Leaderboard

Late to the thread here, but I drove over to Dave's the other day and brought this one home. I ended up playing six CC H-535s and two Gibson CS Historic ES-335s, and this one was clearly the winner in terms of tone and playability. I honestly believe that the new 2025 bridge systems on both the H-535 and H-150 guitars are a huge improvement over the previous Pinnacle bridges:

This is a Heritage that I’m VERY excited about. (I don’t get too excited about much anymore. Lol) It’s a 2006 H157? I think? I say that because it does have binding on the back of the body….but…doesn’t have multi ply binding on the top. It does have an Ebony board (with abalone blocks) and it does have a bound and inlayed headstock. I haven’t seen the control cavity sticker yet. Lol This guitar was sold by the original owners brother…his brother was a gigging musician in Georgia. Unfortunately he had passed away recently. He told me that his wife custom ordered this guitar for her husband in 2006. I really don’t know much about it. Don’t know how the frets are, don’t know the neck size, don’t know what pickups are in it, don’t know how much it weighs….. Look at that top though….nice bubble quilt, definitely a custom order!!! The fella I got it from seemed very honest and trustworthy, so I decided to take a chance on it. These were the only 5 pics I had to go by… Its on the UPS truck for delivery today!! STAY TUNED!!!!

2006 Heritage H157 Custom order one off. *AAAAA Quilt top *Single ply binding on both sides of the body (it’s usually 5 ply) *Abalone blocks (usually pearl) *Ebony fretboard *One piece mahogany body *One piece mahogany neck *Bound and Inlayed peghead *Gold locking Sperzel tuners *Gold hardware *8lbs 14ozs *Really nice 59-ish neck carve Just got this today from a gentleman in Georgia. He was selling it because it belonged to his late brother, who was a gigging musician. He said his wife custom ordered it in 2006 The original pickups, SD Seth lovers, were poorly wired into a rats nest harness…the tone pots didn’t even work. So I rewired it, new pots, Russian PIO caps and different pups. I wanted something with more bit…so I went with a SD JB/Lollar Imperial combo…and it sounds great!!!!! The original nut is pretty worn. The D and the G buzz just a bit. I’ll probably take it in for a new bone nut soon. The frets are original. With minor wear. You can tell it was played. There’s a bit of buckle rash on the back. A few dings n dents. Nothing more than a Murphy lab relic. Lol. 😆 The neck on this guitar is perfect, IMO. To me it feels like a custom core neck that went on a little diet. Lol. 😂 It’s not a boat anchor ⚓️. Basically 9 lbs. for a 157….thats not terrible. It plays and sounds so dammm good. Wow!! 🤯

Today was designated as a work-around-the-house day, so I went to my T-shirt drawer and pulled one out at random. Haven't seen this one in a while. From the very first PSP! That led to an unbroken string of PSPs Marg and I attended, until Covid interrupted things. I recall that first PSP very well. Only something like 16 or 17 of us HOC members there. Plant tour by Ren. As Pressure would say, good times. But good grief, that was 18 years ago! Were you there?

Just dropped it off with my tech to install Seth Lover pickups, fresh set of 11’s, and some minor adjustments. Will report back. Getting it ready for a jazz groove/funk/soul/rock band project that has been percolating in my head. Tunes like Lucky Southern, Cantaloupe Island, Valdez in the Country, Killer Joe, Back at the Chicken Shack, Song for my Father, Comin’ Home Baby, some classic rock jam tunes, some “acid jazz” as the kids call it today. Think Brian Auger’s Oblivion Express, or El Chicano for the ballpark. Electric, rhythmic, danceable, but still with a jazz vibe. Getting older sure motivates you to get some shit done before you can’t anymore. Been wanting to do a project like this one for a long time.

Put this board together over the last few days. Pretty much my old gig board with similar pedals. I used to have two timmy's, one on all the time slightly above unity with my amp. I will give the Duke of tone a good try as a replacement for the second timmy. The Jetter Red2 is rock and swamp and each works out as a solo boost for the other. Red is Marshall and blue goes from transparent to thick and swampy. MS3 is trem, delay, etc. I used to have two DD7s 105-120ms/350-400ms. I can do this on the MS3. The only other pedal I used was a trem pedal. The MS3 as delay and mods should work out fine. I used to use it as a switcher and fx controller. What you got?

I like Seths they are consistently gread sounding pickup. When I was doing installs for people I installed alot of them and they always sounded great. That's really a beautiful guitar, some serious flame maple there!!! Millies like yours remind me of GIbson L5s guitars which are my favorite Gibsons. And yes, getting older does motivate you to get things done! Go out and rock that new guitar!

Brian Auger is cool and most people. even keyboardists never heard of him. I am a fan of his first album with Jules Driscoll as well as all of the Oblivion Express stuff. especially Replacements. That's a cool song list you have going for sure.

