Heritage Guitar Quality
Jack A. Zucker
George4908 wrote:
>
> >> I have a few reservations about Heritage based on the fact
> that over the last 5 years, I've played about 10 of them and at least
> 5 of them and necks that were either twisted, compound bowed, or
> had a rise over the fingerboard.<<
>
> I played a semi-acoustic 335-style Heritage 12-string that had been custom
> ordered by the dealer on a lark -- he says it's the only 12 Heritage has
> made. It had been hanging on his wall for a year, virtually unplayed.
> The neck was terribly bowed, with action at the 12th fret so high as to be
> unplayable.
I'd like to hear from Heritage as to why this is such a problem. Fully
50%
of the Heritage guitars I've played over the last 5 years have severe
neck
problems that require more than twisting a truss rod nut. The most
common
problem I've seen is a rise in the fingerboard over the body. This seems
to happen with alarming regularity with Heritage archtop guitars,
including
one of the Namm show guitars that was bought by a local guitar shop.
A friend of mine bought a Heritage Eagle Classic for around $2000. This
guitar
is Heritage's version of an L5 and is an incredible amount of guitar for
the
money. However, 2 years after purchase, the top is cracked and the
fingerboard
needs planing.
Additionally, the warrenty is only 1 year so when or if you do have
these
kinds of problems, you'll probably be out of warrenty. I love the idea
of Heritage guitars and they make some wonderful looking and playing
instruments
and I'd love to buy one but until they go to a 5 year/lifetime warrenty
and
or fix this wood problem, I'll continue to gaze longingly at their stuff
but
I'll end up buying something else.
-Jaz
Gerald Ross
I own a Heritage Johnny Smith. I bought it in the winter of 1993. I have
had no problem whatsoever with neck warpage, body cracking etc.
I bought the guitar at Elderly Instruments in Lansing, Michigan where
they intially set it up to my specs. The initial setup took less than
20 minutes. This past spring I had them set it up again. That setup
involved a minor twist of the truss rod.
Now here is something to think about... the guitar was built in
Kalamazoo, MI, shipped to Lansing, MI and now resides in Ann Arbor, MI.
The 3 cities are within 100 miles of each other. No difference in
climate. Could this be a factor in the excellent health of my guitar?
--
Gerald Ross
Ann Arbor, MI
My Home Page...
MIDI Cha-Cha, Polka, Swing, Mambo and More!
Harry Avant
Gerald Ross <gbr...@umich.edu> wrote:
>I own a Heritage Johnny Smith. I bought it in the winter of 1993. I have
>had no problem whatsoever with neck warpage, body cracking etc.
I bought a Heritage Golden Eagle in April of 1991. I have had NO
problems with the neck or cracking either. I did not like the
pickup's sound and pickguard's design and did have those replaced and
the luthier that did the work made a new bridge as he didn't think the
original was a good fit.
Like Gerald I've been happy with the Eagle. It just gets better with
time! I have it strung with Thomask strings 014 x 054.
Harry
Rob Dobson
This is good to know. Until now, I've heard nothing but good comments
about Heritage guitars (but always from people who had just got
them... hmmmm....).
Sounds like improperly cured wood to me.
Thanks for the warning.
Stevie Rob
Linda Kaye Martin
I am currently looking for a professional guitarist in my area (Inland
Empire, Ca) to play lead and a well known area band. I have paying gigs
lined up and no guitarist. Please, only hard rock and classic
influences. e-mail Joe-...@ix.netcom.com
Jay Vyas
In article <51q0kl$9...@bolivia.earthlink.net> hav...@earthlink.net (Harry Avant) writes:
>
>I bought a Heritage Golden Eagle in April of 1991. I have had NO
>problems with the neck or cracking either. I did not like the
>pickup's sound and pickguard's design and did have those replaced and
>the luthier that did the work made a new bridge as he didn't think the
>original was a good fit.
