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Hi, I play autumn leaves with Heritage's archtop guitar. If you have time, please listen to it. Thank you.

I talk to Marv regularly. He is doing well. Enjoying his daughters and grand and great grandchildren. Always fun to talk to him. He has so much knowledge.

Marv's granddaughter posted this on Facebook. Rare Bird Sighting! A few weeks ago, I posted looking for leads on a MarvBird—a special guitar made by luthier Marvin Lamb, who also happens to be my grandfather. My husband became obsessed with the hunt and started digging everywhere. And thanks to one of YOU, we were blessed with the opportunity to bring one home to the family! Thank you for all the love you continue to show for Marvin’s craft and legacy—it means the world to us.

Hello! I picked up an early piece of Heritage history this week. It is a 1985 H-140 finished in May. I’ve never owned one so early. It has suffered a headstock break and repair, but it was done properly and feels like glass running my hand over it. It came with black plastics and cheap generic Chinese humbuckers. I put a set of Gibson Burstbucker 1 and 2 I had laying around in and it sounds so much better. The only downside is that I had to over pay a bit for it. The seller was tough but the fact that it was built so early on plus it plays so well and has a stunningly gorgeous top means I had to get it. Enjoy the pictures!

They made 40 of these.

Rich Severson with Pete Farmer. Interview starts around 1:53. It's a good one.

Remember when ordering a custom from Jay Wolfe, Graham asked my opinion on CNC vs hand carved / cut. All I had was a gut response based on internet chatter. We the end user /consumer of fine guitars know little about building vs manufacturing. We purchase and play. Pete's "wood therapy" displays the vast knowledge gap between the people who visit and work at 225 Parsons. RESPECT

Staying on the history of Marv at Gibson and Heritage. Marv sent me this picture last night. He made this one off when Gibson was still at Parsons St. He called it his Bo Diddley guitar. There is a lot more story behind it. He told me it has the original strings on it from around 1980. I told him it's time for a string change. We had a chuckle about that.

I talked to Marv last night. He sounds good and said he is feeling well. He told me he will be turning 86 this year. He is enjoying life and his offspring that is getting extensive. We were talking about H-357s and the one he is holding. That is one of the Korina models he did. Came from California. He brought up Ron Warren and he hadn't heard he passed. He loved the picture Ron did for him.

Then there are some guys like Tower Of Power guitarist Bruce Conte, who are SO badass, that they even wear out the pickguard! 🙂

I know ya'll have seen this pic before, but in the spirit of this thread I'll share once again. Marv built and sprayed my #1 (H-525 Custom) that includes his 50's stye thick neck carve. Man, I love this beast of a guitar!

What an excellent segment: I watched the whole thing Hell of an introduction pretty funny great interview! Rich said something that has resonated with me for some time about guitars: "functional art" Much of a guitar's beauty is based on functional design. It's true: they are objects to be admired. But they go beyond drawings, paintings or most sculptures etc. A musical instrument is a creative tool to be used, to be inspired by, to play, and to generate new ideas. Or just rehash "hang on sloopy" to your hearts content. It's all good.

You mean gorgeous wood like this? I specified no pickguard on this build, but every time I put my right ring finger on that lovely top to anchor my hand, I feel guilty. That's a habit I need to break. (The finger placement, not the guilt.)

I have just lately got back into playing my electric guitars. I went on a 3+ year bender of ONLY playing my acoustics. I did a lot of experimenting with strings and gauges on my acoustics. My conclusion was that most bigger body acoustics(dreadnoughts) thrive with 13s and most smaller body acoustics (small jumbos and OMs) like 12s. But there are some exceptions.... and thus the reason for this reply. I have a beautiful 1957 J-200 Reissue acoustic that you would think based on it's large size would love heavier (13s) strings. But I read many acoustic forums that the heavier strings can "choke" the top and sacrifice tone on a J-200. Well, I didn't believe it until I tried it. Heavier strings (13s) took all the projection and life out of the J-200, so I immediately put 12s back on. So I think string gauges and even brands, can vary from guitar to guitar based on the design and the brand producing the guitar.

Since we are sharing H550 pics....My 550.

Wowzers. Fab new guitar from Heritage.

No. Eagles were Classic, Golden and Super. Never a number that I saw.

well what is sound & volume? air pressure more speakers = more air pressure I'm not sure who downvoted my post, lol, but I thought it was informative. I apologise if I offended somebodies sensitivities.

I've had the chance to play the prototype a little while ago. The guitar is very light and resonant. Compared to the Benedetto next to it, it's a toss up. The bracing is carefully shaved. I don't know if it's tap tuned, but the plate was carefully carved and is thin. It takes significantly more time by the best luthiers at Heritage to make this. That was the goal, sort of like the Citation. Another reason the price may be higher than you expect is that there was quite a bit of time put into creating the design and execution of the first guitar. I'll bet Heritage makes 5-10 of these per year max. I would have to be in a much higher tax bracket to get one of these. The first reason is that I would be fearful of the first ding. The second reason is that the tone caters to those with exquisite tonal taste when in the hands of a master. That's not me. The design, and yes, the headstock, is elegant. When you see and hold it, you'll know you are in the presence of something special. I wish Heritage all the luck with this. It brings the company to a notch higher in the acoustic jazz world, for sure. Personally I'd like inlays for appearance sake. I don't know if that's guilding the lilly though.

