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Being a member of a local camera club, I've been messing around with photographs for a couple of years. Lightroom is my editor of choice, with occasional assistance from Topaz AI software. Recently I was made aware of an upcoming art exhibition, named Call Out For Colour, at a gallery not too far away, and I decided to enter the photograph you see below of my blue H150 20th Anniversary. This will be a juried exhibition, with cash prize money at stake. The show opens in early March and runs for 7 weeks. Got an email from the gallery last week saying my entry has been accepted. Wasn't expecting this. Out of 220+ entries (paintings, photos, and other works of art), they only accepted 48. Whoopee! The print I'm entering shows this piece of the guitar a bit larger than life-size, and has such amazing depth that it just looks like waves in the wood. Click on this image to see what I mean. Heritage artistry at its best!

I’m now the proud owner of a 2017 Heritage H-150 in Vintage Wineburst per the control cavity sticker which is actually a nice feature. I had been looking at Heritage for a while and the stars finally aligned. The guitar came with a custom made Gibson style pickguard and locking tuners. I put a poker chip on it to cover up a few scratches near the toggle and swapped out the knobs which I suspect were not original. So far I’m impressed with the overall fit, finish and sound. It’s obvious the nitro is thinner than a Gibson LP Standard which is nice. The rosewood fingerboard is smooth as silk, probably one of the best I have played. There are some quality and/or design things I have to work through. The nut is a bit sloppy. It looks like it was cut poorly from the factory and then someone tried filling it and now it’s way too high. The tailpiece also sits really high so I switched the Nashville bridge for an ABR-1 to help lower the tailpiece and then used Faber spacers to stiffen the gap in the tailpiece posts. I will probably do a full Faber hardware replacement down the road. It weighs right at 10 pounds and feels every bit of it. I gave it a quick setup and it plays well despite the nut and tailpiece issues. Im hoping that once I fix those things she will really sing. In the meantime, feel free to share any advice/tips/tricks/ideas you may have regarding Heritage or the H-150. I’m excited to finally be a part of the Heritage club.

Another chapter in this story..... Yesterday we attended the grand opening and awards ceremony for the exhibit. I suppose 'grand' is a bit of an exaggeration since the gallery is quite small. But it was absolutely jammed with people. Like crowded enough so that trying to push your way through the people to see the artwork was a challenge. The art was primarily paintings, with a few mixed media works thrown in. And four photographs. A total of 48 pieces. So speeches were given (blah, blah, blah, clap clap), and the awards were presented, third place, second place, and first place. I had absolutely zero expectations here, and I was absolutely correct. Then they started naming the honourable mentions. First one up, my Blue Guitar photo. Holy crap, what an amazing surprise. Good thing I wore a decent shirt. Fortunately I didn't have to give a speech, just stand around and look humble. One guy (an experienced photographer, in fact) asked me what kind of acrylic surface I had applied to make the guitar look 'all wavy'. None, I told him, that's just the wood. Don't think he believed me. Oh, he says, then that must be a custom-made guitar, right? I told him no, is was not. Don't think he believed me on that either.

Hi, I play "Alice in wonderland" with Heritage Sweet16 If you have time,please listen to it, Thank you.

I love this sexy beast! What's up with the two screws - tilt control? I think that pickguard needs to be in the storage room, right? Is that a M 1996? Really happy to be here and appreciate any info you can tell me about my new beauty.

I thought so, it's just been a while and was hoping I wasn't mis-remembering, lol. I remember that, and falling in love with the color after seeing that H110 they had hanging on the wall, which was why I went VWB on the 157. Seems like a good time to get all nostalgic with a photo of VWB'ing in action.

I was taking to Vince Margol today. We we talking about the health of Bill, Charlie and Marv. Vince visits them regularly. Vince wanted to make himself available to hand deliver get well cards for these three Heritage Heros. Please send your cards to… Bill or Charlie or Marv C/O Law Office of Vincent S. Margol, PLC. 834 king highway, suite 108 Kalamazoo MI 49001 Vince felt that those guys would love to hear from us!!!

Hi,Sorry for the late reply.I got Covid. I play "Milestones" with Sweet16 If you have time, please listen to it. Thank you

And, likely the final word on this one..... Yesterday, the gallery sold my Blue Guitar photo. Strange as it may sound, it appears I can now call myself a professional photographer. (yeah, right) My thanks to all for the kind words and encouragement.

I thought you might like to see these two together!

Funny you should say that. I have a pair of MJ wound Seymour Duncan Antiquity that I’m thinking about installing in this guitar. The 59’s sound great but the Antiquity are special and tend to find their way into my best guitars at some point.

Great image, Lyle! You just know the jury is going to be standing around, stroking their goatees or sipping their Chardonnay, going, "What do you think he meant by this?" Or, "Obviously, it's a commentary on striving being the root of all suffering and simultaneously the source of all satisfaction." And, "A fantastic allegory for the timeless plight of the human condition in all its Sisyphean glory!" Break a leg, brother! Edit to add: If you have to give it a title, I strongly encourage "Amber Waves of Grain." You know, just to mess with their heads.

