TalismanRich

Certainly if he removed the finish from the neck and headstock, all traces of the serial number would be gone. For me, that would seriously devalue the instrument. The Plek marking looks to be a sticker. Perhaps that was applied if he had the instrument setup.

My thoughts about the comparison are mixed. Sound comparison: The 150 seemed bright compared to the Gibson. I would suspect that is the difference between the SD59 and the Custombuckers. I still maintain that there is no right or wrong. Set the amp to get the best from the 150 and the LP will probably sound too dark. On the other hand, the brightness of the 150 might be just the ticket to cut through the rest of the band. Weight: 10+ lbs is definitely too heavy for me. Yesterday morning, I spent 45 minutes playing my H157 which is about 9.5 lbs and my back was feeling it. The LP would be much nicer to hold for a night. Playability: I'll have to take his word re: his preference. My preferences could be vastly different from his. I just know that my Heritage guitars all fit me very well. The Gibson might fit me just as well. I would have to play them both. Cost: No comparison. NO way would I spend $6500 on a guitar. I could go to the Heritage factory, play everything they have on the floor to find the one I like best, buy that H150 and add Throbaks in it for half that much, including gas and the hotel. I bet I could find one on the floor that is 9lbs or under.

FWIW, I replaced the Schallers with Alnico Pro IIs. Pickups are the easiest way to change the flavor of your guitar.

Wow, for an 86 that one looks to be in remarkable condition. The H140 is an excellent guitar. You made a good choice. Welcome aboard.

Mark, I made my own cables. I used 14 gauge wire bought locally and Speakon jacks bought off Amazon. A few solder joints and I have 2 fifty foot cables (15m) for not that much money. The ones that Bob suggested sound like a decent option as well. Most passive speakers have Speakon connectors these days. You can find wiring diagrams on the internet. They twist and lock in place which is a huge advantage over the 1/4" plugs that we used to have. Just check the back of the speaker to see what type of connectors are needed. Some will have both.

I'm not sure if I understand exactly what you're asking. If you are referring to the cable from mixer out to active (powered) speakers vs the cable from an amp to a passive speaker, then the answer is "no". Active speaker leads are akin to microphone cables, as they carry only low voltage line level signals. Typical cable will have wire gauges of 22-26. They should be shielded as well to prevent noise from being introduced into the the signal. Passive cables are typically 10 - 16 gauge cables which can able upwards of 1000 watts depending on the amp and speaker used. This is similar to a mains cable. It's unbalanced, since the noise introduced would be many thousands of times lower than the signal being transferred. Does that help?

Here's his comparison of the H550 and the Badger. These licks are pretty far from the chicken picken' sounds that one normally associates with a tele! I guess real tone IS in the fingers.

Didn't notice that. I was just looking at what other tunes he had posted and saw the "for sale" sign. I was probably too busy listening to go back and check what guitar he was using. I sure wish I could play like that though!

It turns out that guitar is for sale. He just posted a video with a link to the Reverb listing. Seems he's moved to a Suhr Badger 30 for his jazz box. That's an interesting move. I( know this isn't the emporium, here's the listing. For sure, its a good sounding guitar. https://reverb.com/item/18725716-heritage-h550-custom-1999-almond-sunburst

Hangar, part of that might be that the pricing on a lot of used guitars has gone from fair to questionable to completely insane. It started with the '59 LP Burst craziness, and now everyone who has an old guitar thinks its worth 3-5 times what it was worth 10 years ago because it's old and has "mojo". Sorry, but those Norlin LPs from the late 70s with 3 piece bodies that sold new for $600 are NOT all going to be worth $3-4000. It used to be that when you bought a guitar it went down in value. Now people think that after 5 years its worth 25% more than they paid for it. Sorry, but it's not reality. The "collectable" mentality can be expensive. Anyone who has a stash of Beanie Babies, Trolls, or Cabbage Patch dolls will tell you that.

We've had several from Australia, the UK is well represented, and I think recently Italy and Netherlands have popped up.. Not too many people put their location in their profile, so that makes it hard to catch, unless they make a comment in a post.

I always like the H157. That's why it was my first Heritage. Nice choice with the tuners. For some reason, I like the look of ivory buttons, especially with the binding around the headstock. The metal kidney buttons are fine for a standard unbound one.

Way to pour on the encouragement, coach! There are a bunch of videos on builds of the 5E3 kits on Youtube. Most are Mojotone, but I'm sure most of the kits are very similar.

If you go to the Harmony website and the Heritage website, you can see that they are very similar. The Harmony site is more just basic info. It doesn't seem that the guitars are in general release although some examples have been seen at NAMM. There don't seem to be any dealers. Many of the old names are making a "comeback". Airline guitars are made by Eastwood, Silvertones are now coming out of Samick, Supro is owned by Absara (who also owns Pigtronix), Key is owned by Fritz Bros. FWIW, in many cases, the guitars resemble the originals but can differ drastically in construction. Most are thoroughly moderized compared to the budget instruments of the 50s and 60s.

That one's nice and flamey! The shading of the cherry is more subtle than many. Tasteful. Enjoy!