davesultra Posted November 21, 2007 Share Posted November 21, 2007 So, I recently acquired a nice used '98 H-150CM in Sunsetburst (SSB). It has the common odd mix of chrome and nickel hardware (never could figure that one out), Duncan '59s, Schaller roller bridge/Stoptail combo, Grover machines. So, me not being a big fan of the '59s, more honestly not liking how the nickel covers age while the bridge & tailpiece stay shiny, I decided to try some new PUPS. I tried a pair of APH-1s' (Alnico Pro IIs'), nice but a little soft sounding. Then I tried a nice used set of Duncan Pearly Gates... Bingo! Liked these much better, a little nasty while not being harsh. Now, I'm pretty meticulous when it comes to inspecting my guitars, but I missed something. When I held the guitar up to a light at just the right angle I discovered a "2" directly above the serial number. Wow, I have a factory "Second"! The only flaw I can find is around 2 sides of the neck joint, there is a little bit of finish sloppiness. It's not bad at all really, I would have never even known that it's a "Second" had I not caught the reflection. I don't mind the fact that it is a "Second", I actually kinda' like it even better now. I guess it kind of gives it a "b@stard child" sort of vibe 8). I guess there really isn't much point to this thread, just thought I'd share my discovery with my fellow formites! ;D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skydog Posted November 21, 2007 Share Posted November 21, 2007 From what I understand the fellas at Heritage are pretty quick to stamp that "2" on there! I don't know if they discount them to employees the way Gibson used to or not. I had a 150 that I never could see why it had a "2". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yoslate Posted November 22, 2007 Share Posted November 22, 2007 I had my 576 for quite a while before I also discovered the "2." I'm pretty sure I've got one stamped on me, somewhere, as well. I'd like to think it just adds to the intrinsic charm.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thundersteel Posted November 22, 2007 Share Posted November 22, 2007 You all must be very lucky. ALL my Heritages have finishing flaws, but there's no "2" stamped on any of them! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dick Seacup Posted November 22, 2007 Share Posted November 22, 2007 You all must be very lucky. ALL my Heritages have finishing flaws, but there's no "2" stamped on any of them! One of the benefits of buying used is that any sort of "from the factory" flaw can be disregarded as having been caused by the previous owner. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
golferwave Posted November 22, 2007 Share Posted November 22, 2007 Just enjoy the guitar and don't worry about the second. By the way, the pearly gates are one of my favorite set of pickups! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dblazer Posted November 22, 2007 Share Posted November 22, 2007 All of mine have had either sanding marks, uneven spots in the binding, dents, or some other "human touch" flaws. It's part of the territory. I wouldn't trade the current pair for anybody else's version of the same thing. Rock on, glad you got the sound where you want it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kazwell Posted November 23, 2007 Share Posted November 23, 2007 I just discovered something on mine just the other day. Don't have the guitar in front of me, but when I first got my H-150, the serial numbers correlated to the date Sept 7 2006. This would have been Buddy Holly's 70th birthday, which I just discovered reading an abreviated online bio on him. Granted he was a Strat guy, but as far as I am concerned he was one of the true ginats of 50's music and helped shape the sound of popular music for years after his tragic death. And it is also befitting that I have the Seth Lover pickups installed, a real fifties sounding rig complete with heavier gauge strings. Yeah, I have to say not too many birthdays have more significance as far as this Heritage owner is concerned. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GuitArtMan Posted November 25, 2007 Share Posted November 25, 2007 The Pearly Gates bridge is one of my favorite bridge 'buckers. I found the neck a tad too dark for my tastes and opted for the Antiquity in the neck. I played my Paul with that set up for many years. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thundersteel Posted November 25, 2007 Share Posted November 25, 2007 but when I first got my H-150, the serial numbers correlated to the date Sept 7 2006. How do the serial numbers correlate to the date? My H157 has W34908, which I guess is 2006, made on 349 day (December 15), and the 8th guitar made that day? If that's so, then the guitar was made after I bought it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kazwell Posted November 25, 2007 Share Posted November 25, 2007 From another forum: ________________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________ This came in from Warren Cramer, Axaholic on Jan. 27, 2004... -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Hey Dr. Duck Thanks for the cool website with great info. However, I regret to inform you that you had too many beers the day you put up the Heritage Guitars Dating info. You are One Year Off. Heritage Dating Corrected: It starts at "B" for 1985. "G" is 1990. "L" is 1995 "Q" is 2000, on up to "U" for 2004. See the Heritage Website: http://www.heritageguitar.com/DateHeritage.htm I was also told by a Michigan guy who sold me a Heritage, he said a relative of his worked for the factory, he said that the Heritage dating system is sorta similar to Gibson's, because the numbering system identifies the day of production and order of production, as in, L12026, would be made in the year 1995, on the 120th day, and the instrument would be the 26th one made that day... Of course, this is not Official Info... but "Velly Intellestingk"... Sound like it might be right, anyway, haha... Makes sense, because I have never seen a Heritage with a number beginning higher than 3, and the fourth digit is usually not higher than 6 either...... as in M30756 I have four Heritage jazz guitars, they are Excellent... Hope this helps. Maybe you can find backup info from Heritage, possibly???? I would be interested to know if the number decoding is right.....? Keep on Quackin'... Warren Cramer, Axaholic. