing. Those ads could have been pictures of real guitars that some factory used to sell their guitars. I don't even see those anymore, because the demand is so much lower than a faked Gibson. It's easier to sell a fake Murphy Aged R9 Les Paul than a Custom Core. Looking forward to pics of your H535. They are super guitars!
HANGAR18 Posted December 27, 2023 Posted December 27, 2023 On 12/26/2023 at 10:40 AM, OlePinelle said: Good tuesday, today I started to be a member of the Heritage Owners Club. I am living near Berlin/Germany and some years ago I bought 2nd hand a H-535 lefthand (built 2006) from France. Due to the fact that never saw something like a certificate of origin, my first question is if you know if there are fakes of H-535 existing and how it ist the best way to find out if your item is original or faked. Inside of my H-535 I find only a description of the type: H-535 as well the model: CSNB. Outside at the end is marked with silver colour the registration-number, beginn7ng with W, probalbly standing for built in 2006? My 2nd question is if there is existing a paper with all values of distance how to adjust this instrument factory-like. I not find. If there is somebody who could give me satisfying answers I would be happy. Thank you in advance OlePinelle Berlin/Germany Guten Abend Herr OlePinelle, The guitar setups that I learned how to perform were on Gibson Les Paul guitars. The Heritage H-535 should use the same procedures to perform all of the setup adjustments because they both have basically the same parts.
OlePinelle Posted January 15 Author Posted January 15 Dear skydog52, sorry for my delay regarding your request inside label and the production-no. at the headstock. Attached I send 3 fotos as pdf, what do you mean, is it original or not? Thank you in advance, best regards OlePinelle PS: may be the attached fotos I have to split.P1020141.pdf
davesultra Posted January 15 Posted January 15 Using the provided photos, I see no reason to believe that your guitar is fake. The numerals and label certainly appear to be legitimate.
OlePinelle Posted January 15 Author Posted January 15 Danke, skydog52 wollte sie sehen: Mal sehen, was er sagt.
TalismanRich Posted January 16 Posted January 16 The slightly "wonky" serial number was a hallmark of the stamp used for the Heritage numbers. Sometimes the number would be difficult to read if a letter or number smeared or was worn. The numbers on my H140 ('87 D serial) are very sharp and distinct. The ones on my H157 ('03 T serial) are well worn and the numbers aren't perfectly aligned. The 2nd number is even missing the top of the number! Yours is classic Heritage. A handwriting expert would say those are authentic Heritage labels. I don't remember who would write out the labels, but that H is very distinctive and look just like the H on a few of my Heritages. I would say 99.99999999999999% authentic. Put any thoughts out of your mind and enjoy a great guitar.
OlePinelle Posted January 17 Author Posted January 17 Thank you TalismanRich and skydog52, meanwhile I have no more doubt on it, thank you for your support and have a nice day.
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