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End of an era

jaywolfe

By jaywolfe
in Heritage Guitars

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jaywolfe Collaborator

jaywolfe

Posted
Posted

After 24 years Lane Zastrow has resigned from his Marketing position with Heritage as of last Friday. Although an independent Representative and not employed by Heritage Guitars, Lane was "the" marketing guy. Lane setup dealers, serviced their orders & issues & was the liaison between dealer & builder for all those many years. Lane also produced Heritage's few brochures & price lists on a shoestring budget. Having been VP of Marketing with Gibson for many years, Lane brought years of contacts & experience to Heritage. He is particularly skilled in the arena of International distributor-dealer relations. The Kalamazoo boys preferred to craft their instruments & leave the marketing to their old friend Lane.

Did Lane do a great job? Did he get adequate support from Kalamazoo? Were there a few complaints & issues? Was it a sometimes smooth & often bumpy ride? Yes to all, however I appreciate Lane Zastrow's tireless efforts, successes & failures,

warm & humorous personality, his lovely wife Sue who helped at all NAMM shows, the annual BBQ's at their Brentwood, TN home with Heritage guys playing Bocci Ball on the lawn & some fine Nashville Guitarists playing various Heritage Guitars on the patio (Thom Bresh was playing there one year) during summer NAMM, The wonderful dinners during winter NAMM with an eclectic group of characters. Lane was always the host with the most & he always caught the check with a BIG smile. The Heritage boys never did anything like that, and Lane was their personalty, their "front man." He lent a touch of class to that rag tag bunch of almost worn out wood workers we all love & admire.

It won't be the same without Lane, but we will remember him fondly and wish him well with his endeavors. You're a class act Lane. If you own a Heritage Guitar- there's a piece of Lane in there somewhere.

 

Jay Wolfe

tulk1 Experienced

tulk1

Posted
Posted

Jay, thanks for that update. In fact, the fate of Lane has been brought up a few times since the PSPII since he was MIA. He was ever the ambassador at PSPI, providing the pack with lots of swag, shaking hands and pretty much running the show right after the tour. I am personally familiar with his ability to get things done at the 'zoo, as he was instrumental in getting my Millie NFH off the ground when that project had stalled. For me, his presence in the Heritage fold will be missed, altho' probably not as much as our dealers and providers will miss him.

Thundersteel Proficient

Thundersteel

Posted
Posted

Thanks for the info, Jay.

 

Is there any decision on who will take his place?

chico Veteran

chico

Posted
Posted
Thanks for the info, Jay.

 

Is there any decision on who will take his place?

 

 

It would seem to me that Mr. Margol could handle those responsibilities, or farm them out.

 

As to Lane, I wish him nothing but the best and thank him for his contributions over the years in telling the Heritage story. I never met him.

 

my uninformed .02,

chico

jaywolfe Collaborator

jaywolfe

Posted
  • Author
Posted

Is there any decision on who will take his place?

 

As of yesterday the position is open. Anyone interested should call Vince Margol at the K-Zoo.

BIG shoes to fill. Vince can't truly handle it because he he's still an Attorney & has full hands at 225 Parsons.

 

Jay Wolfe

yoslate Proficient

yoslate

Posted
Posted

Met him only once, at PSPI. He seemed a class act, good guy, a gentleman. I always hate to see the purveyors of old school leave an empty space like this. Hope his shoes might be filled ably, and that he enjoys a well deserved retirement. Thanks for the note, Jay.

GuitArtMan Rising Star

GuitArtMan

Posted
Posted

I met him at Winter NAMM this year. While I was sad to see the smaller booth and missed the other boys Lane and Wife were very polite and commneted on my HOC T-Shirt. Happy retirement Lane!

jaywolfe Collaborator

jaywolfe

Posted
  • Author
Posted

Happy retirement Lane!

 

I should've been clearer. Lane is NOT retiring- just moving on to other endeavors. Some may also know that Lane & crew made the Heritage Amp line in his Brentwood shop. Lane tells me to look for thing to happen with the Amps. He now has patents on the circuits & has interest from another Guitar line to have their fine name on 1 or 2 of those awesome Amps. Can't wait!

 

Jay Wolfe

Thundersteel Proficient

Thundersteel

Posted
Posted
As of yesterday the position is open. Anyone interested should call Vince Margol at the K-Zoo.

 

Uh, Brent? Sounds like your dream job!

golferwave Proficient

golferwave

Posted
Posted

That's sad news for everyone in the Heritage "family" including all of us here at the HOC. Thanks for the info Jay and I wish Lane the best in his new business ventures.

Gitfiddler Mentor

Gitfiddler

Posted
Posted
Happy retirement Lane!

