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Glad to see you're still out there playing gigs. I agree completely. You can cover most all bases with the 535. I've heard you play that 535 enough at PSP to know that it's a killer. It's good that it's still in your arsenal, even if it is "on loan". Your band must have been playing REALLY LOUD if you coudn't play without feeding back. On the other hand, it's perfect to get the acoustic feedback going when you want to sustain a note infinitely! Turn away and it should go back to normal.

Welcome! Nice guitars!

10 years ago, when I finally felt financially comfortable to purchase a new Heritage, it had to be a 535. At the time, I had an Epiphone Dot Deluxe with Seth Lover pickups in it. It was my number one guitar and with its big neck, was easily my favorite guitar to play. When I custom ordered my 535, I wasn't looking to trick it out or make it a flashy guitar. I basically wanted a Heritage H535 that looked like my Epiphone. Flame maple top, wine red, Seth Lover pickups, gold hardware, and a big neck. I added just a couple subtle touches like a bound, inlaid headstock and gold top reflector knobs; an excellent Heritage dealer hooked me up with a deluxe wood package- highly flamed maple top, back, and sides! For many years, I only played it at home, took it to PSP or to a few friends' homes for jams. It never went to a gig. Until last weekend. 2 years ago, I tried it at a gig briefly and couldn't get the tone I wanted, and the feedback was killing me even when I tried it at a few practices. So, it stayed at home atop its wall hanging perch. At first, I thought my problem was the Seth Lover pickups, so I swapped them for Railhammer pickups. While "vintage" voiced, I found those pickups were too clean, too bright. I realized their design was more or less for heavy guitar players in drop tunings and high gain. Earlier this year, thanks to a recommendation Brent, I purchased a custom made A3 magnet Red Rocks humbucker for the bridge pickup. Did a swap and I loved the tone again. Since my personal life went into an upheaval a few months ago, I had purged many of my guitars, with me only really owning a couple now. My Heritages remain with me, but officially I do not own them; I retain them under the premise they get played. So, they do. I had a double header weekend playing a gig Friday and another on Saturday. This time, I took my 535. With exception to 1 song out of 42, the 535 was used for every song and genre. Country, Rock, Pop, didn't matter. Its versatility was amazing! Paired with a Marshall DSL40C (not the gen2) and a few good pedals to spice up the tone, this guitar was perfect. My H150 came with me just to play an open G tune to start a set. Between my H535 and my H150, I really don't need any other guitars to gig with. I found keeping similar guitars (pickup configurations) for swapping on songs, I don't have to mess with tone controls (going from a Tele to a H150 required a lot of eq changes to cut through). This is a "trick" I discovered when I watched a killer cover band and how their lead guitarist used only one guitar the whole night and his backup was a similar guitar (humbucker loaded).

Welcome, nice collection of Heritage guitars.

Welcome!!!

thank you all for your kind comments. I am thinking about getting an H535. I must be crazy....

I am assuming they will do what they did with the H-150 Standard II. They will likely re-launch it and only offer limited finishes. I would expect Antique Natural to be one of the ones offered, but who knows.

H website doesn't show AN finish available. A few dealers still list 535s in AN. Anyone know when the discontinuance happened? Thank you for info!

Authentic relicing from my grubby hands and sweaty forearm. This picture is a couple of years old, the bare spot is now a bit bigger and as beautiful as ever. Pre-relicing. But all my guitars that I gig with eventually end up with the same worn area.

I said it on the gearpage to you, and I'll say it again. Buy some clear and respray it with a clear topcoat, I know you are afraid you can't do it, and you think it's a valuable guitar, but there are plenty of how to videos out there, and you will increase the value with a decent job. And the buffing out of the new coat would be less work that what you've done already. Nitro is pretty forgiving. Educate yourself, take your time and I bet you can do it.

A friend's band plays down at a local blues bar, and the venue has amps for the bass and guitar, along with the drum set. The guitar amp is a Katana, and most bands just plug in and go. Guitar players bring their pedal boards of course.

I have been using a Boss Katana 100 watt amp with a foot switch on and off for the last five years depending on what type of music I'm playing. The sound is adequate. Can't be compared to my Carr Rambler or other tube amps I own. The pluses are they are light weight, inexpensive, and I don't care what happens to it. It's a little banged up but still works fine. If and when it stops working, I will throw it out, save the Boss footswitch and buy another one.

Rob, you should be proud... you fed a family for close to a month!

Well, in any event, I did say I was being careful....

I was watching a local battle of bands contest. Each band played for 45 minutes and all were impressive. One guy pulled out a Marshall half stack and another band, the guy was using a Boss Katana. Both were decent volumes and both sounded good. I have six gigs coming up that require me to carry my gear up 2 full flights of stairs. The idea of a Katana amp being light and easy to carry has me wondering if I might want to consider a Boss (or still had my Quilter). One drawback to this modeling amps is these amps are "disposable" amps. Once they go bad, they get replaced. There is no amp tech going to be able to fix them. I'll still be lugging my 40W Marshall DSL up the stairs this weekend. Its not super heavy, but its enough....

Rob, this may have more than one meaning.....

thanks, it was great guitar!

But how does it sound, now, Steiner? Quickish ancedote: Headed to a party in my S-10 about thirty-five years ago. Rutting season, and I was being careful! Middle of nowhere, small herd pops out of the scrub pines to my right. I t-boned a large doe. Stove in the front end, radiator Swiss Cheesed. Truck, with the headlights still on, sits there steaming like the Union Pacific's Big Boy. This is pre-cell phone days. I have about ten miles to hike back to town. About that time a car, big Buick Estate Wagon, rolls up from the other direction. I wave, and the car stops about twenty-five yards past me, about where I hit the deer. Great! A ride home. Two Good Ol' Boys pile out of the Buick, pitch the deer into the back...and take off. I got home at about 3:00 a.m.

Someday I might get it re sprayed

I highly doubt it 🥴

There is a reason why I have the pros work on my 535. Electronics through a tiny opening with my sausage fingers don't go well. If I'm not mistaken, aren't Heritages all buffed and polished prior to electronics? This could be a reason why, especially on exposed electronics on hollow/semi-hollow bodies.

I don't know if simply buffing would have fixed it, but the advantage of nitro is that it could have been resprayed with clear and then buffed out. I don't know that Heritage would do it but Arnie Hileski or Dave Teske might have been able to do it.

And I’m a lucky guy that has an LW 150 they’re pretty rare!!!! Funny thing, though it’s really not as light as you would think. It’s still about 8 pounds or so.