Leaderboard

2001 Sweet 16 photos courtesy of Wolfe Guitars

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.

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.

VIP-1 which has also flown.

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

Hola folks! I used to frequent these forums about 15 years ago but was unable to get back with my old account (Jazzpunk) so had to do a reboot. In the past I was the proud owner of a 575 and a 530 but those are long gone now. Life took me on a different path for a while but happy to say, I have found my way back to the guitar and I am excited to be playing again. Now for the "just woke up from a coma, Soap Opera trope" of it all...wow have there been some changes! I've got the itch for another 530 and it really felt like I was stepping out of a time machine from a long ago past into the present when I started researching Heritage guitars again. I'll have to read up more on the changing of the guard but I have to say that my initial impressions are very good. The updated website and youtube content is really fantastic. It's so nice to see Heritage being showcased in the proper light I think it has always deserved. The players they gathered are fantastic and all of the demos look and sound top notch. Kudos to the new (to me) team for making that happen! Speaking of "top notch", once I got over the sticker shock, I was quite impressed with the differing tiers Heritage now offers. The custom stuff may be a bit out of my price range but it sure looks and sounds great. I imagine there was quite the controversy here when they updated the headstock design on some of the models but personally, I think they look great. The addition of the headstock inlays adds a nice touch of bling. Anyway, it's nice to be back and to see some familiar faces still posting here. Hopefully I will have another 530 in the not too distant future and be part of the Heritage crew once again. Cheers. 🙂

This Heritage Parsons Street is a great player, A different feel other Heritage. You're unlikely to see another one and may have different headstock ,tail piece, etc. It's the Darth Vader of Heritages . 6.36 LBS.

Here is a Millie DC. It has a lot of maple- the back, top and neck. Upper register access is easy. It balances well enough. A consideration with a blue guitar is that it will very slowly have some yellowing emerge. The original owner swapped out the HRWs with a set of PRS pups, which sound very good. I have the HRWs sitting in the case pocket, but so far have not had the urge to install them. From an aesthetics point of view, a well done burst is grand. Black is elegant. I like block inlays. I got a Les Paul Supreme earlier this year from a friend. There are similarities to the Millie series. The Supreme has solid woods with a lot of body hollowing, so both the Millie series and the Supreme are fairly light. The Supreme is less "neck heavy", but in neither is that a real concern. The Supreme has no back cavity cover. PIckup and harness work is doable but challenging. The better return on your dollar investment is the Millie if you plan to keep it. I'll add a little controversy. Of course every element in the signal chain and instrument affects the tone. I play the blue DC through four amps. Each takes the same instrument but sounds different. The Supreme is most like the chambered but has no back plate. I wish I had kept my Millie Eagle 2000. I had a lot of time with that guitar. I don't even remember why I traded it now. Oh well.

I'm fortunate. Back in the early 80's when I was studying guitar at the local community college, Joe Pass played 2 shows in one night. Prior to that, he hosted a student seminar. I met him. I sat in on the seminar, and watched 2 solo shows that night. It's a night that I won't ever forget. Joe was such a nice guy who went through a lot in his life. He was incredibly blunt, honest, and inspirational.

I think Kent had a deal with parents. Buy your kid a Kent guitar and they'll never want to play guitar again, you can thank us later.

I see these in a different light. The guitar seems decent by this review. The price point is attractive to the begining and intermediate player due to the price. Those who can pay more and want "better", there are other places to go. I don't own anything in this series but have played a couple. I also recall one of my favorite rock players, Randy California of Spirit, played a Sears Silvertone in his early recording and performing days to great reviews. I have modded my H-150/157s over the years in some cases. The didn't "need" mods, but some fret work and slot cutting helped. If I were back in 6th grade, there's no way I could afford a new American built H-150 or H-535 from my paper route. If the Ascent+ was available, that may be within reach. I have an emotional bias though. I grew up in Kalamazoo. I'd take the temperature of the community since they are my audience. I don't think there would be resentment if I got the Asian version, especially as a kid. I can tell you that in Kalamazoo years ago, a lot of guys played Fenders and Gretsches. They never got any pushback for disloyalty. Rather, my friends liked trying them out. Quite a few were loyal Fender players. Some worked for Gibson. Brand loyalty has advantages. And if QC is solid, one advantage is you pretty much know what you're going to get before you open the case. If the Ascent series does have the quality and tight specs, those are strong positives. I don't own one, but I'm not allergic to them! A major reason I had a good early experience, 6th-10th grade, was a glut of Gibsons in my city. I got a Firebird V with a Kalamazoo amp from a neighbor for 6 weeks of paper route money. If I were not in Kalamazoo at the time, I'd probably would have had to go Asian! Let me mention that the Ascent line is still owned and managed by the Heritage company owners. If they can produce very good guitars with a significantly lower price in Asia, they likely have to strongly consider doing that for their investors. It is likely mandated. But it's our choice as to what we buy, and we buy for different reasons. My choice has been to buy locally. That's easy when the product is good and it supports your neighbors. If I were 13 again and had to earn the money for a guitar, amp and lessons, and a used Gibson or Heritage would cost more than a new Ascent, the lofty ideals of "buying American" may not be reachable. Lastly, the Ascent series idea came from somewhere. It may be what allowed the new Heritage owners the ability to maintain the original Kalamazoo site for the Heritage models. IDK. Recall that whatever the original Heritage factory owners were doing was not survivable, leading to its sale. Projecting from my youth when I'd stare at the Gibson catalogs, quite a few kids who get an Ascent will move up into a Heritage or Gibson or Fender or PRS. From what I see, the Ascent seems like it could work as an entry point for a kid into a lifetime of guitar.

