Riddle

[jhack]

Do you notice anything particular on this photo?

[111518]

The tuner on the right is, to quote a song, "close® to the edge."

[slider313]

The strings are wrapped the "wrong" way around the tuner post on the bass side.

[smurph1]

I don't like the way the headstock looks..LOL

[FrankV]

for sure, the tuner on the right looks slightly higher and closer to the edge than it's brother on the left. is the guitar marked as a 2nd?

[Dick Seacup]

If you take the truss rod cover to be the center of the neck, then the headstock appears (key word, there) to have more wood on the bass side than the treble side. As if the headstock was cut to the wrong profile. Look how much tuner shaft is showing on the treble side vice the bass side tuner shaft. The string spacing on the A-D-G-B look even. Could just be the tuner on the high-E is mislocated, though.

[Jim W]

Yeah, it's a little out. The "charm" of handmade!

 

Not a Heritage, but...

 

Alicia has a 1964 Gretsch Country Club. The tuner holes were drilled by hand according to some Gretsch folks. The tuner button was rubbing the side of the headstock when turned, so I made a small tube spacer to push it out.

[Jazzpunk]

Do you notice anything particular on this photo?

 

Might be all the psychedelics I took when I was younger but the longer I stare at that pic the more it looks like a an evil robot panda.

[FredZepp]

Might be all the psychedelics I took when I was younger but the longer I stare at that pic the more it looks like a an evil robot panda.

[Dick Seacup]

Might be all the psychedelics I took when I was younger but the longer I stare at that pic the more it looks like a an evil robot panda.

 

Holy crap. I can totally see that.

[tulk1]

Optical Illusion? Which would go right back to the Evil Robot Panda. Which gets my vote.

[DC Ron]

Might be all the psychedelics I took when I was younger but the longer I stare at that pic the more it looks like a an evil robot panda.

 

+1. Too funny.

[212Mavguy]

I want to be the first kid on the block to have a Robot Panda t-shirt!

 

happy new year to all of us!

[Dick Seacup]

Hrmm...someone suggest a better caption? Of course, jhack would have to release the copyright on the image...

[jhack]

Hi,

I have to admit that since I realized this gap I do not see more than it.

I want that we speak about "hand-made" but there all the same you should not exaggerate.

For a guitar of this price it is inadmissible. I think that if I lived of the highly-rated of Miami I would have returned it, that also it is "charm" of the mail order buying.....

I do not think that shall renew the experience.

[big bob]

Hi,

I have to admit that since I realized this gap I do not see more than it.

I want that we speak about "hand-made" but there all the same you should not exaggerate.

For a guitar of this price it is inadmissible. I think that if I lived of the highly-rated of Miami I would have returned it, that also it is "charm" of the mail order buying.....

I do not think that shall renew the experience.

what guitar is this, is it yours?

[Jazzpunk]

what guitar is this, is it yours?

 

I believe it is the 555 he custom ordered through Wolfe:

 

http://www.heritageownersclub.com/forums/i...ic=6914&hl=

[Jazzpunk]

Hi,

I have to admit that since I realized this gap I do not see more than it.

I want that we speak about "hand-made" but there all the same you should not exaggerate.

For a guitar of this price it is inadmissible. I think that if I lived of the highly-rated of Miami I would have returned it, that also it is "charm" of the mail order buying.....

I do not think that shall renew the experience.

 

I can totally understand how that would bug you jhack. If you're really that unhappy perhaps you can return the guitar to Wolfe?

 

On the other hand, everything else about your 555 is pretty stunning!

[brentrocks]

well, being in France....i certainly wouldnt want to ship it back. if it holds tune, i dont see a problem.

 

it been said here many times and ill say it again.....thats handmade for you.....

[FredZepp]

I understand that this bothers you and your opinion is the one that matters most.

 

I just wanted to say that I don't believe that this affects the beauty, value , or playability of this instrument.

I think that you own one of the very finest guitars ever made and this doesn't change that at all.

[iim7v7im7]

My new H535 has the same flaw in the tuner post location just like yours. My 2000 Sweet 16 does not. The asymmetric location appears to be a feature of recent H535/H555 production. They may have done an entire run of necks with this production flaw. I understand your unhappiness and I to also regard this as a quality flaw. The drill and neck cutting operations can be done symetrically even without CNC as evidenced by my older Heritage.

 

Make sure the guitar can intonate properly (mine did). Also, make sure your nut slots are properly cut to address the offset in the spread. Like mine, it is likely that your instrument will play fine and this will just be a aesthetic flaw.

 

Good Luck,

 

Bob

 

Hi,

I have to admit that since I realized this gap I do not see more than it.

I want that we speak about "hand-made" but there all the same you should not exaggerate.

For a guitar of this price it is inadmissible. I think that if I lived of the highly-rated of Miami I would have returned it, that also it is "charm" of the mail order buying.....

I do not think that shall renew the experience.

[PacerX]

My new H535 has the same flaw in the tuner post location just like yours. My 2000 Sweet 16 does not. The asymmetric location appears to be a feature of recent H535/H555 production. They may have done an entire run of necks with this production flaw. I understand your unhappiness and I to also regard this as a quality flaw. The drill and neck cutting operations can be done symetrically even without CNC as evidenced by my older Heritage.

 

 

The drilling fixture has to be off, and you're spot-on with your evaluation: CNC isn't necessary there to get it right.

 

Many of the CNC-based manufacturers use a drilling fixture with a drill press to put the holes in to save the money that would be required to buy a CNC machine that can drill the holes in automagically. You'd most likely need another axis (rotation of the cutter head) to get them in without a re-fixturing step. The 6-axis machines can do it without re-fixturing, but they are more expensive.

 

The common myth is that folks get fired when CNC machines start taking over operations. Only a fool does that in a manufacturing operation like building guitars (where price point and the cost of materials and labor have a significant disconnect). A smart manufacturer takes those people and uses them for something else.

[Doug]

I say it's a trick question and there's nothing at all wrong.

[pegleg32]

Hmmmm, I kind of like it. Makes it unique while being functionally irrevelant.

[iim7v7im7]

Hmmmm, I kind of like it. Makes it unique while being functionally irrevelant.

 

While I understand your sentiment, it is not exactly unique feature when other instruments made at that time have the same "feature". My instrument was made last Oct-Nov and it has the same "unique feature". I suspect most 535/555 have that same feature made from a lot of necks. It is reflective of a level of quality that should not bear the name Heritage in my view. They are capable of making better. While it can be functionally irrelevant(your point), it has the potential to affect tuning.

 

You have to be careful that the spread angle in your instrument's nut matches the positional offset of the tuning machine posts or you may have difficulty staying in tune due to friction. The tuner posts for E,A and D are inboard of their intended design position and G, B and A strings are correctly located. So you need to make sure that the spread angle in your nut is cut to match or unintended friction from side wall rubbing can ensue. My factory nut did not accomodate this, but my aftermarket one made by a luthier does. The guitar now stays in tune. When I first played it, after 1 or 2 songs with any bending it would go out of tune.