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Heritage Owners Club

trip to C.B. Perkins (San Jose)


rjsanders

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so, i stopped by C.B. Perkins yesterday to get some works done on 4 guitars. met a fellow customer, "Bob", who had a drop-dead gorgeous Sweet 16, natural finish. he didn't know about HOC, so i filled 'im in. he also had a beautiful '81 Super 400 & we talked Kalamazoo a little.

 

the Perkinses got the last (#25 of 25) Roy Clark recently and let me play it. bright, beautiful, really special. they're keeping it for themselves, doggone it...

 

for sale was a real nice H-157 black beauty for $1050 w/EMGs. i didn't play it, cuz distracted & in a hurry, but thought i'd let you all know. they're a small shop & long-time Heritage dealer. got my 137, my 157 Goldie, and my Heritage amps there over the past few years.

 

a stunner & a revelation: '49 ES-5 (pre-switch Switchmaster). wudda guitar!

 

if you're ever in the area, these folks are worth a sidetrip and a chat. Kent (dad/son) and Josh (son/grandson) are great players. Josh leads the Rhythm Chasers and usually uses his Golden Eagle, tho he has a custom order in now to Kalamazoo

 

:D

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Seems like a great shop with good quality people involved. The Black Beauty sounds like a nice deal.

And it was too bad that they don't have pics of the ES-5 on their site yet.

You'll have to stop back and see his custom order when it shows up.... :D

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Seems like a great shop with good quality people involved. The Black Beauty sounds like a nice deal.

And it was too bad that they don't have pics of the ES-5 on their site yet.

You'll have to stop back and see his custom order when it shows up.... :D

 

yeahman

 

the ES-5 is part of an estate sale. a good friend of their family passed & he was the original owner (& a mentor to Josh)...their blogspot here has a good description and they say

 

i saw the custom order (a burst Sweet 16 IIRC w/some add'l. ornamentation & Josh's specs - (non-cutaway? i forget)) some months ago, but unfortunately it was the wrong scale length (again IIRC) and that's being sorted out now. it was also unusually gorgeous.

 

i gotta try out that Beaut (strictly for reporting purposes, y'unnerstan') when i go pick up the guitars i dropped off. i ordered one from Wolfe on a trial basis, but returned it, cuz i didn't bond w/the EMG p'ups (everything else was what i was lookin' for).

 

they had a *real* nice Eagle there for $1600 (consignment sale). i almost got that, but got the Sacco instead & now the Eagle's gone. well, something else is always turning up...

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I dealt with these folks on an ebay purchase a couple of years ago --bought a used Rivera Pubster. It was a bit of vexed transaction ...there was confusion about when the amp would ship (turned out to be UPS's fault), and then when I got the amp it quickly began to display a problem that proved to be a faulty component used in its manufacture. I was, how does one say, a little bit miffed at the shop on both counts, but they were cool and kept communication open and in the end I was convinced they had done the best they could do in each situation. (Rivera eventually picked up the tab on the repair and on shipping.)

 

The people at C.B. Perkins might have responded with anger to my anger, but they didn't, and once I had enough information to understand what was up, I very much appreciated the way they handled the situation. They even promised to cut me a good deal on a Heritage because of the hassle I ended up going through with the amp, even though it wasn't their responsibility. I haven't yet had a chance to take them up on that offer, but I would recommend them highly.

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rjsanders, where you at? I'm "down" in Salinas; I've never been to that shop, though have wanted to for a while. I usually end up @ Guitar Showcase when I'm in San Jose.

 

Do you know what they're asking for the ES-5 by chance?

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I dealt with these folks on an ebay purchase a couple of years ago --bought a used Rivera Pubster. It was a bit of vexed transaction ...there was confusion about ... the amp, even though it wasn't their responsibility. I haven't yet had a chance to take them up on that offer, but I would recommend them highly.

 

 

sounds about right: stuff goes wrong, they make it right, life goes on. the little guys get less cooperation than the bigger guys, but the little guys can persist. so, i deal with them. good people i've known for almost 10 yrs.

 

:D

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rjsanders, where you at? I'm "down" in Salinas; I've never been to that shop, though have wanted to for a while. I usually end up @ Guitar Showcase when I'm in San Jose.

 

Do you know what they're asking for the ES-5 by chance?

 

they hadn't set the price when i played it, so i'll guess that it's still in the 4-figure range, maybe at the 1/2-way mark? but a phone call will answer your question & will be the real answer...

 

i love Showcase for the variety & accessories & drooling at the collectibles, but spend more time @ CBP shooting the scheisse with Kent & the Boys. example: GS had a new VOS black beauty that i really liked. was gonna make me a great deal on it. one week later CBP had a '98 on consignment that caught my eye. it had the wood & a mahogany cap & the feel/weight, so i snapped it up, upgraded the heck out of it (w/CBP assistance, of course (wiring, bone nut, etc.)) and ended up spending less than the ridiculously good deal Showcase woulda made.

 

but Showcase had lotsa gibbies. CBP had exactly one. who'da thunk it'd be the "right" one...

 

:D

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Those guys sound great!

 

the trumpet player is Doug Ellington, great-nephew of the Duke.

 

Josh is a hoot - who'da thunk a guy that young (mid-30's, he's been doing this kinda stuff for years) would be put something together like that these days...in one little combo i'm struggling to put together i plan on doing "Viper's Dance" and maybe one or two others of Josh's originals*

 

(buy two CDs and give one away!)

 

:D

 

 

*disclosure: nothing to disclose, just a fan of the band & satisfied customer of the family

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