You never know... Someone did pay $6.2 million for a banana duct taped to a wall. I have 3 bananas on the kitchen counter, a roll to tape in the garage, and several walls available. For $6M, I'll tape each to a wall, and throw in the house that has the walls attached for free!

I believe Ken made 3 versions, the large majority being Floating #3. Ken Armstrong would rebuild these to a higher output for about $100. I have what's probably a unique one rebuilt as a single coil by one of the current Heritage team. People bad mouthed the Floating #3 a lot. I firmly believe much of the criticism came from the urge to guild the lilly. The #3 is an excellent low output humbucker. It is very clean, almost acoustic sounding.

This is a photo taken for a story by a local paper in 2013. It just so happens that Marv was working on a couple of 357s. The one on the bench is mine and the one Marv is holding is Bolero's. I know mine is the one on the bench as it was running a few weeks behind waiting on my custom fret board, "From them boys down in Tennessee". Marv sent me several in process shots of the build, but it's nice to have an action shot of the build. https://www.mlive.com/news/kalamazoo/2013/02/love_where_you_live_photos_by.html

Actually, the post was made by Taylor Lawrence, who is Marv's grandaughter.

here is the headstock

If it has a belly cut it is probably a H-150 Deluxe. They were numbered.

I complained about his tone. It made me look like a beginner.

I have used TIs in 14s at times. Here's one of their two sets. https://shop.thomastik-infeld.com/product-category/guitar/jazz-guitar/george-benson-jazz-guitar/product/george-benson-jazz-guitar-gb114/?_gl=1*x4crvl*_up*MQ..*_gs*MQ..&gclid=Cj0KCQjwh_i_BhCzARIsANimeoGybneEuaGoJHyoNpbb8kTGWTwcGe3M7Kgikc6L2t0cJlNqalXoTrMaAjbGEALw_wcB I even tried 15s. Here is what I found. Acoustically, the guitar is loud. The neck has to be straight and the action low to be playable, at least until you build up big callouses and more strength. It's hard to comment on the tone. My bias is that it is richer, but that may be my subconscious trying to justify the work and pain! I've learned whatever everyone else already knew: use comfortable strings and your pickup. Perfect.

I was told that when Heritage used to make Archtops, they only tap-tuned the one with floating pickups.... so maybe these are tap-tuned. Personally, I prefer the tone of humbucker archtops. Vince Lewis told me to my face that floating pickup archtops are fine for "solo jazz", but he said if you are going to be playing with other instruments/musicians then floater archtops are near impossible to use. He said the feedback is awful on floater archtops when you play with a band, their volume is too low, and they won't cut through a mix for solos. I respect Vince's opinions.

Every Heritage that I have owned (over 12 of them) I replaced with Faber locking ABR1 bridge and locking stoptail. On Faber's website, it says, "Bridges for Heritage guitars".

Third party validation is good. Last night at the gig, someone who had seen us play before asked me if the guitar was new. She said it sounded different and really good. Nice to hear that the improvement wasn't just in my head. It feels like a fuller tone with more gravity, if that makes sense. Definitely no bends though. It is limiting in that way. Slides, hammer-ons, and pull-offs only.

I know someone who came from a distance to be there when Marv carved the neck of his new guitar. They had a conversation going about how much more to take off until it was just right. That was a Florentine GE. The customer sent some of the hardware he wanted used plus the billets for the spruce top. Amazing results in the end.

A couple years ago, I bought a used Collings 290 wraptail from Willcutt Guitars and got a KILLER deal on it. Before I bought it, I asked the store manager (Eric, who is also a good pal of mine) what P-90s are in the guitar. He said that he thought they were Lollar P90s but wasn't exactly sure because it was a used guitar, but he said that what ever P90s are in it I won't want to change them because they sound incredible. The guitar was mint and it was such a good price that I didn't push the issue. I got it home and played it, and they did sound incredible! Well, I changed the stings and looked under the covers.... the guitar came with Throbak '52/'54 P90s!!! My killer deal got EVAN BETTER!!! So yes, I have Throbaks in my Collings 290 wraptail.

Marv built the Terminators!

Ha! It’s all the free dinners at the gigs that really helps to put the big bills in the pocket.

I have found Lollar's P-90s to vary from set to set and also to sound better in different guitars. I loved the Lollar P-90s in the 535 P90 guitar I sold to Daniel Rockabilly and the Lollar p-90s that came in my Collings gold top City Limits. I tried a couple different sets of P-90s in the Collings, and to my surprise the Lollars sounded the best. My personal favorite P-90s are the Throbak '52/'54 P-90s with plenty of grit and growl. But Throbak's prices have really increased since the pandemic and they are quite an investment now.

