NGD—1985 H140

[ESchmidt]

Hello! 
I picked up an early piece of Heritage history this week. It is a 1985 H-140 finished in May.  I’ve never owned one so early. It has suffered a headstock break and repair, but it was done properly and feels like glass running my hand over it. It came with black plastics and cheap generic Chinese humbuckers. I put a set of Gibson Burstbucker 1 and 2 I had laying around in and it sounds so much better.  The only downside is that I had to over pay a bit for it. The seller was tough but the fact that it was built so early on plus it plays so well and has a stunningly gorgeous top means I had to get it. Enjoy the pictures! 

[bolero]

wow that's a beauty!

B serial & a stinger

drool

[Steiner]

That is drop dead cool.  There’s a ton of mojo in that beast.  Happy NGD.

[tsp17]

Nice!

[Jimbob]

The headstock repair looks to be a pretty solid and clean job, too! Nice score!

[ElChoad]

Damn! Nice find!

[DetroitBlues]

Nice score.  What did you change on it or what did the previous owner change?

Those old 140's have a seriously deep dish carve on the top, so much so, the pickup rings would crack.  

Hard to tell if the pickups were swapped, but the rings are new(er) and I think the top-hat knobs are also a replacement part.  Only other thing I saw was the screws for the tuners were black.

Nothing wrong with any of that, but if you paid a higher price then you'd like, I hope it wasn't sold as an all-original with a repaired headstock.

[ESchmidt]

2 hours ago, DetroitBlues said:

Nice score.  What did you change on it or what did the previous owner change?

Those old 140's have a seriously deep dish carve on the top, so much so, the pickup rings would crack.  

Hard to tell if the pickups were swapped, but the rings are new(er) and I think the top-hat knobs are also a replacement part.  Only other thing I saw was the screws for the tuners were black.

Nothing wrong with any of that, but if you paid a higher price then you'd like, I hope it wasn't sold as an all-original with a repaired headstock.

I think the tuners were the only original part. Certainly all the wiring and pickups were non original. I had a set of Throbak pickup rings laying around so I installed those when I put the burstbuckers in. The rings have a decent amount of “flex” and grip the body nicely. Time will tell if they crack or not, I suppose. One original pickup was included in the case, a standard Shaller pickup they were using at the time with a 3/85 date stamp on the bottom. I replaced the knobs to with top hats you see on it now. But the ones that came on it were non original.

 

 

[DetroitBlues]

18 hours ago, ESchmidt said:

I think the tuners were the only original part. Certainly all the wiring and pickups were non original. I had a set of Throbak pickup rings laying around so I installed those when I put the burstbuckers in. The rings have a decent amount of “flex” and grip the body nicely. Time will tell if they crack or not, I suppose. One original pickup was included in the case, a standard Shaller pickup they were using at the time with a 3/85 date stamp on the bottom. I replaced the knobs to with top hats you see on it now. But the ones that came on it were non original.

 

 

There is a trick for pickup rings.  Tape a piece of sandpaper on the top, gently glide the pickup ring back and forth until it makes the curve of the top.

The tailpiece is also original..

Fine guitar all around.

Hows the neck shape?