Addressed to a biased audience! H-150 and Lester content on the light side, weightwise

[eljay]

Okay, so Brother Bolero shamed me into looking at the Heritage offerings . . . I find this one really looking good to me:

https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/H150CSFSOTB--heritage-custom-shop-factory-special-standard-h-150-plain-top-electric-guitar-original-tobacco-burst

I'm curious about H's choice of Lollar Imperial pups instead of the Seth Lovers H puts in the lower end 150s . . .

And this one's in the discussion:

https://eddiesguitars.com/product/gibson-catalogs/gibson-custom-shop/gibson-custom-shop-psl-58-les-paul-standard-reissue-vos-sunrise-tea-burst-8-4-83129/

Part of a special run for Eddies Guitars with a focus on lighter weight, great price for a CS guitar, I think.

I'm really drawn to the plain top R8 look.

Observations and flames requested. Looking forward to being at PSP in about a month!

[Spectrum13]

Both the same weight and withing a few hundred dollars ($3500). You need to play them to decide or if cost is an issue buy the Murphy Lab at $4,300 off list and it's like getting a a Les Paul and an extra $1,000 in your pocket. No brainer!  

[eljay]

Stock market has been good to me lately, solved the "dilemma" and purchased both! Time for a cold 🍺

[Steiner]

That’s the way to decide.  I may have flipped a coin but I like the way you’re thinking.
Nice snatches!
I replaced the throbaks in my 575 with Imperials.  Much better.

[bolero]

haha!!

Congratulations!

[RJLII]

I have a Plain Top R8 that I love, but in this case I’d go with the Heritage. The fingerboard on the R8 is terrible, as are the inlays. Tough to beat the Lollar Imperials on the H-150 too. 

Edited June 29 by RJLII

[hopkinwfg]

Suggest that if ya really going into the gibby path which they are indeed more vintage accurate but if ya like the less pricey LP heritage will be ya thing ... both are high quality instruments on the wood package but with gibson ya get more hardware goodness still...   

Forget about murphy labs they are too far fetch on price... getta well used R8 from their 2007 2004 2003 era and if your lucky u could spot a special madagadcar board which they fetch warmer tone

[DetroitBlues]

Sounds like you have a nice pair of singlecuts coming your way, congratulations!

When you go all in, you go all in!

Going back to Heritage choice of Lollars, Heritage has a relationship going back a long time with Lollar pickups as most of their P90 (non-custom core) guitars use Lollar P90's.  Seymour Duncans, while a fabulous pickup manufacturer, are common, everyday mass-produced pickups unlike the "boutique" brand like Lollar.  Since this H150 is a Custom Core model whose pickups are normally hand-wound inhouse by Rob Dolittle (cool dude to talk to at PSP!) they are swapped out with the top-of-the-line Lollar Imperials.  Not having a beautiful flame top is bummer for the cost, but also for a '58 Plaintop look, its spot on.  

Hope you like them both!

[hopkinwfg]

18 hours ago, eljay said:

Okay, so Brother Bolero shamed me into looking at the Heritage offerings . . . I find this one really looking good to me:

https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/H150CSFSOTB--heritage-custom-shop-factory-special-standard-h-150-plain-top-electric-guitar-original-tobacco-burst

I'm curious about H's choice of Lollar Imperial pups instead of the Seth Lovers H puts in the lower end 150s . . .

And this one's in the discussion:

https://eddiesguitars.com/product/gibson-catalogs/gibson-custom-shop/gibson-custom-shop-psl-58-les-paul-standard-reissue-vos-sunrise-tea-burst-8-4-83129/

Part of a special run for Eddies Guitars with a focus on lighter weight, great price for a CS guitar, I think.

I'm really drawn to the plain top R8 look.

Observations and flames requested. Looking forward to being at PSP in about a month!

Gosh... the Murphy lab rosewood board looks terrible...

The Heritage H150 custom shop just looks richer more quality.... and hell the body back and neck on my H150CC tobacco sunburst looks tighter in the grain no idea how probably their wood prep? Or its naturally selected to be this... honestly i own H150CC and i still like to own 1 more .... regretted getting the H150... the quality starts at the Custom core line !! I have a soft spot for Heritage ever since i gotten the custom core...

i just hope custom core line can include a nicer 5As 3D flame top option and tortise shell type side dots !!

Gibsons go 2000s era their body woods just seems more uniform and tighter..... i normally hunt for the special madagascar board ... 

[Jimbob]

On 6/29/2025 at 3:56 PM, eljay said:

Stock market has been good to me lately, solved the "dilemma" and purchased both! Time for a cold 🍺

Congrats on the new guitar purchases! There's certainly nothing wrong with a nice plain top regardless of brand! Also, I've mentioned this before, but the bridges on these new H-150s and other Custom Cores have been upgraded to the more traditional zamac/brass tune-o-matic style bridge and, in my honest opinion, they're vastly superior tone-wise to the Pinnacle bridges that were installed up until 2025. They may not be locking, but the materials do matter! Can't wait to hear how you like the new guitars!

