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New heritage owner —question about non-artisan vs artisan aged


Deliriumcoffee

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hello ! This is my first post on this forum, nice to meet you all.


I just ordered a custom core h-150 in dirty lemon burst, super stoked, really happy with the top (hand selected by CME). super stoked to get it tomorrow. 

I got a Non artisan custom core — I thought artisans looked nice but wasn’t a deal breaker to me and from the relic’d guitars I’ve played in the past, I haven’t liked them more than non relic’d instruments.

here’s my question — other than the appearance, is there any reason to opt for artisan over non artisan? The custom core h-150 is the first guitar I’ve spent this kind of $$$ on, so I just wanted to make sure I’ve made the right decision, so to speak….

Thanks in advance!

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I don’t believe there is really any difference beyond the extra “aging”. I suppose it’s a matter of taste. My understanding is that the regular Core models actually have an appearance closer to Gibbons VOS style.

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16 minutes ago, HANGAR18 said:

Welcome!

Me personally I'm not very enthusiastic about brand new guitars which have an artificially aged appearance.

I see where you’re coming from. Don’t get me wrong though — if people like them that’s more power to them, there’s obviously a market for them. I just wanted to know if I was missing out on anything else by foregoing going artisan aged. Thanks for your input. 

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1 minute ago, Deliriumcoffee said:

I see where you’re coming from. Don’t get me wrong though — if people like them that’s more power to them, there’s obviously a market for them. I just wanted to know if I was missing out on anything else by foregoing going artisan aged. Thanks for your input. 

No, I don't think you are missing anything. The only small details to fuss over might be deciding between one of their standard guitars and one of their custom shop guitars. Heritage has offered artisan aged guitars in both of these lines. I am of the opinion that those who will pay Gibson many thousands of extra dollars for an artificially aged appearance on their brand new guitar are a special kind of stupid, and not your typical Heritage guitar buyer. In a way, I think Heritage is trying WAY too hard to be like Gibson and compromising their own soul in the process. I'd rather see Heritage offer real Mother of Pearl inlay than trying to get cute by copying Gibson's aged appearance shtick.

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I don't think you made a mistake going for a non-aged version.   I would do the same, since I'm not a fan of artificial aging.   I've got a number of guitars,  and none of them have the type of aging you see these days.   The oldest one is 45 years old.  The ones with the satin necks are now smooth and shiny, a few have some bumps and bruises, but nothing that looks abusive.

 

 

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1 hour ago, TalismanRich said:

I don't think you made a mistake going for a non-aged version.   I would do the same, since I'm not a fan of artificial aging.   I've got a number of guitars,  and none of them have the type of aging you see these days.   The oldest one is 45 years old.  The ones with the satin necks are now smooth and shiny, a few have some bumps and bruises, but nothing that looks abusive.

 

 

Rich, I think you are missing the point here.  My oldest is a Guild built in 1975 purchased new and aged by me.  To be artisan aged, a skilled luthier needs to study wear patterns on vintage instruments for well over 20 years and reproduce these characteristic on new factory instruments.

I lack these skills and thus my amateur aged Guild at 46 years would never meet this criteria. 

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1 hour ago, Spectrum13 said:

Rich, I think you are missing the point here.  My oldest is a Guild built in 1975 purchased new and aged by me.  To be artisan aged, a skilled luthier needs to study wear patterns on vintage instruments for well over 20 years and reproduce these characteristic on new factory instruments.

I lack these skills and thus my amateur aged Guild at 46 years would never meet this criteria. 

I always suspected they chained them to a pickup truck and ran them up and down Parsons St.  Railroad tracks included...

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9 hours ago, Spectrum13 said:

Rich, I think you are missing the point here.  My oldest is a Guild built in 1975 purchased new and aged by me.  To be artisan aged, a skilled luthier needs to study wear patterns on vintage instruments for well over 20 years and reproduce these characteristic on new factory instruments.

I lack these skills and thus my amateur aged Guild at 46 years would never meet this criteria. 

My oldest is a 74 Guild, and it's in excellent condition, in spite of the fact that I found it floating in its case in 18" of water some 12 years ago.  The case was totally trashed,  the guitar has a few minor cracks in the nitro.   Maybe I'm just not hard enough on my guitars!

 

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3 hours ago, Deliriumcoffee said:

Yeah ok this is bar none the best guitar I’ve ever held/played lol
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Wow that is one spicy 150!   Glade you posted photos and appear to be satisfied. Would appreciate a follow up after the honeymoon.

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Nice! The non aged is a great choice and is the one I would make every time. 
 

I just played two CC aged 150s on Thursday. They were excellent guitars. Both were light and resonant and perfectly set up. I’m very impressed by the new Heritage guitars. I also played a standard 150 and a 535. They were also set up perfectly and played very nicely. The CC guitars were noticeable lighter and louder (unplugged) than the standard guitars. I’ve owned PRS and G brand guitars over the years and the CC guitars absolutely would compare to their high end makes. 

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