MartyGrass

Looks like a Super Eagle. Look at the bridge base diameter and the distance between the f holes and the rim. Three pics are of GEs and the other is a SE. Hard to tell.

No. It's a different shop.

The guitar was ordered as a custom from Mandolin Brothers. It has two pickguards. One has the Floating #3 and the other has a Kent Armstrong. This is the fourth Heritage JS I own now. All are very different. One is rose natural 18" x 3", one is natural 18" x 3.25", and one is green 17" x 3". The bracing is the same. One has a KA rebuilt pickup, one has a 12 pole KA, two have the Floating #3.

Four wire pickups allow the toggle switch to take you from the standard output, single coil, and out of phase. This vintage sunburst example does this with two SD P- Rails. The advantage of these pickups is that when you split the coils, the open coil can be the hotter one, like a P-90. Standard humbuckers split weakly. Also, you can select the weaker coil, which gives more of a Fender single coil sound.

It's distinct. Here's the full top. I sold it after a few years and got it back. That seems to be a pattern I have.

I'm afraid Heritage was not consistent with their old H-157 pickguards. Here are four.

Mike is not left handed, so I highly doubt it.

Arrived in good shape. All is well. A 1991 at 5# 8 oz. The Kent Armstrong pickup seems hotter and fuller than the more acoustic sounding Floating #3. Nothing to not like.

Two brothers own two stores. They are very easy to deal with. I called the Illinois store because most of the guitars are there.

Here's the shop. https://reverb.com/item/83100142-heritage-golden-eagle-archtop-electric-guitar-floating-pickup-hard-shell-case

The fastest way to get the info on the music store is to search for the American Eagle on Reverb.

I don't have much to say about this. A friend of mine bought another Heritage Johnny Smith, one that was Jay Wolfe's personal one I got years ago but traded to BigMike. As many may know, BigMike sold his 70 guitars to a music store in Chicago. Two Heritage JSs were part of the collection. My friend drove there and bought one but told me the other one sounded and played equally well but didn't have a rose on the pickguard. I called the store in Chicago and asked about the remaining HJS. I was able to make a purchase. Most of BigMike's instruments are not yet posted on Reverb. If you can buy an instrument now, you can save all the Reverb fees and negotiate a price. The trick is to know what they have that they haven't listed. I don't know what they are except a bunch of Gibsons. Here's the HJS hanging on the wall. It has a Heritage pickguard with Schatten volume and tone controls and a Kent Armstrong pickup. As best I can tell, that's how Heritage made it. We'll see.

I don't think there would be a HOC if Heritage began the way they are now. They started with a group of skilled artisans flipping of the establishment and hand building in the day when machines were replacing humans and the American worker was devalued. It was easy to rally around them. And the Heritage owners were interesting characters with personality. You could order a guitar with a certain neck carve, different harware, and lots of finishes at a pretty reasonable price. They definitely were the underdogs. Now, they are more precise in their builds, more parsimonius in their offerings, and less personal. There is good with their progress and efficiencies, but they are no longer the underdogs fighting the system and making a variety of customizations at a low price. I recall that buyers sometimes were there when Marv carved necks. He would hand the neck of for inspection and the buyer may say something like make it a little flatter. I am a Heritage fan, but it's more corporate. There's no getting around it. I know there's a Gibson forum, but it's about the instruments, not the builders and the facility. I have a friend who designs Heritages. He's a great luthier and very smart. Heritage is lucky to have him. What I'll miss are things like Heritage closing for deer season opening day, dropping by and walking through the factory, and the little soap operas that somehow escape the plant. All the quirkiness and dramas that gave Heritage flavor will eventually be smoothed out.

It's difficult to specify a favorite because there are so many elements to consider. For workmanship, it's the American Eagle. There was an extraordinary amount of hours put in to create one, and they used the finest materials. The acoustic and amplified sound is as good as it gets from the 17" custom carved archtop by Heritage. For elegance in a standard sized full archtop, it's the Johnny Smith. Golden Eagles are damned close. For big sound, the Super Kenny Burrell or Super Eagle. For great sound in a more comfortable archtop format, it's the Sweet 16. For the all around archtop workhorse, it's the H-575. For comfort with a great electric sound, it's the Millie. I like the Millie Eagle 2000. For great electric sound then comfort, it's the Roy Clark. This model has all the good of a 555 with more top territory to show off the wood. For a best buy it's the H-150. The H-137 is another if you want P-90s.

This one was Big Mike's. He got it from 2Bornot2Bop who got it from me. It arrived in excellent shape.