New Heritage H-535s

[len]

I apologize if this has been asked already, but I could not find a post that related to my question. I am considering purchasing a Standard H-535 and I'm wondering if the new H-535s, especially those made in 2025, that are built with CNC are as good as the old ones where human beings did that work. Again, apologies if this has already been covered

[TalismanRich]

The guitars that I have played at the factory were every bit as good as my 2005 535.   

I don't think you'll find CNC robots making the H535s.   I believe that they might be rough carving the necks (not sure if this is absolutely true), but putting together a semihollow body is a multistep process that doesn't lend itself to CNC manufacturing.   The top and back are a 3 piece laminated sandwich that is then steam pressed in a form that gives it the arch.   The center block is a solid block with the pickup areas cut out, and there is a piece that matches up to fill the gap between the top and block.   Then you have kerfing that is applied to the rim before the top and bottom are glued.  The pieces are then assembled by hand to form the body.

Rough cutting the neck profile means that the starting shape should be more consistent in terms of thickness and curvature, but there is still a lot of handiwork to finalize things.    If you've ever watched someone hand rolling a neck, there can be a lot of variation.   It doesn't take a lot of sanding to go from a fat to a thin neck.   In the past it was all done freehand, checking it with a pattern every so often.

If you think about it,  the old duplicarver was a primitive "cnc" machine, minus the computer.   It's akin to the patterns that someone like Hillerich & Bradsby uses when carving baseball bats.   A CNC just follows a computerized form to cut the wood. 

 

 

 

[len]

Thanks so much for the answer, Rich. I purchased their Ascent+ model earlier this year, and the playability of that guitar, especially considering the price, is so good, I now want to upgrade to a Standard as a Christmas present to myself. Since I'd prefer to buy new, mostly because I like the idea of helping a great company, l just wanted to make sure that I wouldn't be making a mistake buying new instead of something prior to the Bandlab ownership.  I took the tour in 2017 and was so impressed by the guys building the guitars, that I've wanted one ever since. So again, thanks so much for the answer.

[MartyGrass]

Thanks so much for the answer, Rich. I purchased their Ascent+ model earlier this year, and the playability of that guitar, especially considering the price, is so good, I now want to upgrade to a Standard as a Christmas present to myself.

 

You sound like me.  My wife would say that since I like the Ascent+ so much, I should stick with it and shut up!

[TalismanRich]

While the Ascent and Ascent+ lines are good entry levels, they aren't made in the same factory as the standard and Custom Core ranges.

Len, you should join us for this year's PSP, and see the way things have changed.   While many things are still being done "old school",  there are some improvements,  like the spray booth where the air is filtered (no dust to get on the finish, and safer) and the PLEK machine to make sure the guitars have consistent setups.   

Heck, you might just find the exact guitar you want while you're there!

Edited June 18 by TalismanRich

[len]

I promised my wife a trip Marty. Bribery always works with her. Thanks Rich. I will see what I can do about attending PSP. From what I've read it sounds like a good time. 

[DetroitBlues]

1 hour ago, len said:

I promised my wife a trip Marty. Bribery always works with her. Thanks Rich. I will see what I can do about attending PSP. From what I've read it sounds like a good time. 

You can buy direct from the factory show room, usually at a discount too, so you'll save some money there.  I bought my H150 that way 2 years ago. 

Plus, you may find some unique one-off's you will not find in any store too.

Back to the original point, rough cutting of solid bodies and necks are all that CNC work does.  The CNC's are heavily used for the Harmony guitars, so you'll see a lot of them on the machines.

[len]

Thanks DetroitBlues. I think I have my wife convinced to go; she enjoyed Kalamazoo the last time we were there. 

[ElNumero]

3 hours ago, len said:

Thanks DetroitBlues. I think I have my wife convinced to go; she enjoyed Kalamazoo the last time we were there. 