There's an album -- they play Hank Williams tunes...

That's something you might want to talk about with Mike at Heritage. They have a process, and it probably depends on how much of an upcharge it would require. Under the CC portion of the website they mention their "bespoke" program. I don't know where you live, but if there is a dealer anywhere close, you should check out the current line. I didn't feel like the necks on the Standard II guitars were toothpicks! The couple I picked up were comfortable. I've felt much thinner necks. The 530 I bought in '25 is the original Standard line, but the neck isn't really any thicker than my 2005 535. I hear all these comments about thin and thick necks, but for me, shape is FAR FAR more important than how thick it is. My 2014 Vintage '54 Strat has a baseball bat for a neck, but it's comfortable. My 74 Guild S100 is much thinner but I've played that for years! I've tried several PRS necks that were thin and were painful to play. I can pick up a guitar and can tell within 10 or 15 seconds if it's right or wrong for me. And if cost were no object, I would just fly up to Kalamazoo on a private jet and visit the factory.... or else drive my Ferrari up there. Unfortunately, someone else won the $700+ million Powerball, so there's no private jet or Ferrari in my future!

Fab 16

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.

Post pick of them or tell me about the ones you have. I've been looking on Reverb etc and there aren't a lot out there. Im kinda curious. Cheers

Yes, the Prospect is a semi. It's a bit like a smaller version of the 535, much narrower at the waist. It came out in 1991, along with the Academy which is a single cutaway.

Welcome back JP. A year ago, I snagged a 530 after checking one out at the factory during PSP. Mine is the original Standard, with the Lollar P90s, not the newer Std II with the new Heritage pickups but it's still every bit a great guitar! It's since edged out my 535 for "most playing time". I can play without an amp, and plug in when I need to. Yeah, prices bumped up, but the standard lines are still good values for a quality US build. Plus they come Plek'd so we hear very few comments about poorly cut nuts or fret issues. The factory is stressing consistently high quality control.

Welcome back JP!

There were several Millies. The Millie Eagle 2000 had a carved back and top with a center block, as I recall. It was a single cutaway with abalone fretboard inlays. That was my favorite. There were several other Millie models.

As I remember, there was a core of mahogany or maple which formed the chambered body, with carved maple top and back. It wasn't just a center block. It was wider and forms the rim but much thicker than you get with semi like the 535. It would be more like the chambered LP above. There was the 158, 155 and DC versions, plus the LE series. 155s have an access panel to the pots. The 158 doens't. The 155 is the most common.

Look up some Joe Pass videos on YouTube. Listen to his chord voicings and watch his fingers. And be amazed. The man was a genius.

that was great playing it reminded me of a steely dan song

I have both the H-160 Stat and this one which is an H-162. I gigged with the 162 for about 8 years after I got it. Back when nobody knew what Heritage guitars were worth I could find them dirt cheap. I think I got the 162 for $400. The Stat was a bit more, like $700 and had been sitting in a music store for years. Both had Schallers and if you have read my posts, I have always found Schallers to be lifeless. I put some kind of Dimarzio's in each of them and they became great guitars. The Whammy bars on both stay in tune. THe 162 is really light and the Stat has a rather fat neck and is pretty heavy. The Stat has a weird kind of switching system that took a while to get used to it. The 162 has a coil tap. This post has inspired me to take them off the wall again..... I posted this video of me playing my stat a few years back. I got hired to do the guitars on this session and then he wanted me in the video. In looking at it I have no idea what that neck pick up was as I have a different one in there now. The solo starts at around 2:30..... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S3pvhTUgXEo&loop=0

