Leaderboard

And here's the guitar. I like it with the guard off.

This bad boy joined the herd over the weekend . . . I'm not normally one for factory aging but the one in this thread

I found this on Reefeeverb. The Heritage H525 is a full hollow thin line guitar with a Florentine cutaway. Maple Laminate top and back with a solid maple rim. Mahogany neck with a rosewood fretboard. 2 Lollar dog ear P90s. The H525 is loosely based off of the vintage Gibson ES125. These H525s RARELY come up for sale. But this one was dramatically different. The body was finished in a matte black. Originally is was a VSB (vintage sunburst) kind of a light tangerine burst. The H525s had a cult following among Heritage enthusiasts. But not many were ever made. When I first saw it, I wasn’t a fan of the refin. But after stalking the ad for a couple of days, I decided to pull the trigger. I figured, worst case scenario, I could always get the top refinished at some point if I don’t like it. But it’s actually pretty cool. The seller also upgraded the bridge to a Faber ABR1. I believe everything else is stock. He currently has it setup for 11s. I will be putting 9s on it, so there will be some extensive setup work to be done. I had one of these 525s many years ago and they are such a joy to play. Lightweight and full of warm creamy goodness!!! This is a pic from the seller. I will have pics and a full report after setup.

Congrats. I still have the one you sold me. Love it!

CVS, This is mine. I picked this up one night at Brents house. LK155 had it at PSP one year and I really liked the guitar. When it became available, I jumped.

referencing this thread: https://www.heritageownersclub.com/forums/topic/38369-used-530-incoming-inspired-by-trich/ finally got the wolftone dr. vintage humbuckers disguised as P-90s installed in the subject guitar . . . i chose the cream color pickup surrounds and glad that i did . . . tone is a little less "focused" than a 535 but certainly soft and round . . . scratched the itch! thanks for looking!

Hard to answer. I've ordered solid blocks on floating block guitars and floating blocks on solid block guitars in the past. The good old days. Glad I was involved in the Golden Years with Custom Shop Service.

AE definitely means that it's a 2014 not a 2006. In 06 they were stamping the serial number and they started with W ( have a 2006. On mine, the W is above the number. I think they had to get a new stamp as the old one was wearing out). They didn't start hand writing numbers until later. It's hard to say what the '06 designates, and don't know they'll have any special info regarding it's specs. Sometimes Ren or Jim would remember special orders, but if you built a few thousand guitars over 25 years, you wouldn't remember every one. I don't know that they kept a computer database, although by 2015 they may have well converted. If I remember the first two numbers are the days working backwards from Dec 31, and the last two is the number of the guitar issued that day. That would make it the second guitar of Monday Oct 27th 2014. The Seth Lovers could easily been owner changed, or factory installed. It's also possible that the paper label either wasn't installed or came loose. Still, they are of a close date to the guitar serial. I don't think it would be worth the time to pull the pots just to look at date codes.

Apologies if this has previously been posted previously. Nice guitar. Nice playing. Topical and Seasonal. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CH8gwla9THg

All the original P90 Heritages that I'm aware of have Jason Lollar pickups. Unless it was a custom order, or the pickups were changed, those would likely be the stock ones. The control cover may even say the pickups. Check there.

How many of the folks in the video have we met? Ren, Pete, Curly, Marv, Arnie, Bill. There are several that I've seen through the years but didn't get names. The rack from the prototype room should have been donated to the Kalamazoo Valley Museum. Here's an article I ran across a while back. I never saw the "passing of the torch" headstock before. https://the-guitar.com/a-heritage-of-guitar-making/

I think I'd have this in his hands right away. The rattle can black really wrecks the vibe for me. A nice gloss black would be attractive, but I've always been a fan of finishes that highlight the wood. I'd be hoping the black is laying on top of the original finish so it didn't seep into the pores of the wood.

There's nothing inside except air!

According to Pete: 99% of centerblocks are maple, but there are mahogany & even some spruce centerblocks out there

Yeah, no. I resisted. The only black Friday shopping I did was the weed dispensary. Serious deals going on there, too. 🤣

I like it better with the guard on too, but I personally prefer the shape on the Heritage H150 guards. They just go with the flow of the body shape. And I think whatever guard is on it would need to be aged to match the body. It's not a '59, it's a Heritage.

