TalismanRich

Here's a guitar that has real relicing, and it's priced many hundreds lower! The funny thing is, after 30 years of use, it doesn't look like the fake checked lacquer of the gold top above. Maybe it just needs to be left in the trunk of the car a few times this winter to make it crack and craze.

Welcome Scott. I think you'll like the 535. I find the necks on Heritage guitars to feel very "natural". Kudos on still playing into your 70s. I hope to be doing the same in a few more years. Les Paul was still playing in his 90s, so I think we still have a little bit left!

Red 535s always sound the best!

Just think of the shiny washers as a bit of "chrome" to give it a classy look.

The ES175 is 3" deep, the H575 is 2 3/4" deep, so it's only 1/4" difference. Heritage did the same thing with the 535, The ES335 is 1/8" thicker than the H535. Over the years, Gibson has varied a lot in the rim thickness, so you might find some that are as thin as the Heritage.

I'll forgive their butchering of the language. I dare say that I bet their English is WAY better than our Chinese! About all the Chinese I know is General Tso's Chicken and fried rice. Sometimes it's fun to put things in the Babelfish translator, just to see how it mangles the phrase. There were times at work where I had to try translating various technical passages from other languages like German, Italian or Russian. The results can be fairly "interesting" to say the least. In any case, it still doesn't change the fact that the guitar is a cheap knockoff. At least the few items I saw from that dealer didn't blatantly put "Gibson Made In USA" on the headstock. They seem to avoid any shots of the headstock itself.

One of the things that impressed me with the 525 was its sound when played unamplified. LK brought it to PSP and I loved the balanced timbre, compared to the 575 which sometimes sounded a bit "woofy" to me. When Lyle decided to go for a 150 and put the 525 up for sale, I jumped on it. Its found permanent residence here! I still love the sound of it acoustically and electrically.

Welcome Geno. Nice 535 you have there. Interesting comment on moving to the Helix. I am hearing more and more about people going the modeling route for gigs because it's lighter and easier, plus you can cover a lot more ground. I'm sure in a crowded, noisy bar, you probably can get close enough that 99% of the people couldn't tell the difference.

That does look like a laminate top. The standard for the 575 is a carved maple back and top. The 525 has a laminate top, as do the 550 and the 576. I think the standard 3 piece laminate is maple/basswood/maple (if I remember correctly from the tours). The rims are solid on all Heritage hollow and semi hollow guitars, standard is maple, unless you request something else. That said, its not unusual for someone to custom order a guitar. Perhaps Jay will chime in on this one. Can you post more pictures, and maybe PM the serial number to Jay. He might have a record on that particular guitar if it came through his shop. RE: the pickups, that would be a relatively easy swap, so its possible that the original owner didn't care for the 59s and decided to go with Seth Lovers instead.

I see no reason why someone would treat a pickup with Freon. Freon is a halocarbon that is efficient in heat transfer cycling (refrigeration). It was non toxic, compared to previous liquids (ammonia, methylene chloride, etc) but generally not used except in a closed loop system. If you are talking about "cryogenics", simple dry ice or liquid nitrogen would be much simpler, safer, cheaper and readily available. Drop the pickup into some dry ice ( −109 °F ) or better yet, some liquid nitrogen (-320°F).

I just heard it on the radio. RIP.

There are couple of spots, like around 1:29 where you can see the logo faintly. I think its the way the lights are hitting the inlay. Being a 555, its got the inlay rather than the painted logo. I know my 157 doesn't show up well at certain angles.

Yeah, Funny that he didn't play a Heritage back when he was on HeeHaw, right? Oh wait, he did! He does a bit of pickin' on this one. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MN6hHGJyhFk

Welcome, BJ. That's a great story about digging out your dad's records of Steppenwolf, Stones, etc. I grew up on that stuff and it still holds its own today. As for SRV, grab his El Macambo DVD if you haven't seen it. The man could PLAY! The 535 is a great choice, classic design, a wonderful sound and they cover a lot of sonic territory. Heritage does still conduct tours and if you've never seen guitars being built, its gives you a good appreciation of what goes into making these wonderful instruments. The original 4 owners are moving on, after building guitars for about 60 years but I think Jim Deurloo is still around some. If you can spend some time talking with Rendal Wall, be prepared for some good stories. The man is a legend.

That's a great article, and it really pegs Ren as he really is... humble, freindly, and as knowledgeable as anyone about guitars. Thanks for the link.