Heritage Colonial Half Stack 50 watt Need more info

[kdigennaro]

I recently got a Heritage Colonial Half Stack (head and the 2x12 cab). This is really a great amp but the style of music I play would be better suited for a mesa or a soldano. I really don't know much about this amp other than the fact that it sounds great, is there an online manual somewhere or something? I'm still not sure if I'm going to keep this amp or not but I really don't know what it is worth. I believe it was $3500 retail for the stack, somewhere around there and I realize I'm not going to get that out of it but this amp has barley been played and has no nick dents or scratches. A while back one went on ebay for 1000 bucks I thought that sounded like a steal. I saw guitarcenter had the head in there used gear section going for 1400 for just the head. Does anyone have an idea of what this amp is actually worth? I hear talk all the time about heritage putting more amps out eventually could this mean a reissue of the colonial? If so would this help or hurt the price of the amp? Just trying to get more information so I can decide what to do with this amp.

 

Thanks,

Kevin

[Thundersteel]

First of all--welcome!

 

As for your amp, the Heritage Amplifier Co. went out of business a year or so ago. It remains to be seen whether or not they will resume production.

[kdigennaro]

Thanks for the warm welcome I've been browsing these forums for sometime but as you can tell just created an account haha.

 

I personally hope heritage amps comes back they really are great amps I've played my fair share and now I own the colonial. I guess my dilemma is that right now this amp is really an investment more than anything else. I don't want to take it out to gig with because I don't want it to get beat up etc. heck I even hesitate to use it for practice. I've done some recording with it but that is about it. As much as I love this amp my dream rig stems far away from the tone and my tone is really more a mix between soldena/marshall/and mesa. My question is, is the amp worth holding onto? Obviously no one can predict the future but in say 10 years am I going to see a colonial going for $10000 on ebay and want to kick myself for giving it up? If this amp is worth the right amount of money I could very well get my dream setup and I'm sort of leaning that way. Like I said this amp is amazing but I just don't need it and if someone here or someone some where else could enjoy it and actually put it to use maybe that's best. This has just been a hard decision for me and what it really is coming down to now is a) what is the street price on this amp and ideas on future value? my gut tells me it will be about the same and c) where is the best place to sell an amp like this if i go that route?

 

Thanks for any feedback although the heritage amps don't quite suit me I do have my eye on a couple of heritage guitars

 

Sincerely,

Kevin

[Kuz]

In my opinion, if you don't like the amp then sell it.

 

Although the Heritage amps are very nice, I have seen nothing that shows they are apprecating in value or hold any collector's value.

 

If you are purely holding on to this amp for investment reasons, in my opinion, sell the amp.

[kbp810]

In my opinion, if you don't like the amp then sell it.

 

Although the Heritage amps are very nice, I have seen nothing that shows they are apprecating in value or hold any collector's value.

 

If you are purely holding on to this amp for investment reasons, in my opinion, sell the amp.

 

I'm going to agree with Kuz here, though I'm sure the amp will hold it's value very well over time, I don't foresee it significantly increasing. There is just such a high saturation of outstanding amps out there (discontinued or not) that it's hard for me to imagine it's monetary value becoming exponentially greater then perhaps say it's sentimental value amongst the fan base of Heritage amps.

 

If your holding on to it just to hold on to it, I would say sell it - great amps like this deserve to be played! ... but while I for one would scramble for cash if you did put it up for sale (and this site would be a great starting point for that by the way!), you might also want to first consider if you think you might wind up kicking yourself for getting rid of it further down the road.

[yoslate]

I'm going to agree with Kuz here, though I'm sure the amp will hold it's value very well over time, I don't foresee it significantly increasing. There is just such a high saturation of outstanding amps out there (discontinued or not) that it's hard for me to imagine it's monetary value becoming exponentially greater then perhaps say it's sentimental value amongst the fan base of Heritage amps.

 

If your holding on to it just to hold on to it, I would say sell it - great amps like this deserve to be played! ... but while I for one would scramble for cash if you did put it up for sale (and this site would be a great starting point for that by the way!), you might also want to first consider if you think you might wind up kicking yourself for getting rid of it further down the road.

 

That's right! +1

[kdigennaro]

Thank you everyone for your input I really am just holding onto this amp to hold on to it. I think it is probably best if I send it to a better home where someone can play and enjoy it more than I currently am. Does anyone have a suggested price on this amp?