Here's an old video of them building a semihollow. It appears that the main block is maple. You would want a strong wood, since you need to put your neck joint in there, just like a solid body. Its definitely not mahogany, it's way too light colored. You can see the color difference of the mahogany kerfing below. From what I have read, an ES335 will have a maple block and the filler piece is spruce which is kerfed to bend more easily. If you listen closely, I think that he says they use a basswood insert for the filler section that goes between the top and the block. It's about 3:30 into the video. He also explains about doing floating blocks (top is fixed, back is not).

That's rock and roll being made right there!

I have one of these but mine does not have the bound headstock. Other than that it is pretty much a clone of yours. Mine is a D serial number also. It was my first Heritage. I bought an H-140 of the same vintage along with the H-170 and fell in love. The music store didn't know anything about Heritage and I traded a japanese LP and maybe $400 for both. The H-170 is my favorite guitar. Period. I have a few Heritage's as well as the usual suspects (Gibsons, Fenders, etc) but the 170 just feels and sounds right to me in every way possible. The Schallers were not awful but I put a set of Dimarzio Anniversary PAFs and it just opened it up. Same with the H-140. Everyone who has played it instantly falls in love with it and wants to buy it. Enjoy it Brent!

If you have please let me know This was the very first heritage guitar I ever bought, back around 1997?? Id like to get it back

100% right on the pickups. I noticed that oddity also. Here is a close up of the neck pickup. Interesting observation on the ' vs 1. Never thought of that. Being hand written, that makes perfect sense. I heard back from Ren at Heritage. Unfortunately, they don't have the original build order so we'll never know for sure, but I think you are right about owner mods. Probably left the factory with 59s as they are more common and then swapped to the Seth Lovers later. One of these days when I feel adventurous I may pop one or two of the control pots out to see if the solder joints look original or not. For me, the history of this one is more of a curiosity thing than anything else. This would still be one of my favorite guitars of all time because it is just that good. You know every once in a while you notice something special the second you put your hands on it? Thats this one. I was very fortunate to stumble across it .

they are indeed! I took the liberty of posting the images here in the thread

It's the same reason that G&L and now Fender are still showing pictures of Leo Fender, and Gibson is still touting their latest "59 Les Paul". It's about lineage, history, a familial connection. Guitar people are enamored with the past, whether it is reality or not. Otherwise nobody would be trying to recreate the past!

My Heritages from the pre-Meng era are all custom shop.

The Silverburst is a good solution. Would you have the body and neck prepped and shot gloss black first? For me, the matte aspect of the paint is the most off putting.

Hey Brent, George Thorogood played the original Gibson (ES-125) version of your cool H525 (see below). But if you ever decide to put a set of flatwounds on it, that 525 can become a sweet little jazz box. What a versatile gitfiddle!

It wouldn't matter what Heritage put in the guitars, SOMEBODY would complain and change them. I've seen HRWs panned, and then see them sell for $350 a set, and 225s were listed for the same, when you can get Seth Lovers for $200 a set.

So…. After getting this baby setup for 9s, and getting it all dialed in, I have come to the conclusion that…. This H525 is friggin awesome!!! Holds tune like a champ!! The 2 Lollar p90s sound absolutely amazing!!! I’ve never had a Faber bridge on a guitar before. I really like it. It’s a locking bridge. The neck is a very comfortable medium C carve. Sets up with a medium/low action. Frets show minor wear. The guitar is nice and light. It has a slight bit of neck dive, but it’s hardly noticeable. Overall, a very nice playing Heritage guitar with great tone!!!!

I'm pretty sure he says "patch wood" there, explaining the filler section, not "bass wood" He says it again a bit later too

I remember talking to Bill Paige about them, it must have been when they first came out: I was telling him about my Gibson ES-135 & saying they should make a thinner H-575 style, as it is more manageable to play & doesn't feed back so easily Bill said " have you heard about our H-525? " and pointed to one on a rack Well there ya go!! Congrats Brent, that looks really nice!

