Leaderboard

My 14 year old grandson has been a studious guitar learner for two years and takes lessons. Some time ago I gave him a G&L to play. Yesterday he spent the day playing a ghost built Gretsch made by Heritage. It has the dimensions of a Super Eagle. He took right to it and played it for hours. He asked a lot of questions about it. He's 5'7" and it fit him well. I'll get the G&L back, which is a cool take on the Fender Jazzmaster, and he'll keep the Gretsch. I also gave him 10 sets of strings. He's at my house frequently. I'll teach him how to scope the interior and do sets up. Normally he's not that enthusiasted about things. This time it was different. He played for a few hours before he said it fits him well, is easy to play, and sounds great.

I have a soft spot for the PSPs at the barn. So many good memories. Lizzy chasing fireflies. The garden shed. The bridge over nowhere-near-troubled waters. Rob's wineburst H-150. Randy's Caddy. Ron and his knee-high tube socks at the factory. The t-shirts, banners, food. Just the general camaraderie. It was a magical time.

The first year, as shown above, I did the shirt logo. We also made shirts for the Employees with this logs:

I have another grandson who plays and takes lessons. I'm showing him how to correct an overcut nut with crazy glue and baking soda today. It's on a H-150 Ultra. Years ago I pulled the HRWs and replaced the bridge and tailpiece. Here are some before and after pics. Once we get it restrung and setup, he keeps it. I want to see him do the work first. He will. He doesn't know yet he can keep it.

In truth, The Heritage built some wonderful guitars and they built some goofs. Many years ago, I got a 1998 H150, that was just a few years old. It was from a special dealer order, with regular tune-o-matic tail and Nashville bridge and SD59, jumbo frets without nibs. It was on the lighter weight range too. As soon as I strummed it, knew it was right. Have owned that one over twenty years now. Last year I came upon a gorgeous H535 from 2001, in virtually unplayed condition, with HRW pickups and beautiful figured maple, natural blonde. It had, “the sound” that a great semi-hollow is supposed to have. If you’ve gone through a bunch of 335 style guitars, you know can be all over the place tone-wise. But I discovered why it had been played so little, because the factory fretwork and fingerboard was utter poo. After careful measurements I could tell it had a heroic attempt or two at leveling the frets. But ultimately the fretboard needed to be leveled to correct it. Still had the nibs, so it left the factory this way. A notched straightedge revealed the fingerboard was a total roller coaster of high and low spots. Tried everything I could think of first, but ended up pulling the frets and properly leveled the fingerboard, then fretted it with Dunlop 6100. Plays fantastic now. Total keeper. So the old-era Heritage wasn’t immune to screwing up, just like the prior occupants of 225 Parsons. They also made some great gems as well.