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@ElNumero...Congratulations, Will. I've always dug that model. With its two sharp cutaways it looks like its angry and ready to fight...or rock the house until it falls.

I’ll guess it’s a Schaller roller bridge?

Yes, you should have moved it on...to me. I'll never forget that one! That guitar had my number!

Thanks man. What’s a tone sucker?

I had an H170, once upon a time. Had a ToneSucker(tm) and everything. Never should have moved it on. Enjoy your new guitar!

Pulled the trigger on a 1988 H-170. Unfortunately the size of the photo exceeds the HOC limits so I can’t post it here. It’s OSB (seller listed it as Tobacco Burst but I don’t believe Heritage described it with that finish back then). All original, Schaller pickups are uncovered.

New (used) guitar day for me. Picked up a nice clean, 2001 H535 in natural, figured maple with HRW pickups. Very little wear on it front or back, frets in very good condition. I had an aluminum stop bar and Nashville tune-o-matic bridge, so I swapped off the Schaller bridge and tailpiece. The Schaller hardware is ok, but the rollers on that style tailpiece tend to work themselves loose over the years, and I had the parts in my parts drawer. At 7lbs, 12-ounces, it is a really nice light weight. The label doesn't say "HRW", but the black-dot on the switch and the dates match, no sign that it has ever been worked on before, so it looks all legit as shipped back then. I know HRW's are not everyone's cup of tea, but I'll give them a fair shot. So far, it sounds really good with them. Sadly, the Heritage case didn't come with it. It looks like they're out of stock at Heritage, maybe I'll call Monday and see about it. It did come with a cheap, poorly fitting generic case. It does fit pretty well in a Gibson ES335 case. But there's some disagreement as to the ES335 vs. H535 dimensions, and I don't know if the Heritage case is specifically-fitted or not. It does appear the 535 might be a little thinner than the 335. The 2002 H535 joins my 1998 H150 that I've had for over 20 years as my second Heritage. The H150 came factory with SD59's, Nashville bridge and heavy stop bar. It's been a great guitar all this time too. Photo of the H535 after cleanup, swapping the hardware and restringing. Temporarily occupying a Gibson case.

With what you described on the latest H150 CC the Wilson spec, will you say the new H150CC being different from the older H150 as being more of that "historically accurate Les paul" while the new era H150 remains neutral as to what the old Heritage were doing on their H150s back in the day...?

Wow. Congratulations my friend. Enjoy.

Yes! Yes! Although some of the coolest Heritages I've played have been old ones, a good percentage of the worst quality, I've seen were also from the early years, with many guitars having to be sent back to the factory! One of my close friends was a Heritage dealer in the so called good old days, and he relayed to me some stories of such guitars, and some newer dealers I've talked too have repeated these stories, so average at best is a fallacy. Also the factory in my opinion was very run down and in need of some good clean up, but these days it's looking great. And some of the new ones are in my opinion the best Heritages I've ever seen, heard, or played! Hands down, with the new guard, the nuts, frets, and binding on the on the standard models look great, and both of my older H150s needed work in all of those departments. The only thing I don't like with the new guard is the relic-ing, especially on the tuners and around the headstock. Another thing, on the custom cores, I think they should offer unpotted humbuckers, for what they are charging for CCs, I think they should cut a deal with Throbak! They should also use better bridges (Faber or ABM would be nice), and better tuners, like Japanese made Klusons (or upscale Gotohs). But all all in all, I think Heritage has upped their game. Things I love that went by the wayside... Schaller bridges, tailpieces, and pickups!, I never liked any of them.

I use plain Zippo lighter fluid, non-diluted, and it works great! My guitar not only smelled of smoke, but of of dank basement. And now it smells fine (like old nitro)! This is the guitar I'm referring to...

Yes stay away from flames!

Don't dilute the naphtha with anything. Nitrocellulose resins are totally insoluble in VM&P naphtha. The grades that are used by Heritage are dissolved in acetone and I think they might use a touch of alcohol. You don't want to soak the finish, but a dampened rag should be sufficient. It will evaporate quickly. Make sure you use it in a well ventilated area. Stay away from water heaters and furnaces.

When you used the naptha did you dilute it or did you use it straight? Was it VM&P naptha? Thanks so much for the reply.

Thank you all for the great ideas. Naptha, activated charcoal, a fan, and time sounds like a good game plan.

This is good to hear, from someone who worked in retail & has experience from those years. I remember the shitshow of opinions when Heritage was trying to deal with QC at that time. Myself I don't really have issues with most of that as I do my own setups, and don't care about cosmetics a lot, but I could see why a lot of people did. And if you're trying to establish a reputable brand of quality, it's absolutely important.

I wonder if stuffing permeable bags full of activated charcoal inside the body would work? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Activated_carbon

It's not for the theft but the tampering of the guitar in certain situation. Glad you haven't had any issues.

As above, thanks MartyGrass! I find the HB and P90 to be really nice. Don't use the single coil option much (have strats and teles) however the single coil option kinda pair pair nicely with the P90 option INMO

From the stand point of body thickness, binding and angles, I haven't seen any real change until the CC. The CC headstock size and neck angle are different from the standard. I also remember there being a difference with the body carve between the standard and CC line. I haven't played a newer standard in a year, so I'm going on memory here, but the standard 150 felt similar to my 2003 157, except the neck was a touch beefier, more like my 535.

The problem is that the smoke gets embedded in the bare wood inside with a semi or hollow body. It becomes a case of "dilution is the solution". Constant airflow gradually draws out the smoke. Unfortunately, it takes time for that to happen. For an H-150 style, wiping it down with naphtha would do the trick since only the lacquer and fretboard get exposed. It should remove the majority of the chemicals from the smoke.

I've missed the Bird's keen eye for photos! You always caught such great moments.

Wow! You use the key? In the past 60 years, I don't know that I have ever locked a guitar case. What's the point? If someone wanted to steal my guitar, they would just pick up the case and walk away. 😉 I don't even remember getting a key with any of my guitars. The after market case I bought from GC had two in the box. They're still there.