Mystery H-535

[MikeJacob]

I recently purchased an older H-535 that is really interesting. I was thinking the community might want to help unravel some of the mystery. 

The serial number starts with AE, so this is likely a 2014, but the seller told me this was a 2006. I think he believed that because the model number on the hang tag is H-535.'06. Any ideas on what the '06 in the model number designates? 

There are no screw holes for a pick guard, so it definitely left the factory this way. There is also no label or glue residue for a label inside the body. There are no indications of this being a factory 2nd, so I'm thinking this was a special order. 

Here are some more details on the specs. The bridge is a Gibson branded ABR-1 and the stop bar has a set screw, so I'm thinking it might be a tone-pros. The part number and date stamp on the pickups show they are Duncan Seth Lovers from 2015. This may be an owner mod or it may be that the guitar was serialized in 2014, and not completed until some time later with newer factory original pickups. The seller believes that this was built for or by an employee for his personal collection. This theory was based on who the previous owner was and how he came to own it. I'd prefer not using anyone's real names to help protect their privacy, but this is another reason why I think it was a special order and a possible explanation for the newer pickups. I can add some pics shortly. I need to reduce their size. Right now they are too big and exceed the 1.5M limit.

I have emailed Heritage to see what sort of documentation they may have on it, but I also thought it would be an interesting conversation to share with the community. Anyone want to chime in with thoughts?

[nuke]

Pics?

It doesn't sound quite right to me. 

I do own a special order H150 from 1998. It was a dealer special order, they made a run of them, maybe a few runs of them. It is a standard H150 but it came with SD 59 pickups and a Nashville tune-o-matic bridge and a zinc stop bar, instead of the typical Schaller pickups, bridge and tail at the time. 

But it bears a regular serial number and it has the normal sticker under the control cavity cover. 

 

[MikeJacob]

Here are the pics I promised . . .

[MikeJacob]

One more so you can get the full view from the front with the headstock logo.

[MikeJacob]

46 minutes ago, nuke said:

Pics?

It doesn't sound quite right to me. 

I do own a special order H150 from 1998. It was a dealer special order, they made a run of them, maybe a few runs of them. It is a standard H150 but it came with SD 59 pickups and a Nashville tune-o-matic bridge and a zinc stop bar, instead of the typical Schaller pickups, bridge and tail at the time. 

But it bears a regular serial number and it has the normal sticker under the control cavity cover. 

 

Agreed. I would think this doesn't sound quite right either, but as you can see in the pics, this is was it has. Maybe they did something different on the H150's? The pickups could be a later mod and honestly I'm trying to avoid pulling the pots out to check the codes. That is such a pain on these and with my luck I'll go through all that just to find the solder covering the code! LOL. 

[TalismanRich]

AE definitely means that it's a 2014 not a 2006.  In 06 they were stamping the serial number and they started with W  ( have a 2006. On mine, the W is above the number.  I think they had to get a new stamp as the old one was wearing out).   They didn't start hand writing numbers until later.   It's hard to say what the '06 designates, and don't know they'll have any special info regarding it's specs.   Sometimes Ren or Jim would remember special orders, but if you built a few thousand guitars over 25 years,  you wouldn't remember every one.   I don't know that they kept a computer database, although by 2015 they may have well converted.   

If I remember the first two numbers are the days working backwards from Dec 31, and the last two is the number of the guitar issued that day.    That would make it the second guitar of  Monday Oct 27th 2014.

The Seth Lovers could easily been owner changed, or factory installed.   It's also possible that the paper label either wasn't installed or came loose.   Still, they are of a close date to the guitar serial.

I don't think it would be worth the time to pull the pots just to look at date codes.   

[bolero]

That is a bit odd with the '06

the serial # looks like AE 06502

So maybe it refers to the 06 in the serial

Hardware gets changed all the time. So who knows what the gtr left the factory with

Congrats that is a nice 535!

[MikeJacob]

Thanks! It is a sweet one and plays like a dream. I was lucky to stumble on it especially since it was shipped from out of state. This is my 3rd Heritage and it is by far the best.