Long time poster on jazzguitar.be but decided to swing around here as I know of a few other forum members who frequent both. So this NGD stems from another duo of NGD's where I purchased two Gibson ES-125T one of which needed an immediate return due to a neck angle from a bad past repair. Although I thought the other 125 had an issue I had several shops including Joe Glaser's shop take a look and there was no play in the neck and just a little bit of lacquer separation at the joint. After thinking on it though I didn't want to slap 12 flatwounds on the thin neck ES-125T and then see an issue down the line as a neck reset can be an involved process so I thought let someone enjoy it with 9's or 10 roundwounds! So as you may know prices on used vintage Gibson's right now can be pretty crazy and I was able to get almost double what I paid for it in trade value at a local shop here in Nashville. I knew I wanted something in the thinner body depth along with a slimmer neck for a sitting with guitar on my leg position. Though I'm very comfortable with the classical position as that was my original entryway into playing guitar. As far as Heritage guitars I can't say I regret selling many instruments but I DO regret selling the Heritage H-550 I had. It was super comfortable and played like a dream along with having a lovely warm voice. At the time though I was less settled and chasing guitars when I should have been a bit more exploratory in other aspects like my amps of choice and my playing skills! After many months not really vibing with the Benedetto tailpiece, it also directly touches the top as well at the apex and also puts pressure on the binding at the foot. I think this guitar was sold in Nashville before I bought it and it had the original tailpiece and also the original pickguard. The post was about 8 months before I bought it on Facebook(I've messaged that seller for any insight on where the parts went). I really wish the seller before it was at Carter's had left it alone. At the price these sell for you could get a lower model Benedetto if your heart really wants one(I understand if you buy a guitar it's yours and you can do what you want though!). Just a bit frustrated because finding the original pickguard and tailpiece is a pretty low possibility. These are some of the photos from Carter Vintage where I bought it.

Always been intrigued by Dumble clones, since I have neither the disposable income level nor sense of extreme financial irresponsibility it takes to buy the real thing. I've had some come and go in the past, but it's been quite a long while (probably 10 years or more) since I've had one in the stable. So when I happened to spot this one in a reverb ad while browsing another un-related forum, it grabbed my attention, and money was ultimately spent. I think I've heard of this builder before? Think his name has come up in this forum a few times in the past with mostly positive feedback. This is an overddrive special "HRM" variation. There's been some debate over what HRM actually stood for, but I believe someone had caught Alexander stating it stood for "Hot Rubber Monkey". Essentially, it's an ODS, but with an additional internal tweakable tone stack that comes after the overdrive stage for some serious fine tuning. This one also had one of the trim pots swapped with an externally mounted pot so that the OD trim level could be easily adjusted on the fly without opening the chassis up. It had an interesting tolex choice; black sparkle with a strip of silver sparkle on top... though this amps seen plenty of use over the years, and it shows. Some of the tolex is starting to lift. This is certainly a heavy beast; I caught some side eye from the delivery guy carrying it, even though I tried to meet him halfway to help save his back. Aside from a little scratchiness in the pots, it sounds magnificent, as any good ODS should. Especially on the OD channel. The speaker was sounding a little fizzy... swapped it to a Fane A60, and initial impression is that this was a wise decision. I may also eventually re-cover it... sometime in the near future I'll take it apart and get some gut shots. I don't have it in me at the moment after lugging to the house, unboxing, tinkering, and speaker swapping.

The acoustic rhythm is my Gibson Nick Lucas reissue. The heritage is the electric rhythm (middle position), main lead fills (bridge position), harmony lead (neck position). There are no FX, the Heritage is plugged straight into my Mesa Fillmore 50 and mic'd with a Sennheiser MD421 II. Thanks Kuz

No, no, no. I bought it from Brent a few years ago. The guitar, that is. Part of the deal that sent my H525 (formerly Kuz's) to Rich. I think Brent got the blue H150 20th from our friend MM in Vegas. Not sure about that, but it did belong to MM at one point. Got a nice note today from the buyer of my photo. The most interesting thing he said was that neither he nor his wife had any idea what they were looking at before they read the information off to the side detailing the image. So you guys (especially TalismanRich) were right all along....people didn't know it was a guitar.

A Heritage Johnny Smith, which is similar to your Heritage Sweet Sixteen, has a distance of approximately 9 3/8" from the end of the guitar to the bridge. The length of the finger tailpiece on a Heritage Johnny Smith is 6 31/8" on the treble side and 4" on the bass side. I have put finger tailpieces on Heritage Millenniums and they use the smaller tailpiece which has a distance of approximately 7 7/8" from the end of the guitar to the bridge. The length of the the shorter finger tailpiece is 5 1/2" on the treble side and 3" on the bass side. ABM are great to deal with. Hope this helps.

Here you go.

This is what they used on the last final builds.

