josephdviviano

Is there any evidence now that the neck pocket stability is in fact compromised on these longer necks?

My read on the history: ES-330s and Epiphone Casinos were first released with short necks, later with longer necks. The people who made these guitars famous mostly played the short neck versions. The guitars weren't that popular after the mid 60s-70s due to stage volumes skyrocketing, and were discontinued. Since the mid 2000s, they have begun to become popular again as stage volumes came back down (due to modern PAs being favoured over enormous amplifiers). In response to this, companies like Epiphone and Gibson, bound by their duty to replicate the past instead of inventing the future, reissued the short neck version, which is more commonly seen on vintage recordings and stages. Companies like Heritage, Eastman, Collings thankfully are willing to just build a modern take on the design without being bound totally by tradition.

Wow those custom H-530s look incredible. I also really dig the new all black H530 option. My 2021 Sunburst H530 is the finest guitar I've ever played. I really hope Heritage's high end stuff continues to grow in popularity and they flourish, as long as the quality of their instruments stay at this level, because I'd eventually like to own more of their instruments. But it will take a long time for me to save up for another one! :)