All Activity

SCORE!

It is a very good sounding amp. Different from my usual flavor, but I like it a lot. Variety is the spice of life! I once played a ‘58 Deluxe and have never forgotten it. This one has a some of that vibe for sure. I love those old Rudy Van Gelder studio recordings of Kenny, Grant etc. It is a great sound. Cuts through really well live too.

It was not as described!!!

I've had a 1998 H150 for a bit over 20 years. It was factory equipped with Duncan 59's, and a standard tune-o-matic tailpiece and bridge (Nashville style bridge made in Germany). The tailpiece has no branding on it. The puzzle is the stud spacing on the stop bar is the puzzle. I've very, very carefully measured the spacing and it is 83mm not 82mm, not 82.5mm. The threads are the standard metric threads. I compared it to a recently acquired H535, made in 2001, which came with the Schaller roller bridge and top-loader tailpiece. It measures at 82mm stud spacing, same threads. I put a Gotoh aluminum stop bar on it, and fit perfect. The reason I had the Gotoh aluminum bar on hand was that I tried to put it on the H150 a few years ago, and it was a very, very tight fit. So I just set it aside and went back to the zinc (Zamak) stop bar it came with. Just for grins, I tried the Schaller top-loader from the 2001 H535 on the H150 and same deal, very tight fit. The studs threaded right in, but the top-loader didn't want to slide on all the way, just too tight. I just measured a Custom Shop Gibson R0 (1960 re-issue) with "vintage correct" everything on it, including a 1950's spec aluminum stop bar. It's imperial (inch) based, but measures 82.45mm stud spacing. So that's kind of puzzling. I'm not sure who made the stopbar on my H150, but I was told it was factory equipment at the time (Buffalo Brothers sold it new originally, and to me as used). I feel confident that is true. The stop bar it came with, fits perfectly. So the spacing seems quite intentional and what Heritage intended to do on that H150. I sort of wanted to try an aluminum stop bar, but not sure where to get one that might fit. I suspect a "vintage correct 3.25-inch" might fit it. Anyone know the history of this, or seen the same?

Very thorough amp review, especially since you've just begun your sonic journey with this new rig. Interesting that you feel the amp leans more into the vintage bassy 'tweed' tone rather than 'glassy Fender' (scooped?) tones. Maybe an EQ pedal will help dial in your desired sound if knob twisting doesn't get you where you want to be. But it does appear from your comments that you really dig the tones you're getting. Tweaking a new amp at home and again at a live venue is part of the fun and part of the adventure. Enjoy!!