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Warren is right... I checked with the Heritage web site and it confirms that it starts with "B" for 1985 ... so this page has been corrected ... It seems that I spoke with the wrong person who gave me the original info at the NAMM show ...maybe he was drunk or just plain didn't know... ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ This just in ... April 23, 2006 ... Hello, - Warren could be partially right concerning the Heritage date code, but I own a Heritage H 535 with the ser.no U25504 ! According to Warren this guitar should have been made on 11 Sept 2004 ( saturday !!) But i bought it new on 21 August 2004 from "REAL GUITARS " in Germany - so what did I buy ?? :-))) Kind regards, Justus ________________________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________ Thundersteel. Based on what you stated as well as other folks on the net making similar statements (see above), looks like the serial number code is NOT like Gibsons' as was rumored. Since my guitar wasn't "born" on Holly's birthday, then well, I guess I have to admit, Buddy WAS kind of nerdy, and he WAS a Strat guy (no points won there either,) from the land of GW (definately no points won there-even puts him in negative territory ). And he was also terrible at making his own travel arrangements!!! Thanks Thundersteel, I was letting media driven retro rock n roll romanticism get in the way of logic here as I tried to make my guitar even more special by adding a sense of cosmic lore to it's inception. I am actually glad you pointed this out. Chuck Berry from my home town is actually the true king of rock n roll anyway and he was always a Gibson man, bet some of the Heritage guys even built some of the guitars he used on his historic recordings. Who knows, maybe the ACTUAL born on date is Chuck Berry's birthday, guess we'll never know. Maybe it's better this way..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul P Posted November 25, 2007 Share Posted November 25, 2007 How do the serial numbers correlate to the date? My H157 has W34908, which I guess is 2006, made on 349 day (December 15), and the 8th guitar made that day? If that's so, then the guitar was made after I bought it! I read somewhere that the day was counted backwards from the end of the year but I can't for the life of me find where I saw this. Paul P Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
golferwave Posted November 25, 2007 Share Posted November 25, 2007 That's also my understanding. January 1st is 365 and counts down to 001 for December 31st. The letter is the year and the last two numbers is the order of that guitars completion for that day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnCovach Posted November 25, 2007 Share Posted November 25, 2007 I guess you might check this working out the day and then checking to see if it was a Saturday or Sunday. While it wouldn't prove anything if all your guitars came up Mon-Fri, it would be suspicious if Sat and Sun came up (or a holiday, like July 4, Easter, Thanksgiving, etc.). We have some multiple Heritage owners here; Who wants to test this? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thundersteel Posted November 25, 2007 Share Posted November 25, 2007 I read somewhere that the day was counted backwards from the end of the year but I can't for the life of me find whereI saw this That would make mine "born" on Jan 17th, a Tuesday. Maybe whoever thought of the numbering system was dyslexic! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yankeefan01 Posted November 25, 2007 Share Posted November 25, 2007 That's also my understanding. January 1st is 365 and counts down to 001 for December 31st. The letter is the year and the last two numbers is the order of that guitars completion for that day. That's what I was told also from a very reliable source. When you're counting days, either direction, make sure that you take into account whether you've got a leap year too. ;D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kazwell Posted November 25, 2007 Share Posted November 25, 2007 Here's a nice web page that can help you quickly calculate dates and number of days in the year. Seems to work in reversing the order as well... http://www.timeanddate.com/date/duration.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kazwell Posted November 26, 2007 Share Posted November 26, 2007 OK. well it turns out the REAL born on date for my H-150 is April 26th which happens to be none other than Duane Eddy's birthday!!!!!! A true 50's guitar hero!!!!! Read more about him here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duane_Eddy this is off Wiki: 2004 began on a high note with the introduction of the new Gibson Duane Eddy Signature Model guitar, built to Eddy’s specifications by the Gibson Custom Art and Historic Division. Later that year, he was presented with the Guitar Player Magazine Legend Award, having the distinction of being only the second recipient, the first having been presented to Eddy's own guitar hero, Les Paul. A MUCH more significant legend as far as the electric guitar is concerned. Although I am still glad I added my original post. Otherwise I would never have been corrected on this. Again BIIIG thanks to Thundersteel for pointing this out!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yankeefan01 Posted November 26, 2007 Share Posted November 26, 2007 Here's a nice web page that can help you quickly calculate dates and number of days in the year. Seems to work in reversing the order as well... http://www.timeanddate.com/date/duration.html Cool site. My H140 was born on November 6, 1985! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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