>
>Like Gerald I've been happy with the Eagle. It just gets better with
>time! I have it strung with Thomask strings 014 x 054.
>
My Golden Eagle Custom was special ordered with pickguards (one with a
pickup, one without) that look more like Gibson pickguards. I play it
acoustically most of the time, but now that you mention it, I'm not
totally fond of the pickup's sound. Any ideas on replacement pickups for
a jazz guitar?
Jay Vyas
jay...@netcom.com
Mick Patterson
I have seen a couple of the Les Paul-ish Heritage guitars
hanging in either a pawn shop or in a used instrument
store, both here in Texas and in Florida. In both places
those particular instruments had necks that were twisted
and bowed. I saw other flaws, such as pickup alignment.
I will have to say that I've come across a couple of new
ones that looked and played really nice, but the condition
of the used ones I've seen has put me off on them a bit.
---Mick...
___________________________________________________________
My opinions do not reflect those of anyone else... yet.
Jay Vyas
In article <324048...@umich.edu> gbr...@umich.edu writes:
>I own a Heritage Johnny Smith. I bought it in the winter of 1993. I have
>had no problem whatsoever with neck warpage, body cracking etc.
>
>they intially set it up to my specs. The initial setup took less than
>20 minutes. This past spring I had them set it up again. That setup
>involved a minor twist of the truss rod.
>
>Now here is something to think about... the guitar was built in
>Kalamazoo, MI, shipped to Lansing, MI and now resides in Ann Arbor, MI.
>The 3 cities are within 100 miles of each other. No difference in
>climate. Could this be a factor in the excellent health of my guitar?
>
>--
>Gerald Ross
>Ann Arbor, MI
In early 1994, I bought a Heritage Golden Eagle Custom in Boston, MA.
The guitar was built in Kalamazoo, MI, shipped to Boston, where it
resided for a few months, then brought to California in late 1994 when I
moved out here. The climate in California is quite different than
Boston/Kalamazoo. No problems with the neck on this guitar. My only
gripe is that the intonation is not as accurate as I'd like it to be, but
that probably has to do with the carved wooden bridge - no adjustable
saddles.
Jay Vyas
jay...@netcom.com
Dr.Peter M. Winter
I had a 335style Heritage some years ago and bought a Sweet 16 this
summer. Both excellent quality, no problems whatsoever.
Dr.Peter M. Winter
Office: A-1100 Humboldtgasse 20
Private: A-1190 Alfred-Wegener-Gasse 3
Vienna /Austria/EUrope
win...@winter.vienna.at
Gantt Mann Kushner
I have a Heritage Sweet 16. Great acoustic sound, awful pickup. I
almost got Bill Bartolini to make me a full size humbucker version of
his small floating pickup; it needs to be very thin, no more than
7/16" top tp bottom. Ordered the pickup, even went to the factory with
the guitar to get measured (in Livermore, CA... I live in Maryland,
was on a cross-country vacation drive), but never got a pickup. Mr.
Bartolini, if you're tuned in, I'd love to get that pickup. Anyway, to
make a long story longer, I bought an Ibanez Benson pickup, unsoldered
the cover, gutted the Heritage pickup and epoxied the Benson pu
assembly into the plastic shell of the old one. Now I have adjustable
pole-pieces (you gotta drill the plastic cover carefully), and the
option of series/parallel/single coil wiring. The Heritage pu is just
badly designed.
By the way, I also have the fingerboard rise at the body problem. I
guess I'll have to have the fingerboard planed and refretted soon...
but I still love the guitar.
Jack A. Zucker
Gantt Mann Kushner wrote:
>
> I have a Heritage Sweet 16. Great acoustic sound, awful pickup.
I noticed that at a local store. They have a Heritage Eagle and it
sounds wonderful except that the pickup has about 1/3 the volume of
a standard humbucker. Even a strat pickup was 2x as loud.
