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I'm not a distortion kind of guy, so take the following "cum grano salis", https://1981inventions.com/ it seems you didn't mention it Bondi Effects "Sick As" is a Klon clone kind of OD, the High Headroom version is a distortion unit: https://bondieffects.com/products/high-shredroom-sick-as-neon-pink Crowther Audio Prunes and Custard https://www.asapeurope.com/collections/crowther-audio/products/crowther-audio-prunes-custard-special-deal Hot Cake: https://www.asapeurope.com/collections/crowther-audio/products/crowther-audio-hotcake I'm sure I'm missing much more

Best bet is to play a few examples. I can't say for sure, but I think the neck is a little different carve on the CC H535. I have a 2001 H535, the neck is a bit thinner, perhaps a little thinner than I might prefer, but not razor thin. It has the HRW's, the wooden pickguard and lovely figured blonde wood. The weight sorting is a real thing, as lighter woods are in demand, people ask for it a lot these days. Probably 'cause all us old people are the only ones still playing electric guitar. Fender and Gibson do it on custom shop products, so there's demand and money for lighter woods. Yesterday, I played a Collings I35LC-vintage with the factory, Collings spec Throbak pickups. Man, that's a nice guitar. Neck on it was just perfect. I just didn't have that much money burning a hole in my pocket.

The shape still looks different (body carve and lower horn on the CC. And they still say the neck angles are different.

Good choice on the Friedman. I use mine to drive the front-end on the low gain input of a Rivera Knuckle Head II. I had problems getting the Rivera to sound as I anticipated and the Friedman handles that entire function beautifully. I dialed back the gain internal to the BE-OD using the trim pot inside of the pedal enclosure, so the 1:1 comparison for the gain control position used would be different than that you may use. Also, I use an 18V power supply for headroom. The Rivera is actually driving the stock 12" Celestion in the 6101LM at the moment. Works well this way.

I tried a quite few distortion pedals. At the end of it all - I think it was just an idea that turned into an obsession. Now the obsession ran its course I have a bunch of spare distortion pedals to sell. I settled on the Friedman BE-OD. I run it with gain set on the lower side into the MXR Timmy with low gain. The MXR DoT also goes into the switched on Timmy. The Boss MS-3 is modulation and delay. I use its like its 4 different pedals rather than as presets. I found a dual delay in series setting in the MS3. Means I can lose 2 delay pedals. Not the order and not on a board yet. Just what's going on so far. Five(six) drive pedals would've seemed like overkill at any other stage of my life. Seems about right at this stage of my life. Not one tubescreamer among them!

As far as pickups go, I was very surprised that Heritage makes 18 different pickups now. I have no idea what the differences are, but they are very precise now in the manufacturing...

Originally yes, but I suspect its easier to make them all the same. Up until the standard II came about, the Standard Line matched the CC line with the thicker neck and wider headstock....

It wouldn't matter if guitars came with vintage 59 PAFs, SOMEBODY would pull them and put a different set in, and then sell the original pickups. There was a time when the HRW pickups were special, and were considered an upgrade. Then people pulled them out of the guitars and they started showing up for sale at $3-400 a set. It's important that you can't just order a set the way you do a pair of Seth Lovers, or 36 Anniv PAFs. It's like they're made of unobtanium! 😁

And don't the Custom Cores have the 4.5 degee neck angle as opposed to the standards 5.5 degree? Better chance to have the ABR lower with the smaller angle of the CC!

Sorry, I would still take a 2000 era 157 or Millennium. Gimme some mojo and bling

I noticed a set of those pickups for sale on this site.

It's the size of a 535 but with a deep single cutaway. The inlays are block. If it didn't cost more than the 555 it may have been more popular. Endorsing artists received money for each instrument that has it's name on it. Long ago I recall that Johnny Smith was to receive $500 per instrument.

