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NuGD: H-150 Blonde Beauty


Gianluca

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Hi All,

I was in a lazy search for an H-150, my first one.
I usually use Reverb and FB marketplace and some other www sources, for spotting deals in ConEU.

Reverb had two 150s listed in Belgium where I've been last Sunday-to-Wednesday for a conference in Gent.
One was in Bruxelles where I've been traveling through and the other in Antwerp, not on my route.

I was lurking the one in Brussels for some time knowing that I could have opted for a local pick-up, saving shipping costs and risks.

So I started contacting the seller and it turned out he was not going to be in Brussels in those days, I had to insist for him to find a close friend that could have met me and let me check the guitar.

I'm not a fun of GTs but this one has The Bareknuckles The Mule 'Aged' A4 set mounted on and the original PUs should have been searched for, the seller had them in a separate box somewhere, he did not know that those are HRWs, not a Heritage knower at all.

So after a number of interactions, and two short videos from the seller showing the guitar was working I decided to place the order on Reverb and opt for the 'local pick up', in case I did not like the guitar I could have refused it and request a refund or mark it as received and take it, as we agreed.

The ad said the original PUs were still available so I thought the price included those ones too, but the seller was not of same idea, it could have been debated, but the difference wasn't that big for having the Mules already mounted plus the original HRWs, I accepted it and paid the PUs separately (my initiative).

Sunday, arrived at the appointment I met the seller's friend after waiting some 15m (Brussels Central station), that let me inspect the guitar which I found structurally in good conditions, fretboard and frets good, neck clean with no dents, body joint ok, peghead with a declared dent but nothing serious, but I did not have the chance of plugging it and could not really handle it and do a close inspection inch-by-inch, I decided to take it.

At the Hotel in Gent, as I arrived I started a closer looking at the instrument and found some dents/marks that should have been declared, the guitar collected some dust and it's a bit dirt, very old strings.
As the pics will show when I'll publish them, the area were the right arm rests when playing is corroded and some dents on the top have the Gold finish loss not exposing the wood, others are in the back and sides, in other words a real non-heavy relicking/worn.

I kept playing it unplugged every night and found no problems, it sounded good with a heavy nice single mahogany piece and resonant, vibrations lasted and I could feel them very clearly, I became a bit more optimist.

When back home I tried it and the tone is there, I like it (phew), though the bridge volume pot scratches through 7-10 and that too should have been declared because clearly it can't be kept like that.

S/N starts with 'AA' (should be 2010 ?)
C neck profile, not too chunky but definitely not a slim 60s
single mahogany body, it's heavy (and I like that)
Bareknuckle The Mule A4 aged + HRWs set
Engraved MOP peghead The Heritage logo
Black dot PU selector cap
OHCS in good conditions plus trussrod wrench and locking key
(Actual date of NuGD: Sunday 2nd Feb 2020)

The overall conditions adds mojo to the Blonde Beauty but honestly I think the ad should have been reporting everything in advance instead of making me descovering them after the purchase and local pick up, I think I payed a higher price than I should have.

Now, I want to fix the volume pot and I think for now to use a cleaner for the scratching pot(s) and later maybe replace them(not sure). Interested in replacing capacitors too, my dream would be to have a Jimmy Page kind of harness.

 
The guitar needs a good clean up all over it and I don't know if it's the case of rehydrate the fretboard and what products to use.
Please feel free to comment on what you guys think, all help is appreciated.

Long live and Never give up playing.
G.

GianlucaRiccardi_TheHeritage-H150GT_20200206.jpg

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2 minutes ago, Gitterman said:

Looks like a beast!

thanks, that's the name that keeps coming to mind ? and a number: 1957

so I was thinking to try and find a way to compare the 1957 LP with this one...anyone would know where/how to start?

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15 minutes ago, High Flying Bird said:

I always use a little lemon oil to keep the fret board hydrated. 

Mineral oil.  You can find it in any drug store in with the laxitives - guaranteed!

Nice GT snatch Gianluca!

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I leave the oil on overnight and re-apply dry areas in the AM.

