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I forgot I made this slide show of some of the Custom Orders I made. Old School Heritage Custom Shop.

Custom Core 150

I attended the Kalamazoo Fretboard Festival on March 2. I wandered into a performance room and was surprised to see and an acoustic Heritage 12 string guitar. I couldn't get a closer picture of it during the performance. I did see the owner as he was leaving the festival and told me it was custom made in 1986.

For those who don't know, Scotty Moore was Elvis's main guitarist for a very long time. He also was a studio musician and an extraordinary player. Here is a page from his website about his friend and fellow musician Don Dean. http://scottymoore.net/dondean.html Some years ago a friend of mine, who is a great player, really wanted a Heritage Johnny Smith. Both he and I are Johnny fans but he couldn't afford a Gibson. We searched for a few weeks but found nothing. Late at night I found one in a national Craigslist search that was in Kentucky. I called, probably first thing in the morning, and learned that the guitar belonged to Don Dean. Don had died recently and his widow asked the guy on the phone, a pedal steel guitarist and friend of Don, to sell his many guitars. The HJS was stored under Don's bed with a couple of other guitars and was found a bit later than Don's main collection. I drove to Kentucky that morning and arrived in a modest country house with gorgeous scenery. The seller and his wife were very nice. I had a meal with them as they talked about the old days. The seller was a studio musician and road player with Elvis and others. Scotty and Don were friends to both him and his wife. Don died slowly with dementia. They talked about the lean and the better days. It was great. He brought the case out. It looked like someone had vomited on the top and the clean up was less than thorough. The guitar was mint. Further, it had the extra rose inlay in the pickguard, which was a $500 upcharge. I measured it and it was 18" across the lower bout! To my knowledge there were only two of these made, one finished in rose natural and this one a natural. Both were special ordered by Don, a Heritage dealer at the time. Even more surprising was the body depth was between 3 1/4 and 3 3/8", making this truly unique. I made the long drive back that night. I emailed my friend to say I got him a guitar. The next morning he let me know he found a standard HJS while I was in Kentucky at a pawn shop in Ohio and ordered it. Some time later he tired of his HJS, sold it, bought the 18" HJS from me. He had Kent Armstrong rebuild the Floating #3 pickup to increased output, something quite a few people did with that pickup. Eventually I got the guitar back. It is now my favorite, in part because of the story but also because it plays so well and is stunning. In Don Dean's photos you can see him playing this guitar. On the same page you can also see an 18" Heritage American Eagle, probably the only one made. Here is the HJS in action played by my friend 6 years ago. It is seasonally appropriate. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1xH_0qJ0Pt0&list=PLZKJqrSIMuspiR9CbV8ztncKUecx6o1Qu&index=2

I guess a good time for me to come back, after a reset/reboot. 😄

Since it’s Friday again,

I play George Benson's "Affirmation" with Heritage guitar. If you have time,please listen to it. Thank you.

Venerable and Stalwart Heritage Owners, Am straggling in with my contribution: a "C", 1986 Golden Eagle, the 38th they made. Bought it about a year ago from Dan Keller, of Kansas. It's not in mint condition, having a few minor dings and I'm thinking there's a slight twist to the neck that needs a luthier's TLC, but overall in wonderful condition given it's age. X-braced. It has a handwound Kent Armstrong floating humbucker. The neck is a bit thick for my hand, and am struggling with whether to sell, as it's the nicest guitar I'll ever own. I found where this guitar had been posted on Reverb five years ago, but have no other knowledge of it's provenance. Dan said that he owns the first Kalamazoo Award, and that the Golden Eagle was meant to be Heritage's take on that. I'm 70, and have been playing since 10. Got as far as a garage band playing an SG Special through a Marshall stack in the early 70s. But got off drugs, and sold that gear before college and raising a family. For many years just banged on a Seagull acoustic and howled at the moon to folk and the cowboy songs that Dad used to sing us to sleep by. Around 2016 decided to take guitar playing more seriously. Took jazz lessons and purchased a 575. Wanted something with better acoustical sound, and meandered a bit before lucking into this Golden. Have since bought a 1999 Eagle Custom, my fave with a neck that makes my fretting hand smile more than the Golden's. Even with my geezer's hearing, the Golden sounds better, though. You might see this Golden posted for sale here sometime this year, after my luthier works whatever magic it needs. Well, thank you for all your contributions to this site. Your collective wisdom has educated and guided me. I believe this is my first time posting to the HoC, though I joined 6-7 years ago prior to purchasing the 575. Best, Latham

One I still have.

