Heritage H150 traditionally best built years/eras?

[hopkinwfg]

Howdy all Heritage geeks....  would like to ask in context of tradition and spirit of these Heritage H150 specifically which era or years were built among the best of Heritage guitars before it changed hands to the new owners.... 

Not to get me wrong... i have a H150 new era and am currently working on to getta H150CC and i am also wanting an older build H150 before Heritage changed hands... but i just dont know which years was it built among the best.... in terms of their hands on craftmanship, wood selection .... 

Seen few on reverb and its very tempting...early 2000s era or late 90s era be good?

[mtpatty]

FWIW- I have a 1999 H150-CM that I absolutely love.  (I did replace the pickups with Bare Knuckle Rebel Yells and put Sperzel Locking Tuners on it)...

[davesultra]

(IMO) I don’t really believe that any years of the “Pre-Plaza” era H-150s’ were any better or worse. You really have to take them on a case by case basis. 

[Kuz]

3 hours ago, davesultra said:

(IMO) I don’t really believe that any years of the “Pre-Plaza” era H-150s’ were any better or worse. You really have to take them on a case by case basis. 

This...period.

[LonelyLefty]

On 4/21/2024 at 11:46 AM, hopkinwfg said:

Howdy all Heritage geeks....  would like to ask in context of tradition and spirit of these Heritage H150 specifically which era or years were built among the best of Heritage guitars before it changed hands to the new owners.... 

Not to get me wrong... i have a H150 new era and am currently working on to getta H150CC and i am also wanting an older build H150 before Heritage changed hands... but i just dont know which years was it built among the best.... in terms of their hands on craftmanship, wood selection .... 

Seen few on reverb and its very tempting...early 2000s era or late 90s era be good?

Thanks Hopkinwfg for asking this question as I'm interested in a 150.

Yes it is very subjective topic but hearing why folks like their guitars does help form an opinion when coupled with your own preferences. I look forward to reading others responses.

[TalismanRich]

One problem with trying to nail down the best guitar by year is that they never really seemed to nail down a "spec change" vs year.    Lots of 150s were customized to some degree,  and parts used were pretty consistent over the years, at least until Schaller exited parts of the market.   Schaller pickups and bridge hardware,  Vishay caps,  Grover tuners,  Jesco frets were pretty much standard items until the mid/late 2000s.   Then they went with SD59s or Seths,  and a TOM bridge style.   The CC series were a departure in many regards, based on Edwin Wilson's specs.

There were variations in the neck thickness but they would accommodate requests.    The necks were rolled by hand.  They have some templates to use as guides, but they didn't vary drastically.   I have guitars built in 87, 2000, 2003 and 2005.   The necks are reasonably close,  somewhat thin for some people's taste but I think they are very comfortable.  There are guitars built with chunky necks if the person ordering asked for it.

As Dave and Kuz said, judge each guitar on a  "case by case basis".

 

[Jwmusic]

Purely my own experience and anecdotes from others. I own a 98 H150 and a late 80s- early 90s 535. Both are incredible guitars and every person who has tried them comments on them, both will be on tour with me for a up coming project.
Ive heard a lot of people say about this era being sought after as the best was incredible and the worst just average. However I have also heard of the inconsistency’s of this era but I’d argue that’s down to the hand made nature.
Conversely, I’ve played several transition years heritages from across the range and they were all average at best and mediocre at worst. The shop I work for was a UK dealer at the time and could not shift them for this reason. Poor finishing such as bad fret work, poor woods, defects such as incorrect neck angle, electrical issues and just general poor QC when compared to the obvious comparatives.
I have heard since the new take over quality has vastly improved again and they are once again the sort after guitars they were.  

[hopkinwfg]

Thanks for the helpful input !! I own the new era oxblood H150 not the CC thou and i am wondering does the H150 new era 2023 has a slight to big changes from the older era ? From body thickness, bindings, neck & head angle ? 

[TalismanRich]

From the stand point of body thickness, binding and angles,  I haven't seen any real change until the CC.   The CC headstock size and neck angle are different from the standard.   I also remember there being a difference with the body carve between the standard and CC line. 

I haven't played a newer standard in a year, so I'm going on memory here, but the standard 150 felt similar to my 2003 157, except the neck was a touch beefier, more like my 535. 

 

 

[bolero]

On 4/23/2024 at 8:41 PM, Jwmusic said:

Purely my own experience and anecdotes from others. I own a 98 H150 and a late 80s- early 90s 535. Both are incredible guitars and every person who has tried them comments on them, both will be on tour with me for a up coming project.
Ive heard a lot of people say about this era being sought after as the best was incredible and the worst just average. However I have also heard of the inconsistency’s of this era but I’d argue that’s down to the hand made nature.
Conversely, I’ve played several transition years heritages from across the range and they were all average at best and mediocre at worst. The shop I work for was a UK dealer at the time and could not shift them for this reason. Poor finishing such as bad fret work, poor woods, defects such as incorrect neck angle, electrical issues and just general poor QC when compared to the obvious comparatives.
I have heard since the new take over quality has vastly improved again and they are once again the sort after guitars they were.  