They both use in house pickups, but the CC's are alnico III with a vintage tone, and the hardware and tuners are better. Also different neck shape and better looking headstock and inlays on the CC. And probably a nice, more select, piece of mahogany for the neck. If it were me, I would play both and see if the differences are worth it.

I'd rather have the better wood, I don't like weight relief! I also prefer the custom core headstock and the inlay! The top carve and the lower horn looks better on the Custom Core. And the pickups on the Custom Core are supposed to be Alnico III which I love. And don't the Custom Cores have better tuners and hardware?

Filter out some of your finer points Rich.... Heritage just sorts through the lighter pieces they get and earmark for CC. There was a specified range at first, now its just under a specific weight. Profiles on the previous Standard line was the same as the CC. (My '23 H150 has a fatter neck than my 535, just a hair thinner than my 137). The finish on the CC is just one less stage of polishing... It actually costs more to polish a standard line... I thought that was rather curious to hear. Keep the "relic'd" look for those who want to pay for the upcharge, keep it as a Custom Shop/Special Run only along with the Bigsby wiggle-stick. CC's do have better inlays, but that's why you pay for the CC, but pay for the whole package, not just bits and pieces. Get the extra binding, fancier inlays, etc in the 157 and 555. Cases are a different story, however I don't use my cases. I use one of those Mono bags for gigs. My cases are actual decorations now. (They will get used if necessary) Stainless steel frets is a great idea. Came across a fancy Epiphone Les Paul at American Musical Supply that has some 60's/70's racing vibes and they use stainless steel frets on a sub $900 guitar. Rumor is there may be a tonal difference, but I couldn't say.

I just came across these guys, (that’s sick!). I don’t know anything about them but they seem to have what you seek. https://emcustom.eu/eshop/en/midi-switchers/56-UNI6.html?SubmitCurrency=1&id_currency=3

I Like the way you guys are thinking!

The wood for the two are "different", at least for the 150s. Custom Core use selected light weight mahogany pieces. The Standard line use the heavier pieces, but now do weight relief. Some people will claim that doing weight relief does bad things, but that hasn't been my experience. The Millenniums are similar in shape and spec as the 150s, but are hollowed out. My Mille LE is as good as my 157 with a heavy dense chunk of wood. Same bridge and tailpiece, same strings. Not necessarily sounding exactly the same with different pickups, but if I crank up the distortion, who can tell what the guitar sounds like. It's like trying to judge the better tasting piece of steak after you douse it in salt, pepper, and cover it in a bottle of A1 sauce! Some people will claim that the denser wood is better, others will say that lighter wood is more resonant. Whatever... If you believe it, it's true! It's on the internet so its a fact. Oh yeah, the earth is really flat. I read that on the internet too! When you're talking about the 535 and 530, it's a laminate anyway. There should be minimal difference, except for the figuring of the top laminate. I don't know how much of a premium that should command. I don't know the differences in the bridge/tailpiece. There's a difference in neck profile, but that shouldn't be a cost difference. I don't know if they choose different grades of wood. Do they use the better quartersawn for the CC neck? The best quartersawn wood should be more stable due to the orientation of the grain. As the grain goes more towards flatsawn, it can flex more. Pete did say that the finish isn't the same between the two series. The final polishing of the CC line is slightly duller than the Standard lines. It should feel a bit slicker, since the smoother something is, the more you can have some "stiction". It sounds counter intuitive, we had a similar situation in the printing industry. A chrome surface that was too smooth would literally destroy itself in a few hours. If it was above a certain roughness, it would last weeks. I know some people like the fake aging, but for me, if I had a choice between a pristine Standard II and an aged CC at the same price, I would take the Std II. Fake finish checking and fake corrosion isn't for me. I like the inlay work on the CC line. For me, the block inlays on the 535, 555 and 530 CC guitars are a definite advantage. Dots are ok, and I live with them on my guitars, but I bought the 157 for the blocks, extra binding and gold hardware. For a while, I was watching for a red 555, just to get the same vs my 535. Since they are making the pickups, I don't know what premium one would have over the other. Whether it has 5000 turns, or 4750 turns, Alnico II vs III vs V, rough or smooth magnet. I don't know that it makes a tremendous cost difference. It would be a lot less that the difference between nickel and gold plating, especially at the price of gold today! The case of the CC line is definitely nicer than what comes with the standard line. I even mentioned to Mike that the new case that came with my 530 wasn't as nice as my old TKLs that came with my 157, 535, or 140. It's OK, functional, but it binds a bit when I close it. It's not lined up as well. Once snapped down, it's fine. Something I think should be on the CC line would be stainless steel frets. I don't know how much of an issue that would cause with the Plek, but you're already paying a hefty premium. That is an upgrade that I think would be very worthwhile, especially for a guitar that gets a lot of use.

