Mills Posted August 5, 2009 Posted August 5, 2009 Hey all! So now that I'm all jazzed about getting a Heritage I have some questions for you all. What I would like to do is to order a H150 that is as close as I can get to a 1959 burst. A tall order? Yeah, but after reading your guys' reviews and watching some demos on Youtube, I think that Heritage is up to the task. The recent thread by Mark Gregg is making me quite excited as well! So, with that in mind, what do you guys think I should put in an order for a custom Heritage? My guess is that the H150CM Classic is already pretty close but I would say the addition of a long tenon and the 50's neck is a must have. Is there anything else that you guys can think of? I'll probably end up giving the shop a call just to hear what their opinions are too but I would like to hear from as many people as possible! Thanks! -Nate
TruckbodyJones Posted August 5, 2009 Posted August 5, 2009 Hey all! So now that I'm all jazzed about getting a Heritage I have some questions for you all. What I would like to do is to order a H150 that is as close as I can get to a 1959 burst. A tall order? Yeah, but after reading your guys' reviews and watching some demos on Youtube, I think that Heritage is up to the task. The recent thread by Mark Gregg is making me quite excited as well! So, with that in mind, what do you guys think I should put in an order for a custom Heritage? My guess is that the H150CM Classic is already pretty close but I would say the addition of a long tenon and the 50's neck is a must have. Is there anything else that you guys can think of? I'll probably end up giving the shop a call just to hear what their opinions are too but I would like to hear from as many people as possible! Thanks! -Nate The holy grail .....absofreakinlutely ....just be careful ...that rabbit is a killer . I might consider an unusual color ..if I were special ordering though ....it'll still be a 59 underneath . Go for it ...we are enabler's here you know ...you don't think anyone here is going to try and talk you out of it !!!
yoslate Posted August 5, 2009 Posted August 5, 2009 Mills: Yeah, I've been playing with this one for a while, too. I had a friend who'd owned maybe ten or twelve '58-59's (back when they were much less unaffordable). I think you're dead on it with the notion of ordering a 150, to taste, from the boys on Parsons Street. I'm sure a bunch of the characters here will weigh in with a lot of good advice, but I'd like to chip in my $.02, as well. I've done a custom order Heritage (Super Eagle, not 150). Would you be going through a dealer? Not sure how one goes about ordering from the shop, but you can still talk to Parsons Street, although it's not easy, sometimes. You have to be very clear about what you want, and how you want it ("Kuz," John Kuziak, has a lot of experience with getting spectacular custom order instruments from the boys. If John chimes in, listen! But he's certainly not the only one (Brent, "Brentrocks," lives at the shop. Kenny, "tulk," also has a lot of experience. ) And you have to communicate regularly, but not be a pain about it. You'd likely talk to Ren Wall, most of the time, But Marv is good to talk to, as well, especially if you have specific requirements regarding neck carve. I've seen three or four used 150's for sale, which, I thought, were what I'd want in a 150 with the Grail feel. Me...I'd go with either the vintage sunburst (back off a little on the "orange" at the rim, in the finish) or the amber -- not the burnt amber. Pictures of what you want in terms of curl in the top might be helpful, as well. I'd ask Marv to do the neck a bit on the chunky side. And I'd order it with the proprietary "Throbak" pickups. "Throbak" (Jon) is a local electronics whiz who acquired one of the old winders, for winding pickup bobbins, from Heritage. It's my understanding this was one of the winders used at Parsons Street, back in the fifties. Jon's made an academic study of vintage pickups. I've played these things; they kill! I'd order it with the Sperzel tuners, rather than the default Grovers, for a more vintage look, as well. Good luck with your project, and keep us posted.
Jim W Posted August 5, 2009 Posted August 5, 2009 Well, a long neck tenon, Hide Glue neck joint, no truss rod plastic sheath, Kluson tuners, an ABR-1 bridge, and a lightweight tailpiece with steel studs would go a long way. I don't know if they will do the Hide Glue, but I would find out. Alicia has a "pigtail" abr non-wire bridge and lightweight tailpiece on her Albert King "V", and the quality is top shelf. The wait time might be a stretch though, so you could order it way in advance. Pigtail products Kluson Tuners
chico Posted August 5, 2009 Posted August 5, 2009 The company will taylor any neck profile you wish. I heard Ren say it aloud at the tour last Fri. You will special order through an authorized Heritage dealer, but can speak directly to Ren. Special order will give you an opportunity to customize it exactly the way you want it built. Chambered? No prob. Certain kind of figure, finish? Ask. Keep us all up on your process as it unfolds. Aside: Yoslate is an awesome guitar player.
