Heritage1970 Posted January 5 Posted January 5 1 hour ago, Jackman said: This is sad to see. I wish they would have developed a “value priced” brand like other companies have done (Epiphone, Squier, LTD, etc.). The guitars look like cheap Asian bolt on neck, poly monstrosities, and it sucks to see the Heritage name on the headstock. Say what you want about Gibson, they never whored out their main brand. At least they aren’t dumb enough to do it today. Coming up with a unique brand name can be tricky. Maybe they could just put a W in front and swap the E for a O. Whore-atage would be more appropriate for this venture. Hope the guys contact me for future brand suggestions. I’ll work for free. 🤣🤣
TalismanRich Posted January 6 Posted January 6 4 hours ago, Heritage1970 said: But, when the investors number one priority is making profit for the 1,000 companies they own, I guess nothing surprises me. If the company doesn't make money, it doesn't exist. I've watched the industry in which I worked for over 40 years disintegrate in a matter of 10 years. We're talking a multi billion dollar industry, not a single manufacturing site. At least 25 major manufacturing sites disappeared, leaving 2. I'm thankful that Meng is growing his business and wish him success. As long as the business makes money, it will continue. It's not a hobby! We might not like all his decisions, but it's his business to run. 3 hours ago, Jackman said: This is sad to see. I wish they would have developed a “value priced” brand like other companies have done (Epiphone, Squier, LTD, etc.). The guitars look like cheap Asian bolt on neck, poly monstrosities, and it sucks to see the Heritage name on the headstock. PRS just puts SE to distinguish their Asian builds. G&L puts "Tribute Series" on their import line. On the other hand, Gretsch has 4 lines, but they really don't distinguish them on the headstock. Like I mentioned before, a truss rod cover with "Ascent" on the headstock would have been nice. It does show on the back "Designed in the US, Made In China". It's easy to see. Plus they all have the belly cut which very few US builds have unless they were custom made. In the end, it doesn't mean that the US made guitars are cheapo stuff. They're still the same as they were last year and the year before.
TalismanRich Posted January 6 Posted January 6 Weird, the system posted it without returning... oh well.
TalismanRich Posted January 6 Posted January 6 No more pearls of wisdom to see here.... but here's a bit of guitar porn for your enjoyment.
MartyGrass Posted January 6 Posted January 6 I've got one with a belly cut. Adding the weight relief, the guitar should be white. I don't know what basswood is, as far as guitars go. I wish there were reviews to read.
MartyGrass Posted January 6 Posted January 6 I looked up laurel and basswood as tonewoods. By description, they seem okay. I'd worry about the workmanship and hardware. Someone needs to take a chance, buy one, and give a report. Someone, not me. They indicate free shipping!
MartyGrass Posted January 6 Posted January 6 Introducing the Heritage Ascent Collection - Swee Lee Blog
kbp810 Posted January 6 Posted January 6 12 minutes ago, MartyGrass said: I looked up laurel and basswood as tonewoods. By description, they seem okay. I'd worry about the workmanship and hardware. Someone needs to take a chance, buy one, and give a report. Someone, not me. They indicate free shipping! As a tonewood, basswood is just fine; I’ve had a basswood strat before and it was a fairy lightweight and resonant body. It’s just a very uninspiring looking wood. As a reference, a lot of the hobby wood you’d see at a big box craft store, is basswood.
MartyGrass Posted January 6 Posted January 6 I'm draw to the white H-150 if I were to choose any. The appearance of the wood wouldn't matter. The laurel fretboard looks okay. I'd rather have ebony in a white finished guitar.
TalismanRich Posted January 6 Posted January 6 The white H150 is classy looking. I remember the guys at Heritage saying that white was one of the hardest colors to get right. I think that's one reason you rarely see a white Heritage.
MartyGrass Posted January 7 Posted January 7 1 hour ago, TalismanRich said: The white H150 is classy looking. I remember the guys at Heritage saying that white was one of the hardest colors to get right. I think that's one reason you rarely see a white Heritage. White is among the hardest. A few days before a PSP I was visiting Heritage. Marv and Ren had a white H-555 they made that was a custom order. It had a few minor finish flaws on it. I heard them discuss what to do and how dicey it was to get the white finish right. They decided to have it raffled off at PSP. It's a beauty. I love the white finish, but it's temporary. It morphs into yellow. They seem to check easily or at least show the checking. Nitro finish is a harsh mistress.* *Before I hit "reply" I wanted to make sure I wasn't overly offensive with this description. I researched the phrase. Here is the proper meaning. The phrase is used to describe someone (or something) with exacting standards that are hard, if not impossible, to satisfy.