This is good to hear, from someone who worked in retail & has experience from those years. I remember the shitshow of opinions when Heritage was trying to deal with QC at that time.

Myself I don't really have issues with most of that as I do my own setups, and don't care about cosmetics a lot, but I could see why a lot of people did. And if you're trying to establish a reputable brand of quality, it's absolutely important.

Edited April 25 by bolero

[rockabilly69]

On 4/22/2024 at 2:48 PM, davesultra said:

(IMO) I don’t really believe that any years of the “Pre-Plaza” era H-150s’ were any better or worse. You really have to take them on a case by case basis. 

Yes!

On 4/22/2024 at 6:29 PM, Kuz said:

This...period.

Yes!

On 4/23/2024 at 6:41 PM, Jwmusic said:

Purely my own experience and anecdotes from others. I own a 98 H150 and a late 80s- early 90s 535. Both are incredible guitars and every person who has tried them comments on them, both will be on tour with me for a up coming project.
Ive heard a lot of people say about this era being sought after as the best was incredible and the worst just average. However I have also heard of the inconsistency’s of this era but I’d argue that’s down to the hand made nature.
Conversely, I’ve played several transition years heritages from across the range and they were all average at best and mediocre at worst. The shop I work for was a UK dealer at the time and could not shift them for this reason. Poor finishing such as bad fret work, poor woods, defects such as incorrect neck angle, electrical issues and just general poor QC when compared to the obvious comparatives.
I have heard since the new take over quality has vastly improved again and they are once again the sort after guitars they were.  

Although some of the coolest Heritages I've played have been old ones, a good percentage of the worst quality, I've seen were also from the early years, with many guitars having to be sent back to the factory! One of my close friends was a Heritage dealer in the so called good old days, and he relayed to me some stories of such guitars, and some newer dealers I've talked too have repeated these stories, so average at best is a fallacy. Also the factory in my opinion was very run down and in need of some good clean up, but these days it's looking great. And some of the new ones are in my opinion the best Heritages I've ever seen, heard, or played! Hands down, with the new guard, the nuts, frets, and binding on the on the standard models look great, and both of my older H150s needed work in all of those departments. The only thing I don't like with the new guard is the relic-ing, especially on the tuners and around the headstock. Another thing, on the custom cores, I think they should offer unpotted humbuckers, for what they are charging for CCs, I think they should cut a deal with Throbak! They should also use better bridges (Faber or ABM would be nice), and better tuners, like Japanese made Klusons (or upscale Gotohs). But all all in all, I think Heritage has upped their game. 

Things I love that went by the wayside...

Schaller bridges, tailpieces, and pickups!, I never liked any of them. 

[hopkinwfg]

On 4/25/2024 at 10:34 PM, TalismanRich said:

From the stand point of body thickness, binding and angles,  I haven't seen any real change until the CC.   The CC headstock size and neck angle are different from the standard.   I also remember there being a difference with the body carve between the standard and CC line. 

I haven't played a newer standard in a year, so I'm going on memory here, but the standard 150 felt similar to my 2003 157, except the neck was a touch beefier, more like my 535. 

 

 

With what you described on the latest H150 CC the Wilson spec, will you say the new H150CC being different from the older H150 as being more of that "historically accurate Les paul" while the new era H150 remains neutral as to what the old Heritage were doing on their H150s back in the day...?

Edited April 27 by hopkinwfg

[Kuz]

On 4/27/2024 at 10:17 AM, hopkinwfg said:

With what you described on the latest H150 CC the Wilson spec, will you say the new H150CC being different from the older H150 as being more of that "historically accurate Les paul" while the new era H150 remains neutral as to what the old Heritage were doing on their H150s back in the day...?

This is probable very accurate. 

Edwin Wilson was the head of Gibson's custom shop before moving over to be in charge of Heritage's Custom shop.  The Custom Core is more historically accurate, but I don't if anyone could notice on a "blind-fold playing test".   For me, the main reason I bought a Custom Core 150 was because of the HUGE improvement in lighter woods used (without "weight relieving" the body) my CC came in at 8'4oz and I also wanted the "feel" of an old guitar so I got the "aged version".   

I have owned 4 other 150s through out the years and they all sounded very good.  I think there is a "dry and punchy" sound from my Custom Core (that I think is due to the lighter wood and aged nitro finish) that the other 150s didn't have.  But even if only for a lighter CC guitar weight, the extra cost was worth it for me.  My other 150s ranged from 9'2oz to almost 9'12oz which are just to heavy for me.

