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Heritage 150 about 6 months later
Well for those you who know or remember me I'm Luke the Arkansas HISTORY (props to Prophet for remembering) Poli. Science fool. In May I bought a Heritage 150 which is a les paul looking feeling sounding guitar. In fact the Heritage factory is the old Gibson factory but that's off the subject and I'm sure everyone is familiar with the story. I bought it for 750 dollars from a man used. It has a figured top, not super heavy but enough to get people's attention, and old school binding which is thin and doesn't cover all of the line in the cutaway from lamination (this is like the old gibby's and reissues). It is a lightburst or butterschotch burst kind of in between the two with a red back and neck. It came with Schaller PAF style pups and a Schaller roller-bridge and stop tailpiece. These were made from steel and VERY sturdy and heavy duty. The tailpiece fit over the grub screws and the balls went over the top...I had never seen anything like it but it achieved the same result as wrapping the strings around the tailpiece making a slinkier, lighter action. The roller bridge saddles were adjustable not only front to back but side to side. This would be an excellent bridge for a guitar with a Bigsby vibrato tailpiece. Construction is like any Gibson LP Standard BUT has REAL Mother of Pearl inlays like a LP Custom.
The sound was alright through my Z but I hadn't even picked up the guitar and had already ordered a Tone Pros bridge and tailpiece as well as a Jazz neck and JB. The onboard pups were, as i said alright nothing exceptional PAF style with a5 mags from the sound and covered. I could get a very convincing Joe Walsh sound from them. When the parts came in I also bought new pup rings with a single set of screw holes. Tone Pros is a Gotoh brand which irritated me due to the price...but the system is so good i won't fault it. I opted for the aluminium tailpiece to lighten up the whole thing. The difference in sustain is noticeable and I told John at Blackrose I figured anything to lighten a LP was good.
The pups ooooooh the pups. I installed them both in one night and plugged it in. The neck well it (and the second bridge pup) are described here:
The JB was good clean and fairly good dirty BUT. It didn't seem to be high output like I was though. It was too bright and couldn't be tamed down to my liking through the volume and tone spectrum. If it sound good a low volume it sound to thin at high volume. Another thing was the bass never sounded right. To flabby...to thin to boomy it was aggravating. The important thing is now I DO have the pups I like and this guitar has the proper voice.
As I've said I'm using a Dr. Z Maz Jr 18 watt. Its tone sets somewhere between a Marshall and Vox. It's clean sound is more akin to a Vox. Clean think Brad Paisly. My only effect I'm currently using is a SD pup booster set to 25 dB of gain. JJ tubes power it all.
The sound is thick with lots of harmonics both natural and pinch as well if you want. It's everything you want from this type of guitar in a Hard Rock setting.
These guitars are a HUGE, PHENOMENAL value. It is lighter than a comparable LP and has better fit and finish. The neck is somewhere between a 60's and 50's neck and easy on the wrist. (I hate the 50's necks) For anyone seeking a Mahogany and maple guitar I reccomend a heritage 150 over LP's for any number of reasons primarily the ones I've listed.
So fire away question-wise or retort-wise.
Luke
The sound was alright through my Z but I hadn't even picked up the guitar and had already ordered a Tone Pros bridge and tailpiece as well as a Jazz neck and JB. The onboard pups were, as i said alright nothing exceptional PAF style with a5 mags from the sound and covered. I could get a very convincing Joe Walsh sound from them. When the parts came in I also bought new pup rings with a single set of screw holes. Tone Pros is a Gotoh brand which irritated me due to the price...but the system is so good i won't fault it. I opted for the aluminium tailpiece to lighten up the whole thing. The difference in sustain is noticeable and I told John at Blackrose I figured anything to lighten a LP was good.
The pups ooooooh the pups. I installed them both in one night and plugged it in. The neck well it (and the second bridge pup) are described here:
The JB was good clean and fairly good dirty BUT. It didn't seem to be high output like I was though. It was too bright and couldn't be tamed down to my liking through the volume and tone spectrum. If it sound good a low volume it sound to thin at high volume. Another thing was the bass never sounded right. To flabby...to thin to boomy it was aggravating. The important thing is now I DO have the pups I like and this guitar has the proper voice.
As I've said I'm using a Dr. Z Maz Jr 18 watt. Its tone sets somewhere between a Marshall and Vox. It's clean sound is more akin to a Vox. Clean think Brad Paisly. My only effect I'm currently using is a SD pup booster set to 25 dB of gain. JJ tubes power it all.
The sound is thick with lots of harmonics both natural and pinch as well if you want. It's everything you want from this type of guitar in a Hard Rock setting.
These guitars are a HUGE, PHENOMENAL value. It is lighter than a comparable LP and has better fit and finish. The neck is somewhere between a 60's and 50's neck and easy on the wrist. (I hate the 50's necks) For anyone seeking a Mahogany and maple guitar I reccomend a heritage 150 over LP's for any number of reasons primarily the ones I've listed.
So fire away question-wise or retort-wise.
Luke
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