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I’m new here and thought you might want to see something I just picked up from Pete Farmer in the custom shop. I have wanted an Eagle Classic forever and as a retirement gift to myself, I contacted Heritage and visited with Farmer who showed me some options. I landed on the last of the five 2019 NAMM Eagle Classics that was in mid-construction. He nicknamed them the Be-Bop. As it turns out, mine will be the only one of the five that has everything from the original specs including the tortoise shell tuning buttons (the other four have gold). It plays like a dream and I haven’t put her down since I picked her up in July. Several gigs later, it’s my go-to guitar from now on for everything. Thought you’d like to see some photos.

I took a little trek to Grand Rapids tonight to check out this beautiful H525. I got it from the original owner, who's son used to work at Heritage. It was #2ed for some minor finish flaws....actually, its pretty much in NOS condition.

The difficulty i have with generalizations about production years is that most of the instruments every year were very good.

Marv made this and I received it at one of the PSPs. They called it a Millennium Pro. Also a double cut I still have.

It's great to see H-555's being custom ordered. I can't wait to get my 2007 back to work again doing what its made for.

I was fortunate to find this 2021 Custom Core H150 used....I'm so glad i did. I have gone through this guitar inside and out...played it plugged and unplugged, and I'm going to give you my honest and complete review of this new model from the Heritage Custom Shop. PRESENTATION... I was impressed with Heritage's attempt to make this a "special" model. The case is VERY nice and heavy duty. The bound certificate is a nice touch as well. I also found the CS keychain a nice touch. A lot of these pleasantries, somewhat mirror the Gibson CS...like the sticker on the pick guard....but considering that this model is going head to head with the Gibson CS R9, I can see the reasoning. FIT AND FINISH... I have to say this was the most surprising part of this guitar, to me. The finish on the guitar is like a lightly aged/overly polish swirled....I would call it a close comparison to the VOS finish on CS Les Pauls. Its gloss...but not completely gloss. It caught me off guard...I was expecting a super glossy, super shiny finish. Nicely aged binding...looks like smoky bar binding. All of the routes, holes, attached pieces and parts all fit right and look great. Neck joint and neck pitch are perfect. The bone nut is cut perfectly! PARTS AND ELECTRONICS.... From what I'm seeing, it look like Heritage used all premium parts on these CC 150s. CTS pots, Orange drop caps, Switchcraft toggle and jack, Tonepros bridge, lightweight aluminum tailpiece and all vintage style braided wiring. I'm not sure what band the HERITAGE stamped tuners are...they seem to be ok, although, the D and G tuner nuts are striped out on my guitar (wont tighten down to the headstock) I'll have to email Heritage and see if they will send me a couple replacements. THE WOODS... Typical LP construction. One piece mahogany body and neck. Highly figured maple top. Rosewood fretboard with mother of pearl traps. The headstock has an inlaid veneer with the Heritage logo. I cant believe how light this guitar is!!!! Just under 8 1/2 lbs! Its lighter than my 2020 H150 Standard. NECK CARVE.... Heritage really nailed the necks on these! Its a rounded C shape which measures .895 at the first fret and .982 at the 12th fret with a moderate amount of shoulder. Not baseball bat-ish. I find it very comfortable...its very similar to the neck on my 2017 Heritage 535 custom. SETUP AND PLAYABILITY... This H150 is PLEKed...all new Heritages are now. So, I was expecting a low action with minimal neck relief. Well, I got it!!! I use 10-46 gauge strings. The Custom Core 150 sets up with a super low action which makes it play like butter all the way up the neck!! Almost effortless chording and wonderful sustain. TONE.... Heritage is putting their own 225 Parson Street Pickups in these Custom Core models. I'm not sure who winds these...I'm guessing someone in the Kalamazoo local? The 225 pickups remind me of a cross between a CS Duncan 59 and Seth Lover. The Bridge pickup tone is crisp and articulate. Great note definition. Not ice-picky. The neck pickups tone is very warm and creamy. Also very articulate. Very fat when pushed with some moderate OD. Overall, I feel the tone of this guitar is right up there with some of the best Les Pauls I have owned. I'm probably gonna try some different pickups in it, just because, thats what i do...lol. But out of the box....The Custom Core H150 sounds fantastic! PUTTING A BOW ON IT.... I can honestly say I'm very impressed with what Heritage has done with the Custom Core H150. Heritage has shown, with this model that they can play with the big boys. I'm not out to start a HERITAGE VS GIBSON DEBATE....NO!!! Its all personal preference. You want a CS Gibby, buy a Gibby. You want a Kalamazoo made CS LP...buy the Heritage....its that simple!!! I honestly think the Custom Core H150 and the Gibby Custom Shop R9 are of equaly quality and playability. (i know im gonna catch a lot of flack for that statement) The street price on the Custom Core H150 (non artisan aged) is $3799. Artisan Aged $4299. If you are looking for a top shelf Les Paul, made in Kalamazoo, Michigan....the Heritage Custom Core H150 is your guitar!!!