 

 

I should've been clearer. Lane is NOT retiring- just moving on to other endeavors. Some may also know that Lane & crew made the Heritage Amp line in his Brentwood shop. Lane tells me to look for thing to happen with the Amps. He now has patents on the circuits & has interest from another Guitar line to have their fine name on 1 or 2 of those awesome Amps. Can't wait!

 

Jay Wolfe

 

 

 

If Lane's amps are anywhere near the quality, tone and looks of the Heritage Amps...Sign me up for a 30 watt, 6L6 combo! :P

rjsanders Community Regular

rjsanders

Posted
Posted
If Lane's amps are anywhere near the quality, tone and looks of the Heritage Amps...Sign me up for a 30 watt, 6L6 combo! :o

 

 

still have my 3 Heritage amps (Vic head, Brit II, Colonial) & love 'em. will follow with great interest. say, how 'bout Brent and Jay tag-team the Marketing/evangelism effort! most of what i know about Heritage i've learned from Jay & co. over the past 8-9 years...got the first Millie DC from Jay...

 

:o

brentrocks Rookie Copy

brentrocks

Posted
Posted
Uh, Brent? Sounds like your dream job!

 

Hummm...

 

i dont have a marketing degree, but i know the product pretty well...maybe i should....................nahhh

 

 

 

 

Lane is a great guy and i wish him all the best in traveling and fishing!!! LOL :-)

Mikenov Community Regular

Mikenov

Posted
Posted

Would have loved to try a Britton. Now I may eventually have that chance. Best of luck to him on his new venture. And who know, maybe this is a chance for Vince to change gears on how they market Heritage too. Change is never easy but often good for everyone involved.

pushover Collaborator

pushover

Posted
Posted
Uh, Brent? Sounds like your dream job!

 

Funny scary.. This was the first thought that came into my head also... Not necessarily that it's something Brent would necesarily want to do, but as in something he'd be "really good at". :o

golferwave Proficient

golferwave

Posted
Posted

Henry goes through Presidents faster than anyone. In the duties section it says "Reports to the CEO" Thay left some thing off of that. Should say "Reports to the CEO who is a world class A--hole"

rjsanders Community Regular

rjsanders

Posted
Posted
Henry goes through Presidents faster than anyone. In the duties section it says "Reports to the CEO" ...

 

 

makes me wanna grep thru LinkedIn and locate all the former prezes...

 

 

(oops forgot to wish Lane success and all happiness)

 

:o

  • 3 weeks later...
Vincelewis Apprentice

Vincelewis

Posted
Posted
After 24 years Lane Zastrow has resigned from his Marketing position with Heritage as of last Friday. Although an independent Representative and not employed by Heritage Guitars, Lane was "the" marketing guy. Lane setup dealers, serviced their orders & issues & was the liaison between dealer & builder for all those many years. Lane also produced Heritage's few brochures & price lists on a shoestring budget. Having been VP of Marketing with Gibson for many years, Lane brought years of contacts & experience to Heritage. He is particularly skilled in the arena of International distributor-dealer relations. The Kalamazoo boys preferred to craft their instruments & leave the marketing to their old friend Lane.

Did Lane do a great job? Did he get adequate support from Kalamazoo? Were there a few complaints & issues? Was it a sometimes smooth & often bumpy ride? Yes to all, however I appreciate Lane Zastrow's tireless efforts, successes & failures,

warm & humorous personality, his lovely wife Sue who helped at all NAMM shows, the annual BBQ's at their Brentwood, TN home with Heritage guys playing Bocci Ball on the lawn & some fine Nashville Guitarists playing various Heritage Guitars on the patio (Thom Bresh was playing there one year) during summer NAMM, The wonderful dinners during winter NAMM with an eclectic group of characters. Lane was always the host with the most & he always caught the check with a BIG smile. The Heritage boys never did anything like that, and Lane was their personalty, their "front man." He lent a touch of class to that rag tag bunch of almost worn out wood workers we all love & admire.

It won't be the same without Lane, but we will remember him fondly and wish him well with his endeavors. You're a class act Lane. If you own a Heritage Guitar- there's a piece of Lane in there somewhere.

 

Jay Wolfe

yoslate Proficient

yoslate

Posted
Posted

Greetings, Vince! Good to know you're still lurking now and again. I'm already looking forward to the holidays, so I can put your disc back into rotation.

Kuz Mentor

Kuz

Posted
Posted
Greetings, Vince! Good to know you're still lurking now and again. I'm already looking forward to the holidays, so I can put your disc back into rotation.

 

+10000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

 

Best Christmas CD EVER!

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