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I think he BOUGHT Bigsby, didn't he? 1966-1999 according to this https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bigsby_Electric_Guitars 1966 along with co owner John Huis here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ted_McCarty I think that reflection is just the inside edge of the bigsby arm

If Teaky is close enough to check it out in person, he'll know if it is a crack, scratch or reflection within about 2 seconds. You don't often see a crack that goes across the grain at a smooth curve, especially in a laminate body. A physical inspection will show anything (headstock repairs, etc.) and he can ask any questions. I think $2750 is a bit high. That's likely $3 - 500 more than it originally sold for. My H157 was much less than that in 2003. I would offer $2500 cash. The used guitar market isn't THAT strong. A new standard 535 is only $2500 right now from Heritage!

Birthday celebration part 2 (the CC H150 Goldtop was part 1). I've had the 633 Drive King for a few years now, and was intrigued when Cliff Brown at 633 brought out the Firefly, a 7 watt Class-A 1x10 combo. It's basically the Dragonfly with the overdrive circuit from the Drive King added. I ordered one in February and picked it up yesterday. It sounds very good... The controls are Volume, Tone (with a pull switch to toggle between "Tweed" and "Blackface"), Drive, Level, Reverb and Power. The Drive switch and Cab-sim output re located underneath at the back, while Drive can also be activated with a footswitch. The range of tones available is pretty wide by judicious use of the volume, drive and power controls, from a sparkling clean to Santana-like sustain, all at reasonable volume levels. Here's designer Cliff Brown putting the prototype through its paces... Some photos...

I just blew it up in Photoshop and that definitely looks like a crack. I would like to look it over very quickly and I would ask how that happened.

Aside.. Legendary Ted McCarty left Gibson to work for.. Bigsby.

beauty! you probably don't need that bar across where the old tailpiece was, since the B7 has a bar already. For a B3 or B6 without a roller bar. it might be useful though.

Beautiful looking guitar. If there is no crack and everything checks out, you may very well get a good deal on a guitar that has been sitting in the store for a year. Nothing wrong with giving them a lowball offer and work from there. Good luck, hope it works out.

99% sure that's a reflection, not a crack. Bigsby was next door to Gibson back in the day. That's part of the reason Gibson used so many Bigsbys. My best guess is that someone loved this guitar and changed the pickups, the tuners, and added the Bigsby. It looks like an older Heritage because of the solid maple neck. Expect it to turn yellowish over time, which is cool. I like it.

Looks like a great guitar, most likely has a slimmer neck that what you'll find on new Heritages. The crack is odd, but since its a 555, it has a centerblock meaning its pretty solidly built. I'd be surprised if its an actual crack too, since the laminated maple/poplar/maple construction would prevent any serious issues aside from someone stepping on it.

I had one almost identical to that one. That Bigsby on this guitar was added after. Look at the bar they put in to deal with the holes from original stop tailpiece. Just give them a call and tell them you want more detailed pictures and ask if there are any issues at all with this guitar. H-555s are the cream of the crop of their semi hollow humbucker guitars. Good Luck!

Are there any common things one should look out for with these, like how you need to check for signs of a headstock repair with Les Pauls? @skydog52 Can you tell me about its history?

That looks familiar.

First, the Bigsby could well be factory installed. Back then, they were much more amenable to doing customizations like that I can't tell for sure if it has gold or silver hardware. Normally the 555s come with gold hardware, but lots of people opted for chrome or nickel, and the factory would gladly accommodate. Also, having Lollar pickups would not be unusual. The Imperials are very good pickups. When you check it out, see if there is something on the label inside the F-hole. As for the "crack", that might well be a reflection from the trem's arm, not a scratch. A crack would be unlikely as it doesn't seem to follow any grain, and the semi hollows are laminates with the grains between layers going crosswise which can resist the development of cracks like that. I zoomed in on the full size frontal shot, and didn't see the same type of line. I have a H-535 it's an absolutely GREAT playing guitar. The only question is if it feels comfortable, and sounds good to YOU!