I see this question all the time.... Custom Core Vs Standard Line. What makes a Custom Core so much better than a Standard model? Weight, wood, pickups, electronics, hardware, etc... Is there really much of a difference truly? Let's take a look at H150's.. A staple guitar for Heritage: Custom Core: Standard Line: So look at these as a comparison, side by side if you can... What does the Custom Core offer you don't get on a Standard Line. For those who have taken the tours at PSP, you may have noticed, Heritage selects both models from the same wood sources, use the same tooling/assembly methods, same operators, same paint, same quality inspection.... Maybe some hardware differences? Maybe different pickups? So in my opinion, there is very little separation between the lines. But perhaps there is a better solution here. Custom Core models should probably be completely different: Standard Line: H150 (P90 and Humbucker), H530, H535, H137, and H575 Custom Core: H157, H555, maybe a H530 custom model that is more like a 555, Eagle Classic, and H717. Custom Core offers Bigsbys and aged finishes. Just something that makes sense to me. Is this unpopular to think like this or is it a does it make sense? I am in no way slamming Heritage as you all know I strongly support them. But there are times I scratch my head... Everyone loves just about every model coming out of the shop, no matter what line.... You really don't hear the complaints like we used to... bad finishes, bad nuts, twisted necks... Those are seemingly been resolved in the last ten years,,,

I think I saw your post on Facebook asking the same question. Here's my opinion.. Both the custom core and standard line are made in the same place, using the same tooling, from the same selection of woods by the same people. Quality control is the same for both. So other than physical differences (pickups, hardware, and inlays), ask yourself what are you really getting out of it? I have a 2023 standard line H150, it heavy compared to a custom core, but a 535 won't have the same weight variance. Now that both CC and Standard use in-house build pickups.... the lines of demarcation between both models is even blurrier now. If you want the blinging, nicer wood package, get a Custom Core. If you want a solidly built, high quality guitar and save a bit of coin, get a standard line.

For those of you that have played/owned both the Standard and Custom Core H-535, is the Custom Core model a noticeable upgrade over the Standard? The Standard is already a very high-quality guitar. I've seen some people say yes (which I'd expect), but have also seen a few people say they actually preferred the Standard model for whatever reason. Curious on people's thoughts.

So i picked up one of the Carvin stereo amp pedals a few years back and it's really pretty cool. I read about thes Valeton amp/FX modelers getting rave reviews, especially the GP-5 which is on sale at Sweetwater for $63.99. I ordered one as now I will have a complete amp set up that will sit in one hand as a spare amp in case one of my rigs goes down. Everything I have read says this little pedal is amazing sound wise with multiple Chorus, delay, distorion models, etc.as well as amp models and IRs.. I also plan on keeping it in my bag as a spare reverb unit. While watching one of the videos, I noticed Steve Sterlacci playing on an H-535. If you are wanting to see it, it is the second demo video. https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/GP-5--valeton-gp-5-multi-effects-processor-pedal

VIP-1 which has also flown.

STAT, Parsons Street, and H-162. Only the STAT remains.

Fred! You're alive! Where have you been hiding? Awesome Heritage Gumby!