My Super Eagle and a stop-tail 150 built for the late Sam Moss, who introduced me to Heritage guitars almost twenty years ago. I think Guy still has that 150...maybe?

I got together with a couple of friends again this afternoon to play some tunes. Mostly I've been taking my H140. Once I took my G&L ASAT. A couple of weeks ago, I took my G&L Legacy. I like the way they all play. They sound pretty darn good, although the guys commented that the Legacy sounded "thin". Yeah, it's a SSS, so it doesn't have the beef on the bottom. I haven't taken the 157 or Millenium, and while I took the 525 once as a backup, it never got out of the case. Today, I took my H535, the one with the new machine heads. After playing for almost 3 hours, I have to say that if I had to pick a favorite, that would be it. I don't know what it is about that guitar, but it sounds good, to me, it plays like a dream, it's got great upper fret access, and it's comfortable to hold for 3 hours (well 2 3/4 after taking a short bourbon break). It looks sexy as hell with that nice Faded Cherry finish. There's nothing that guitar can't do. I even did some finger picking on Helplessly Hoping! It's a winner!

...but it is it's solid body step cousin! Figured we could all use an extra pallet cleanse after seeing the bolt-on neck overseas thread.

I post this every year. Ren playing a guitar I custom ordered.

I had a nice Gibby ES-347. Now I have something that sounds better. A 535 with flamed bat-wing and ThroBak ER Custom pickups. If I wanted a 335 I'd have one.

How fitting that this is right under Kuz’s pic..

Heritage has some great maple!

My entry for Throwback Thursday (Friday) is my very first Heritage. It was love at first sight and still takes my breath away when I open her case. This 31 year old 1993 Golden Eagle has aged nicely and sounds better each year.

G serial number. My first Heritage, bought new in 1990.

I got this quite a while ago and sold it to a fellow HOC'r and friend years ago, and now I bought it back. This was built for Vince Lewis. Looks good, sounds good, plays good.

My experience is Market. Usually not making a lot on them. Most don't appreciate or know what goes into these.

Hi, I play "Milestones" with Heritage Sweet16. If you have time, please listen to it. Thank you.

Have yourself a Merry Heritage Christmas!! Merry Christmas to all HOC Members!!

Tim Pierce is a Pro's Pro Guitarist. Nothing is ever flashy, but everything is perfect for the application. He has said before is working on trying to play faster and he really is not a shedder at all. I believe many on this forum could play faster than Tim. BUT he can play over any chord progression and have the perfect melodic solo. He doesn't play the same old tired licks, but is imaginative and melodic. I love TP's playing and he seems like a really super guy. He is also an adamant proponent of new guitars overs vintage guitars. He says new guitars (including PRS) play better, have better intonation, and sound just as good as vintage guitars. He believes we are in the golden era of guitar making and I absolutely believe he is correct. It doesn't surprise me that he loves Heritage Guitars along with other new company's builds (Heritage, Collings, PRS, Harmony, Novo, ect.... Great video Tim!