Took it outside yesterday…beautiful day in SW Michigan

which by the way, I just snagged . The owner was very reasonable, and it will make a great compliment to the 535 and 575

You know Syd, I really like P90's. I mean, I know that's not profound or anything: heck, we all do! But for me, it goes far beyond that.

Those double white DiMarzios look much better than the zebras that were in there. But I would really like to see that guitar with some covers on the pickups. That’s just too upscale of a top. Also, some better reflector knobs the ones that really reflect. That top is worth it. It’s a great looking, Guitar. Glad to hear that. It sounds great too..

Can't remember where I heard that before.

Well, Brent, we know you'll keep it for while. Beautiful piece of maple for that top!

Say what you will…. I think this might be a keeper

I installed my 70s DiMarzios in it today!!! Wow!!! I love these pickups!!!

Wow! If this was a clear winner over several CC 535s as well as Gibsons, I can only imagine it plays and sounds as good as it looks. And it looks fantastic!!!

Beauty, Brent. Can't make out what the label has below 'Custom Made'. Any idea what it says?

Well, if you want to go down the deep side of the rabbit hole, I just picked up a used set of ThroBak pickups and installed them in my Gibson custom shop R0 in place of the Custom Bucker 3 p'ups they come with. It is shocking how different they sound than the Custom Buckers and how different they sound than the SD '59 pickups that came stock in my 1998 H150. I measured the inductance, capacitance, field strength and so on, and I have notes on all the pickups I own, including the HRW's in my 2001 H535. Despite being in the range of low-output PAF on every parameter, the ThroBaks are just shocking how bright, clear, harmonic and punchy they are. That goes for the Seth Lovers as well, which are a touch brighter and clearer than the 59's, but man. The only humbuckers in my collection that come close to the ThroBak are the HRW's, but they are a different style of pickup being hotter wound and the bridge especially so. I do know that ThroBak acquired a vintage winding machine from Heritage, that was left over from the Gibson days. ThroBak uses a variety of the same exact winder machines that Gibson used, even some of the actual winders from Gibson. If you know ThroBak at all, it all sounds like absolute hype, but the product performs. I've witnessed hands-on several examples, including my own now. I have no temptation to replace the HRW.

This guitar is a monster player. Playing it with three different amps, with and without a drive pedal. Sounds huge and beautiful no matter what it is paired with. I had to stop because my ears were ringing.

I have a Strymon Time. I’d love to brag but I only use 1 of the 12,382 settings. i see you saved room on your board for a Klon. Nice…

Hope you never washed it after the inaugural event. It might still smell of sawdust from Marv, Jim, JP and Ren.

the Millie i bought from Brent showed up last night. Haven’t had a lot of time with it yet, but man oh man this is a great guitar! Brent comes through again! Minty fresh, like it has been played very little. Tuners still feel new. Sounds more like a semi-hollow because of the chambered body, which is exactly what i was looking for. No feedback issues but still a big and round enough sound for jazz, soulful blues, R/B, and fusion. My band has been getting loud and my archtops often feedback. I guess I’ll be one of those players that switches guitars depending on the song. Yes, overkill for the kinds of gigs we get, but it will give me more flexibility to get funky or louder jamming and use some drive/breakup when the moment calls for it. Just plain FUN. I’ve been playing straight ahead for so long I’m ready to get down and dirty before i get too old. I’ll post some pictures over the weekend, but they probably wont be as good as Brent’s. It really is as gorgeous in person as it is in the photos in his for sale post. Thank you @brentrocks for the great transaction and fast shipping, well packed as always. I also got it a friend: a UA Enigmatic ‘82 pedal. They make a great pair.

Played this Millie with new Seth Lovers and new pots all weekend. Seth’s are a great match for this guitar. hauled out my Mesa California Tweed 40 to see if they paired well…fantastic! The muti-watt selection gain and master volume works great on this amp so I can be at the edge of breakup at any volume. Cleaning up beautifully with volume control and pick attack. Great combination. Next gig will be with this amp and axe. Super versatile and sounds great. This amp also sounds great with arch tops so I’m in tone bliss at the moment.

You might also try a set of half rounds. You get much of the ringing of a round wound but the smoothness of a flatwound. I have a set on my 535. I got them after I tried half rounds on my bass. No more finger squeaks, but it sounded more like an old broken in set of roundwounds than the typical dullness of flatwounds. D'Addario makes them. $10 a set, so it's not like there's a major investment. 9-42s thru 12-52s so you have options. I tried them instead of using Elixers to quiet the finger noise. GHS calls them "Bright Flats". Same style as D'Addario.