This 1999 creation popped up for sale about a decade ago. Some on the HOC may remember it. I wish I knew more about whoever had it custom built. It's a quilt top translucent black three pickup guitar. The knobs, TRC, tuner buttons, and both back plates are made of ebony. The fretboard inlays are abalone. The pickups originally were Bill Lawrences. I had Pete Moreno do a lot of work on this. He put two humbuckers and a Phat Cat in. For the wiring, he consulted Mike Koontz in the Detroit area in building the harness. The goal was to have two knobs for volume on the humbuckers that were push-pull for coil splitting, a third volume knob for the Phat Cat that's also push-pull that is an off-on function for that pickup, and a single tone knob. They succeeded magnificently. After some time I sold it to get something to a guy on the Les Paul Forum. A decade or so later we reconnected and I got it back. This is not everyone's cup of tea. But if you want to burn up a few hours dialing in different tone, this works. It's a very good looker, too. Here is the original pics.

Here’s a resized pic

This plays really well and sounds magnificent. But as import, it reflects the feelings of the original Heritage owners.

Great point! Another difference that should be addressed is value. Back in the day the Heritage guitars were a great value, cost vs quality. Heritage guitars were an affordable entry into craftsmanship. Now the cost is on par with small build boutique, or gibby custom. Apples and oranges

Exactly. Great answer. I have never owned a bad Heritage guitar. The only new guitar I have seen is a buddy of mine's 150. A Heritage that went out in 1989 can be the perfect match against any guitar. Getting to meet the craftsmen and craftslady has been a plus. I don't know the new people. I don't need to. I have my guitars... and I am pleased with them all. 535, 137 and 475. They all deserve a better guitar player than I.

nice one, badass as stated. I'm a big H155 fan. When I picked my '00 "Q" Millie up it was for sale at a Royal Oak guitar store on ebay. I saw it, (RED), it seduced me! Plus it had silver/nickel (whichever) hardware, my preference. A Millie DC that I had purchased prior had gold hardware, the normal. Both had (have) HRW pickups, standard issue at that time. When I got mine home, I immediately knew my H150 was a guitar that I didn't need anymore. The weight difference was unreal. And the thing flat out screams, plenty of overtone and sustain thru my Marshall or Fender amps. The pics are from the day I picked her up, I was driving back west on I-94 towards Kalamazoo when I decided to take a few shots of her posed outside the old Michigan Central railroad shop complex in Jackson. I've since replaced the tailpiece with a Nashville bridge and the input jack was getting iffy so a quick stop at the brentster's guitar emportium and sewing room changes were made. I love this guitar. Ya, the Millie is a great stud in the rack to own. Congrats.

Sorry so many posting. but I can't edit 1st post and video embedding. OMG😪 I play my funny valentine so if you have time, please listen to it

Hey Tim, I'm glad it worked out too, the tracking was a bit sketchy. And the delivery guy just left it right in front of my front door for anyone to see it. I left a note that said leave it behind my front porch rail if i wasn't home. I guess he didn't see the note:) It literally sat out there for hours even into the night time as I had two gigs that day and was 70 miles from home. At night my front porch lights automatically come on, and that thing was sitting under a spotlight. Man I was lucky someone didn't just walk away with it.

Ha! I went through the exact same thing. I had an incredible ‘06 Studio (pre weight relief) that was easily one of the very Les Pauls I’d ever had. Sold it cuz I just had to have a Standard. Sure regret that move, as I still think about that Studio model a lot.

Here's a more recent video where he explains how and why he plays that way, plus a few other words of wisdom...

Noted jazz master Henry Juszkiewicz plays chords inaccessible to anyone else. Note this one: Em/F#(add 2)sorta, with the thumb damped F#, the E-and-a-half, and the C#-and-three-quarters. A player's player.

I had a Brand new one blocks/Rosewood disappear/stolen at the factory during the cleanup when Plaza took over... Those Serials don't match but I keep my eyes open for her! The factory did make it right with me... I loved those good ol' boys of the Golden Era!

I'm curious whether he will get his shipping refunded from FedEx. He did box it well. As soon as FedEx dropped off the package to me I took time stamped pics of the outer and then inner boxes because there was some mild damage to them. This was before I opened either box. I did that every time now because I had a FedEx claim this year, which they rightly paid for. One of the requirements at FedEx is that there has to be documentation that the box shows some damage.

