tsp17

i have number 011. How many are out there in the wild?

Nicely done my friend. Again, you have a way of finding the great instruments.

some of the very coolest hippest Heritages ever have come through this shop. One of the ones I wish I'd never ever sold.....ahhh yes, the Duaneburst Custom H150....Even as an archtop hollow body loving jazz guy - I still pine for that one. I've never seen or played anything like it. One of our own here at HOC designed that masterpiece.

After gigging with this amp for a while I’ll say without question that it is a wonderful amp for small to medium venues. Or bigger ones if you mic it. Since i play jazz almost exclusively - it is a great gigging option for clean tones at moderate high volume. 35lbs, so very portable. I put a Neo speaker in it to shave a couple pounds as well. Recently - our drummer is getting pretty loud and so in turn the rest of needed to crank up a bit just to hear each other and ourselves. (I mentioned it to him…he didn’t react particularly well). As a result of the increased volume i hit the headroom limit when we got a smoking groove going. So…to see if i could stay clean at that volume, i swapped the 12ax7 in v1 for a 12at7 and replaced the TAD 6L6s with Tung-Sol 7581As. Sounds glorious at living room volume. Maybe better than before, but hard to really know. Will report back after next gig as to whether i got more headroom, but with what i am hearing so far - i am optimistic.

Very cool. Thanks for posting.

That says it all!

True that. From the newer H guitars I’ve seen/played in the wild (full disclosure- i have not purchased one manufactured under new management), QC and consistency has improved with modern methods and technology. They are very good guitars. However…. Maybe I’ve just gotten lucky, but of the 10 or so Heritage models I’ve owned over time (i currently have three) and the dozens i have found in store or private hands and tried out of curiosity or thinking to buy, I have never played or owned a bad older one. Yes, even on the extra special ones and the keepers Ive spotted some inconsistencies or minor imperfections due to the nature of the process, or there might be a loose wire, faulty switch, or other fixable issue, but I’ll tolerate that (to a point) for the craftsmanship and overall human quality of the instrument. Maybe it is the appeal of the Heritage lore and history, maybe it is the community I’ve found with you all, but like most of us here at HOC there is something about the story and minor imperfections that come with the human artisan/craft touch that i love. I know it sounds romanticized, but It adds something, a warmth, a life quality, or some other better word descriptor that one might imagine. Besides, the more modern, slimmer necks are not for me. Maybe I’m just an old guy who prefers older styles. I have a Korean made Comins chambered/semi-hollow that is a superb instrument, flawless in many ways in terms of the fit and finish (Bill Comins does the final set up and QC check himself- a very good guy based on my interactions with him), consistency of the neck carve, binding, etc. but that one too has had problems with selector switch, tuners, and pickup wiring. Bottom line is that the H’s get the by far most play in my house and gigs. Plus i love telling the H story when people ask about the guitar - it happens at every gig. All of my Heritages are from decades gone by. None are made in the last 20 or so years. Just one person’s story…

Excellent! Love this one.

+1

Really nice.

Very cool!

surprisingly no. plays great, sounds great. action maybe a little bit higher, but not an issue.

Spot on. My 000-28 loves lighter strings. Heavier strings deaden it. Not nearly as lively.

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.

When i wanted to experiment with a heavier gauge to get a bigger sound on my SKB, i intended to go from 12s to 13s. But Thomastik doesn’t make a 13 in the GB line. So i skipped to 14s. Had them on my SKB now for a few years. I would have stuck with 12s on the 550 but didn’t have any left in the house. It was an adjustment at first- definitely, but once i got used to it, it was not a big deal. Going from one guitar strung with 12 to another with 14 you can feel it for sure, but it just takes a minute to remind yourself to give it a little extra oomph all around. On the other side- i tried heavier gauges on my Martin 000-18 and didn’t really like it. I found it much harder to get what i wanted out of heavy gauge on acoustic.