Well, PSP got a little spendy for me . . . bought the pictured 535 standard (with same OSB finish as TRich's new 530). Point 1: I'm trying to recreate the tone as heard on a couple of Doobie Brothers songs, South City Midnight Lady and Another Park, Another Sunday. My best guess is that the guitar played on those songs is a G 335. Can anyone confirm this? Point 2: If the guitar is a 335, how can I get my new 535 to sound like this? SD 59s are in the new axe and I haven't been able to get the tone I seek. I see mixed reviews of the 59s here on HOC and I wonder if Seth Lovers would get me closer? Or, just change the magnets in the 59s to alnico 2 or 3? Or . . . ? Comments and insights most appreciated! Thanks, eljay

Congrats on your guitar! I purchased an std H535 about a month ago. Same finish as yours. Just love the guitar. Have used it clean, dirty, with chorus etc on a varirty of different types of music. Very easy to play for me given it has a 12" fretboard radius, which would not be my 1st choice. I have also given up chasing tones a few years back. I just dail in something that insires me to play & I am off and running. I hope you find what you are looking for. PS - I like the rug.

Very nice, enjoy.

If you are shopping for deals on Heritage guitars for black Friday, check out Sweetwater. Huge discounts going on. I wasn't in the market for an ebony H-150 Standard, but for $1600, I may be now.

I was the same was as you until I learned how to really drive a fuzz pedal, and then find one that would work with my style. And JHS or line 6 digital recreations aren't really examples I associate with good fuzz pedals. I would look no further than Analogman if I was buying my first fuzz. That guy just knows how to build good fuzzes consistently (it's an art form). He knows how to match transistors and that's very important in a good fuzz. And if it was just for home use, I would go with a germanium fuzz which sound awesome, but they change their tone with heat so they are not reliable on stage. Both me and the guy that really taught me about fuzzes both use the Analogman silcone BC103 fuzz on stage. Another thing is the have top be in the perfect place in your signal chain to work effectively, usually the first pedal your guitar sees! One of the great things about a good fuzz is they way they interact with the volume knob on your guitar. When rolled back the clean tone with a good fuzz is something to behold Think Hendrix's clean tone. I always used to drive them like an overdrive and that kept me from ever liking one, they are a completely different animal. You kind of have to a do a deep dive into the people that use them and find out their approach.

Honestly, I have never been a fig fuzz fan for my playing. I'm much more distortion and overdrive most of the time. I just find them more musical, though with Fuzz there is also a HUGE variety of different designs / sounds / textures. JHS pedals "Legends of Fuzz" series had SEVEN different pedals, and I know many who bought every single one, because in many ways it was far cheaper than tracking down the originals. Still, I dunno, I just can't bring myself to love fuzz. I love some songs made using fuzz, but part of my brain always goes "this would sound better with overdrive". Maybe I'm just not using the fuzz pedals right.

Beautiful H-150 VSB from the good old days! Enjoy that fantastic axe!

That is a sweet H150! nice top

I like it with the guard on. If it had a different horn, from the photos it could be an original 58 or 59. Stunning

Yeah, a English old fashion rump roast

It’s somewhere…..

Does this mean Guy has it or has found it? Congrats!

I have no idea about the answer to your two questions, but I always love the questions you ask and the insights you provide. And that’s a beautiful Guitar by the way.

A very young bass player once bought a Rickenbacker bass, in the footsteps of his hero, Chris Squire. He was most disappointed to find that he didn't sound at all like Chris Squire. The young bass player eventually became quite famous on his own and associated closely with the Rickenbacker bass. Thing is changing parts will make little tweaks in the sound, but you might be chasing a ghost. We don't really know what instrument might have been played in a studio, even when a musician is strongly associated with a particular instrument. Sometimes, maybe there was just something random in the place and he picked it up and played it. Then there's the amp, and the micing and the room, and the engineer's technique to take the track, that particular session or maybe many sessions and so on and so forth. Find the guitar that works for you and your hands, and play the song(s) you want as well as possible. Then, record it. Compare overlayed on the track you want to sound like. See what you can do with various studio/DAW plugins, especially ones that represent the things that might have been in use at the time it was originally recorded. Then do some deducing what is and isn't close to your ghost. In many cases you can get "there" with some EQ, compression and creative dialing in of those.

you got the blues for greeny

Nostalgia at its finest.

Just as Curly Howard says at the end of an episode. "come on in boys"

There's a cool little blue pedal that you can plug into and get a really nice "woman tone". Pete Farmer loaned me his pedal for PSP.