Mills Posted August 5, 2009 Author Posted August 5, 2009 Thanks for the info guys! TruckbodyJones: Yeah... I do have to be careful! I'm not totally sure what kind of finish I would want but I am going to give something a little bit different some thought! I do like that vintage look though... Yoslate: I would probably go through a dealer just because I was under the impression that that was how it worked. There is actually only one dealer in Colorado and, as far as I can tell, they are out of business. So, the best option for me then, is to order through Wolfe guitars or someone of that nature. To tell you the truth going the buy before you try aspect of this does make me a bit nervous especially as I have never played a Heritage at all only heard Youtube clips and the reviews of the musicians here. I do like that people are so happy about the quality control though. I would never buy a guitar from G untested! Thanks for the info on the pickups. I saw those before and was quite interested... Being persistent without being annoying is the trick isn't it! Jim W: Thanks for the links! I don't know if they would do hide glue either. I'm not sure that would have affected the tone too much but it would be more authentic. It wouldn't hurt to ask though! chico: It really is great to have a boutique guitar company who is willing to work with their customers isn't it? Thanks again for all the opinions guys! -Nate
GuitArtMan Posted August 5, 2009 Posted August 5, 2009 I'd go with TonePros Klusons over the generics WD sells. They are much smoother with tighter tolerances and no slop. I'd also go with the new Callaham cold rold steel ABR1. While not exactly vintage, the reports indicate it is superior to vintage. RS Super Pots or Dr. Vintage pots. '50s Wiring. If you can get it (I think you will have to suply it yourself) I'd go with a Brazilian rosewood fingerbard. That's what they used back then. I'd specifiy light weight mahogany/maple. Not sure if you can get this, or what they keep on hand, but almost to a one all the '50s Les Pauls I've played were light by todays standards. No 10lb plus boat anchors please. Definitley under 9lbs and as close to 8lbs as possible. I've played vintage Les Pauls that were under 8 lbs and the sounded GREAT!
yngwie308 Posted August 5, 2009 Posted August 5, 2009 Pigtail hardware is as good as or I feel even superior to the original ABR-1's and stop tail pieces, also their steel studs! yngwie308
Kuz Posted August 5, 2009 Posted August 5, 2009 David Grissom just recently posted that not all '50s Les Pauls were light weight. He said many were in the 10lb catagory. I persaonally view, as does DG, that the perfect weight is between 9-9.5lbs (enough weight for sustain, but not to heavy to hide the highs & upper mids). As far as long tenon... it ain't going to happen. They use the neck joint that they do and I would bet anything they are not going to change that. They are proud of the stability of their necks and pocket joints and won't change that. Good luck. Look at it this way; You can have Gibby mass produce a robotically made replica that looks exactly like the real '59 LPs OR you can have a slightly different (short tenon) hand made master piece made at the same factory with the same tools that produced the real '59s.
tulk1 Posted August 5, 2009 Posted August 5, 2009 Kuz, wouldn't Greenie be close in specs to what Mills is looking for? Except for the weird wiring.
mark555 Posted August 5, 2009 Posted August 5, 2009 Good luck. Look at it this way; You can have Gibby mass produce a robotically made replica that looks exactly like the real '59 LPs OR you can have a slightly different (short tenon) hand made master piece made at the same factory with the same tools that produced the real '59s. Put like that, it's a bit if an obvious choice. Gibson's not even made in the same factory, different guys, nice guitar but just repro really...
tulk1 Posted August 5, 2009 Posted August 5, 2009 Put like that, it's a bit if an obvious choice. Gibson's not even made in the same factory, different guys, nice guitar but just repro really... That's what we've been saying. Heritage is the real deal. Current Gibs are the "copies".
Mills Posted August 5, 2009 Author Posted August 5, 2009 I've been hearing a lot of good things about TonePros and Dr. Vintage has quite a few very vocal supporters here on the forum! So the wiring differed between the 50's and later decades? What was done? Pigtails look really good too... The only reason I suggested the long tenon was because of a conversation with Jay Wolfe where he said that might be a route I would like to pursue. I'm sure that the stability of the joints that they do use is just fine! I guess I would just expect a better vibration transfer between the neck and body with a long tenon rather than the short. Another thing, anyone know the size of the fretwire on the 59's?
Kuz Posted August 5, 2009 Posted August 5, 2009 That's what we've been saying. Heritage is the real deal. Current Gibs are the "copies". +10000000000000000000000000000 BINGO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
GuitArtMan Posted August 5, 2009 Posted August 5, 2009 So the wiring differed between the 50's and later decades? What was done? '50s wiring has the tone control coming off the center lug (output) of the volume control. This preserves highs as you roll the volume down, but does produce a slight tonal shift. Modern wiring has the tone control coming off the top of the volume control (in parallel). With this scheme you lose highs as you roll the volume down, but overall tone is preserved. I remember a poll at TGP a while back and most people prefered the '50s wiring.
High Flying Bird Posted August 6, 2009 Posted August 6, 2009 Would you be going through a dealer? Not sure how one goes about ordering from the shop....... Me & Greg trapped Marv in the back of the factory Friday. He said you could order through the factory but they would call a local dealer and run the order through him. There was a vintage guy in Kzoo Marv mentioned. This would cut out a middle man as far as the actual ordering of the guitar. Less people involved means less mistakes.
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.