 

Thanks a ton,

Kevin

[WillKelly]

I carefully researched Colonial values recently, and you can buy a head and cab, as described, for approx $1500.00

 

I agree with the rest that it won't significantly increase in collectible value, unless someone really famous starts using them in a high profile manner for a while.

 

In the interim, it's a great amp with outstanding flexibility, build quality and volume. You can't get better, just different at this point ...

 

Good luck

 

[rjsanders]

howdy & welcome. i'm a fairly long-time owner (11/05) & fan of the Colonial, still have mine & love it. that aside, i agree w/Kuz et al.

 

as i understand it, the company is not closed but on hold and the owner (Lane Zastrow) is involved in other pursuits. more to the point, the designer, Paul Cochrane, is full-time engaged in his pedal business, tho' i know he'd like to be doing amp design again. there is no online support by the company.

 

it will do classic Marshall (JTM45, Plexi, Plexi Superbass) as is, but no Soldano or Mesa (OD-type sounds) w/o a pedal or something. it takes pedals extremely well. IMHO its cleans rival anything in the $3-4K range. its overdriven sounds (loud!) are my personal favorites. won't do you any good, if those aren't your tones. don't hesitate to crank it, it's one of the best-built amps out there & the original 2x12 cab will take it, too.

 

if you have tech questions, maybe i can help. there's lots of truly expert help on The Gear Page.

[Thundersteel]

Does anyone have a suggested price on this amp?

 

How 'bout tree-fiddy?

 

[kdigennaro]

Thanks everyone for the feedback 1500 was about what I was thinking it was worth. We are currently taking advantage of the heritages over drive and recorded our entire album using it, with some line6 distortions as boosts. The biggest problem even more than tone is the fact that this is a one channel amp there is no foot switch to switch from clean to dirty etc and there is no effects loop. For the music I play both of these are pretty much most have features. I think I'm going to hang onto this amp until the album release and in the mean time really do research on what I want to replace it with I have lots of ideas but I need to narrow it down to one but you all may very well see this amp for sale on these forums probably by the end of the summer. Thanks a lot for the feedback this really seems to be a great community and you all seem to know what you are talking about too which is great haha.

 

Best regards,

Kevin

[pegleg32]

Hey Kevin, how about a couple of demo clips? Would love to hear the music.

[kdigennaro]

Hey Kevin, how about a couple of demo clips? Would love to hear the music.

Certainly! Just give me a couple of days to get them together!

[kdigennaro]

Sorry for the delay but here are a couple clips, both original tracks by my band Nascent Descent. The first one shows mostly the clean on the heritage we recorded this with a fender in 2 pick up positions and did a little blending with them and a couple mics. Toward the end of that clip there's a little over drive purely heritage no pedals. The next clip is flat out distortion. We cranked the heritage and then boosted it. There's four guitars playing there. One boosted with a line 6 distortion one boosted with a fuzz pie distortion by line 6 and the other two are just the heritage amp. Enjoy! Heritage Clean/Dirty/Boosted Samples

[rjsanders]

nice work, Kevin. i take it that's a stock setup (tubes) & original closed-back cab?

 

today a friend came over w/a new Two Rock head & during various this&that i plugged the Colonial into one of Bill Krinard's favorite 2x12 cabs (w/vintage 12-65s), then added another similar cab, only a 1x15 (Weber Michigan AlNiCo). it's a great amp...wouldn't trade it for my friend's Two Rock, tho' the latter costs about 2.5x what i paid for the whole rig. the TR is, too, of course, just sayin'...

[kdigennaro]

nice work, Kevin. i take it that's a stock setup (tubes) & original closed-back cab?

 

today a friend came over w/a new Two Rock head & during various this&that i plugged the Colonial into one of Bill Krinard's favorite 2x12 cabs (w/vintage 12-65s), then added another similar cab, only a 1x15 (Weber Michigan AlNiCo). it's a great amp...wouldn't trade it for my friend's Two Rock, tho' the latter costs about 2.5x what i paid for the whole rig. the TR is, too, of course, just sayin'...

 

Thanks man, yeah that's all original stock tubes and the original closed back cab. I bought a set of 6l6s to try with the amp but just haven't gotten around to it yet.

 

And I would love to hear this amp through some other cabs. It's a great amp just missing a few key features .

[uniphasian]

Thanks man, yeah that's all original stock tubes and the original closed back cab. I bought a set of 6l6s to try with the amp but just haven't gotten around to it yet.

