Jump to content
Heritage Owners Club

Is This A Legit Serial Number?


Bikesandguitars

Recommended Posts

Hmmm.  I had a 'W' serial number Heritage once and under the 5-digit number it had:

     MADE IN

KALAMAZOO, MI.

       USA

Not the same.  More pix of the guitar might be useful.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

8 minutes ago, davesultra said:

I’d wager it’s legit. There’s not much of a market out there for counterfeit Heritage guitars. Have you pulled the control cavity cover off and look for a sticker?

No, I haven’t.  I don’t own it - yet.  It’s an online sale. The seller has a good reputation but he’s in Puerto Rico so no way to inspect unless I buy. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I seem to recall similar serial numbers over the years with just the USA, and with the letter above the number.   That being said,  the numbers don't look like the standard font of the serial number stamp used by Heritage.   

I would ask the seller to pull the cover from control cavity and send you a photo of that.     I'm guessing the guitar is legit but as Steiner said, it might have been refinished. 

 

Update:  I was just browsing Reverb and there are a couple of other guitars with the same font from the 2006-2007 era.   Here's a screenshot.

Serial Number Font.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

28 minutes ago, TalismanRich said:

I seem to recall similar serial numbers over the years with just the USA, and with the letter above the number.   That being said,  the numbers don't look like the standard font of the serial number stamp used by Heritage.   

I would ask the seller to pull the cover from control cavity and send you a photo of that.     I'm guessing the guitar is legit but as Steiner said, it might have been refinished. 

 

Update:  I was just browsing Reverb and there are a couple of other guitars with the same font from the 2006-2007 era.   Here's a screenshot.

Serial Number Font.jpg

Thanks, TalismanRich - I saw that too.  The guitar in question is missing the “Made In Kalamazoo” reference.  It just says “USA”.   I wonder if there was a period where they just didn’t stamp the Kalamazoo ID.   If there was, why? As a former Michigander with connections to K-Zoo, I like the Kalamazoo part!    However, I also like the guitar, the gold hardware and the price! 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I have a 2007 that has the X over the numbers.  Yours looks to have been done around December 1st. There was a fire at the factory during that time frame and they were trying to finish guitars under less than desirable conditions and some guitars are missing details that were usually there.  Enjoy your H-150, she's a beauty!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

If it's an Ultra surely it should have HRW pickups,with a black dot on top of the selector switch,

and twin adjustment screws on each side of the pickups.

This is certainly the case on my H150 Ultra,serial U34701,which does have the full "made in kalamazoo Mi

USA under the serial number.On the basis of the photos this is not a genuine Ultra,perhaps the description on

the photo of the cavity plate is not from the same guitar.I think that I would be very wary.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hi All,  Thanks for everyone's knowledge and input!   I sent pictures of the guitar in to Heritage.  Here’s what they had to say: 

Thanks for sending that in. I had Ren take a look and he said sometimes they did indeed leave the factory sometimes without the Made in Kalamazoo stamp. He says it could have happened for any number of reasons but it looks correct here.”

So... if anyone has a “Made In Kalamazoo” stamp, I’d like to borrow it for a minute, please.  ?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

×
×
  • Create New...