Facebook shows a few Heritage Stat models with comments from owners and lookers... https://www.facebook.com/groups/56102934732/posts/10161563743204733/ https://www.facebook.com/groups/1512934312328828/posts/3759989507623286/

My dad, a failed guitar player, had a cheap Kent acoustic guitar that I learned my first few chords on, eventually the neck popped off of it from me tuning higher than it should have been Well then for christmas that year, my mom told my dad to buy me a guitar and amp. I got a Teisco Checkmate guitar with a matching little amplifier (in a plastic case). That was equally as bad as the Kent acoustic. The action on that guitar was so high I risked damage to my fingers everytime I tried to play a chord on it. After that, I took matters into my own hands. I saved up all the money that I could from my caddy job at the local golf course, and bought my first real guitar, a 1959 Fender Musicmaster in Desert Sand, and a Danelectro Cadet amp. I was off and running from there. But even in the early 70's, that little guitar and amp cost me $400. For nostalgia's sake, a few years back, I bought a 1960 Musicmaster that is pretty much identical to my old '59, and the same DanElectro Cadet amp just to see if I could make music with it, and here's a song I recorded with it. The Danelectro amp is a toy, but the Musicmaster is really a great sounding guitar, here it is through a proper amp, my Victoria Regal II...

What you’re describing is the difference between: interpretation — making the music yours imitation — recreating someone else’s choices Tribute bands live in the second category. They’re about fidelity to a recording, not fidelity to the musical idea. That’s why they obsess over note‑for‑note solos, exact tones, exact phrasing, exact stage moves. It’s a reenactment. But in classical music, nobody treats the first performance of a Mozart symphony or a Beethoven concerto as the “correct” version. They treat the score as the real object — the blueprint — and every orchestra and conductor is expected to bring their own interpretation to it.

Hi All, when it's about Vibe(s) the choice of a real good one is a bit of a quest IMO. I always wanted one that I could really appreciate and honestly I didn't think a "modern" built one could be good as the MDV-3. I bought it new a while back and left it in another place for a while and it's now with me. It's the case I can say: good Vibe(s) 🙂 It can be deep or shallow but it's always adding something to the tone, Vibrato or Chorus in Modern or Vintage settings. It adds depth without taking anything off from the guitar voice. I use a Menatone Red Snapper Mojo (hand built) as input. More joy using single coils though.

Super duper score! The 16 is a great guitar. Beautiful specimen.

Yeah, I have to say, Throbak has been great to deal with. Expensive, but they are the real deal. I put a used set of DT-102 MXV humbuckers in my Gibson R0. They had been special ordered like 20 years ago, by a well-known guitar tech with an unusual selection of magnets. I contacted Throbak and decided to purchase the normally specified magnets. They weren't cheap, but I can attest to the fact that their magnets are indeed, the real deal. Super happy with how they treated me in the process. I'd definitely do business with them again. I've heard/played their 63 Strat set and without even knowing what they were, I was floored by how good they sounded too.

Beautiful!

@tsp17...Wow, congratulations on that gorgeous 'sweetie'!! Play it in good health, my friend.

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.

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! 😁

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

I was thinking of the Academy. I own a Prospect 12 which must be very rare as I have never seen another anywhere. It is a truly great 12 string. There are someother unkown Heritage guitars out there also. I do own the Leon Rhodes model which is very much a tele style guitar. I am always looking for one of the Aaron Cowle Heritage mandolins and would love to try out one of their flat tops.

I know, this is a silly, maybe even sophomoric topic. But, that said, this is the Heritage Owners Club, right?! 🙂 And haven't we all thought about all of the many Heritage gitfiddles we've owned, played or lusted after? You know, that uber-flame-top H-(whatever) model that you never should have let go. Or maybe that sweet axe that you've worn down the frets on, and rubbed the finish off, due to its irresistible tone and feel? It doesn't matter if your favorite is an Ascent, Standard, Custom Shop, Core, Artisan-aged, Custom one-off, or an old school from the early days of Heritage. Bring it! And share a photo if you have one. No model is off limits as long as it is a Heritage Guitar. I'll kick things off with my all time favorite model...it's the no longer in production H525. I've been blessed to own two of these great instruments, but my all time favorite is the one-off custom that Marv built to my specs back when they built almost anything customers or dealers asked for. Here's a photo of Marv just after spraying it, taken by our dear friend, Ron (High Flying Bird) Warren. OK, YOUR TURN!! LET'S SEE YOUR FAVORITE HERITAGE!!

That blue one is identical to my DC from Wolfe, except mine is trans cherry

I had a Kent when I was a kid. They sucked.

That was great! I'm a huge Roy Clark fan, but I really LOVED Joe Pass's rhythm comping.