 

And I would love to hear this amp through some other cabs. It's a great amp just missing a few key features .

 

I played my Colonial this past weekend and it reminded me what a great amp it is. When I first picked it up I also tried the 6L6s but liked the EL34s better - but I like the Marshally tones best in this amp. I love this amp cranked w/a Les Paul.

 

The last few I've seen sell on ebay and elsewhere have gone for less than $1500 for the head/cab, so you may be on a longshot at that price. Not that it's not worth it, I paid more than that (slightly) for my head/cab a few years ago and thought at the time it was the steal of the century.

 

You may also want to try The Gear Page as a place to sell. There are several Heritage amp fans over there, and a few Colonial players in particular.

 

This should help you out with regard to the features:

 

https://docs.google.com/fileview?id=0Bz534L...5Nzc5&hl=en

 

Scroll down for the Colonial.

[rjsanders]

...

 

This should help you out with regard to the features:

 

https://docs.google.com/fileview?id=0Bz534L...5Nzc5&hl=en

 

Scroll down for the Colonial.

 

thanks for the link, U., great to have & pass along.

 

add'l note: i asked PaulC once about reverb or external fx loop once & he said he'd considered it, but thought the Xotic X-blender was just fine & recommended i try that...

[kdigennaro]

Thanks a lot guys that manual is exactly what I was looking for!

[kdigennaro]

Musiciansfriend's buy it now program just offered me $480 dollars for the amp please tell me that is absolutely ridiculous? I could probably sell my solid state marshall stack for $480 dollars this is a super high end tube amp and 480? wow... This amp is going to be hard to sell unless I lower my standards but these amps are rare and hard to come by and they retail around $3600 I'd be happy to get $1500 but that seems like it will be a challenge. It's worth the money just seems people aren't willing to spend it or don't really know anything about the amp. Does anyone have tips on selling this amp?

 

Thanks,

-Kevin

[rjsanders]

Musiciansfriend's buy it now program just offered me $480 dollars for the amp please tell me that is absolutely ridiculous? ...

 

 

OK. that is absolutely ridiculous.

 

there ya go

 

on a more helpful note, a previously mentioned by uniphasian you might join TGP and try there...

[kdigennaro]

OK. that is absolutely ridiculous.

 

there ya go

 

on a more helpful note, a previously mentioned by uniphasian you might join TGP and try there...

 

Thanks man that makes me feel better haha

 

and I will join TGP right now and see if I get any hits. I'm trying to sell this amp not give it away haha.

-Kevin

[kdigennaro]

Looks like I can't post on the gear page unless I pay $12 bucks for the year, sounds worth it to me if I can actually sell the amp. But just an fyi to people that may be unaware of that.

 

-Kevin

[rjsanders]

Looks like I can't post on the gear page unless I pay $12 bucks for the year, sounds worth it to me if I can actually sell the amp. But just an fyi to people that may be unaware of that.

 

-Kevin

 

 

they had too many flakes & nefarious types abusing the emporium...

 

so you sell it for $493 or more & you're ahead already ...i've seen maybe 2 or 3 Colonials sell there since last summer, maybe in the $900 range, head only.

 

check out the Search function & look for Colonial info.

 

i'd love to have another myself, just for plexi & superbass usage, but that's not feasible right now...

[kdigennaro]

they had too many flakes & nefarious types abusing the emporium...

 

so you sell it for $493 or more & you're ahead already ...i've seen maybe 2 or 3 Colonials sell there since last summer, maybe in the $900 range, head only.

 

check out the Search function & look for Colonial info.

 

i'd love to have another myself, just for plexi & superbass usage, but that's not feasible right now...

Haha good way of looking at it!

 

Yeah honestly I have no idea what this amp is going to go for I paid over $2500 for it and I really do love the sound it's just I play heavy alt rock and not being able to switch from the killer OD on the colonial to its killer clean and then not having an fx loop really makes it not usable live. If I had the money to just use it in the studio I'd keep it but I don't I really need to sell this amp to start putting together a legitimate rig .

 

I'll run a search and see if I can find anything on the colonial.

 

Yeah I understand the situation I wish I had all the money in the world to spend on guitar equipment haha I have about a 5 page list of things to buy and I'm sure I could add to it easily lol.

 

Edit: A member was kind enough to boost my moral a bit:

"If it helps any, I sold my head only for $1200 about 4 months ago. It took all of 3 days to sell, with tons of interest at that price."

 

So I'm optimistic I feel better about my price