tbonesullivan

Most of their sounds are pretty Fender sounding, and since they formed in California, most likely Fenders and modded fenders were the weapons of choice, with relatively low levels of overdrive. Some googling brings up things like a Fender Twin and a Marshall JMP, and listening to a lot of their stuff just makes me think "tweed". There are some really nice tweed pedals out there, both analog and modeling, and might be best to look into those before going down the pickup rabbit hole. '59 pickups should be able to do Doobie brothers stuff just fine.

They really seem to have pared down their lineup, though after the leadership transition and issues that's to be expected. When I put my H535 "back to stock" years ago, they still had the tailpieces, but now they seem to no longer be offered. The roller bridges are still relatively popular for use with bigsby and other tremolo style tailpieces. I've never really noticed a huge deficiency in sound quality from using the bridge, and still remember Vince Lewis saying he liked that bridge because he said it gave him a warmer sound. Still, I don't play my H535 much at all anymore. I've tried to love the stock Schaller Golden 50s for years, and they are great clean, but I really need to get around to having them replaced with something else.

Man those do look nice. Wish I was in the market! Only so much room in the stable, and after playing my H150CM last, I don't see anything ever replacing it. Still, those are NICE.

My $0.02- that is 100% a reflection of the tremolo arm. you can see more of of the reflection under the strings inside the bigsby itself. There's also how unlikely a crack shaped like that with such a clean appearance would ever occur on a semi-hollow body made from a laminate body with a solid centerblock. Would usually cracks along the grain.

I keep thinking about a Jazz box. My guitar teacher has a Herb Ellis and I keep thinking "maybe I should have one of those". I'd probably only put 11's on it, as somehow I think i'd end up also playing more blues stuff on it. Man these are some nice looking guitars in here.

Based on the time stamps, we were literally writing them at the same time.

I mean, Chicago Music Exchange has a used one from 1994 for about 3700. I was tempted.

It definitely is reasonably priced for what it is, and now that Gibson has pretty much pulled out of that market entirely, it was time for Heritage to get back into it. Still, I'd think you'd at least be able to specify a color for that price. Then again, compared to flat top acoustics, archtops are definitely a much higher end and more limited market item. I was always amazed at how Heritage was able to offer different types of archtops at a relatively low price compared to G-brands. I wonder how it compares to the archtops that Heritage used to make like the Sweet 16. Which of them were tap tuned? I admit I never paid nearly as much attention to the Jazz Box side of things.

I had thought that the days of the Tap Tuned Archtops was over, but apparently it's not. I hadn't heard anything about this before until I got the email. I'm glad that they are once again making them, but oh boy, that price. I'd probably rather get something truly bespoke for that price. https://heritageguitars.com/pages/core-collection-h-717 https://heritageguitars.com/products/custom-shop-core-collection-h-717-archtop-guitar-honey-burst

oh boy, is there a good story to go along with that? I've only once had to deal with a bad speaker, which came in a Rivera Pubster 25. The horrible wiring job should have been a clue, but man the frame was even bent. No idea how the person who sold it to me could have not been aware of that.

Guitar speakers are definitely designed to have a "non-linear" response zone, and they do break up when pushed. How much they do has to do with the design, and also how much "dope" has been put on the cone.

Man, what a streak of bad luck. I'm glad it just turned out to be a viral infection. Last friend I had who developed vertigo unfortunately won't be with us for much longer. As for the bandmates wife, mental illness is something that never really goes away. Especially after a very emotional time, like a wedding, they can be all over the place emotionally. Hopefully she can get the help she needs, either through therapy or medication, or both.