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just off the Fedex truck!

Thanks for the suggestion to buy from Green Oak, unfortunately they didn’t have the color I wanted but I was able to talk to Heritage and order this!

In my life I have witnessed in myself and others the same feeling of an instrument not fitting well. I have also seen looks of disbelief. A friend of mine was asigned the upright bass in high school. I had a cello. It didn't matter how we liked it. I had a Howard Roberts as a kid. It was big. My teacher said after a while I'd get used to it. He was right. But we are grown men. We don't have to put up with that anymore. One of my guitar teachers was Joe Fava. We were in his small teaching room, and he would smoke. He focused on technique and stopped me everytime my fingers didn't move correctly. It was constant criticism with occasional "good". I practiced this uncomfortable technique two hours a day. Eventually it became natural. Violin players told me the same thing. I wouldn't dare to complain. He'd say play your instrument properly or quit. Eventually it because okay. I went through the same with a bass clarinet. I have a H-575, two actually since I'm borrowing one, but like the feel of the H-530 a bit better. To get sentimental, I enjoyed the days being a kid and having a strong teacher who told me exactly what I'm supposed to do. It cut out a lot of noise from the other voices. Then Hendrix came along.

To put this politely, reasonable people have different opinions. I have no quarrel with someone whose preferences differ from mine. I would appreciate a certain humility that precludes stating an opinion as a universal fact though. I do understand that love of guitars is a certain manifestation of mental illness that I suffered with most of my life. I am confident of this much on the topic: weight relieved H-150s weigh less.

Oh fuck!!! That sucks. He was a great guy.

This is so odd. As mentioned, there was an uproar when Gibson did this. There was this argument that heavy guitars sound better and have more sustain. I have owned two weight relieved H-150s, one I got by accident since I ordered it. The Heritage dealer didn't even know it was weight relieved. He would have charged more. I very much approve of this design. If it adversely affects sustain or tone, I don't notice.

RIP Eric. Blessings to your family. 🙏

Sorry to hear this. RIP LedZef.

I had the same experience but in reverse. Everyone is different…My first Heritage 25 years ago was an amazing 535. Gorgeous!!!! But just too big for me and didn’t sit right on my lap or against my body due to where the contours were. Got a 575MH and was in love. Now a 575 custom, 550 custom and an Skb. All feel ‘just right’.

Says the guy who owns the most Fab of Millies.

Millie's are Fab.

It really doesn't matter what reality is... you can find opinions going both ways. More weight = more sustain. Light resonant wood = more sustain. As to what qualifies as "tone", that's entirely whatever the person wants it to mean. I remember playing a Guild Bluesbird that was chambered. It rang very nicely. Millenniums do as well. I can't say my Mille is missing anything in the tone department.

We would appreciate a tone and playability report!

I think these look really nice and I’m excited about the 60’s neck. I think I’m developing arthritis because my hand will start cramping after about 30 minutes on my H-150. Definitely wanting one in chestnut or dirty lemon.

Yes . . . I changed my thinking and got a 530 for more variety. It came today and I'm glad to have it!

60's slim taper neck profile on the new 'Standard II Collection" models?? Maybe they're targeting youngsters looking for their first guitar. I begged for a guitar when I was 12, so I get it. As long as Heritage continues to offer thicker necks as an option across the product line, I see this as no big deal.

I'm guessing at least a pound. Did you get to hear Pete Farmer when he was pointing out the different select pieces of mahogany. They had the ones for Standards, then for Custom Cores, and then over on the other rack, were the "hold these for special things". Once Sweetwater gets in the Standard II guitars, you'll see exactly how much difference there is since they post the weights of the guitars.

I thought they were closing up shop and moving everything to Guangdong China. Next year's PSP was going to be held at the Country Inn in Guangzhou with a tour of the tin shack where all the guitars are made! Man, the rumors that get started on the internet! You just don't know who to believe anymore. As for the Standard II collection, I kinda like the idea. In-house pickups is a good thing. Keep those winders going. I would have to feel the neck... I don't need a Louisville Slugger but a little bit of beef seems to give a bit more stablility. Weight relief is a good thing. Witness the recent purchase of my H-530. Much more weight relief and I would be playing air guitar!

OK, here's the deal. Next PSP, you bring your 530, I'll bring mine. You pick a song and let me know and we'll jam on it! When mine showed up, it had been sitting in the Fed Ex truck and temps were in the mid 90s. It took a few days for things to settle in. The low E string was buzzing, but a truss rod tweak and bridge adjustment to get it back to 5/64" pretty much cleared that up. It rings nicely now. Interestingly, it sounds quite different from my H-525, even though both are maple laminate tops with Lollar P90s. I don't know that the pickups are the same version, as the guitars were built many years apart. I took the 530 to jam with some friends, and it pretty much sat on the neck pickup the whole day, just some knob twisting and hitting a couple of pedals over 3 hours.

Good decision. It's much easier to convert a humbucker equipped guitar to P90 than the other way around. There are many quality humbucker-sized P90 on the market. Sometimes the best solution is to buy another guitar. At least, that's what I've been telling my wife over the years. 🙂