The cutting boards I make now get soaked overnight in mineral oil.  They stay new looking for at least 1 year.  If I wipe on and off within the hour, they don't remain good looking for more tan a couple months.  Unlike any food based oil, mineral oil doesn't go rancid.

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If you want to cut vegetables on your fretboard then soak it in mineral oil. Oil soaked wood will not be resonant. Oil is a vibration damper. Oil is used in auto shock absorbers to dampen the vibration of the suspension. Wood needs to have a hard crystalline matrix to transmit the string vibrations, not an oil filled mass blocking vibration. If oil soaked wood was so good for musical instruments why not soak the spruce tops of Martins, violins or any acoustic musical instrument in oil? They will look new a year from now. Try telling your favorite guitar maker to oil soak the spruce top of a jazz guitar before he tap tunes it. Soak a piece of Rosewood or Ebony in oil then hang it up next to a dry, properly aged piece of the same wood and rap it with your knuckle. Oil soaked will thud, dry will ring. Musical instruments are not cutting boards.

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3 hours ago, pressure said:

Only use oil on the fretboard to clean it, do not let it soak in. Just like Mr. Miyagi told the grasshopper "wipe on, wipe off".

This is what I feel too. If the oil seeps under the frets it can loosen them!

 

7 hours ago, Gianluca said:

...Now, I want to fix the volume pot and I think for now to use a cleaner for the scratching pot(s) and later maybe replace them(not sure). Interested in replacing capacitors too, my dream would be to have a Jimmy Page kind of harness.

.

GianlucaRiccardi_TheHeritage-H150GT_20200206.jpg

Fantastic. My R7 Goldtop is my favorite electric guitar. To me Goldtops are all business no flash! Congrats on getting such a cool guitar! As for the bad volume pot, I would just like to say, in the last few months I've probably totally rewired at least ten guitars and used VIP pots in all of them. I've never used a pot that mimics the taper of vintage Centralab pots (like the iconic Gibsons of the 50's) so well, are extremely east to solder to, and they have a ridiculously smooth feel. In all my years of modding guitars (40) I've never liked a product so much...

Here's a set of two for just replacing the volumes... https://reverb.com/item/6999198-2-vintage-inspired-pickups-vipots-550k-us-split-shaft-authentic-audio-taper-pot-crl-replica, or you could just replace all the pots and caps with this set... https://reverb.com/item/13596003-4-vintage-inspired-pickups-vipots-550k-split-shaft-nos-022-f-paper-in-oil-capacitors-wiring-kit

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7 hours ago, Gitfiddler said:

Gianluca~ Congratulations on your new H150!  It's a gold top, but you refer to it as a 'Blonde Beauty'.  A golden blonde, I guess.  ?

Whatever she is, play it in good health.

sorry, in the excitement of the announce I used "Blonde" but to have some fun, thanks for correcting me ?

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6 hours ago, pressure said:

Only use oil on the fretboard to clean it, do not let it soak in.

As always, you speak with wisdom Sensei.  Back around 2006 I bought a bottle of lemon oil.  I used a clean older white cotton sock.  The same sock is still on top of the 2/3s full bottle of lemon oil.  It is best to use it when changing strings but it you are careful with your sock and Q-Tip technique you can do it with the strings on.  A cloth diaper is also handy.  You don't want to have the fret board swimming in oil just a drop covers several frets.  I use it when needed.  A few weeks ago I used it on my buddy's 1974 SG. 

As for the pot... get some spray and hit it, the other pots and the the toggle switch a few times.  You have just spent enough money for now.  That spray paid off last weekend.

