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Heritage Owners Club

The "LES PAUL" that Heritage built...


brentrocks

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A little history lesson for those newer members...

Heritage Guitars Inc. officially opened their doors April 1 1984.

Thier first singlecut solid body guitar was the H140...thinner body with a Florentine cutaway


HERITAGE H140

original




It wasn't until 1988, when Heritage started building a "traditional" singlecut LP style guitar....the H150. 1988, 1989 and early 1990, the H150 body was exactly like a Gibson Les Paul. Rumor has it, that the first batch of H150s were built using leftover Gibson bodies. In 1991 Gibson threatened to sue Heritage over the H150 and the H357 (firebird)...so Heritage altered the design slightly to avoid the lawsuit. The H150 horn cut was altered to its current design.


CURRENT H150 BODY

IMG_9792





1988 H150 BODY
 

IMG_0061 - Copy





I recently acquired one of these early H150s...a 1988. It was built in March of 1988, so its one of the early ones. Its a clownburst with a monster top. A nice extra is that it has a pearl inlayed logo...was probably a custom order. It has a 60s neck and weighs 10 lbs. It came to me with gold hardware and no pickups...so I upgraded it to Tonepros locking bridge and tailpiece, locking grovers and a set of VanZant PAFs.  Plays very well.   Has great LP tone!!!  A great piece of Heritage history!

 

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IMG_0061IMG_0063

 

IMG_0064IMG_0065

 

IMG_0066IMG_0068IMG_0070IMG_0071IMG_0073IMG_0075

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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7 minutes ago, ledzeffer said:

Great top and with that being a pre '90 guitar means that real Brazilian rosewood. Definitely a keeper.

Thanks bro!!!  It kinda looks Brazilian.  

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This is an '86 I owned.  It was heavy as could be.  I found the jacket in the dumpster with a lot of other shiny suits. 

black-150.jpg

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6 hours ago, brentrocks said:

I don’t think anyone is claiming it’s Brazilian.   It’s a possibility. 

Very slim chance, It looks like the same rosewood in both of my early USA Les Pauls (1999 and 2000) that I sold off years ago, and very much like the Rosewood that my Gibson J45 has. I like that color, I will try and find pics for you. And yes I know that Heritage sometime used stock left over from the Gibson days, but Gibson stopped using Brazillian in the late sixties. I see no reason why they would have used Brazilian for a one off H150 unless it was ordered that way. The claim above about pre 1990 using Brazilian is just another internet myth. 

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My old 445 had what I thought was Brazilian rosewood sides and back.  This was back in the early '90s.  I found photos of different type of rosewood somewhere and that is what brought me to that conclusion.  I didn't know that wood was a big deal until reading this thread.  I remember a photo in the USA Today of people putting on a show to protest the destruction of the rain forest.  The guy's Gibby looked a lot like my guitar.  I found that a bit ironic. 

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On 1/4/2022 at 5:55 AM, brentrocks said:

A little history lesson for those newer members...

Heritage Guitars Inc. officially opened their doors April 1 1984.

Thier first singlecut solid body guitar was the H140...thinner body with a Florentine cutaway


HERITAGE H140

original




It wasn't until 1988, when Heritage started building a "traditional" singlecut LP style guitar....the H150. 1988, 1989 and early 1990, the H150 body was exactly like a Gibson Les Paul. Rumor has it, that the first batch of H150s were built using leftover Gibson bodies. In 1991 Gibson threatened to sue Heritage over the H150 and the H357 (firebird)...so Heritage altered the design slightly to avoid the lawsuit. The H150 horn cut was altered to its current design.


CURRENT H150 BODY

IMG_9792





1988 H150 BODY
 

IMG_0061 - Copy





I recently acquired one of these early H150s...a 1988. It was built in March of 1988, so its one of the early ones. Its a clownburst with a monster top. A nice extra is that it has a pearl inlayed logo...was probably a custom order. It has a 60s neck and weighs 10 lbs. It came to me with gold hardware and no pickups...so I upgraded it to Tonepros locking bridge and tailpiece, locking grovers and a set of VanZant PAFs.  Plays very well.   Has great LP tone!!!  A great piece of Heritage history!

 

IMG_0058

 

IMG_0059

 

 

IMG_0061IMG_0063

 

IMG_0064IMG_0065

 

IMG_0066IMG_0068IMG_0070IMG_0071IMG_0073IMG_0075

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thanks for the recap Brent. I am surely hoping that I stumble upon one of those eary Heritage LP clones. Most likely a pawn shop or used music store would NOT know the backstory on that model. At least hopefully!

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On 1/4/2022 at 6:12 AM, brentrocks said:

Thanks bro!!!  It kinda looks Brazilian.  

I do know a Brazilian woman when I see one. Hubba hubba. 

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On 1/4/2022 at 6:39 AM, High Flying Bird said:

This is an '86 I owned.  It was heavy as could be.  I found the jacket in the dumpster with a lot of other shiny suits. 

black-150.jpg

Who is the geek playing it?

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On 1/6/2022 at 7:47 PM, bolero said:

What does ACB stand for?

Antique Cherry Burst?

And how long have  you been on this forum Chris?  LOL!

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On 1/7/2022 at 2:45 PM, rockabilly69 said:

Very slim chance, It looks like the same rosewood in both of my early USA Les Pauls (1999 and 2000) that I sold off years ago, and very much like the Rosewood that my Gibson J45 has. I like that color, I will try and find pics for you. And yes I know that Heritage sometime used stock left over from the Gibson days, but Gibson stopped using Brazillian in the late sixties. I see no reason why they would have used Brazilian for a one off H150 unless it was ordered that way. The claim above about pre 1990 using Brazilian is just another internet myth. 

One of many internet myths!!!

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