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?

I have a Heritage Standard H-137 that I purchased in 2020. It was built in 2018. The P90's in this guitar (I think) are Lollars. The guitar sounds great to my ears and I have no plans to change out the pick ups. A great axe!

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?

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.

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

I also missed the inaugural meeting. Unfortunately, there were some issues at work that necessitated me being there. Didn’t get out to my first one until 2013. I also made it to the following, and final “Barn” year. Man those were sweet!

Rich, We went to different schools. My math is a little different. Every guitar made in the USA that a musician can't afford is a guitar not sold and not manufactured. In the 60's a teenager started out on a Kent and graduated to a Fender, Gibson or Guild. If a Fender, it was a Mustang the Gibson was single pickup Junior the guild a Starfire 3. What is the current price point for a Collins, Gibson, Taylor or Heritage made in the USA?

I have purchased a couple of the Ascent+ models. Fit and finish are good. Played well out of the box. I think I paid $699 on sale. I have a 535 also. Well worth it.

Jags and Jazzmasters were designed for flatwounds . . . their whammy bar mechanisms like flats

Nothing really sounds like a P90, like a Charlie Christian or any of those other pickups. Just the shape of the bobbin, the type of pole pieces, etc, make them sound like nothing else. I love them for the buzz saw overdrive they get like Leslie West, but they also have a fantastic clean sound that is very good for semi hollow bodied guitars. I keep thinking about getting a semi-hollow with P90s, but I barely play the semi-hollows I already have.

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?

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.

Very happy with the results with round wounds. Definitely more of the pickup character comes out. Especially with guitar volume at max or close.

And they weighed a ton! My friend's 2x12 combo buckled my knees when I lifted it, I imagine the 4x10 combos weighed a bit too

Every Chinese guitar sold is one less American guitar sold.

$1200 isn't unreasonable. Not all Chinese shops are the same. An Eastman SB59 made in China is $2000. It's not the same guitar as an AliExpress Chibson Les Paul for $250. If they are using a genuine Floyd Rose 1000, that's a couple of hundred bills right there. It looks like they are using a traditional headstock, not a scarf joint. I do like the way they are doing the neck joint on the Ascent+.

Sir Brently, $1,200 in 2026 vs $1800 for a US built H150 in 2006, don't know what the currency conversion is but that is not a bolt on neck and these features are arguably something preferable. Without hands and ears on it it's hard to make a value judgment. Best not sell something short just because of where it was built.

Ohhhh. The good ol days

You know what, I never considered flats on a Fender style guitar, but more and more I heard how great they sound with Jaguars. I just happened to have a set of flatwound .010 light Thomastik JAZZ strings, so I put them on one of my two Jags. That way I could compare the flats directly with a set of roundwounds. I was pleasantly surprised at how good they sounded. I thought they would be too dull sounding for a solidbody, but instead they had a great round sounding high end. It was like I just slightly rolled off the high end to where I liked it. And they felt great too! Here's a demo from the day I put them on. Both guitar parts are the Jag with the flatwounds...

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.

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.

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.

Great looking line up there. It's great when you can sit down with many examples of a guitar you're interested in. I'm about 5 hours away from La Crosse but have not been there in many years. I have been to the Milwaukee shop but it's a much smaller place. Enjoy your new 535!

Really nice. Congrats.

That's one beautiful 535.

Stunner!

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. 👍

s'nice

Looks like big fun !

The H-137 I had was equipped with Lollars. They sounded like a P90 should.

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.

A friend of mine bought a natural 575 from a Guitar Center years ago. When he got it, he found some neck issue that could not be corrected by adjustment. He took it to the legendary Aaron Cowles, who was doing some upscale work for Heritage at the time. Aaron told him the neck needs replacement. I don't recall the details. Aaron did the replacement. Here's an interview with Aaron. https://scholarworks.wmich.edu/gibson-guitar-oral-histories/1/ Aaron died quite a few years ago. I ended up hanging on to the guitar for my friend but didn't play it. Yesterday he sold it to me without ever taking it to his home. If you are feeling sorry for him, consider he has more guitars than anyone else I know. So this is has Schallers. I scoped the innards. It's parallel braced (not all are). Aaron made the neck and but a plain ebony board on it. It's a 3 piece maple. The only piece he got from Heritage is the headstock overlay. My friend requested a five piece neck but Aaron recommended a 3 piece. Aaron fretted it. There are no nibs. That's true with other Aaron builds. Aaron was one of the best of the Kalamazoo luthiers yet a simple man to understand. He always had his pistol handy in shop. He charged very little for his hard work. His humble presentation contradicted his master skills at making guitars and mandolins. The guitar plays well. The neck is to me a medium C carve, maybe a medium plus. It sounds good.

LOLLAR p90s are the best. Hands down