>
> By the way, I also have the fingerboard rise at the body problem. I
> guess I'll have to have the fingerboard planed and refretted soon...
> but I still love the guitar.
What's the going rate for planing/refretting these days ? I know on
an unbound neck, the going rate for refretting the entire neck
would be around $150 or so. I wonder if the board over the body
and refretting that portion of the neck only would be about the same
price.
As I mentioned, I called Heritage and asked them about this particular
problem which they categorically denied. Unfortunately, I've seen
so many of their archtops with this problem I've got to wonder what
the deal is. I would suspect that they are getting a lower grade of
wood which is probably not fully dried. This could explain why they
are able to have such great prices too.
-Jaz
--
>
> Jack A. Zucker | ESP Music
> j...@gwis.com (or) | Voice: 216 349 5881 (home)
> Jack....@software.rockwell.com | Voice: 216 646 7796 (work)
> | Fax: 216 646 7766 (work)
Larry Seeman
Harry Avant wrote:
>
> Gerald Ross <gbr...@umich.edu> wrote:
>
> >I own a Heritage Johnny Smith. I bought it in the winter of 1993. I have
> >had no problem whatsoever with neck warpage, body cracking etc.
>
> problems with the neck or cracking either.
I too have a Heritage & have had no problems with the neck or with
cracking. Mine is an Eagle Classic that I bought from Jay Wolfe in
Florida -- he custom orders many guitars from Heritage, so I don't
know if this accounts for the higher quality -- I've played a number
of Heritages that he's had for sale, and haven't seen a bad one.
-- Larry Seeman
Jim Kroger
I have a The Heritage Les Paul from about 1978. It's neck is
fine, it is killer guitar. Nicer than many of the Gibsons I've
seen and I bought it for $225.
Jim
In article <ra3035-1909...@saint.sps.mot.com>, ra3...@sps.mot.com
Jim Kroger
Here in LA the neck job would range from $135 to $500. I use two
luthiers. Gilbert, of GC Guitars in Pasadena, replaned and
refretted my Ibanez for
$135. The workmanship and feel is just incredibly good. It is a triple bound
neck, nobody in LA was willing to retain the binding nubs by the frets.
As it turns out I'm glad they're gone, gives more playing room and
the look is not that different. My other luthier, probably LA's best,
who works primarily on acoustics, wanted almost $500 to refret and
plane my Guild D-50 (which has no neck binding). He hand carved a
bridge for the same guitar. He is really good, the guitar plays
completely differently than before I took it to him.
Just to give you an idea of price.
Jim
Jack A. Zucker
Dr.Peter M. Winter wrote:
>
> I had a 335style Heritage some years ago and bought a Sweet 16 this
> summer. Both excellent quality, no problems whatsoever.
On the other hand, I just saw 2 used 535s. One had a compound
bowed neck, the other one's center block had seperated from
the back.
Gantt Mann Kushner
I suspect that planing the fingerboard before a re-fret is not a lot
more - maybe $50 or so. Just doing that small section over the body
dosn't seem like a logical way to do it to me... John Warden at
Veneman Music in Rockville, MD says that the rise is caused by the
swelling of the wood between the body and the end of the fretboard. If
you look at most Gibsons you'll notice that the wood under that part
of the fingerboard is carved out - recessed a bit. Why Heritage dosn't
do this is beyond me, since they supposedly used to make Gibsons.
Regarding the pickup problem: I did an autopsy on mine after I gutted
the shell. The pickup consisted of the 2 coils w/ a magnet in between
them - NOT below, making contact w/ the pole pieces - and neither coil
had adjustable polepeices. In other words, the magnetic field was not
concentrated at the poles at all. It's shame theses guitars are so
hit-and-miss in terms of quality, because the good ones are very nice
instruments, and it's especially a shame they can't use good
electronics. I'm sure any of the major pickup manufacturers would be
happy to supply them.
