Keith7940236 Posted November 25, 2012 Share Posted November 25, 2012 This is a 1998 Custom Mahogany Eagle that I recently acquired. It came with some finish issues (which I was aware of), and a Heritage floating pickup. You may recognize it from another post by a fellow HOC member. The guitar was sent to The 12th Fret in Portland, Oregon to have the finish repaired. They did an outstanding job and it now has a beautiful back They also leveled and crowned the frets. The guitar has a wonderful neck and very low action. I always felt that the pickup was a little lacking in character, and since I have a couple of other guitars with floating pickups, I considered converting this guitar to a set pickup. Early on a Monday morning I phoned Heritage and was able to speak with Ren Wall about installing a set pickup. He told me that he thought that he still had an original HRW somewhere and that he would be glad to do the work. After careful packing, I shipped the Eagle back to Kalamazoo to have the HRW put in. Later that week I spoke with Ren, he said that the pup was mounted and "I even found a neck pickup, so that ought to work out real well". The Eagle showed up on Friday evening and I anxiously removed the case from the cardboard box. It was agony watching it sit there and get acclimated to the temperature change. Finally I couldn't stand it any longer and carefully opened up the case. When I peered inside my first thought was that something had gone terribly wrong, there were bits of mahogany all over the guitar and case. After carefully lifting it out of the case, it became apparent that the guitar was fine, it was just full of wood chips from routing the opening for the pickup. in transit, the chips had fallen out of the body cavity and distributed themselves all around the guitar. It kind of drove home the importance of packing a guitar well for shipping. Here's a few shots of the finished product. As the original volume pot was converted to the tone control and a volume thumb wheel had been installed, there was no need to drill for mounted controls. I am very enamored with the HRW. The clarity and separation is remarkable I can't imagine a more pleasant sound. Acoustically, I believe that this guitar would be hard to beat with a set of bronze round wounds. It has a very focused sound, much more so than the Golden Eagle. They are very different, yet equally pleasing. It is currently strung with a set of TI Swing 12's, which give it a more mellow, soft tone. Believe me, there was a lot of thought involved before deciding to have a hole cut in this Eagle, but honestly, now that I have the result I couldn't be more pleased. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DC Ron Posted November 25, 2012 Share Posted November 25, 2012 Wow, a real stunner. Great choices all around. Think the ebony board w/o dots is a great looking option on the Eagle. Seeing your pix reminds me I need to get my Reberberocket 2 out right away... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Genericmusic Posted November 25, 2012 Share Posted November 25, 2012 Very Nice! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eljay Posted November 25, 2012 Share Posted November 25, 2012 a delight to my eyes! thank you for sharing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steiner Posted November 25, 2012 Share Posted November 25, 2012 Gorgeous! That sings by just sitting there. I cannot imagine what it sounds like when played. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
big bob Posted November 25, 2012 Share Posted November 25, 2012 You have great taste Ned. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bolero Posted November 25, 2012 Share Posted November 25, 2012 wow that looks amazing!! I would have had a heart attack opening a shipped gtr & seeing wood chips everywhere like that congratulations, that is a stellar instrument! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skydog52 Posted November 25, 2012 Share Posted November 25, 2012 That guitar is Mahogany heaven. Looks and I'm sure sounds even better. A real classic! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
H Posted November 25, 2012 Share Posted November 25, 2012 Art: simple as that. Beautiful. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blunote Posted November 25, 2012 Share Posted November 25, 2012 Can't imagine a better pickup choice for a jazzbox like that than an HRW neck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gitfiddler Posted November 26, 2012 Share Posted November 26, 2012 That turned out extremely well! Very beautiful and classy instrument you've got there. Play it in good health. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DetroitBlues Posted November 26, 2012 Share Posted November 26, 2012 That looks great, I'm really surprised they left all that saw dust in the F-holes. One would think they'd clear all that out so it doesn't scratch the finish when its rubbing around in the case like that... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ned Posted November 26, 2012 Share Posted November 26, 2012 well played sir. she certainly looks like she would sound great. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rockabilly69 Posted November 27, 2012 Share Posted November 27, 2012 I love Mahogany as it the blues wood of choice for me! I own 2 all mahogany acoustics (both Martins), and I bet that guitar sounds great. I also love original ampeg amps. Great setup you've got there!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2bornot2bop Posted November 29, 2012 Share Posted November 29, 2012 Brother, that's one marvelous mahogany! You folks have no idea how wonderful that archtop sounds...I can only imagine the HRW is an enhancement. Clearly, if you're a fan of single set pup Eagle's, that's one of the nicest ever! You displayed great courage in trusting your intuition on this project. Congrat's brother!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Genericmusic Posted November 30, 2012 Share Posted November 30, 2012 I keep coming back to this thread to just stare at the Mahogany Eagle. What a beautiful guitar. I bet she's a tone monster. Congratulations on her purchase and conversion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kidsmoke Posted November 30, 2012 Share Posted November 30, 2012 Brother, that's one marvelous mahogany! You displayed great courage in trusting your intuition on this project. Congrat's brother!!! +1 Yep, took some stones to decide to cut a hole in that box. Of course having Ren Wall on board and in charge would help ease some anxiety. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JazzmanC Posted November 30, 2012 Share Posted November 30, 2012 Stunning !!!!!!!!!!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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