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Heritage Owners Club

NGD...FACTORY REJECT FINDS A NEW HOME


brentrocks

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Im so fortunate to have a friend like Pete Moreno in Kalamazoo!  He's 76 years old and has been repairing/building guitars all his life!
 
He goes down to Heritage every week to collect their scrap to burn in his shop's wood burner.   One Thursday a couple months ago, before the big shakedown at the Heritage Factory, he arrives to find dozens of bodies and necks setting on the dock, next to his weekly load of fire wood.   Pete asked one of the management, "what are all these parts doing out here?"  Pete was told that the owners wanted to get these old parts out of here!!!  Pete asked how much?   He was told...GET IT OUT OF HERE!!!!   FREE!!!
 
Among the necks and bodies, there were a few 85-95% completed guitars....painted, buffed, drilled...ready for final setup, filing, etc.
 
Pete showed me the stuff he brought back and i was dumbfounded!   Rare bodies from the 80s and 90s....a virtual museum of heritage history.
 
One of the almost completed guitars was a Heritage Millennium DC.   It had a red tag on it from the factory that said "new lacquer test".  There is a long nitro check that extends from the bass side F hole, various dents and scratches from being shuffled around  the factory....but the guitar was 100% painted/buffed/drilled.....ready for final setup!!!   I asked pete if it was for sale.....he said, "i don't know...i might keep it for myself"
 
I came back to his shop a few weeks later....it was still there.   I slapped some cash on the table and he accepted!!!  I also paid him to do all the final setup, cut the nut, install electronics, etc.  Theres no serial number...because it never made it to final setup.
 
It turned out GREAT!!!!!
 
I had him install a vintage set of Seymour Duncan 59s, along with CTS 500 k pots with Russian PIO .022 caps.  I went with locking Grovers and Lightweight Gibson historic bridge and tailpiece.
 
This guitar produces a very warm, fat tone!  Think...LES PAUL meets 335!!!   It has a nice full 50s style neck with an ebony fretboard...mother of pearl block inlays.    Its a semi sold....kinda like a semi hollow.  The Millennium series was designed by Jim Derlou.   Its a mahogany core, routed and topped with a solid carved maple top and a flat maple back....(see pics)  Heritage's most innovative model!!!!
 
Its light, tonefull and just a killer guitar!!!!!
 
 
41007110151_fbfb3b6fbc_k.jpgIMG_6830 by brent HENDERSON, on Flickr
 
41007109621_60654a8e23_k.jpgIMG_6831 by brent HENDERSON, on Flickr
 
41007108471_29ccba1aa0_k.jpgIMG_6832 by brent HENDERSON, on Flickr
 
41007108911_f86ec9fa57_k.jpgIMG_6833 by brent HENDERSON, on Flickr
 
41007107691_508714497d_k.jpgIMG_6841 by brent HENDERSON, on Flickr
 
 
 
 
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29 minutes ago, davesultra said:

Looks awesome Brent, I love Black guitars. Can I call a preemptive DIBS?!?!?!

You sure can.   But.   I don’t see this one going anywhere anytime soon 

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An amazing story behind that one.  And it's very nice,  not old stock there as it has the newer logo.  Looks like a fine playing instrument

I wonder if we may see some other things show up from this Heritage dump eventually?

Some cool old stuff from the 80s and 90s would be fun too. 

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That's simply an amazing story, and a great score! Unbelievable that they were simply going to trash that.

BTW, I notice that you put the front strap pin on the upper bout rather than just behind the heel. Does it balance okay like that? I'd think you would have some neck dive.

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I’m not a big fan of neck heel position strap buttons.   I drilled it there because there were no strap button holes in the guitar yet.  It does balance ok.  It’s a little neck heavy because the body is so light and it’s a pretty beefy 50s neck.  

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What an amazing rescue story, yep. On the other hand, a very disturbing story on why it needed to be rescued. And a "da*n, wished I'd been there thing, too.

Hmmm, wonder if there were any banjo parts?? (hint hint).

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Obviously massive congratulations on your new guitar @brentrocks it looks (and I'm 1000% positive it sounds) killer!

On the other hand it's a little disturbing to hear about the new owners's course of action; it can mean a lot of things, and some of them not very nice.... (I mean, who in their right mind would ever throw away a masterpiece...?)

Oh well, only time can tell and they might manage to actually make Heritage flourish the way it absolutely deserves while avoiding fixing' what's not broken(!), nevertheless I'm more than happy to own a "pre-change of ownership" H150; I definitely know I got the real thing!

 

Again, congratulations!

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1 hour ago, Buckyrock said:

Brent - do you think the factory will stop giving Pete "firewood" to prevent such guitars from escaping the factory?

This was an isolated incident.  Before the new management took over.   Not related to the whole firewood deal.  

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Thanks for all the positive feedback guys n gals!!

i had some joker on TGP accuse me of selling factory seconds as #1 Guitars, after posting this story.    Lol.   Cork sniffer central.   Lol

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