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Heritage golden eagle


znerken

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I am considering ordering a golden eagle, but I am not quite sure about the options yet. Anyone care to enlighten me? I have talked to heritage but they have no catalog or list of options, so I don’t even know what to choose from. I am thinking of getting a black one with white bindings. Guitar will be used for jazz. Kinda like this one d7a36a248977d3c699b8c4248b88c8d4.jpg

 

 

Also, I have understood that they don’t make the other “more stable” bridge anymore? My teacher has a black golden eagle, and he greatly recommended me changing to this one for better intonation and stability.

 

1ecd98b5afac16120282e0100520b387.jpg

 

 

 

He also recommended me to have two tone controls for better controlability, agree?

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I just spent some time reading around this forum, and it didn’t motivate me into ordering a Golden Eagle to be honest. Looks like a really bad investment?

Also, I can’t believe their policy is that you have to prepay 50% deposit, and if you have to cancel the order cause of unforeseen events, you loose your 50%? That’s very unusual! Loosing 5k usd will hurt if you for example loose your job.


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Hi 'znerken', and welcome to the HOC. 

Golden Eagles are amazing archtops.  I love my '93 model.

You are correct that the cost for a new one is pretty steep.  However, they do come up on the used market often.

Good hunting!

 

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$10K for a new GE!???  Wow.

Used models are typically sub $4k, though I've never seen a white on black on the model.  They say the journey is the best part.  Enjoy!

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Gitfiddler is right on the money.    With the current setup,  ordering a new Golden Eagle is not going to be cheap proposition.   All custom orders are now 50% down which is pretty daunting for a high dollar archtop.

There are several available on Reverb and Gbase.    If you've played them, then you know what you're looking at.   That's an advantage.   

Good luck, whatever you decide.

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$10K for a new GE!???  Wow.
Used models are typically sub $4k, though I've never seen a white on black on the model.  They say the journey is the best part.  Enjoy!

Yes. And unlike a lot of the other brands, it’s highly likeable it will never be worth anything near that ever again. You instantly loose 6500 usd the moment it leaves the factory.


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Gitfiddler is right on the money.    With the current setup,  ordering a new Golden Eagle is not going to be cheap proposition.   All custom orders are now 50% down which is pretty daunting for a high dollar archtop.

There are several available on Reverb and Gbase.    If you've played them, then you know what you're looking at.   That's an advantage.   

Good luck, whatever you decide.

That 50% sounds like they are desperate for money. It is very unusual. I’ve never paid more than 10% deposits. Also, the fact that they ask you to spec a guitar out of thin air, with not even as much as a photo to look out, is very strange.

 

I just ordered a custom ES335 from Memphis half a year ago. It was half the price. Top spec. I got a catalog where I could just select what I wanted. Haven’t paid a dime for it yet. And it will be worth a lot more than I paid very soon.

 

 

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3 hours ago, znerken said:

I just ordered a custom ES335 from Memphis half a year ago. It was half the price. Top spec. I got a catalog where I could just select what I wanted. Haven’t paid a dime for it yet. And it will be worth a lot more than I paid very soon.

 

 

Haven't paid for it yet? So they haven't built it yet or, I'm confused. Either way I hope you get it soon, Memphis closed shop back in November. Would love some pics! 

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Haven't paid for it yet? So they haven't built it yet or, I'm confused. Either way I hope you get it soon, Memphis closed shop back in November. 

That’s not true. They are closing 31st of March. I’m getting it within the next weeks. It’s at the end stage of the build.


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2 minutes ago, znerken said:


That’s not true. They are closing 31st of March. I’m getting it within the next weeks. It’s at the end stage of the build.


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No ****? Huh, I was there two weeks ago on a Saturday and from the outside it looked vacant towards late afternoon and the "tour" section of the website taken down a few months ago. Would love to have gotten a glimpse. 

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No ****? Huh, I was there two weeks ago on a Saturday and from the outside it looked vacant towards late afternoon and the "tour" section of the website taken down a few months ago. Would love to have gotten a glimpse. 

