MartyGrass

Here's some in a different light.

Yes

This 2006 build needed some binding repair. This was completed by the master- Gary Hines (hinesarchtops) from the forum. The action is incredibly low thanks to Gary.

I got it to sound like a few instruments, more of less. I'm sure he tried the sax. The guy who had this built also had a goldtop Roy Clark with a beautiful dark finish elsewhere. He had worked for about a decade as a studio musician and likely used the midi.

He got that 18" orange burst H-550 thinline with a Seth Lover and a MIDI from me. The Heritage workers all signed the back under the clear coat. Some studio musician in NYC custom ordered it. It was beautiful and huge. That guitar didn't look that big in his hands.

I found an old post on this guitar. http://www.heritageownersclub.com/forums/topic/35864-ngdogd-heritage-1999-translucent-cherry-golden-eagle/

A couple of years ago RhoadsScholar traded some of his stuff at a guitar shop in the Detroit area for this cherry single pickup GE. It has a HRW and it plays very nicely. He didn't care for the bridge though. He wanted an adjustable one. He gave it to me to have Pete Moreno change the bridge and do a little cosmetic work. Due to his heavy travel schedule, a nasty winter, and Pete being a bit backed up, it was in my home for about six months or so. I was surprised that it sounded so good and had such a comfortable neck. The HRW really impressed me. I played it quite a bit. Eventually he got it back and was happy with the changes. Unfortunately COVID took his life a few months later. I had some of his guitars and he had some of mine at the time of his death. About a year later it was safe to have his memorial. Around that time I returned his guitars I had and got the ones of mine back from his boys. They were aware of how we swapped guitars all the time by review of our emails. I bought some of them from the estate. One of them was the cherry Golden Eagle. I switched out the Schaller bridge he had installed and put in an ebony bridge made by our own Hinesarchtop that had MOP dot inlays. That worked very well. But after a year I sold it to someone in the South. I don't recall now. He was happy with it. I am surprised to see the guitar on Rich Severson's Youtube channel. It appears at about 50 minutes into the video. It is unchanged from how I set it up. Enjoy! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z7_iVjEDK-s

Even while Schallers were the default pickups, Heritage offered Seymour Duncans for an upcharge and kept some on site. Also, you could supply your pickups and they would install them during the original build. I knew the original owners and Ren well enough to say with some confidence that they thought Schallers were fine. SDs cost more to them but most customers didn't have strong feelings one way or another. Some did.

Some were ordered by Jay Wolfe with Seth Lovers or his famous mix of a Seth Lover and a SD '59. The control cavity cover may or may not tell you if they are stock. Sometimes the case compartment with have a card from Heritage that Jay signed and may have the type of pickups he ordered from the factory.

I'll bet Wes Montgomery's guitar smells like smoke, too.

Originally they agreed on two finishes- burst and natural. As time went on, lots of the original specs were transgressed. They were still great instruments. The finishes branched into rose natural, red and green. There may be more. The sizes ranged from 16-18 inches across and up to 3 1/4" deep. Some were tap tuned. The neck thickness varied from a little on the thin side to medium. No baseball bats I'm aware of. The major specs remained true. The woods were ultras, the tops thin, there were no mounted pickups, and the neck block was consistent. I've scoped a few of their bodies. I saw no issues and attention to the tapering of the bracing. Less popular but equally impressive is the work they put into the American Eagle. I've only closely examined two. There certainly are other Heritage archtops that are home runs. The Johnny Smith is a marvel though.

That's a classic. Like any guitar, it takes a little time to bond to it. It then won't let you down. The unpotted pickups will click with the pick if you aren't careful. New habits take care of that. The Millie DC is light, gives high fret access, balances well, and has a beautiful sound with SLs. The burst is stunning. Congrats!

The H-550 just didn't get the respect it so truly deserved. Good looking, playing and sounding.

Heritage Millennium Eagle 2000