FYI- I purchased a 2016 new old stock H155M in vintage wine burst last year at the plant. It was hanging in the showroom and I couldn’t resist. They made me a very sweet deal. They buffed it, gave it a PLEK job, and a setup before shipping it out to me. Heritage takes care of their HOC constituents. 

[len]

Thanks ElNumero, I'll look forward to seeing what's available. 

[TalismanRich]

For those interested,  this is how the H-535s are put together.   You can see the center block,  how they add the kerfing,  and how the top is made and curved.   This is from almost 10 years back, but the process is the same now.   It's not a process that would be done by CNC.

 

[len]

Thanks for this.

[rockabilly69]

7 hours ago, TalismanRich said:

For those interested,  this is how the H-535s are put together.   You can see the center block,  how they add the kerfing,  and how the top is made and curved.   This is from almost 10 years back, but the process is the same now.   It's not a process that would be done by CNC.

 

How the guys that work there avoid hearing damage is beyond me. That is one noisy environment.

[rwinking]

19 hours ago, rockabilly69 said:

How the guys that work there avoid hearing damage is beyond me. That is one noisy environment.

Says the guy who plays in a rock band......

[29er]

I noticed one guy had ear plugs hanging around his neck  I worked for a huge international company and hearing protection (and many other things) was mandatory. If you got caught break certain safety rules you were fired. There's no way to make these fine instruments w/o violating the rules that company imposed. I also wonder how often a guitar gets dropped when using those buffing wheels.

[TalismanRich]

They have had ear protection available for years.   I remember Jim Deurloo cutting a backplate during a tour and he had in a pair of earplugs.    They also have safety glass available.   Everyone who goes on the tours is required to have a pair.    I took my own since I had to use them at work.

[rockabilly69]

4 hours ago, rwinking said:

Says the guy who plays in a rock band......

Well rock and roll can be unkind, but we keep our stage volume and rehearsal volumes at a totally reasonable volume. Now that nonstop cacophony at Heritage, which doesn't let up, is sure to kill some ear drums! 

And BTW, my main gig is playing acoustic, and it's funny, I went acoustic so I wouldn't damage my hearing 

[rwinking]

I play more acoustic than anything lately. I still want to get into a loud rock band again before I die. I figure my ears are damaged enough so what the hell. There is a power in a lud amp that is cool. I can get a nice tone from a smaler amp or a modeler but still want them to be loud. Oops....totally hijacked a thread here.....

[TalismanRich]

These days I play a lot quieter than I did 50 years ago.    When our band from back then got together last month after 50 years,  one of the things I mentioned was that our parents were saints for putting up with us.   4 or 5 guys in a basement with amps turned up almost all the way, playing for 2 or 3 hours.   One day our drummer's mother pointed out that the clock on the wall had rotated sideways from the bass player's sound.   

I remember at one PSP,   I had my 525, and if I turned towards my Patriot amp,  it would start to howl on a  lot of notes.   It's a LOT more susceptible to feedback than my 535 or Millennium LE.

[bolero]

It's gotta be fun to buy a guitar at the factory, walk outta there with the newly acquired axe in hand

what a souvenir!

[rockabilly69]

1 hour ago, bolero said:

It's gotta be fun to buy a guitar at the factory, walk outta there with the newly acquired axe in hand

what a souvenir!

I would love to do that, get one right from the source, and have it setup perfectly to my liking while I was there!!!

17 hours ago, rwinking said:

I play more acoustic than anything lately. I still want to get into a loud rock band again before I die. I figure my ears are damaged enough so what the hell. There is a power in a lud amp that is cool. I can get a nice tone from a smaler amp or a modeler but still want them to be loud. Oops....totally hijacked a thread here.....

I play alot of acoustic guitar and resonator with my band, and because of that we have to keep our volumes approriate. I posted this in another thread, but in this song I doubled my Martin HD28 with my National M2 reso. Listen to the drums, you can tell that we aren't that loud. We record in my very small studio so anything really loud would overtake the room.