I lean both ways... there are times where it's "play what you feel" and there are times where it's "play what they played". Depends on the song, and rarely do I have the skill to match the original, it's going to be an approximation! I don't worry about getting the exact tone or effect, but I want the notes.. the "tune" to be pretty close. It's like when Carlos and Tomita started interpreting classics. Tomita's Snowflakes are Dancing sounds nothing like any other versions, but the tune is definitely recognizable. If you start changing the notes, playing something totally different, it's NOT Snowflakes! When the Vanilla Fudge revamped multiple songs, they kept the tune. Season of the Witch, Shotgun, You Keep Me Hangin' On. It was reinterpretation, and it works. But watching Jeff Beck do Les Paul licks on How High The Moon sounds so true to Les' vision that it's a joy to hear! There's room for both situations.

I use MIDI to switch preamps all of the time. However, the Egnater/Synergy stuff is already MIDI so it was not too tricky to set it up. In my acoustic rig I also use MIDI to switch IRs in my line 6 powercab. I use a really nice Martin D-28 IR and a Gibson Loar mando Ir.....I switch instruments hit a button and I get a different preset in the PC. I am an old guy and back in the 80s I stupidly thought MIDI was just for keyboards. I learned of quite a few applications for guitar and stubbornly learned how to set it up but in no way can I do all of the things I know it can do.

Try to rotate them all but, this one the most. H-575 Custom with Seth's

Multiple favorites for different reasons, but here’s one (if i have to pick just one):

You are really out of touch with today's Heritage Guitars. This isn't 4 old Gibson employees anymore. Two are still alive, two have already passed. Does anyone expect that guys who started working in the late 50s should be building guitars today? These guys are in their 80s. Today, it's a different company. First point about giving them an F for not innovating.... Poppycock. By Jim Deurloo's own admission at PSP last month, when they opened they were making just about anything anyone thought of. Look back at catalogs from 1989 or 1993. Stat, Little One, H-110, SAE and SAE custom, HB1, HB2 and HB IV bass, H-140, Mandolins, banjos, Academy, Prospect, Mark Slaughter, H-574, H-480 acoustic, Parsons Street III and V, Millennium. They tried making unique guitars... they didn't sell. Guitarists wanted the traditional models, 150 and 535 are the bread and butter. The various jazz boxes were well received. I suspect Heritage sells more hollow bodies guitars today than Gibson, who don't even list a traditional jazz box in their current lineup. It's the same reason Fender sells a dozen Strats and a dozen Teles for every Jazzmaster or Jaguar. How many Coronados do you see them sell today? Gibson sells Les Paul, SG and 3xx variants by the truckload. How many Covus, Marauder, Victory or RDs do they sell? They're in the catalog. I don't see many on the Guitar Center wall. As for not having endorsed artists and heavy advertising, that costs money. They simply didn't have the budget to put full page ads in every guitar magazine every month. Perhaps if they had been charging exorbitant prices, they could have bought more ads, but they also might have sold fewer guitars. Gibson, Ibanez, Fender, probably spend more on their annual advertising budget that Heritage made in a year! As for nobody knowing Kenny Burrell, Mimi Fox, or Henry Johnson, you must be looking from a rock perspective. They are well known in the jazz world. Gary Moore had a signature, Alvin Lee did as well. David Paul had the blue jazz box. I've seen Buddy Whittington playing a stock H-140. Alex Skolnick? Having name on the guitar doesn't automatically mean that fans flock to buy them, especially when you have limited production capacity. How many variants of the Stratocaster do you need? Clapton, Beck, Eric Johnson, Jimi Hendrix, Yngwie Malmsteen, Jimmy Vaughn, Stevie Ray, Robert Cray, Cory Wong, Rory Gallagher. That's just part of the artist models. The same goes for Les Paul variants. Reinvent the wheel.. .over and over and over again. Finally, I think you are looking at past history. Today, you can find Heritage guitars at Wolfe, Daves, Eddies, Sweetwater, Chicago Music Exc, Cream City, Jimmy Wallace. That's just the bigger US dealers selling US made guitars. They have an import line, akin to Epiphone, Fender Mexico, Squire or PRS SE. It's not to everyone's liking, but its brand building. And having played samples of the Ascent+ guitars, they actually played quite well. I would have no problem walking on a stage with an Ascent+ 150 or 137. Heritage is doing just fine. They are shipping out guitars by the dozen, not 2 or 3 a week. It's a different company.

This was from the 2018 tour. It's the same rope method we was this year.

I like looking at your pretty guitars. The implied lesson here is don't buy some gorilla glue and do it yourself. But finding an excellent repair guy in Kalamazoo is considerably easier than many other cities. You are one lucky guy!