I just picked up my first Heritage last week from Sweetwater - an H-150 in Vintage Wineburst. This "sweetwater exclusive" has SD Alnico Pro IIs instead of the usual SD '59s. So far, I love it! Plays wonderfully, sounds great, is resonant as hell/sustain for weeks! I don't ever buy new guitars, but this was a special treat for myself! There are a couple of issues I found though - nothing world ending to me, anyways. There was a ding under the pickguard where the bracket screw hit the top of the guitar (sucky but not a huge deal for me) and the neck pickup ring is cracked. Neither of which are a huge deal, but kind of bummers. You'd think they'd put some felt under the pickguard screw or something...Sweetwater offered to exchange for a different guitar, but the only other one in this color is heavier and uglier They said they'd try to get me a replacement p/up ring. The only other thing with fit & finish that has me going "wait, what?" is the wiring job: That is some SLOPPY solder work - the only thing I can think of is that it originally had the SD 59's then there was a "oh s**t this one is supposed to have the Alnico IIs" and it was a Friday before a long weekend (You can also see the stepped carve from the CNC; I don't know that I've seen a cavity like that before.) Anyways, other than those teeny issues, I absolutely love this guitar and it absolutely blows away several other LPs I've played lately.

Hi all, ‘I just got my Heritage H150 Custom core aged (dirty lemon burst). Tried it in the shop and the guitar speaks to me ? Cheers!

Upgrading the harness will do certain things depending on the parts used. You can get pots with different tapers, which means that how quickly or smoothly the sound changes will be different with a 15% audio taper vs a 30% taper or a linear taper. What these numbers mean is that for a 500K pot, a 15% will measure 75K ohms when turned 50%. A 30% taper will measure 150K ohms at the mid point. Linear taper means it will be 250K when turned half way. Since volume is a logarithmic function (because we hear that way), the use of a log measurement is supposed to make it more like what you hear. Turn it up from 50% to 100% and it sounds twice as loud. The capacitor value will make a huge difference in the brightness. In the typical humbucker setup, a .022uF cap is used. The higher the value, the darker the sound as you roll off the control. You might even want to have different values, like .015 for a neck pickup vs .022 for the bridge. I really don't hear a difference between the Vishay metal film caps that Heritage uses and an oil filled cap. The Vishay caps are good units. If you can solder, then it's not hard to make up a harness. I made a template out of a piece of cardboard, and soldered everything except the pickup and switch on the cardboard. Then I mounted the pots, connected the caps and ground wire and installed it. This is the result. Finally there's vintage wiring scheme vs modern wiring scheme. You can read how these differ lots of places. Seymour Duncan has wiring diagrams for each type. https://www.seymourduncan.com/resources/pickup/wiring-diagrams For Heritage guitars, you want short shafted pots. That's all for now. It's a fairly easy job assuming you can solder.

I checked with Grant Green about keeping the pickguard. Here's his reaction...

That would please me. When I bought the H535 with P90s that Kuz sold me, he already took care of the bridge mount with the Faber screw in ABR inserts! He and I are both so OCD, I just knew when the guitar got here, that it would set up as good as it could be, and I was right, it was I waited a long time till I got a semi-hollow Heritage, and I'm glad I did. I seriously doubt a custom core would be any better than this one...

About 10 years ago I bought this guitar from someone in Ohio. He wasn't a player, but a friend of his recommended he invest in a couple of new guitars at a guitar show in Cincinatti, if I recall right. This is a Heritage Johnny Smith with an 18" body. I'd like to tell you a good reason I sold it the next year. I think it was a matter of money. I'm not sure. I sold it to a great guy and a forum member. Later he bought a couple of other Heritages from me. Fortunately for me, he agreed to sell the HJS back. There were two 18" HJS made AFAIK. Both were in Cincinatti. Don Dean, of Scotty Moore and Elvis fame, ended up with one. That one is a natural and is 3 1/4" deep. The incoming is the traditional 3" deep. The natural finish one was owned by a friend of mine who had the Floating #3 pickup rebuilt by Kent Armstrong, making it a little hotter. You can hear a difference. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lsM3VeXzpVw This is the incoming sister of the natural. It's a rose natural and has the standard Floating #3, which to me sounds warmer. I'm excited!

