Three Johnnys

[MartyGrass]

They are brothers but not identical quads.  Each has a different quality.

The far left is one is a 1991, one of the earliest.  It has a 12 pole pickup installed on a second pickguard Heritage made.  It's 17" across and 3" deep.  It weighs 5# 9 oz.  It's in a natural finish.

Next to it is a 1992 rose natural with an 18" body and 3" depth.  It is 6# 11 oz.  It has a Floating #3.

The next one is a green burst 17" by 3" weighing 5# 14 oz with a Floating #3.  This came from 1996.

Lastly, the antique natural is 6# 12 oz and also was made in 1996.  It has a stock pickup.  Its measurements are 18" by 3.25".

I don't know how many HJSs were made.  Over the years I had a few others.  I'm guessing there were a few hundred made, but I don't know.  I doubt Heritage has records.  Maybe.

There's an irony about this model.  Johnny left Gibson because he was concerned about quality and consistency.  He knew JP Moats from the Gibson building days and worked toward the design specs on the HJS.  Johnny specifically wanted a custom finish they called rose natural to be an option along with the usual natural on his guitars.  The first ones came out in 1989.  It didn't take long for variants to emerge.  This eventually led to Johnny leaving Heritage and eventually joining Guild.  By 1996, Heritage built HJS with bodies ranging from 16-18" and various other finishes.  The 16" guitars were not labeled HJS, but they were the same sort of build without inlays.  I believe the quality remained high, and the Heritage workers confirmed that they treated HJS with special care.  But the build specs were what was ordered, not necessarily what Johnny wanted.

I have a couple of Heritage ghost-built Gretsch Synchromatics built around the same time period, the early 1990s.  It should be no surprise that their weight and dimensions are almost identical to the 18" HJS.  The second pic shows how they line up.  The main difference besides cosmetics is the nut is 1 3/4" on the HJS.

That's all I got for today.

 

[bolero]

Those are all gorgeous!!

[MartyGrass]

Oops.  I can count.  There are four.  I started the thread and then recalled i had a fourth in storage.  I forgot to change the title.

My go-to guitar is a H-535 these days, but I was raised on jazz boxes.

[Gitfiddler]

@MartyGrass...Awesome collection!  😍

[golferwave]

Those are mighty fine works of art!

[bolero]

Ja ja ja ja

Ja ja ja

[bolero]

The seven Ja's

[TalismanRich]

So.... you like archtop guitars, right?   I never would have guessed.

 

[bolero]

Ja!

[ironmike]

[ironmike]

This is one of my Johnny's with a built in HRW...fabulous guitar, tap tuned....I own three HJS's

[MartyGrass]

12 hours ago, ironmike said:

This is one of my Johnny's with a built in HRW...fabulous guitar, tap tuned....I own three HJS's

That's a beautiful instrument.  It looks like it has a rose natural finish.

I'll bet this nice instrument is an example of why Johnny left Heritage.  Johnny wanted black hardware and a floating pickup.  As best I could tell, the first few years that's how they were made.

Aaron Cowles did the tap tuning on these.  He got the plates and took them to his shop.  Heritage later did the the rest of the top.  I've had an x-topped Heritage get a mounted pickup put in.  It cut into the bracing some but was still stable.

Here's Aaron in action.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WsCIAboHDeI

I don't want to rain on a parade here, but I don't get why someone would take a tap tuned top and mount a humbucker on it if that was the plan from the get-go.  But I did that once on a used instrument and was happy with the result.

The HRW in the neck position sounds very good and a bit sparkley.  I heard Henry Johnson and Kenny Burrell play with that setup.

I had a HJS long ago that I took to Heritage to ask a couple of questions and get a tone pot put in.  Ren Wall talked with me a while and said he'd put the extra pot in.  He let me watch.  It took about 15 minutes on his work bench.  When he drilled the pickguard he had me point to where I wanted the new pot.  After he was done, I asked him what I owed him.  $15!

I like the finish and the gold hardware on yours.  

 

 

[dvnmjc]

Here is my HJS acoustically played in smokes and sounds great. 

 

[tsp17]

@dvnmjcNIcely Done!  Some nice KB voicings there.