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To me it makes perfect sense for working musicians who don't have an endorsement deal with a major legacy brand to gravitate to Heritage. They need the best tool for their trade. And that's not to say they're looking for a 'knock-off' or 'discount brand'. Heritage of late has greatly improved its QC, build consistency and bang-for-buck value. Professional musicians need the best tool for their trade. It's great to see more and more of them using Heritage guitars.

Where are you fella’s getting your custom truss rod covers. I have one from Philadelphia Luthiers, but it’s just letters/numbers. anywhere I can get more detailed covers?

To be candid about this, around a decade ago I really didn't like HRWs, at least in the bridge position in solid bodies. The high frequency output was too sharp to my ears. Eventually I sorted it out. The neck position was always fine. It's odd to me because I've never had an issue with Schallers. I'm pretty sure HRWs were cryo treated. I asked Ren once. He just smiled. In that particular context it would have been easy for him to say something like there's more to the story. He didn't. This conversation occured when I brought in a Johnny Smith with a Floating #3 pickup and asked about getting a tone control added. He did the work while I was there, which took maybe 15-20 minutes. He charged very little, no more than $50.

Yep. Pretty sure they do (or did)

But I thought Schaller glued the magnets in, so they aren't so easy to replace.

Ahhh, well never heard of the guy.

Where did this idea come from?

unbalance the coils by unwinding one a handfull , and slide in an alinco 2 magnet.

Funnily enough, thats the guitar my friend has bought, but I have yet to see and play it.

When I got my H150 I thought it had Seths in it. It didnt, it had 59s. I cant remember why I thought they were seth's. I loved the sounds I got out of the guitar, cleans, low gain, high gain, neck or bridge. I talked about Seths as though they were the best things. After a few years I found out they were 59s....lol. So I swapped them for seths. Didnt like the guitar so much after that, played it less. Eventually I put the 59s back in and joy was restored. Then I temporarily swapped the guitar with a friend for a gibson R59. When we traded our guitars back to each other the SD 59s were in the case and it had SD antiquities and new potentiometers. He thought he was giving me a gift, a nice surprise. He is a lovely guy, a good friend, he meant well... it had lost some of the immediate rocknroll crack and snap, there was a lazy fizz and ear fatiguing boxy mid honk. It lost some the sweetness and clarity when played through a clean amp. It had lost chug and that deep percussive "thunk" That was 10yrs ago, the SD antiquities are still in it. I never got around to putting it back to original. Sounds great, its a really good sounding guitar. Some where during that 10yrs the pick ups just conformed to my expectations and developed all the traits I liked of the SD59s.

Yeah it’s weird. The Gibson Custom Buckers 3 are un-potted just like the Seth Lovers. The Custom Buckers have alnico III magnets. I decided to take electrical measurements of the Custom Buckers 3. The neck and bridge exactly the same in the set. They measure up at 4.4H inductance and about 7.4k. I will chalk it up to alnico 3, versus the Lovers with alnico 2 and the 59’s with alnico 5. I’ll check the magnetic field too for comparison. Just didn’t have the gauss meter out.

You could always swap the pickups in the H150 and the LP and see if the tone follows the pickups, then you'll know the answer to that What do I think? Because those pickups aren't potted, I think it's the wood.

Well, I scored a used set of 2016 Seth Lovers on FleaBay, reasonable price and already patina'd and "pre-aged" from natural wear and tear, so they look right in this workhorse guitar with its own natural wear and tear. The harshness I heard with the stock 59's is reduced, the Seth Lovers are more bell-like, clear, and I think a step in the right direction for me anyway. I took measurements of inductance and capacitance at 120hz, DCR, and magnetic field strength while they were out. SD-59 Bridge: 5.016 H, 350nF Cs, 59.47 nF Cp, DCR 8.27k, field 40mt at the top screws. SD-59 Neck: 4.191 H, 419.6 nF Cs, 65.84 nF Cp, DCR 7.236k, field 40mt at the top screws. Seth Lover Bridge: 4.76 H, 369.6 nF Cs, 58 nF Cp, DCR 8.202k, field 37mt at the top screws. Seth Lover Neck: 4.00 H, 438.7 nF Cs, 58.84 nF Cs, DCR7.59kk, field 37mt at the top screws. I compared the Seth Lovers now installed in my 1998 H150, with Faber hardware and lightweight locking Gotoh tuners, against my Gibson Custom Shop R0, 60th anniversary edition, with its stock Custom Bucker III pickups in it, unpotted like the Seth Lovers. Both have 50's wiring, paper-in-oil caps. The biggest difference is weight, the H150 being 8lbs and 13oz, the Gibson Les Paul is a svelte 8lbs, 1oz. (not chambered). The Gibson is more lush, with a bit more overtones, the neck being on the dark side and the bridge having a good bit more brightness and snap. It does that, "beefy telecaster" thing. Though both pickups are the same in the set. The H150 with Seths is more forward sounding, brighter, punchy, but doesn't have the same rich overtones as the Gibson. They're quite distinctly different sounding guitars, in spite of their close similarities. Both have the pickups set to the exact same height, both wearing pure nickel strings. With nearly a pound of weight difference between them (about 13oz) I wonder how much is wood and how much is pickups.

One thing is a clear difference. Tap the cover of a Seth and you will hear a click. No wax. Not a big deal.

This might be a little off course, but if you are looking for low output style PAFs, check out the Duncan Jazz pickup in both neck and bridge, I was taken a back at how good these pickups sounded. A realsleeper set! I liked them better than the Seths and 59's! Great clarity in the neck, and the bridge was perfect for on the edge of distortion sounds with a great mid honk. Here's a set plugged right into my Marshall...

Can't say I've swapped for them... But my 2023 H150 has SD '59 in the neck and bridge and my 1985 H140 has a SD '55 (Seth Lover) in the bridge. I gig with both of them. Tone wise, they both sound great, but I get a lot more feedback with a Seth Lover when I've got the gain up a little high. Either one works well for just about anything, just be mindful of the unpotted Seth Lover's. Pic for reference:

You're right about the dot. I've put HRWs in my guitars a couple of times and did this. Clever guys!

They put those on all guitars that left the factory with HRWs. It's a side fretboard marker dot. Ren told me that was Marv Lamb's idea, so any time someone would see a Heritage with that marker, on TV, live, etc, they would know it had HRWs in it.

Me too! It’s a black switch though…

My 2004 555 has HRW’s. I even got a black dot on my pickup selector switch!!

We've gone down this path.

The truth lies with Ren. Just like the secret sauce of the 357, so does the HRW mystique will go down in history as a great unknown. Only way is for someone to sacrifice the HRW and see what is different about them. They pop up here every now and then, but no one has ever dissected one of them.

I have always liked HRWs sometimes! The right guitar and amp settings can bring out a very pleasant brightness and sparkle. The secret about making these pickups, as best I can guess, is a cryo treatment of the magnets. I've asked Ren Wall a couple of times over the years about cryo treatment. He just smiled and wouldn't comment further. I'd like to put this to rest. What's the truth?

I had spoken with Rem about what he calls "rocking torque" It pressure the studs on the bridge to bend toward the tailpiece, but when the strings only touch the saddle tops it creates to most downward force to the body.

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