If that is a crack I would be apprehensive about the guitar because it looks like it runs through all the mounting holes on the right side for the bridge, the string retainer and the Bigsby. Idk is $2700 is high for a perfect guitar but one with a big scratch I think it is and if it a crack it is way too high. As for the color, I love the blue and gold and the inlays are lovely on the fret board.

Hello, I’ve been GASing over a used H-555 near me ($2,700 link below) and was thinking of going to check it out. I was wondering if there is anything I should look out for, or if it’s overpriced. If you zoom in near the bridge on the right there’s a long scratch or maybe crack that I’ll be checking out. The description is pretty scant but apparently it has Lollar tuners (which will mean nothing to me if I don’t like the sound) and the bigsby doesn’t seem original. I know very little about these guitars but I know I like how this looks compared to the new H-555s as it’s in my favorite color, I like the inlays and the f-hole binding. I was in the shop a year ago and this was there but I didn’t play it so it’s been there a while. H-555 For Sale

There are so many good companies that make pedal boards, power supplies, gig bags or hard cases for them etc. It's hard to give advice when we don't know what's floatin' up in your noggin. When I start building a new pedalboard, I think of the job that it is going to do, and then I build to that. I needed a very simple board as a backup for my main acoustic board just in case it goes down, and knowing I was going to use 4 pedals, it wouldn't need to be very big. So I figured I could make one from parts I got at the local home depot. I used some black paint, simple shelving, aluminum from the metal stock, and screws and handles from the fastener section. The only thing that didn't come from home depot was the rubber feet which I already had here. I power it with a one spot to the tuner. And the tuner powers everything wlse from it's convenience 500mv 9 volt DC outlet. It has all the pedals I need for my acoustic guitars that are equipped with magnetic pickups: volume, tuner, EQ, reverb and delay. The beauty of building your own board is that you can make it the exact size you need it. After I built mine, I did a google search and found a company that had a gig back that would fit it.

apparently if you duct tape the headstock, the gtr is worth more money to collectors

It's all about the bananas baby. Too bad the Andy Warhol signature model never saw the light of day. Come Mr Tallyman, tally my bananas. Day-oh. Daayaayay-Oh. Daylight come and I want to go home.

Wait until you guys see my AI/robot guitar factory. It's going to put everyone else out of business!

I have used Boss, Gator, Boice Box, and currently use Pivotal Pedalbords.

I believe mine is ash.

I was very, very close to using one of these. But I also use the four-cable method too. My Wampler Terraform has presets in which I can decided if I want an effect to go into the front of the amp or the effects loop for all my modulation stuff. Then run a UA Del-Verb for my delay and reverb needs which I use mostly as a set it and forget it.

Much bigger facility. Heritage has limited capacity and manpower. Plus they also make Harmony guitars there as well which are priced slightly below Heritages these days, only major difference is more CNC work and easier construction methods.

For quite a while now I’ve been using a TC Electronics Plethora X5 - five “slots” into which you can put any of the TC Tone print pedals. Each set of five constitutes a “board” and the unit can hold 127 boards! There are plenty of videos showing how it can be used, but I tend to have a relatively simple setup, with the effects being mainly modulation/delay/reverb in the effects loop of the amp. No overdrives, but I use the amp’s overdrive for solos and a Fuchs Plush Drive in front of the amp for a bit of crunch. My setup is Guitar -> wah -> Plush Drive -> Plethora input -> Plethora Insert send to amp input -> amp fx send to Plethora Insert return -> plethora output to amp fx return. The board I tend to use most has the Viscous Vibe as the first pedal, before the Insert Send (so the signal is going from the vibe into the amp’s input), with the signal from the amp’s fx send into Corona Chorus, Pipeline Tremolo, Flashback Delay and Hall of Fame Reverb, and back to the amp’s fx return. I hope that makes sense... You can edit the effects on the unit, and you don’t have to press anything to save - your changes are saved when you exit edit mode. There are firmware updates, most recently the Infinity Sample Sustainer has been added to the available toneprints. Ever since I heard the 1973 Robert Fripp/Brian Eno collaboration No Pussyfooting, I’ve been a fan of ambient music. They used a couple of Revoxes for tape delays, but this chap shows how you can do it with the Plethora...

What brand you using?