Beautiful guitar! Congratulations Hopefully someone chimes in about the tailpiece

1993 Heritage ALVIN LEE H535 1 of 24 made. One of the rarest Heritage Artists guitars ever produced in history of the Heritage Guitar Company! Someone swapped out the original Schaller humbuckers for a set of Gibson 57 classics. (Definitely an upgrade) They sound wonderful in this guitar!! Original Schaller bridge and tailpiece swapped out for Gibson style hardware. Original frets are in great shape. There is some residue from stickers on the top, where the stickers reacted with the nitro. It’s not terrible. It’s been play, but played with care. It sets up with a nice low action. The neck is a medium C carve, not super thin. A very light and toneful guitar !!!

Sweet rig. It was nice of the former owner to put your initials on the faceplate for you. 🙂 Looking forward to your full review and obligatory gut shots.

Yep. The endless journey commences. Welcome to HOC and well done! Very nice guitar.

Congratulations KCH!! Stellar guitar!

After realizing all my gtr straps are the same length, I went to a local leather repair place & got some heavy duty 3" wide straps made that taper at both ends. Works well & didn't cost a lot. I like them more than most commercial straps, which to me are bulky and good ones are really expensive.

I've changed the pickups in all 3 of the Heritage H150s that I've owned (still own 2). Funny enough, my favorite H150 is a darkburst that has a a set of MJ wound pickups which are the custom shop Peter Green set which are unpotted, have unbalanced coils, but without the reverse phase magnets. Here it is straight into a production VOX AC15. And all of them have got the Faber treatment, and nut cut correctly

Hahahaha! Nobody on this forum would have required a crystal ball to see this coming! Have fun with the tone quest. You should wind up with a righteous guitar!

indeed it is

It is. I heard him tell the story. 😉

Alvin Lee knew how to use such a guitar. The middle pickup was not just to fill a space.

I think you've done well. I'll second Chico's comment about the pick guard. I LIKE the pickguard shape that Heritage came up with. To me, Gibson's big ol' chunk of plastic is clumsy looking. I have kept the Schaller hardware on my guitars that have it. You could shed a some weight by switching out to a lighter weight tailpiece and bridge if needed. The Cherry Burst looks good. I've got an H140 with the same finish, and it's a nice guitar.

@51DecisionsWelcome to the HOC. You are correct that your H-150 is a 1996 model. https://heritageguitars.com/pages/date-your-heritage Also, the label indicates yours is "CM, ACB" Curly Maple top with Antique Cherry Burst color. Enjoy your 'new-to-you' H-150. Its beautiful.

No veneer on yours. Pre-Plaza refers to the period prior to early 16’ and the original owners sale of the company. Some changes have been made in the ensuing years, but essentially they’re made pretty much in the same fashion.

Thanks, y’all! She weighed in at a whopping 10.6 lbs!! It’s a girl!!

Does smoke come out of the middle pickup? Are you secretly Ace Frehley? S_C

Charlie Cook. He installed electronics and hardware. Big guy with a grey beard

Hey HOC family, i finally got around to posting some videos of my band’s first post pandemic gig. Guitar is a little low in the mix here and there, but then the sound guy got it dialed in.

I used to be a serious amateur photographer. I took a class that Nikon had on photography and composition. The class said there are three rules to follow for a great photograph: 1) have a foreground that leads the eye to the main subject. 2) don't include the entire subject in the frame to allow our minds to imagine what the rest of the subject is or looks like. 3) the best way to improve your photos is to get closer to the subject. So Lyle; 1) CHECK 2) CHECK 3) CHECK I REALLY LOVE this photo and agree with others on the contrast, the ying-yang, and especially the fact that it doesn't look like a guitar. SERIOUSLY, Heritage could use this photo on the cover of their catalog (or the home page of their website since no one does printed catalogs anymore). GREAT JOB!!!

They ship them to the “ Czech Republic “

Local article on it all. Time to move on. I hope some new and old models come back! Trademark fight between Gibson, Heritage Guitars settles in federal court - mlive.com

I got what I believe is the final prototype of the David Paul. The first couple were thinline H-550s with the toggle switch where a Les Paul has it and a master volume pot next to the toggle switch. David rejected them because of poor sustain. Mine has a full center block like a 535. He returned it to Heritage. David was happy with it and approved it. The final version has his signature on the headstock and pickguard. I got the prototype a few weeks ago. I had Pete Moreno buff it out and set it up. I picked it up 3 days ago. It definitely is a beauty and is well made. Pete said it was difficult to run the wiring through the f hole and through the center block.

Thanks Tim!! Yup…push pull bridge tone pot to activate the middle pickup.

Good tune and very nice playing.

Pups are Schaller and say High-Tech. I like them. Low output which I appreciate with the 5 watt supro delta king when we’re going for sultry smooth. Soul food and the amp will take it far enough for my tastes. Absolutely loving this guitar!! Thanks again for all the info/tips and compliments everyone!! Still contemplating the right strap for this guy - comfort, secure joins, and style Any recs?

Lyle, you should have told him is was custom built in a small shop in Michigan by some very talented luthiers who used top grade materials.

Nice!

Rumour has it part of the agreement is Gibson now has the option to pay Heritage to build "True Super Duper Authentic Historic" Les Pauls at 225 Parsons St