Edited July 2 by Jimbob

[Jimbob]

On 6/29/2025 at 4:26 PM, Steiner said:

That’s the way to decide.  I may have flipped a coin but I like the way you’re thinking.
Nice snatches!
I replaced the throbaks in my 575 with Imperials.  Much better.

Just curious, but what set of Throbaks did you have installed, and what was it that you didn't care about them? The reason I ask is because I'm thinking of installing a set of Throbak SLE-101s into my H-150 CC goldtop, and it happens to be a set that I've always liked in the past. Of course, a 575 is an entirely different beast than a 150, so I can understand why the Imperials might be preferred for that guitar.

[TalismanRich]

I got the impression that the "factory special" was a Sweetwater spec'd guitar.  The Lollar PAF and jumbo frets vs the CC spec 225 and Medium Jumbos frets.  Plain top vs figured top.     

I would guess they move enough that they could specify a factory run, a bit like Wildwood does with their "Wildwood Spec" guitars.  

[eljay]

Well, it just arrived . . . I'll unbox it soon and give a report . . . the Gibbie showed up a couple of hours ago and it's a keeper! btw, I have a Wildwood Spec Lester and it's da shizzle!

[Steiner]

11 hours ago, Jimbob said:

Just curious, but what set of Throbaks did you have installed, and what was it that you didn't care about them? The reason I ask is because I'm thinking of installing a set of Throbak SLE-101s into my H-150 CC goldtop, and it happens to be a set that I've always liked in the past. Of course, a 575 is an entirely different beast than a 150, so I can understand why the Imperials might be preferred for that guitar.

I believe they were the 101s, whatever they claim to be PAFs.  I primarily play through Metropoulos remakes of Marshall 1959 and/or JTM45-100.  The Imperials are a far better pickup IMHO.  I was getting noise through the throwup 101s and was told by the owner that I had to pay to assess the defective product that is “guaranteed for life.”  I’ll never use their crap again.  It seems to me that I pulled 101s from a H-150LW and improved it with HRWs

[bolero]

That is bullshit customer service.

I have SLE-101's in a H157 & they sound fantastic. So those must have been defective.

I have imperials in another H150 & they sound fantastic too.  Can't go wrong with either.

Sounds like yours were wrnog though!

[rockabilly69]

Do be contrarian, I think throbak are consistently one of the best sounding pickups made. They are very similar to OG PAFs in the sense that are microphonic, and if you're going to use a high gain amp, they are going to be touchy. I've had to remove a cover and put a bid a silicone on one coild to tame a bridge pickup. But back in the 70's many people pulled real PAFs out of their guitars for the same reason. But I have never had a Lollar that sounds as good as a Throbak. And I have played way more examples than most people of Imperials and SLE101s. My number one Teye guitar has Imperials in it along with two other Teyes I've owned. 

[DetroitBlues]

1 hour ago, rockabilly69 said:

Do be contrarian, I think throbak are consistently one of the best sounding pickups made. They are very similar to OG PAFs in the sense that are microphonic, and if you're going to use a high gain amp, they are going to be touchy. I've had to remove a cover and put a bid a silicone on one coild to tame a bridge pickup. But back in the 70's many people pulled real PAFs out of their guitars for the same reason. But I have never had a Lollar that sounds as good as a Throbak. And I have played way more examples than most people of Imperials and SLE101s. My number one Teye guitar has Imperials in it along with two other Teyes I've owned. 

I think it’s a matter of poor customer service rather than tone.  

[rockabilly69]

35 minutes ago, DetroitBlues said:

I think it’s a matter of poor customer service rather than tone.  

Oh yeah, a bad customer service situation can lead to sore apples, but if I had to be limited to one brand of pickups I would say Throbak are the most consistently in line with what I want to hear. The guy just seems to have that low output PAF thing down. I have heard other brands of pickups that get there, but not as consistently as Throbak, especially the SLE101. With Lollar Imperials I thnk the low winds are the closest to what I like. And I'm also a fan of Wolfetone Legends. Speaking of bad customer service, Tyson Tone Lab pickups, especially his Precious and Grace pickups, are also fantastic, BUT, that guy consistently takes forever to get you your pickups, many people have complaints about him and have cancelled orders. 

[Jimbob]

On 7/15/2025 at 9:56 PM, rockabilly69 said:

Oh yeah, a bad customer service situation can lead to sore apples, but if I had to be limited to one brand of pickups I would say Throbak are the most consistently in line with what I want to hear. The guy just seems to have that low output PAF thing down. I have heard other brands of pickups that get there, but not as consistently as Throbak, especially the SLE101. With Lollar Imperials I thnk the low winds are the closest to what I like. And I'm also a fan of Wolfetone Legends. Speaking of bad customer service, Tyson Tone Lab pickups, especially his Precious and Grace pickups, are also fantastic, BUT, that guy consistently takes forever to get you your pickups, many people have complaints about him and have cancelled orders. 

