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My 2000 H-535 arrived today, super happy with it.


tdrommond

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Since selling the Super Eagle, I've wanted another Heritage. The SE was the most uncomfortable guitar I've played, It was also the most beautiful. So, to an appreciating jazz guitarist it went.

 

But, I missed the story behind it. I think the Heritage story is the best one out there for impressing the quality of a guitar. I've dreamed of a Gibson 335. Something built in Kalamazoo, but the values of late 70s and early 80s 335s are out of my price range. Plus, I'm a bedroom player, with big hopes.

 

But, after learning about Heritage Guitars and who they were, I wan't looking for a 335, I knew I wanted a H-535 or -555. Here's what I bought and received today. I little dirty, a little tarnished, a lot of sitting and not being played. Cleaned up really nicely.

 

 

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Lots of fine scratches from play and a few marks on the back. Nothing serious. The hardware is pretty dirty and tarnished.

 

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Break out the Mother's and elbow grease.

 

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All cleaned up and ready.

 

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Only case candy I found was the warranty card and the hang tag with the model, finish and serial number. I haven't restrung it, yet. I played it a bit on the old strings and the pickups are terrific, no noises or scratchiness in the pots or 3-way. I don't plan on any mods.

 

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You did a great job cleaning that beauty up. I like the grain pattern in that neck! Enjoy

Thanks. I tried to remove the tarnish from sitting unplayed and leave the patina of a 14 year old guitar. That's why I didn't replace any tarnished fasteners, just knocked the rust off of them.

 

I'll tackle a new set of strings this evening. My Super Eagle usually had dead strings because I hated the finger tailpiece and trying to keep the ball end in the hook. Hoping the Shaller tailpiece is not as fussy. I'll know this evening.

 

I played it with the old strings until 1:00 am, then got up at 6:30 am, so I could play a few minutes before going to work. Only an hour until lunch :icon_smile: Sure hope the boss doesn't expect to much out of me today or tomorrow...and maybe Friday and Saturday, too. :icon_jokercolor:

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Break out the Mother's and elbow grease.

Mother's? Like the car products?

 

I just got a 94 that ha a very dull finish, and I am debating on just keeping it as is or trying to give it a little shine. I kinda like the old look, but also want to take good care of it.

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Mother's? Like the car products?

 

I just got a 94 that ha a very dull finish, and I am debating on just keeping it as is or trying to give it a little shine. I kinda like the old look, but also want to take good care of it.

 

Exactly. I like the Carnuba Cleaner Wax and Meguires Calif. Gold Carnuba paste. Usually by hand. For color sanding or deep scratch repair, I like Meguires Ultimate Compound on a random orbital polisher. It loves lacquer and lacquer really responds to it.

 

First pass for any guitar in my shop is a wipe down with wax and grease remover, followed by a warm damp cloth after the wax and grease remover evaporates. Then a hand rubbed coat of Mother's Cleaner Wax. Helps me inspect the guitar and find all the stuff that needs attention. Then I decide if it needs any sanding or buffer work. If it's sanding, I like to start by hand with 2000 wet and soapy on a pad or block. If it's fighting me, I drop down to 1500. Never courser than 1200; just work longer at it. The Ultimate Compound will take out 800 grit scratches, but I've only needed it when orange peel was an issue on new builds.

 

Give the Mother's a try and see if most of the dulling micro-scratches are polished out. You'll know from there how deep you'll have to dig and whether it's worth it to you.

 

Thanks to everyone for the warm welcome and kind words.

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If you have trouble when changing strings (with them popping out of the tailpiece), you can use a capo to hold the string until you get some tension on it.

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Nice!!! The schaller bridge and tailpiece are chrome plated, so they should get nice and shiny with just a cloth. THe same with the schaller pickup covers. The grovers are nickel plated, so you might want to remove them to give them a thorough polishing with some brasso or some other mild metal polish.

 

Looks like a keeper to me!

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Nice!!! The schaller bridge and tailpiece are chrome plated, so they should get nice and shiny with just a cloth. THe same with the schaller pickup covers. The grovers are nickel plated, so you might want to remove them to give them a thorough polishing with some brasso or some other mild metal polish.

 

Looks like a keeper to me!

You're right. The Schaller stuff cleaned up with a damp cloth. I'm leaving the pickup covers alone. They have a faint string shadow and some normal wear marks, but still look nice. The strings were super easy to change. Installed a set of D'Addario 10-46s. I normally use GHS Boomers on my strats and teles, but I thought they might be too bright and brassy. I took a minute and polished the frets. Nothing more than some jeweler's metal polish. I've fret rocked the neck. It's perfect, nothing needs filing or leveling. Just a few marks from the wound strings on the middle frets from being in and out of the case. They polished right out.

 

I don't think anyone has done much to this guitar. When I pulled the pickguard to clean underneath, I could see that those screws haven't been out before. There was still a little fuzz around them from the screw cutting it's first threads. Same was true for the truss rod cover. I didn't pull the pickups. I didn't see any tool marks on the screws. There's enough wax built up around the trim rings to believe they've never been disturbed. Same was true for the TRC and the truss rod nut didn't have any tool marks on it. There's a black mark on the TR nut that looks like an inspector's mark.

 

Once I found that the p/g and TRC screws were pristine, I knew I would have to be careful cleaning and re-installing everything. I got out my jeweler's screw driver set and found a phillips tip that fit perfectly. I backed all the screws into their holes until I felt them drop into their original threads. I also decided to leave the tuners alone. Again, no tool marks on the screws or signs that they have ever been removed. I just polished what I could and it looks great. Overall, this appears to be a completely original guitar with no mods or tinkering. Can't see any reason to change that.

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