Kuz

I am 100% in favor of spending the money on NOS PREAMP tubes. They sound great (better than current production preamp tubes) and last at least 10-12-15 years with regular use. As far as paying top dollar for NOS power tubes, no thanks. I never heard a difference and I really like the Tungsol RI, TAD, and other reissue power tubes. The main preamp and power tubes that I (personally) can't stand are JJ tubes. To me they are sterile and lifeless. Yea, they work, but that's about all they do well. I had two sets of JJ power tubes redline and have a major failure, nearly ruined a Carr Rambler amp that I used to have. No other power tubes failed on me like the JJs did.

I will STRONGLY second this statement about the Heritage CC tuners being complete crap, compared to how amazing the guitar is. I was able to find some aged nickel Gotoh tuners on Ebay for my aged 150 CC. They look better and are lighter than the originals, are drop-in no mods, and are rock-steady in tuning.

If I was going to the trouble of switching the pup selector switch and the volume knob, I would have made that volume knob the bridge volume knob (or make it a Master volume).

I have probably used 15 Locking Faber ABRN bridges and locking stoptail studs and they have always given at least the same, if not better, overall sustain/note separation/overall tone. And even with any tonal benefits aside, using the locking Faber hardware (ABRN bridge & locking stoptail studs) everything is locked down tight and will never move even with all the stings off the guitar.

Huh, I flipped my Pinnacle thumbwheels over and have plenty of clearance from the top, and my action is 4.5/64th on the low E and 4/64th on the high E. I believe the action could go as low as I want without worry about the domes of the thumbwheels hitting the top. I guess it all depends on the neck angle of your guitar. Personally, I like the "locked down tight" Faber lock ABR bridge. If Heritage is switching to a more traditional ABR-1, why not just use the more traditional 6-32 posts? It certainly would allow for easier conversions and what are we to do if the 8-32 posts break? Like you said 8-32 posts and 8-32 thumbwheels are near impossible to find.

NICE!!!

The nice thing about the Ironman II is that it is switchable from 4 to 8 to 16 ohms.

Tone King Ironman II 100-Watt Reactive Power Attenuator I did a lot of research on attenuators. Some suck tone incredible bad. Others are designed for more direct to the board recording. I couldn't find one bad review on the Tone King Ironman II. I have four vintage Fender and a 12-15 year old Headstrong Lil' King (Princeton reverb clone). I am a huge pedal fan and prefer all my OD/distortion tones come from pedals. But I also do think (as everyone pretty much does) that tubes cooking to the point just before breakup makes the amp's cleans & overdriven tones (even with OD pedals) sound best. WOW, does this attenuator sound flipping AMAZING!!! My amps are 12 to 35 watts and to turn the volume up to "3-4" is still incredibly LOUD. With the Ironman II the attenuator is based on reactive power attenuation so it sounds AWESOME at even -25 to -32db!!! I was very suspicious of the claims of "little to no loss in BOTH tone & feel" even at below bedroom volumes, but it is absolutely true. If anything, now that I can cook the tubes to volume of 3-4 at a reasonable (or even below reasonable) volume, the cleans sound richer & fuller and the OD pedals make the dirty/distortion tones sound thick and smooth. Many touring bands are using this unit LIVE as well to control the stage volume, but maintain the rich tube amp tones on stage and mic'd to the PA. Yes, this unit is pricey but more than worth every dollar. Using the Tone King Ironman II allows me to play/practice more often at anytime of day or night... even with the wifey at home!!!! Truly and amazing unit and I can't recommend it high enough!! (I just wish I would have bought it years ago!) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07PXVLFDS?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_fed_asin_title

Ha, Ha,... Same here, I have never sounded like Gary Moore either! Well, played. Your comment made me laugh.

When I ordered my 535 P-90, I told Marv Lamb I wanted the first 535 P-90 and the first Marv Lamb wine-burst finish. Rockabilly wanted it bad so he now has it. I was also told that Marv was the only one that sprayed the Marv wine-burst finish himself.

Most would have never spotted a Heritage unless Suzanne Hoff was playing it. All this time I thought she was the only member of the band... huh....whenever a Bangles' video came on, all I ever saw Suzanne Hoff and her Ric. I'm pretty sure she always performed solo, yep, I never saw a band...😍

I never heard a gun sound like Gary Moore... hmm....

I love the OG 555 inlays!!!!

I have used both and it is just WAY too hard to do simple editing of presets/patches/simulated pedals when playing live with the direct modeler stuff. I like all my analog pedals available on the board where I can see them and just make a simple level or tone adjustment, by just reaching down and turning the knob on the pedal. What is essential is a Looper for your pedals (like Boss M8 or Gigrig G3) where you can program an infinite number of presets that can turn on/off multiple different pedals with just one step on the board. If editing of any the pedals are needed, just reach down and turn the knobs on the physical pedals. HONESTLY, the Looper & analog pedals combination is the best of both worlds of modeling & tube amps!

That is basically the take home message from this comparison. There are some features of the R9 that I wish were on the Custom Core, and visa versa. But they are both great guitars.