Thornton cousins. No Gibson here. I've told the story of the triple pickup H-157. I'll probably put in a TOM bridge (one is on the way). The translucent black is stock from Heritage and require nothing but a truss rod and bridge adjustment. The Throbaks sound very good. The H-157 staple/P90 I got new from Green Oak Guitars (Paul from HOC) and needed nothing changed. I recently got the H-150 Ultra from a forum member. Although it is older it arrived in nearly new condition. I replaced the bridge and tailpiece. It needed some fret work done and the nut slots filed. Aaron Cowles's son took care of that. It plays beautifully. The H-150 with the mini-toggles was made for a friend of Ren Wall a couple of decades ago. It has an ebony fretboard and now has P-Rails. The VSB H-157 is set up the same way. It came with abalone inlays. The final H-157 is as it arrived from Heritage. It is probably an Ed Roman special. It has SD Black Back pickups. http://www.edroman.com/parts/blackback.htm It required no additional setup or changes. Thorntons are always perfect. You can take that to the bank. Guitars are tools and art.

Sisters.

Here it is after the mods.

nope he stays on top of his orders. He's one of the most popular boutique winders out there, but unlike many others, he knows how to run a business!

Not true, for my last set, we talked for about an hour on what I wanted and he custom wound them the next day.

I know what you mean by bling. But after a while you start to appreciate the extreme detail that adds nothing to its sound. I've had a chance over the years to talk with Marv Lamb, Aaron Cowles, Maudie Moore, and JP Moats about the design. They wanted to put everything into this instrument. The American spirit had been low with the Tehran hostages, the economy doing very poorly, and the Challenger exploding. Of course Gibson moved to Nashville hurting the Kalamazoo economy badly. But it was all starting to turn around. Heritage was now making and selling guitars with growth projections, inflation dropped to 4% and unemployment plummeted to 6%. Kalamazoo was recovering nicely. To change things up, here's someone wearing bling while playing a very simple instrument. That works, too.

I have OG Black Binding beause of the..........erm, whatever. I like Black Binding!! Dude!! Beauty of an axe. I was gonna grab it on a payday and found it gone. Oh well. I hope you play it in good heath ya butth......uh...big nice guy! LOL!! Seriously. Enjoy it.

Not every guitar was perfect, but most were very very good. I refuse to say any year was better than any year and compare guitars each to their own. I will put my 2007 555 Custom up against any Heritage being produced now for fit, finish, playability, weight, looks, woods, and tone.

I have seen many examples of both era's and in between. They have all had their little problems but for the most part they have produced some wonderful instruments! I am especially proud of so many instruments produced in Kalamazoo MI USA. I'm born and raised in Michigan. This one is Special!

Hangar, They're AlNiCo III's, and mine meter at the neck: 7.55, and the bridge: 7.57.

That headstock looks like it was subject to some serious abuse. Never seen anything quite like that before. Not sure where this thread is headed, but quite a few incredible instruments made it out of Parsons Street way before the eventual buy-out. Remember, back in the day, the builders took custom orders and would build just about anything one of the dealers or customers would request. And the out the door prices were hundreds or thousands less than any competitor. Yes, overall build quality and consistency has improved in recent years, but lets keep things in perspective. For example... I'd put this '93 Golden Eagle up against anything produced by Gibson or any of the great luthiers of our day. And not all H150's were boat anchors. This 2004 came from the factory weighing in at 8.1 lbs., and is a tone monster!

Yup it popped up when I pushed it in, gave it a slight turn to the left and bingo!

When it comes to electronics in a guitar…. @PunkKittysays the sky is yellow, I’d believe her.

Yesterday I got a guitar in the mail that was shipped all the way from Russia. It’s a 60s Fender Jazzmaster reissue made in Japan. I don’t know why I assumed it came with a case, but it didn’t. The guy who sold it to me just wrapped the guitar up In bubble wrap, and stuffed it in a cardboard box. Funny enough, it got here in perfect condition there isn’t a ding or a scratch on it anywhere.

ps I'd be careful to not load up the fingerboard with too much fingerboard treatment oil. I had a repair shop guy tell me once that he got a lot of repair jobs where too much oil caused the frets to lift out of place.

Absolutely! Although he uses an archtop these days, back in the '80s one of my favourites, Jim Mullen used a Tele and a Twin...

Apologies for not having written more extensively on my Custom Core 150. I just haven't been free to. But rest assured, Brent, who's had more Heritage guitars pass through his hands than any five of us, has rendered a spot-on appraisal. As I said, I don't have time to address the differences between, for example, my '06 20th Anniversary and the Custom core. For example: There is no measurable dimension on the CC headstock that's the same as on the 20th Ann (or my '96 535). Jack placement is completely different (much lower on the bout of the CC). the cutaways are different, the CC's being shallower, with a more relaxed radius. The heel on the CC is much more robust than that of the 20th Ann. I could go on. They are not the same guitar. The attention to aggregate details (fit and finish everywhere) on the CC, as Brent alluded, results in a superior instrument, and I've owned $6K Custom Shops. I suspect Edwin Wilson and Pete Farmer got together and, with their vast experience, decided how they wanted to dot every minute "i" and cross every little "t" on the Custom Cores to make the very best Les Paul type guitar they could conjure. Sure enough did!