MartyGrass Posted January 7 Posted January 7 Addendum: harsh mistress is worse. Here is what I found further about a book written long ago. The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress Robert A. Heinlein 4.16 129,127 ratings4,885 reviews It is a tale of revolution, of the rebellion of a former penal colony on the Moon against its masters on the Earth. It is a tale of a culture whose family structures are based on the presence of two men for every woman, leading to novel forms of marriage and family.
bolero Posted January 7 Posted January 7 I think that phrase predates his book. It was originally about the sea afaik.
hopkinwfg Posted January 7 Posted January 7 Lets get serious and forget all the bolted on LP hilarious jokes.... we talk history here lol.... i dont see Heritage bringing back the H157 anymore?
bobmeyrick Posted January 7 Posted January 7 8 hours ago, MartyGrass said: The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress Also a wonderful song by Jimmy Webb. A couple of years ago I had the great pleasure of seeing him in concert; just him, a piano and so many great songs. It's been covered by many people including Joe Cocker, Glen Campbell and my favourite, jazz great Sheila Jordan. Pat Metheny and Charlie Haden did a lovely instrumental version...
MartyGrass Posted January 7 Posted January 7 Let me put this sidetracking to bed. I looked for the origin of the sea being a harsh mistress. This goes back to at least the late 1950s. I'm guessing the sentiment predates Noah and Job. The modern spotlight on the term is a book written in 1964. Mistress of the Sea is an epic adventure involving pirates, star-crossed lovers and a lust for gold and vengeance. The novel, set in Tudor times, is based on the real-life events in the life of Francis Drake, notably the raid at Nombre de Dios and the rout of the English fleet at San Juan de Ulua. My wife is a geneologist. She has traced my heritage to Francis Drake and beyond. He designed a swifter, more lethal fighting vessel that defended England from the attack of the Spanish Armada. Queen Elizabeth's court was not made of saints though. You can put that in your pipe and smoke it! I'm not a fan of bolt-on necks for the LP design. It seems sacriligious. But if the guitar works well, it may become acceptable in the next decade or two, assuming prominent artists use it. It's a cheaper way to build a guitar. When the headstock breaks, you buy another neck. The argument that a set neck improves the amplified sound may hold some merit if the signal chain isn't highly modified. Here's my opinion, which will probably draw fire. Gibson made set necks since the early 1900s and did them very well. Fender began with screw in necks using a completely different build philosophy and has done that well. There are many opinions about which is better. Most of them can be discarded because they don't account for differing pickups, bridges, woods or scale length. My small collection has several through necks (Thortons), set necks, and screw in necks. It is my opinion that the neck joint, or lack thereof, done well makes little difference. Whatever that difference is, it is dwarfed by all the many other variables. Here is a discussion from a luthier who builds all types. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hcNpQvoz0G8 Here are a couple of through neck and bolt ons. The through necks cost more to make and repair well.
TalismanRich Posted January 7 Posted January 7 I can't really say style is better than the other. Like MG, I have good guitars with both kinds. But something to remember is we're talking about $300 guitars here. That's retail, so the manufacturing cost has to be somewhere in the $75 to $100 range max for materials and labor. Set necks take much longer to do, with the aligning, gluing, clamping and drying. A CNC neck can be bolted in and be ready to go to the next step in a couple of minutes. Time is money, so the bolt on makes perfect sense for this level of guitar.
MartyGrass Posted January 7 Posted January 7 My first guitar was in the 8th grade and was a 1964 Firebird V. With amp, it cost me $125. In many ways it was wasted on me. I wanted a set of strings for it and asked the sales guy what is a good set. He sold me 13-56 flatwounds, maybe 14s. My fingers were sore. I took lessons beginning about six months later. My teacher was close to speechless. First, the action was high. Second, the strings we not right for playing Led Zepplin. My first lesson was him doing a set up and putting 9s on it. I'll bet I would have been just as happy with a Chinese Heritage. Not now. Heritage could not come close to satisfying the electric guitar market. They would have to make 4,100 per day, seven days a week just for American sales. Gibson at its kalamazoo peak (Beatles and Elvis spikes) was about 5% of that five days a week for the whole world.
bolero Posted January 7 Posted January 7 Well that's good to know about Francis Drake! Thanks for looking that up. I have no opinion on Heritage bolt on necks. What I think has no relevance on what they decide to do. It will put more Heritage guitars in peoples hands, and as I said before, tap into a profitable market segment.
DrWario Posted January 10 Posted January 10 I emailed them and, unsurprisingly, they will not ship to US
skydog52 Posted January 10 Author Posted January 10 14 hours ago, DrWario said: I emailed them and, unsurprisingly, they will not ship to US Yes, they told me it's for a limited Asian market.
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