Yeah, I agree about ThroBak's consistency. I've had several sets of them without any issues, and the SLE-101s are the ones that have remained. Between Tom Holmes' pickups and ThroBaks, I haven't felt a need to look any further. Wolfe's Legends can't be beat for the price, either. I did have one set of Imperials about 10 or 11 years ago but, frankly, they just didn't do it for me. If I remember correctly, they had sort of a "hi-fi" type of high-end that just didn't sound very vintage-like to my ears. I do understand why some folks really like them, though, for they do have a certain tonal quality about them that's appealing to many.

As far as ThroBak's customer service goes, thankfully I've never had to deal with it, but I do have to admit that it would certainly put a bad taste in my mouth if a company didn't honor its lifetime warranty for a defective product.

[rockabilly69]

48 minutes ago, Jimbob said:

Yeah, I agree about ThroBak's consistency. I've had several sets of them without any issues, and the SLE-101s are the ones that have remained. Between Tom Holmes' pickups and ThroBaks, I haven't felt a need to look any further. Wolfe's Legends can't be beat for the price, either. I did have one set of Imperials about 10 or 11 years ago but, frankly, they just didn't do it for me. If I remember correctly, they had sort of a "hi-fi" type of high-end that just didn't sound very vintage-like to my ears. I do understand why some folks really like them, though, for they do have a certain tonal quality about them that's appealing to many.

As far as ThroBak's customer service goes, thankfully I've never had to deal with it, but I do have to admit that it would certainly put a bad taste in my mouth if a company didn't honor its lifetime warranty for a defective product.

These are Lollar Imperials in my Teye, I don't think they sound HiFi at all...

 

Edited Wednesday at 10:09 PM by rockabilly69

[Jimbob]

17 hours ago, rockabilly69 said:

These are Lollar Imperials in my Teye, I don't think they sound HiFi at all...

 

I agree, they don't sound "hi-fi" in that recording. There's some nice tone going on there! I just recall my pickup rabbit hole experience from 10 to 15 years ago when I picked up a set of Imperials, and compared to the others they just didn't sound right to me. Of course, it could've been the guitar I installed them in, too. No pickup is likely to work well in every guitar, either!

[TalismanRich]

Y'know, the amp has a little bit to do with the tone of a guitar, too!    

[Jimbob]

3 hours ago, TalismanRich said:

Y'know, the amp has a little bit to do with the tone of a guitar, too!    

Yep! Absolutely! Funny, but I should really know better than to describe a certain tone that I'm hearing for any given product, for every time I do someone will have a difference of opinion. But yet, often times amps, types of guitars, effects, strings, or even the actual player himself never become part of the conversation. The fact of the matter is that tone is very subjective, and there are simply too many variables involved for us all to arrive at the same conclusions. 

[zguitar71]

On 7/15/2025 at 8:56 PM, rockabilly69 said:

 And I'm also a fan of Wolfetone Legends. Speaking of bad customer service, Tyson Tone Lab pickups, especially his Precious and Grace pickups, are also fantastic, BUT, that guy consistently takes forever to get you your pickups, many people have complaints about him and have cancelled orders. 

I really like Wolfetone pickups, I have legends,  mean/meaner P90s and an A2 Marshallhead. All of them sound great and he has great customer service. 
 

I also have a set of “60s” P90s from Tyson Tonelab. I bought them in 6/17. I got them in 11/17 after many calls and emails and finally was in the process of canceling the order. Only then did he send them out. They are the best set of P90s I have. I have original ‘57 from Gib, a set from Throback, Lollar, and Wolfetone and the TTL stand out. It is just a shame he is so awful with customer service. 

[rockabilly69]

22 hours ago, TalismanRich said:

Y'know, the amp has a little bit to do with the tone of a guitar, too!    

This comes up a lot in my conversations with guitar playing friends. We all agree the amp is the biggest factor in great tone. When you've got a great amp almost any decent pickup will sound good. But... those Lollar Imperials in my Teye sound good with any amp of mine that I've plugged that guitar into. I've recorded it with both of my Boogies DC2 6V6 tubes and Fillmore 50 6L6 tubes, my Marshall EL34 tubes, and my Dirty Girl 6973 tubes. That Imperials just sound great. I also had another Teye with those pickups, and they sounded great in that one too. I wonder if Teye spec'd those Imperials specifically for his guitars. I've had mixed luck with Lollar pickups, and his P90s never really did it for me. But them Kuz sold me that H535 P90, and those sounded great.