I was being serious. If you are offended that isn't my fault, it wasn't my intention either. You are reading far too much into that statement. I would have said exactly the same thing to any friend I was having that discussion with. Not only that, but I went to the effort of additional details that likely affect your perception of sound & volume. You are welcome.

I bet Marv built tons of Heritage guitars along with the other owners. And other builders. good luck documenting any of them I recognize his handwriting on a lot of labels

I know he was involved in the H-157 staple single coil model. I think they made a few dozen.

I have no doubt that the build qualify is top notch, my beef is only with the cosmetics. My 575 and my Florentine Golden Eagle were (to my eyes) GORGEOUS. Again, my only beef with the H 717 is the cosmetics. I am sure it is an amazing built and exceptional sounding guitar. To me, this is what a classy jazz box should look like.....

Nice Tele Kitty! I've never tried the BG1400 with a P90 because I record alot around computer monitors so I like noiseless Teles, but I bet that combo sounds great! My main Tele, which I built, has a Tyson Tone Lab Precious and Grace humbucker in the neck, and the BG`1400 in the bridge. The body is an Allen Eden Body made from Paulownia wood, and it's light as a feather. It's the best Tele that I've ever owned and one the best Teles I've ever heard. It's the one that really got me into the BG1400...

nice song, great jazz guitar tone, and great playing!

The archtop market is different from the normal electric guitar market. There aren't a ton of companies making them. Most are smaller hand builds and most often they are made to order. While $13k isn't cheap, it really isn't out of line with other custom archtop builders. American Archtops go up to about 16 grand, Wilkie archtops start at 15 and go to $25k. Marchione runs $25 to 50K. The affordable archtops are from Eastman, running from $2500 to $5500. I do find it interesting that Heritage is staying somewhat active in the market with the Eagle, 575, and now the 517. It's a nice looking guitars, for sure.

A speaker that is rated at twice the amp power rating has long been the safe standard, or the combination of multiple speakers equaling twice the rated power. I personally don’t think that is really necessary though. I have now built 3 6g3 amps and paired them with 65 watt Scumback M75 Speakers. I would use lower wattage but there isn’t one until you get down to 25 watts. The amps have varied in output based on the power transformer used and plate voltage supplied. The lowest wattage of the three was 12.9 clean and 17.4 cranked all the way up with 355 volts on the plates. That would be fine for a 25 watt speaker. The first one I built I used a vintage spec PT and had 440 volts in the plates which gave almost 30 watts when fully turned up, that would not be good for a 25 watt speaker. So from a manufacturing standpoint, a company would spec a speaker that can cover variations like that. Smaller builders may have much less variation or can even spec the speaker based on a single build. I’m comfortable with a speaker that is around 10 watts more than the amp is rated for something lower wattage like a 17 watt amp. I built a JTM 45 that maxes out at 42.78 watts (JTM 42.78?) and I’m comfortable using the same 65 watt M75 in that amp but I probably wouldn’t go lower than that. The last gig I used that amp on I had a 200 watt Eminence Em12n speaker and it sounded great, especially clean. There is zero speaker breakup but the dirty sound is just a little sterile compared to the M75 that gets a little breakup and adds some warmth to the sound. Some may prefer the 200 watt speaker though, to each their own. The amp has a master volume and I turned it down to the level the sound guy wanted, then when I got home I measure the output. I played the gig at 14.5 watts dirty and about 8 watts clean with a 200 watt speaker. 8 watts with an efficient speaker is louder than most people realize and with todays stage management makes amps like the JTM 45 obsolete without a master volume or attenuation. I have a 20 speaker that is going into yet another 6g3 variant I’m building only this is a single channel and uses 6k6GT power tubes and should max out at 10-12 watts and be perfect for most places I play.

Now that's a gorgeous archtop! And Henry Johnson is the perfect player to endorse it. Unfortunately it's priced over my pay grade at $12,999. https://heritageguitars.com/products/custom-shop-core-collection-h-717-archtop-guitar-honey-burst

I'm still in mourning over the closure of the "The Tube Shop", which is where I got a lot of ANOS (As New Old Stock Used) preamp tubes, as well as some NOS rectifier tubes. Yes it was all order by email and they would get back to you, but I got some great tubes at nice prices. There's still KCA Nos Tubes out there, which has some good deals on the ANOS tubes. JJ Tubes, unfortunately are now the tube of choice for a lot of amp companies, as they can withstand high cathode follower voltages, and are rugged. My Mesa Mark V was full of them when I got it, and I think my Friedman JEL-50 probably is as well. When I get some time I've gotta get rollin' rollin' rollin'. Keep those tubes a rollin'.

Good thing you didn’t get a new old stock std!

Here’s my new Heritage Custom Core H-535.