[Kuz]

On 4/27/2024 at 5:51 AM, rockabilly69 said:

 

The only thing I don't like with the new guard is the relic-ing, especially on the tuners and around the headstock. Another thing, on the custom cores, I think they should offer unpotted humbuckers, for what they are chargior CCs, I think they should cut a deal with Throbak! They should also use better bridges (Faber or ABM would be nice), and better tuners, like Japanese made Klusons (or upscale Gotohs). But all all in all, I think Heritage has upped their game. 

 

1) I like the feel and generally the look of the "aging" on CCs.  But the headstock aging is a little too much for sure.

2) The tuners do suck.  I replaced them with drop in Gotohs and it is a HUGE improvement.

3) The pickups sound OK, but I like A2s so I dropped in a used set of Throbak SLE-101s.  I called Heritage to see if they would sell me a set of unpotted Parson Street pickups, but they said no because they were all currently potted. 

[hopkinwfg]

On 4/28/2024 at 11:48 PM, Kuz said:

1) I like the feel and generally the look of the "aging" on CCs.  But the headstock aging is a little too much for sure.

2) The tuners do suck.  I replaced them with drop in Gotohs and it is a HUGE improvement.

3) The pickups sound OK, but I like A2s so I dropped in a used set of Throbak SLE-101s.  I called Heritage to see if they would sell me a set of unpotted Parson Street pickups, but they said no because they were all currently potted. 

Cool !! Show us ya H150CC? Yup i agree the tuner sucks.... it happened so with the new H150 too its not the regular grover instead its a 3rd party replica.... 

But which gotoh tuner model you went with? 

As for the potted PU... you might wanna take out the covers and do alittle heating over ya PU hopefully most of its wax would melt out ?

I haven tried the 225 parsons H150CC pickups yet... but so far am pretty happy with my R9 R8 both had burstbuckers and its really open and aggressive sounding ! For potted A2 PU not sure how well it holds out...

 

[davesultra]

Fortunately the tuning machines on my CC150 are holding up just fine. However, I really do wish they would have used something different. My only gripe with Gotoh is that they don’t make their tuners in nickel.

Edited Tuesday at 08:51 AM by davesultra

[Kuz]

2 hours ago, davesultra said:

Fortunately the tuning machines on my CC150 are holding up just fine. However, I really do wish they would have used something different. My only gripe with Gotoh is that they don’t make their tuners in nickel.

Awe, but they do.... I ordered some 510s off ebay with a new "Antique Nickel" finish.  I will report back when they come in, installed, and post pictures.

[Kuz]

11 hours ago, hopkinwfg said:

Cool !! Show us ya H150CC? Yup i agree the tuner sucks.... it happened so with the new H150 too its not the regular grover instead its a 3rd party replica.... 

But which gotoh tuner model you went with? 

As for the potted PU... you might wanna take out the covers and do alittle heating over ya PU hopefully most of its wax would melt out ?

I haven tried the 225 parsons H150CC pickups yet... but so far am pretty happy with my R9 R8 both had burstbuckers and its really open and aggressive sounding ! For potted A2 PU not sure how well it holds out...

 

[hopkinwfg]

Awww i seen yours !! Thats one of a kind top !!

[nuke]

I have a 1998 H150 CM, VSB. It was ordered from the factory with Seymour Duncan 59's, tune-o-matic bridge and standard stop bar tailpiece.  I bought it a few years used, and have played for well over 20 years now. It's been a great, no issues instrument. It is a little over 9lbs, I'm getting to where that's kind of my limit. 

What's interesting is that swapping the zinc (heavy) stop bar for aluminum and the Grovers (also heavy) for vintage-style tuners would bring it under the magical 9lbs mark. 

It's always been very resonant. I've really done nothing to it all these years, other than change the pots a few years ago when one of them got to be a little funky. 

 

[bolero]

Yeah my #1 H150 is a "94 or so. All I did was put an Aluminium tailpiece on, abr1 style bridge, Wolfetone Legend pups.

At one point I installed a custom boutique wiring harness, but I changed it back to stock as it sounded better.

I think I put some vintage bumblebees, or Russian PIO caps in too.

[Kuz]

17 hours ago, nuke said:

I have a 1998 H150 CM, VSB. It was ordered from the factory with Seymour Duncan 59's, tune-o-matic bridge and standard stop bar tailpiece.  I bought it a few years used, and have played for well over 20 years now. It's been a great, no issues instrument. It is a little over 9lbs, I'm getting to where that's kind of my limit. 

What's interesting is that swapping the zinc (heavy) stop bar for aluminum and the Grovers (also heavy) for vintage-style tuners would bring it under the magical 9lbs mark. 

It's always been very resonant. I've really done nothing to it all these years, other than change the pots a few years ago when one of them got to be a little funky. 

 

I did the same to my Heritages in the past and I lost 5-6ozs in weight!!!