Jack A. Zucker
Jim Kroger wrote:
>
> I have a The Heritage Les Paul from about 1978. It's neck is
> fine, it is killer guitar. Nicer than many of the Gibsons I've
> seen and I bought it for $225.
>
> Jim
>
I buddy of mine has their Les Paul guitar (CM-150) and it plays
and sounds great (except the pickups blow).
I heard from someone that explained that unlike Gibson, Yamaha,
Ibanez, and others, Heritage does *NOT* recess the top, underneath
the part of the neck over the body. If you look at an L5 or 175,
you'll see that Gibson recesses the top. Since the archtop guitars
have relatively thin tops that are prone to "swelling", this protects
the fingerboard over the body from rising. This would explain
why Heritage has this particular problem on their archtops. Apparently,
it's not nearly as big a problem on solid body guitars since they
do not have thin tops an an archtop does.
Joe Vinikow
>
> My Golden Eagle Custom was special ordered with pickguards (one with a
> pickup, one without) that look more like Gibson pickguards. I play it
> acoustically most of the time, but now that you mention it, I'm not
> totally fond of the pickup's sound. Any ideas on replacement pickups for
> a jazz guitar?
>
I have several of both the Armstrong and Benson pickups, both adjustable,
floating and excellent sound. Also some vintage De Armonds. Email for more
info.
Joe Vinikow
Trevor Shaikin
Jack A. Zucker (j...@gwis.com) wrote:
: George4908 wrote:
: >
: > >> I have a few reservations about Heritage based on the fact
: > that over the last 5 years, I've played about 10 of them and at least
: > 5 of them and necks that were either twisted, compound bowed, or
: > had a rise over the fingerboard.<<
: >
: > I played a semi-acoustic 335-style Heritage 12-string that had been custom
: > ordered by the dealer on a lark -- he says it's the only 12 Heritage has
: > made. It had been hanging on his wall for a year, virtually unplayed.
: > The neck was terribly bowed, with action at the 12th fret so high as to be
: > unplayable.
:
I just wanted to say that I own a Heritage 150CM and have absolutely
no complaints. A friend of mine has the same model that is at least
three years old that again, is a players dream. A local shop has two
solidbodys that I have played that seem just fine as well.
I'd like to emphasize that the guitars you are talking about are
semi hollow bodies and that I have yet to hear anything but compliments
on the solidbodies.
About the pickups, the general rule around these parts is that
the stock Heritage pickups blow and most people I know have ordered them
with Duncans. BTW as far as I know Heritage do not make their own
pickups but they use some stinky Schallers for whatever reason.
Also, saying that a guitar that has hung on the wall (out of its
case) unplayed for a year has a bowed neck is like being surprised that
ten year old used strings don't seem to have the shine they used to.
These comments seem to havew caused a bit of an uproar, it's kind
of strange though, if I posted a message saying I'd played 50 Gibsons
that I hated in the last three years because of their lame workmanship I
wonder if anyone would even care. Who knows...
TREVOR.
William G. Sacks
Has anyone had a chance to play the Heritage _acoustics_,
specifically the jumbo-cutaway model? Any comments?
John
Larry Seeman <lse...@edge.net> wrote:
>I too have a Heritage & have had no problems with the neck or with
>cracking. Mine is an Eagle Classic that I bought from Jay Wolfe in
>Florida -- he custom orders many guitars from Heritage, so I don't
>know if this accounts for the higher quality -- I've played a number
>of Heritages that he's had for sale, and haven't seen a bad one.
>-- Larry Seeman
Bought my H-150CM (Les Paul Classic Plus-style) from Wolfe at a guitar
show in SC early this year. Sent it back to the factory for a fret
dress and a taller nut (couldn't get my action quite as low as I
wanted). The neck and fingerboard are great. No other problems--great
playing and sounding (and looking!) guitar, w/factory option Seymour
Duncan 59's.
Cheers,
John