bocage44 Posted October 17, 2011 Share Posted October 17, 2011 Hi everyone! A few weeks ago I purchased a Heritage H150 from eBay that was apparently an employee build (It was one of four that Larry Perkins built for himself). There was a thread about it over in the Bay Watch section, and when I purchased the guitar, I wrote that I would follow up with my impressions. First off, I must say that I'm very impressed with the build quality of this guitar - it's got a great top carve and the maple cap is pretty thick. The cavity shot below shows the pots and caps: The guitar presently has Seth Lover pickups installed; although I've never used them before, I'd heard great things about them - at this juncture, I'm not entirely sure they're right for me, but I'll give them a few more months before I make decide whether to keep them of change them out. One curious thing that was quickly apparent to me was the way that the saddles are notched. If you take a look at the photo below, you can see that the two E strings are set pretty far to the outside of the saddle piece. It doesn't seem to affect playability for me (I thought for sure that the strings would roll off of the fretboard), but alignment with the pole screws on both the neck and bridge pickup is pretty off. I've not seen this before - has anyone heard of a reason to do so in terms of performance? At any rate, I was thinking of going with an ABR bridge anyway, so the current one will mostly likely go.... In terms of overall playability, the guitar is great! It has outstanding sustain and the neck feels good in my hand. The frets are nice and tall, so bending is really smooth. As an owner of 8 Les Pauls from the "Other Guys," I can say that this axe is guitar is easily on par with the reissues I own. I'm very happ with my purchase! Here's a shot of "Talos" out in the sunshine yesterday. I really is a great looker! Also here's a photo of another Heritage I own: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DetroitBlues Posted October 17, 2011 Share Posted October 17, 2011 I would have to agree with you that the E strings are not notched correctly on the bridge. They appear to be far enough away to where you could remove them and turn them around. Another option would be to do a new notch or just replace the saddles. Beautiful guitars, welcome to the forum! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dbetts41 Posted October 17, 2011 Share Posted October 17, 2011 Nice looking guitars & welcome to the HOC... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eljay Posted October 17, 2011 Share Posted October 17, 2011 welcome to the HOC, sir! p.s., you really are into WWII history, based on your handle! the hedgerows, inland from normandy, in the year 1944. an awful slog, according to the accounts i've read. eljay Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kbp810 Posted October 17, 2011 Share Posted October 17, 2011 That H150 is incredible! Love the flamed trans-black headstock veneer, and that is quite an outstanding example of a flamed maple top Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest HRB853370 Posted October 17, 2011 Share Posted October 17, 2011 Hi everyone! A few weeks ago I purchased a Heritage H150 from eBay that was apparently an employee build (It was one of four that Larry Perkins built for himself). There was a thread about it over in the Bay Watch section, and when I purchased the guitar, I wrote that I would follow up with my impressions. First off, I must say that I'm very impressed with the build quality of this guitar - it's got a great top carve and the maple cap is pretty thick. The cavity shot below shows the pots and caps: The guitar presently has Seth Lover pickups installed; although I've never used them before, I'd heard great things about them - at this juncture, I'm not entirely sure they're right for me, but I'll give them a few more months before I make decide whether to keep them of change them out. One curious thing that was quickly apparent to me was the way that the saddles are notched. If you take a look at the photo below, you can see that the two E strings are set pretty far to the outside of the saddle piece. It doesn't seem to affect playability for me (I thought for sure that the strings would roll off of the fretboard), but alignment with the pole screws on both the neck and bridge pickup is pretty off. I've not seen this before - has anyone heard of a reason to do so in terms of performance? At any rate, I was thinking of going with an ABR bridge anyway, so the current one will mostly likely go.... In terms of overall playability, the guitar is great! It has outstanding sustain and the neck feels good in my hand. The frets are nice and tall, so bending is really smooth. As an owner of 8 Les Pauls from the "Other Guys," I can say that this axe is guitar is easily on par with the reissues I own. I'm very happ with my purchase! Here's a shot of "Talos" out in the sunshine yesterday. I really is a great looker! Also here's a photo of another Heritage I own: Nice looking 150 and 575!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tulk1 Posted October 17, 2011 Share Posted October 17, 2011 Hey Bob, welcome to the HoC. Good to have you here, even if it took you buying another Heritage to get you to join! Your Talos looks pretty darned nice. What I like about your comments is that you aren't going to swap out the pickups until you've given them a good go. As for the bridge -- that is odd looking. We've seen a few oddities with bridge placement, saddle notch, nut notch, etc. Not sure why, tho'. I'm sure you'll get it sorted. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SouthpawGuy Posted October 17, 2011 Share Posted October 17, 2011 Great looking guitars ! Just a thought on the saddles, if the two E string saddles were turned 180 degrees that would bring the notches closer to the centre of the pole pieces. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bocage44 Posted October 17, 2011 Author Share Posted October 17, 2011 Thanks for the warm welcome everyone! Sorry for the grammatical errors - I should have proofread before pressing Post! I haven't figured out how to edit.... Eljay - yes, WWII has been a big part of my life. My Thesis was a study of pre-war U.S. armored doctrine and it's evolution through experience gained in the Cotentin Peninsula during June and July of 1944. SouthPaw Guy - great idea regarding the saddles! It's so straightforward, I didn't see it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FredZepp Posted October 17, 2011 Share Posted October 17, 2011 Beautiful Heritages... thanks for the pics and review of your new one. That bridge is unusual... I guess it's just someones personal preference to have the strings spaced a bit differently... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tbonesullivan Posted October 17, 2011 Share Posted October 17, 2011 hmm... that looks like the bridge pickups might not be made for bridge. Even with the wide spacing those strings are not even close to the pole pieces. Could be a neck pickup, or one from a maker that doesn't make neck and bridge versions of their pickups. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Millennium Maestro Posted October 17, 2011 Share Posted October 17, 2011 The saddles were probably notched for a trembucker spaced pickup which also gives a greater string spread.... I love the barrel input jack. You have a very nice guitar there. Did you ever find anything out about the odd serials or the D stamp? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rjmajik Posted October 17, 2011 Share Posted October 17, 2011 Great looking guitars. I was watching 'The Talos" on the auction too. Just couldn't pull the trigger at the time. I'm sure the top looks even better in person:) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DetroitBlues Posted October 17, 2011 Share Posted October 17, 2011 Great looking guitars ! Just a thought on the saddles, if the two E string saddles were turned 180 degrees that would bring the notches closer to the centre of the pole pieces. That's what I meant on my post too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobmeyrick Posted October 17, 2011 Share Posted October 17, 2011 Nice guitars! One advantage of the Schaller bridge is that you can easily alter the string spacing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bolero Posted October 17, 2011 Share Posted October 17, 2011 nice gtrs!! that 150 is a beaut those saddle look messed up to me too.. they all look off except maybe the A string Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yoslate Posted October 18, 2011 Share Posted October 18, 2011 So...just curious.... How's the intonation on the 150? Bridge looks kind of whack. And the tailpiece? Ball ends don't seem seated. All minor stuff, though. A gorgeous specimen, by the way! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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