The guitar and case survived intact. It came with a lot of documentation from 9 years ago that the guy I sold it to obtained. The guy I got it from obtained it from Don Dean, the king of 18" archtops (sorta). Heritage noted that they did only make two of these guitars. Both were made exactly the way they built them at Gibson except the size. I forgot how low the action will go without buzzing. It's very impressive. I put TI 12s Jazz. The guitar is pretty loud and sounds great. There is a signed label by Johnny Smith, and there is a second label handwritten saying it is an 18" Johnny Smith and is signed by the four original Heritage Company orders. I included some quick photos to show the impressive woods. The grain is tighter in the middle and widens at the side. So I had to research as to whether the opinion that tight grain is more responsive. The Heritage old timers and Aaron Cowles said it's a myth. A review of the Internet opinions by good luthiers say no tonal differences, probably because thickness and carving dwarfs any grain tightness factor. Anyway, I'm happy.

Just picked this up from Nick Hall. Looking forward to hearing those P Ralis! And the 'Heritage' of this guitar is impressive too. I'm surprised no one snapped it up before I did. I'm glad I have another Heritage H150 in the fold. It's been years! 😎

I don't know about going back to the old business model. It may have something to do with actually making a profit (silly concept, I know). I'm not privy to the financial status of the old company, but I had heard several times that things were indeed often on a "shoestring budget". There were times that I wondered if the owners even paid themselves. It seemed to be more a labor of love. This isn't Jim and Marv building a few guitars. I'm sure that they make a lot more guitars today than they did 15 years ago. Sweetwater alone has 65 guitars listed. CME has 22 listed. Jay Wolfe has 25. That's just 3 dealers. You didn't really see those numbers years ago. Have you visited the factory? The "big money" helped pay for a new dust collection system that makes the place safer, a humidity and temperature control system, a new spray booth where you don't really have to worry about dust contaminating your fresh lacquer, the Plek machine and more. The old factory, while quaint, was really pretty scary from a EHS standpoint. Lots of dust and wood laying around. The spray booth upstairs was open air, so dirt and dust was floating around. It was also quite dangerous, with nitrocellulose coating the entire booth. That stuff is a lot more flammable than some people realize. The business will need to pay for that upgraded equipment. It wasn't free! To their credit, Heritage is still making archtops (the 575 and Eagle Classic). Try to get a new archtop from Gibson. The last one listed was the Chuck Berry ES 350, but it's discontinued. There are a few dozen people making teles and strats. Fender, G&L, Suhr, LSR, PRS, and ton of low cost import versions.

Happy 'Flametop Friday'!

And here is my all time favorite guitar.... my H170 with a C serial number. It's not my go to guitar, but my favorite. I got this one and the afore H140cm at the same time back when nobody really cared about Heritage guitars except maybe you folks. There were in a mom and pop store. I traded a Greco Les Paul copy (which was actually pretty cool....) and $400 for both of them. Both sound great but there is something about the H170....feel and sound. I did take out the Schallers and put in some Dimarzio PAFs, probably anniversay series or something. Maye the 140 has Seth Lover's....I can't remember nor do I care as they both sound so great.

The one I wish I never sold.

That's like comparing a early 90's Vette to a '23 Vette. The competition between builders has gotten ten fold and I would still take the 90's one! Built in a dirty basement of a historic building by master builders, I say HELL YEAH! Money spent in Michigan staying in Michigan supporting American families. That flamed maple PG is tasty, laminated Headstock is classy, Multiply binding is choice, Belly cut is a plus, The Duncans they used were the pedigree at that time! I do have more that a few deluxe's.

No more pearls of wisdom to see here.... but here's a bit of guitar porn for your enjoyment.

I'll jump in. I haven't seen a bad one yet.

This one is still in my gallery, but it fits. Happy Holidays everyone!

Here she is with the full Faber tail piece kiit in antiqued nickel and Seymour Duncan Antiquity Humbucker Set. Electronics are on the way and will be installed over the weekend. Quite a different animal now than with those dark Schallers

I just did this! I like it. it's staying~

Thank you so much, Dan from MojoAxe and, especially, skydog52 for your advice and tips regarding the pickguard and installation. BTW, besides the pickguard, I made the following mods on my H-530 since I bought it last year: - Amber knobs - Amber switch tip - Amber tuner knobs - Tonepros bridge w/nylon saddles - Bigsby

What on earth would they change on the 535? I get the enthusiast demand for a 1959 LP, but a 535 too? It's already a better guitar