Hope I'm not breaking any rules ... Apologies in advance if I am .. John Hiatt - Perfectly Good Guitar

Is the the FedEx employee of the week Pete Townsend?

Interesting thread on this topic...rather than the usual binary love 'em-hate 'em survey. I like old things. Good place to be now, given my age.... I've always been a fan of distressed, aged, whatever you want to call it. I guess that harkens back to my early experiences with vintage guitars (then, they were just "used") and the nicks, bumps, bruises and lack of shiny newness, which always spoke to their experiences, and often, the simple fact they were usually good instruments, not to mention more affordable than new. So I've owned a few intentionally aged instruments. Two in particular were G. Custom Shop Lesters, an R4 Robbie Krieger, and an R7 Goldtop. They were both terrific! Could gig 'em with impunity and they had a great "old boots" feel. The R7 was an ideal platform for my vintage PAF's! Close as I'll ever get to the "real thing." That guitar was a lot of fun! And boy, did G beat that one up! Pretty extreme. The Krieger was supposed to replicate the original's crazing, dings and all. Less abused than the Goldtop, but still had been given a whuppin'. Both had a nice, broken-way-in feel. Which brings me to my latest, the Custom Core 150, with Artisan Aging. It's different from the others. There are some pinhead-sized dings spread out over it, just into the finish, but nothing that reveals wood. The hairline crazing is all over the guitar, everywhere, but consistently fine so that in low light, or from five feet away, you can't really see it. And the finish has a consistent, dull-ish semi-gloss patina that suggests a little oxidation of the clear coat or wear...without looking worn. Just as with so many other features on the guitar, the finish seems a very, very consciously thought-out and executed feature. I think buzzy's comment above suggests the same. The effect is almost more tactile, than visual. The "aging" is certainly there, but subtle, tasteful; it's really more of a patina or an actual finish than the "event" it is with the G's or on Bill Nash's pieces.

https://www.mylespaul.com/threads/psa-be-super-careful-when-shipping-a-les-paul-broken-headstock.403949/

Last month my always quite Fender Princeton Reverb tube amp developed a loud hiss. I took my amp in to get it repaired at a high end retail shop in Cleveland. The owner was out of town and one of the employees advised that they sell amps but no longer repair amps. He did advise me where I should go for repairs. The recommendation was Shockproof Sound Services. I met with the owner, Blackie Pagano when I dropped the amp off for repair. I got the amp back this week and it sounds fantastic. If you live in the greater Cleveland area and are in need an expert tube amp repair technician, Blackie is your man. Check out his credentials on his web site, Shockproofsound.com There are not a lot of tube amp repair shops in Cleveland. I just wanted to give my fellow Clevelanders a expert repair shop option.

Finally had some time to make sure upgrades. Grover locking tuners with Keystone buttons, TonePros locking bridge and tailpiece, top-wrap with some Roto-yellows. I hate having to intonate a new bridge. Tedious bit worth it. Cheers from Iowa!

The best way to pack a headstock is to make it unable to flex when dropped. To go to the extreme, take off the tuners. Pack under the headstock very tightly underneath and on the sides. Then pack it tightly on top of it. Fracture is caused by a rapid flexion, typically from dropping. If the upper neck and headstock are rigidly packed, there will be no fracture.

Easy repair to make playable Difficult repair to make look like new.

here's mine Since this was taken the colour seems to have mellowed into a more honey colour.

Now that's fancy. The chrome, extra binding and block inlays are classy. Here's one from the same factory from 1982 a friend of mine just got today. Similar but somewhat different.

The Princeton is clean up until around 7 on the volume dial after that is where it begins to saturate. The Deluxe is clean up until 8 on the volume dial before it saturates. The Deluxe, at 22 wpc is much louder than the Princeton, and the Princeton, with the hemp speaker, has a "browner" sound to my ears than the Jensen that is in my Deluxe. So in short, there are very few similarities between the two. You could get away with the Princeton in a small room unmiked. I first tried it out with a Strat then moved to a Heritage 150 equipped with SD59's. It really sounds at home with the Heritage. I like it.

That's from the Custom Shop. It's a Beauty!

I forgot the names of the individual harmony models, but on the very small one just one volume control, Harmony is calling them the P90 gold foil. I played one of those last weekend and I was blown away it sounded great.