TalismanRich

People will buy anything these days if it says it's limited edition. FOMO is a powerful driver of sales. "How can we sell a $130 pickup for $500?" "I've got it! We can put them in little cases like the guitars and call them a special edition." "Good idea! The boys in accounting will LOVE this one. How many can we make?" "We need to do a thousand to get a break on the little cases. Otherwise the cases will cost more than the pickups." "Perfect!"

They get a whole lot more "buyer awareness" from someone like Sweetwater having a dozen guitars available on their website. The biggest comment that I used to hear (after "never heard of them") is "I don't know where I can buy one". Their social media posts have to be helping a lot too. People search out stuff that they hear about. We're more "word of mouth" types, and "here, give this a try" people.

That version of the tailpiece and bridge was made by Schaller of Germany. They still sell the roller bridge, but I don't think the tailpiece is a current item. Thomann is a Schaller dealer. https://schaller.info/en/bridges/ If you want to change the style to a more common bridge and tailpiece, many people here swear by the Faber units. The trick it to make sure that you use the correct spacing.

The Triple Nickel is da BOMB! There are days I wish I had ordered that instead of the 157 way back when. Oh well, that's the way it goes!

That's exactly why people work so hard to make their LP sound just like Page's Tele on the first LZ album. They're really the same, just different!

Victor is a member here. He was at several PSPs. His HOC handle is Totonka. I haven't seen him around for a while, though.

Congrats on the new guitar. I'm glad that it wasn't any kind of scratch or crack. A slight nick or ding isn't a structural issue. The fact that it plays and sounds good is the real issue. There really isn't any other reason to have a guitar unless you want wall art! Enjoy!

That's funny, micing the floor to hear your tapping. I once read an interview with Paul McCartney, and he said there's one thing EVERYONE does wrong when they play Blackbird. He said that nobody ever taps their foot, and that was something he did on purpose! Nice pickin', Daniel.

NICE!

If Teaky is close enough to check it out in person, he'll know if it is a crack, scratch or reflection within about 2 seconds. You don't often see a crack that goes across the grain at a smooth curve, especially in a laminate body. A physical inspection will show anything (headstock repairs, etc.) and he can ask any questions. I think $2750 is a bit high. That's likely $3 - 500 more than it originally sold for. My H157 was much less than that in 2003. I would offer $2500 cash. The used guitar market isn't THAT strong. A new standard 535 is only $2500 right now from Heritage!

First, the Bigsby could well be factory installed. Back then, they were much more amenable to doing customizations like that I can't tell for sure if it has gold or silver hardware. Normally the 555s come with gold hardware, but lots of people opted for chrome or nickel, and the factory would gladly accommodate. Also, having Lollar pickups would not be unusual. The Imperials are very good pickups. When you check it out, see if there is something on the label inside the F-hole. As for the "crack", that might well be a reflection from the trem's arm, not a scratch. A crack would be unlikely as it doesn't seem to follow any grain, and the semi hollows are laminates with the grains between layers going crosswise which can resist the development of cracks like that. I zoomed in on the full size frontal shot, and didn't see the same type of line. I have a H-535 it's an absolutely GREAT playing guitar. The only question is if it feels comfortable, and sounds good to YOU!

From what Pete Farmer said in the Rich Severenson interview, the Bespoke program is really on hold unless you're an "established artist".

The paint booth is a huge improvement over the old setup on the third floor. The air is filtered in so that there's no dust to settle on a wet finish. Guitars are hung to dry, and the safety is a big factor as the solvent vapors are kept to a minimum in the room. There is a lot less wood dust in the shop itself. They invested a good deal of money in the dust collector system. Wood dust can be a dangerous fire and explosion hazard.

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

There's not a lot of info out there on the 101. There was a thread on it from 10 yrs back.

I don't know that they are related, although there appears to be some resemblance. The person in the David Paul Band appears to be about 25 or 30. I found an article some time back that said his pregnant wife was killed in an accident in 2014. He moved to West Virginia a few years later. https://www.heraldmailmedia.com/story/lifestyle/2017/01/22/guitarists-fingers-singing-agai/44616269/ The "Heritage" David Paul has a Linked In Page that says he attended Rutgers from 1978 to 1982. Another site says he was born in 1956, so he would be almost 70. He could easily have a son in his 30s. Of course, you could always contact the David Paul Band fellow and ask him if they are related.

I almost poked my eye out just looking at it! I'm scared of pointy guitars. 😱

Old H-140s are fun guitars. I've got an '87, changed out the pickups to SD Alnico Pro IIs because there was a problem with the originals. I think I tried changing caps, but that didn't help. The jack had to be replaced a few years back. Other than that mine is original. It's been back to K'zoo a few times over the years for PSP, including PSP 2023. Yours has a nice looking top!

There are loads of discussion threads that "debate" the concept. What Bolero said is part of the equation. The difference in cabinet size will alter the frequency response of the system, which might affect how you perceive the sound. Mathematically, if you put 1 watt into a 100dB efficient speaker, you get 100dB. If you put 1 watt into 4 100dB speakers wired to the same impedance, each speaker will get 0.25 watts. Thus each speaker will be putting out 94dB (3dB for halving the power, 3dB for halving THAT power.) But then you had 4 times that 94dB and you get back to 100dB. The difference will be more in tonal balance that actual sound intensity, which might be measured at 1 frequency. I've seen discussions where they say the increase was larger with 2 speakers rather than one, but the problem with this is that the impedance won't be the same between a single and a dual speaker setup. If you have a pair of 8 ohm speakers, and only use one, it's 8 ohms. If you add the second in parallel, it's now 4 ohms, so your power usage is different at the "same setting". Put them in series and you have 16 ohms, which could lower your output. When you use a 4x cabinet, with two in series and the series in parallel, the impedance can be the same as a single speaker. Identical power is distributed evenly. Jim Lill did a Youtube video where he compared lots of difference cab configurations and how it affected the sound. It may not change the dB reading but it changes the perception of the sound.

Very nicely played. I'm always in awe of the way you jazz guitarists improvise. My brain just doesn't work that way! 😁

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.

Being in his upper 80s, I don't see him coming in to build a few guitars. Has anyone heard how Marv is doing. I remember someone saying something about health issues the last time we were in K'zoo.

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!

It's not unprecedented to use the company name on the headstock. Unless you know what to look for, most people wouldn't notice the difference.

I see some nice pics, so I guess that means it DID happen! 😁