Leaderboard

A friend of mine bought a natural 575 from a Guitar Center years ago. When he got it, he found some neck issue that could not be corrected by adjustment. He took it to the legendary Aaron Cowles, who was doing some upscale work for Heritage at the time. Aaron told him the neck needs replacement. I don't recall the details. Aaron did the replacement. Here's an interview with Aaron. https://scholarworks.wmich.edu/gibson-guitar-oral-histories/1/ Aaron died quite a few years ago. I ended up hanging on to the guitar for my friend but didn't play it. Yesterday he sold it to me without ever taking it to his home. If you are feeling sorry for him, consider he has more guitars than anyone else I know. So this is has Schallers. I scoped the innards. It's parallel braced (not all are). Aaron made the neck and but a plain ebony board on it. It's a 3 piece maple. The only piece he got from Heritage is the headstock overlay. My friend requested a five piece neck but Aaron recommended a 3 piece. Aaron fretted it. There are no nibs. That's true with other Aaron builds. Aaron was one of the best of the Kalamazoo luthiers yet a simple man to understand. He always had his pistol handy in shop. He charged very little for his hard work. His humble presentation contradicted his master skills at making guitars and mandolins. The guitar plays well. The neck is to me a medium C carve, maybe a medium plus. It sounds good.

I'm still setting it up. It was down-tuned for a very long time and a string was missing. I didn't see it before it was renecked, but the first neck was mahogany. Few of us had the good fortune of meeting Aaron Cowles, a master craftsman of the highest order yet very pragmatic. That was the description also of the original Heritage owners. The H-575 is a jazz workhorse. I took video lessons from Mimi Fox and Alex Skolnick years ago, two extraordinary players both using the H-575. It does the job well and is sturdy. Unlike thin topped spruce jazz boxes, this is built for amplification and to take it. (As an aside, here's a fabulous rock solo by Alex that brought tears to the audience.) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X07ssteuM8o&t=245s Here's what I don't like: the tailpiece. It functions, but you have to learn how to keep the string ball in it. Previously I had the ball slots deepened in another guitar. If someone knows an easy swap out for the tailpiece that is more solid and secure, please let me know. Bigsbys need not apply.

I used to know people that would take a certain drug and stay up late writing things that didn't make sense.

Sadly, he went from gate guard at the retirement home to resident at the retirement home.