Question about the H-530

[JeffGuitar]

It looks to me like the neck on the H-530 meets the body at the same place/fret as the H-535. However, it looks like that's a difference between it and an ES-330, which meets the body at a different place/fret than the ES-335. Am I right in that assessment? Also, does anyone know why Heritage does the same for both models and Gibson doesn't? Just curious.

[Yooper]

I understand there are two versions of the ES330: the original where the neck joins at the 16th fret and the late version (also reissued as the 330L) where the neck joins at the 19th fret. 

[JayLo]

My '67 ES-330 has a short neck. In '68 Gibson replaced the short neck version of the ES-330 with the longer neck version. Production of the 330 model ended in '72. There were ES-330 reissue short necks in the 2000s. That's why you see both versions on the market. 
My 2021 H-530 has of course the long neck and it feels different. Neck and body are a little thinner.  So, why did I get a H-530? I didn't want to take my valuable 330 to gigs and, quite frankly, I now appreciate the longer neck. 

[JeffGuitar]

Thanks for the answers - much appreciated!

[josephdviviano]

My read on the history:

ES-330s and Epiphone Casinos were first released with short necks, later with longer necks. The people who made these guitars famous mostly played the short neck versions. The guitars weren't that popular after the mid 60s-70s due to stage volumes skyrocketing, and were discontinued. Since the mid 2000s, they have begun to become popular again as stage volumes came back down (due to modern PAs being favoured over enormous amplifiers). In response to this, companies like Epiphone and Gibson, bound by their duty to replicate the past instead of inventing the future, reissued the short neck version, which is more commonly seen on vintage recordings and stages. 

Companies like Heritage, Eastman, Collings thankfully are willing to just build a modern take on the design without being bound totally by tradition.

[MartyGrass]

As I understand it, there was concern about the neck pocket stability.  Gibson electric hollowbodies joined at the 16th fret in the 1950s.  At least the ES-150, 295 and 350 as I recall.  So that was the hollowbody norm.

The ES-335 premiered in 1958.  The ES-330 came out a year later.

Here is the center block of the 335.  There's more wood to anchor a neck into.  I don't recall what they did to assure themselves the 19" neck was stable.

[TalismanRich]

Here's a shot from an earlier PSP showing how the H530 is built.    The 535 has the same style block as the 335 above.

[josephdviviano]

8 hours ago, MartyGrass said:

As I understand it, there was concern about the neck pocket stability.  Gibson electric hollowbodies joined at the 16th fret in the 1950s.  At least the ES-150, 295 and 350 as I recall.  So that was the hollowbody norm.

Is there any evidence now that the neck pocket stability is in fact compromised on these longer necks?

[MartyGrass]

I am not aware of any instability in either the long neck ES-330 or the H-530.  One of the original Heritage owners said that Gibson was confident about the long neck stability when they changed the pocket design.  That's my understanding.

The H-530 does not neck dive on me, which I appreciate.

 

[MartyGrass]

On 12/25/2023 at 6:37 PM, TalismanRich said:

Here's a shot from an earlier PSP showing how the H530 is built.    The 535 has the same style block as the 335 above.

Nice image!