That sounds like a fun project & really great music to play! I caught Brian Auger a few years ago: he was amazing see live, especially after listening to all his albums & session work over the years. Did you know he played the harpsichord intro on "heart full of soul" by The Yardbirds? it's a funny story, he talks about it on youtube somewhere. Congrats on the NGD I always liked that cutaway on a millenium. Beauty!

Seths should sound great in your new Millie. I also like 11's on my gits. They thicken the tone just enough, while allowing for string bends and vibrato.

Dibs.

Really nice. Congrats.

sounds like connection to me

Even better your choice was made with hands and ears! To paraphrase the words of the great Groucho Marx "who do you believe the guitar or your own eyes"!

The dark Cherry is sweet

Thanks! In all fairness, though, there was no slouch in any of those Heritage guitars. I was visually drawn to the sunburst one....big-time! In the end, I think I would've been happy with any one of them, but the one I took home just had a special and familiar sound and feel to it. It was also the only 2025 model of the entire H-535 lot (the rest were 2024 models), so perhaps that's part of it? Not sure, but as I was putting the guitars back on the rack one by one, this one just stuck around with me......🙂

That's one beautiful 535.

I like it. After the traditional red, the natural finish is next on my list. That's some excellent figuring on the top.

Stunner!

Just a superb axe there Brent! Beautiful quilt top and finish. Enjoy!

FIXED MY NUT 🥜 😂 FIXING THE NUT…on the 2006 Heritage H157 Custom Quilt!!! The D, G and B slots were VERY LOW!! Now, I could have paid someone $100 for a new nut job??? I could have done the ol superglue and baking soda fix??? I could have made a new nut myself (although it probably wouldn’t have been too pretty). NOPE. I decided to use multiple layers of copper shielding tape to “jack up” the factory nut. There were two main reasons why this set up with this nut did not work for the Guitar… 1…Those three slots were too low and they were giving a little bit of buzz on the first Fret. 2….The trust rod needed to be tightened a little bit to straighten the neck out a little more and of course, if you do that that lowers the strings closer to the first Fret, so that certainly was not going to work with the way the nut was setting. So, shimming the nut up just a few thousands of an inch, was the least aggressive solution to the problem! And it worked perfectly, as I knew it would! The guitar actually played pretty good as it was but now it is even better! AND I DID ALL THAT BEFORE 8am 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂

That's a gorgeous top! I always liked the headstock on the 157 vs the 150. The binding and the diamond inlay just look RIGHT! I'm also partial to the block inlays. It needs the bound wooden pickguard, tho. The tan plastic just looks so.... generic! A 157 is about class. 😜

@brentrocks...Wow, beautiful H157 Custom! Congratulations on yet another amazing score. 👍

Cool looking guitar Brent. I love ebony fingerboards, and cool Sperzel tuners, much better than the Grovers. What the he*l did that guy do to his thumbnail though in that picture of the back of the guitar Looks like he was a player. He turned the neck pickup around. A lot of people do that to get a slightly brighter sound and clean up the neck tone, especially when you drop the pickup into the ring and bring up the pole piecers a bit. Check out my Guild. It made a significant difference tonewise.

s'nice

Looks like big fun !

the 225's sound great from the clips I've heard, more like the Duncan Antiquity than the Lollar ( I have both )

I just don't get this mystique, but maybe I play the wrong kind of music to appreciate these pickups. A close friend of mine used to be a Heritage dealer so I've played a few sets of HRWs, but I always preferred the sound of Duncans in the Heritages I've heard, with my favorite being the Antiquities or Seth Lovers. One thing I do like though is the double adjustment screw for the angle as Iike the pickups to be parallel with the strings. I wonder why more people don't do that and just supply the pickups with new rings.

Yeah, the thing with Dumble amps is no two are identical. He built each and every one of them for the particular artist. It's not "a" Dumble, in the sense of one Fender Twin Reverb being a member of a large population of such amps produced. It's "your" Dumble if he made it for you. If you buy someone else's Dumble, it's still that artist's Dumble. I've seen the insides of an ODS and a couple of Fenders that Dumble modified. He had some general approaches that evolved over time, but each and every amp he built was a work of art, intended for a particular person to play and tailored to suit that player. He also rebuilt amps when they got sold to a different artist, in fact he recommended that as a way to get the amp quicker, rather than a scratch-build. The Dumble estate and name are being curated by the Dumble preservation association and they're trying to make new ones with the name. I have some doubts, since the man himself isn't around anymore. I hope they can protect his name and reputation though. There are some "clones" of Dumble amps who's schematics have leaked out. ODS #182 is probably the most "cloned".

I still think the Millennium should be in the Heritage lineup. It's a unique guitar, versatile and great sounding.

I can only speak about the one I bought. It might be an outlier. This is the Sweetwater pic before I bought it. My biggest complaint are the frets. they are wide and too short. I had it refretted with Jumbo SS.