After resolving some noise issues (one power tube not seated properly)…we got down to business. I’ve had it a couple of days now, and I am looking forward to exploring it more. Bought from SoundPure, and they were very good, except the footswitch cable was missing. They are sending one. SoundPure is one of my preferred dealers as they do free shipping (over a certain amount) and no sales tax for California buyers. Makes a meaningful net difference to save that 7.75% on a bigger purchase. Very old school amp. Even has the older “Boogie” badge. Touch sensitive, feels a little more like a tweed deluxe than a blackface amp. Somewhere in between. You can really hear your picking technique (or lack thereof in my case). The kind of pick, angle and attack come through quite audibly. Great low gain sounds. Build quality is solid. It is pretty light for a 50W tube head, so at first lift it feels a little funny, being used to much heavier heads at this wattage, but definitely solid. At 26 lbs this amp may be the best tone per pound tube amps head I’ve ever played. My back is not so good these days, so to know i can gig with something portable, reliable and that can give me a tone that I dig is a big deal. I’ve been looking for something light, with “that sound” but haven’t been able to find it. This one is very very close. The cabinet is nice too. Typical good Mesa Boogie quality. I got the 1x12 23” wide cabinet. Wider cab makes it sit perfectly under the head; i dont know if it makes any tonal difference. Maybe, but hard to know without A/B against the smaller cabinet. Open back. MB Black Shadow speaker is a good match for this amp. Sounds nice and full even before break in. I didn’t get the cab to match the head with tinsel grill cloth, which looks cool, kind of like a mini-stack, so I’ve got a little mismatch ‘cause i liked the all black cabinet better. I might change out the grill cloth on the head so that they match someday. Might also swap for a Neo speaker for weight. Eminence Deltalite 2512 might be a good match. I like that speaker a lot. Clean, clear. More like a monitor speaker. And very light. EQ is simple (Treble, Mid, Bass) and there is a pretty wide sweep for each. All seem sensitive to how much gain you are putting in. More gain requires backing off of bass or it gets indistinct, but at the right levels the bass is tight enough and lets a lot of “wood” through. At certain settings it almost sounds like you are playing an upright bass on the low strings. Lots of thump if you want it. Sound is excellent. Treble and presence used in the right combination produces really sweet top end. I love it. Mid control is effective to either scoop or bring up the mids. Very useable. Reverb sounds just like it should. I keep it around 9:00 and it gives plenty of depth to the sound. The on line chatter about it not being very loud for a 50 watt amp is correct, at least with the gain at 1:00 or lower. With the gain at noon or 1:00 It never gets super loud, even with the Master dimed. Loud enough for my small to medium gigs though. I suppose for a bigger/louder show you could just mic it. I have not pushed it to see how loud it can get and stay clean. Will try later when no one else is home. I play clean 95% of the time, so that’s what I’ve been dialing in. Clean tones are definitely familiar with this amp, but a little different. Not glassy like a blackface, more like a tweed. You can hear a little more guitar wood, a little more midrange, etc. Reminds me a lot of the early Kenny Burrell G175 into a Fender Deluxe recordings or some older Grant Green. Very organic sounding. Lots of good presence. Seems like it will cut through a gig mix very well. At the moment my only quibble is that so far it is a little hard to get the low end sounding exactly like I want it, but it is very good nonetheless. I’m sure I’ll figure that out. More to come…the real test will be when i gig with it in a couple of weeks.

This was the very first thing I noticed about mine. For starters, grab a single coil guitar, preferably a Tele, put the gain position switch into the middle position, gain about 6/7, and everything else at 5 (tailor the bass to the low e-string), and you will hear the sound of a Fender tweed amp with all of it's squishy-ness there that makes playing tweeds so much fun. But the Fillmore is even more fun than a tweed because it has a great sounding reverb!!! This isn't but it sounds very much like a hot Tele pickup...

That makes sense to me. They seem pretty proud of the "Pattern Vintage" neck carve on the McCarty 594's. I have a few and I like them too... which says a lot for someone like me who typically doesn't like necks as chunky as that.

Should be available to a costal dweller like you. Half serious, but what do you have to loose?

Seriously? Salt water Dan?

Thanks! I must have missed that pic. Guess I should look closer next time!

Frets?

Kuz what original parts did you leave on the gtr?

TAG knows tone!! Seriously, that's one of the Boogies that would be high on my list, too.

Yes

Arrived yesterday. Was very NOISY. Was thinking about sending it back but- Checked the tubes and one power tube was improperly seated, probably from bouncing around in the truck. Fixed. Whew! This amp feels very old school. Starting to find my way with it. Will create another thread over the weekend with more once I get to know it a bit further, but I can already tell it is going to get gigged.

Were the nickel 510 tuners you picked up considered the “Mini” variety?

Remove the bridge and stop tail and dip it in salt water overnight. I like the Faber stuff and they have a pretty good sale on holidays.

I have a 2015 Millie DC. For the uninformed, this is a double cut H-155, no longer produced. I bought it new, fully aware of significant nitro finish checking on the top. Yes, Heritage had some issues that year with their nitro finishing. Anyhow, I dig the somewhat aged look and the nickel plated covers on the Seth Lover pups have tarnished nicely. Now I am looking to replace the shiny chrome bridge and stop tail with an aged nickel plated set. I know of Faber, Gotoh and others. Any recommendations, quality is paramount.

Thanks for that!

I don't know for sure, but I'm guessing it's Jescar Fret Wire 47104. That's typically considered their Medium Jumbo wire.

Jescar Medium Jumbo is what they are using now.

Does anyone know the typical fret wire that Heritage uses. I have measure it on the guitar but can only really measure the width. Be curious what brand and size they usually use.