I think they already have started to move things out of the factory. That’s why my build has taken extra long. I got a email from someone in the Memphis factory, and he said this would be one of the last 335 ever made at Memphis. It’s in the last batch. I think it will be a very unique guitar. It can be worth a lot in the future.


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Just now, znerken said:


I think they already have started to move things out of the factory. That’s why my build has taken extra long. I got a email from someone in the Memphis factory, and he said this would be one of the last 335 ever made at Memphis. It’s in the last batch. I think it will be a very unique guitar. It can be worth a lot in the future.


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Neato, I've got a "2019" "Memphis" ES-335 w/P90's on the way and was wondering about the "2019" part, lol. I guess there's a few leftovers, I should have e-mailed them when I was in town. Either way, post some pics when you get'em! 

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5 hours ago, znerken said:

That 50% sounds like they are desperate for money. It is very unusual. I’ve never paid more than 10% deposits. Also, the fact that they ask you to spec a guitar out of thin air, with not even as much as a photo to look out, is very strange.

50% down has been SOP for as long back as I know.  I purchased a few used Heritages and did a LOT of reading here before I made my custom order.  I've never encountered any options list from Heritage. 

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Okay, got it. I think I will order a Golden Eagle. I will try to order one through my dealer. Is this even possible? I mean they can't require that you order directly from them? That's very cumbersome for EU customers. I can order directly from them, but I would like it delivered my store. 

 

Another problem ist that they only have the stool in the photo, and not the one my teacher highly recommended me. Why only one stool type? 

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Ok, you're talking about the tailpiece.    Some were custom made for Heritage.    You would have to find out from the factory if they still have any.   They have had several styles over the years.  Some are no longer available
image.png.6d378a45632149828df00f380357028b.pngimage.png.0ad5325882d64a566c82b1b226103b0b.pngimage.png.e8cc39cd341f02e60f87eeae7c102687.png

As I said, they only provide the “finger” shaped one. I said I wanted another one, but there was no luck. I was told that I would have to acquire one on my own and ship to them.


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Love me the blonde Eagles!

It appears GUitarsNJazz needs to update their narrative:  " Heritage is proud of its older employees´ with 25 years of average experience and what it has accomplished in 24 years. Heritage is also training younger luthiers to learn this fine art of craftsmanship."

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39 minutes ago, znerken said:

Almost none of the vintage guitars I look at have the finger tailpiece. Almost everyone has changed to this:

image.png

 

 

I can't understand why they stopped providing that as an option. Anyone got a mint one for sale?

Heritage changed to the 6 finger tailpiece only in the last few years. 

Back in the very first years (1984-199X?) of the Golden Eagle had the above pictured bail tailpiece.  A bit later they changed to one without "Golden Eagle" inlay. 

They changed to a more basic bail tailpiece, some had the glued on "H" bail, and others had no "H".  The reasons for the changes, I suspect, had to do with the suppliers, availability and cost.  There were also some complaints about the "H" bail piece rattling due to poor solder/glue or whatever. 

Ultimately, the 6 finger tailpiece was used on more and more of their upscale archtops.  It is readily available and some view it as a more upscale bail tailpiece.   

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2 hours ago, Gitfiddler said:

Heritage changed to the 6 finger tailpiece only in the last few years. 

Back in the very first years (1984-199X?) of the Golden Eagle had the above pictured bail tailpiece.  A bit later they changed to one without "Golden Eagle" inlay. 

They changed to a more basic bail tailpiece, some had the glued on "H" bail, and others had no "H".  The reasons for the changes, I suspect, had to do with the suppliers, availability and cost.  There were also some complaints about the "H" bail piece rattling due to poor solder/glue or whatever. 

Ultimately, the 6 finger tailpiece was used on more and more of their upscale archtops.  It is readily available and some view it as a more upscale bail tailpiece.   

So were they making them themselves, or are there are a producer? 

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