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Thank you Pressure, Steiner, High Flying Bird, rockabilly69 and All for appreciation and advise

Pressure, I agree with you about tone woods

I was thinking to clean the guitar with a specific product for musical instruments, I'll check something later and report here
on a side note, Bareknuckle sells the Jensen Capacitors, I might think of them in the future (https://www.bareknucklepickups.co.uk/shop/product/bare-knuckle-jensen-capacitor)

I can't edit the title of the post anymore, but she's nowrenamed to Golden Beauty ? 

thanks all for being the best guitar community ever

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7 hours ago, pressure said:

If you want to cut vegetables on your fretboard then soak it in mineral oil. Oil soaked wood will not be resonant. Oil is a vibration damper. Oil is used in auto shock absorbers to dampen the vibration of the suspension. Wood needs to have a hard crystalline matrix to transmit the string vibrations, not an oil filled mass blocking vibration. If oil soaked wood was so good for musical instruments why not soak the spruce tops of Martins, violins or any acoustic musical instrument in oil? They will look new a year from now. Try telling your favorite guitar maker to oil soak the spruce top of a jazz guitar before he tap tunes it. Soak a piece of Rosewood or Ebony in oil then hang it up next to a dry, properly aged piece of the same wood and rap it with your knuckle. Oil soaked will thud, dry will ring. Musical instruments are not cutting boards.

Cute.

Wood does not have a crystalline structure.  But, that's an interesting preconception.

One would never oil wood that is to be finished.  The oil would hinder the finish's mechanically ability to attach.

Ship a board of ebony here.  We can experiment with resonance and pop another paradigm for you.

Musical instruments are not cars.  :)

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Every one knows wood has a crystalline structure that's why many guitar manufactures (Fender, PRS, Music Man and others) thermally treat wood used in guitar builds to speed up the aging process to achieve that internal structure. If soaking musical instrument wood in oil is such a great idea then take it to the next level and soak wood fingerboards in creosote and they will look new even longer.

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Climates and density of woods change.  Older woods harden after the moisture is slowly seeped out after decades of being dead.  I oil only my fretboards because they feel better when I'm playing.  Old rosewood boards, after years and years of playing natural absorb oil from your hands.  Those old fretboards are pure gold to players and collectors.  Some of us like matchwood feeling fretboards, others prefer a slicker feel. 

 

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57 minutes ago, pressure said:

Every one knows wood has a crystalline structure that's why many guitar manufactures (Fender, PRS, Music Man and others) thermally treat wood used in guitar builds to speed up the aging process to achieve that internal structure. If soaking musical instrument wood in oil is such a great idea then take it to the next level and soak wood fingerboards in creosote and they will look new even longer.

I categorically deny any of that "logic".  The fundamental premise itself is flawed.  Open your mind.  You might start here

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wood

" Wood is a porous and fibrous structural tissue found in the stems and roots of trees and other woody plants. It is an organic material - a natural composite of cellulose fibers that are strong in tension and embedded in a matrix of lignin that resists compression. "

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All the scientific journals I have read say that wood is a cellulose crystalline matrix but not satisfied with science I dug further and found this article in an old newspaper my Grandmother had.

Date line: Cremona Italy 1707

Antonio Stradivari made a statement to local news papers that he had made a breakthrough in the construction of his violins. Antonio told the assembled reporters that he had been conducting experiments to see which oil was better, mineral or olive, at preserving his violins. He concluded that olive oil smelled and tasted better that mineral oil so going forward he would be soaking his instruments in an an olive oil bath.
When pressed further about why he was doing this when no one else was he stated “so that my violins will still look new when they are played in Carnegie Hall 300 years from now”.

The debate continues.

If you can’t have fun here where can you

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Absolutely!

Olive oil can go rancid; that would be bad.

The best analogy I have for wood is a bunch of straws glued together, side by side, with ligin.  It's a generalization with faults but close.  Salt and diamonds are crystalline structured.

Here's another one:  Take a belt and stretch it around the equator of the earth (~3,900 miles).  let the belt out just 6 feet and it would rise about 1 foot above the surface - all the way around the earth!  Things that make you go hmmmmm...

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I see you there and raise the ante.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solid

https://www.doitpoms.ac.uk/tlplib/wood/structure_wood_pt1.php

https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10086-013-1347-1

https://www.intechopen.com/books/cellulose-fundamental-aspects-and-current-trends/crystalline-nanocellulose-preparation-modification-and-properties

There are many more scientific journal the refer to wood being composed of a crystalline cellulose matrix but you get the idea.

 

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