H-150 Custom Core is amazing. It was between that and a Gibson Les Paul Custom Shop R9 and I went with the Heritage. Try one, Trogly! I think you’ll dig it!
I have a 2019 H-530 and I love it. It is a standard model with Lollar P90s and the neck is not as beefy. It is just as resonant-you can tap it anywhere on the body or neck and it just resonates. Incredible instrument and very lightweight and responsive. Also, they use solid maple rims on all the H-530 and H-535 models.
I have owned and tried many guitars. Definitely all the most well known brands Gibson, Fender, Jackson, Ibanez as well as many others. But when I received my first Heritage... I was blown away. I have never connected with an instrument so quickly. The playability, the quality, the tone. I highly recommend them to anyone.
I have two Heritage guitars from the late 80’s and early 90’s. I dig the history behind them. They have a couple scratches but both somehow escaped any dings on the tri top headstocks that are so common.
There’s a restaurant in Kzoo that is completely decorated with old heritage guitars. They also have a ES 175 looking mural made out of failed guitar bodies and tops
If I were to pull the trigger on a Heritage, that one would most likely be the model. Beautiful. I have lived in Kalamazoo since ‘97 and I’ve toured the building a couple times. They used to do a free tour on Wednesdays with the guy who invented a couple of Gibson’s pickups, who’s name is escaping me at the moment (I want to say Ren Whal, or something, sorry). I can assure you that they make some amazing guitars on much of the original machinery. As of the past few years, I believe that they moved production out of 225 Parsons St to a more modern facility closer to Battle Creek. I’ve heard a number of different rumors as to what will be done with the Parsons St location like making it a Hard Rock Hotel or something. I miss being able to take those tours. It was great for a big Gibson history guy and player. Those Heritage guitars are no slouches. They have a lot of hands on work done, at least when I saw it in person. I’m glad you finally featured one. Heritage makes the modern versions of the Harmony brand as well.
"As of the past few years, I believe that they moved production out of 225 Parsons St to a more modern facility closer to Battle Creek." If the label in the f-hole is to be believed, this brand new 2024 model was built at the 225 Parsons Street factory.
I've been repairing guitars for 25 years. After Strats, ES335s are my favorite guitars. Everyone drools over Bursts and talks about how new LPs just can't match the sound of the old ones, but I find the difference between vintage 335s to be much further from new ones than LPs. Out of all 335s and their various copies, I find Heritage H535s will get you closer than any production Gibson. Admittedly I haven't had any cross the bench in several years, so I can't attest to newer ones.
FYI the headstock, pickguard, and on the LP style guitars the shape of the cutaway, all needed to be changed from original due to Gibson copyright claims.
Love Gibson but after I got my first Heritage a while back I was sold. I now have one Gibson left and the proud owner of 8 Heritage guitars. Gibson quality doesnt stack up at all in comparison. Unfortunately the dings on the headstock are likely the result of the dealer who sent this, not Heritage themselves - they'd never send out something like that. I'm a massive Casino fan (my all-time fav model) and this model you've reviewed is easily my favorite, with my 2nd favorite being the Ibanez AM2000H. The "made in USA Epiphone" lags quite a bit in quality behind those 2. Gibson quality is on life support imo
@@f3uibeghardt522 lol "I've heard". The internet strikes again. I've owned plenty of Gibsons as well as 8 Heritages and the difference in QC is night and day. Any suggestion to the contrary is pure fantasy. The whole "Heritage QC issues" is a familiar trope amongst Gibson collector trying to cast doubt on competitors to protect their investments, as usual. You should actually give Heritage a try rather than taking unsubstantiated internet tales at face value from biased folks with an obvious agenda.
I've been a Gibson Les Paul player my whole life. I got my first Heritage guitar this year, an H-150 (basically, their Les Paul Standard) Custom Core Gold Top w/ P-90's... and I love it. I'm already looking towards getting a double-humbucker version (they just released their H-157, which is essentially their take on the Les Paul Custom). I will say that the neck is definitely big. Like, not '52 Tele "big" but it's not a modern or slim neck by any means.
I played a 1987 heritage Les Paul sunburst in 1988. Local store add it listed for 900.00. It was used but mint, no fret wear. I would have bought it I would have bought it but was already paying for gear that I had bought from them. Beautiful guitar for sure and wasn't as heavy as a Les Paul
I have a standard H-150 in dirty lemon burst and absolutely love it. Will definitely try for a custom core in the future when the bank account allows for that.
The Heritage H-530 is a great guitar! I love mine! It's loaded with Lollars and I find myself playing it often. My Heritage guitars are a joy to play; once you start playing them, it's hard to stop. 🎈
so excited to finally see a heritage on this channel! proud owner of an 87 (first year) h535 and a 94 h550. Wasn't sure if you meant it as a joke, but "Custom Core" obviously has nothing to do with the center block or "core" of the guitar. They have other model guitars in their Custom Core lineup as well.
I own a Custom Heritage H150 in Pelham Blue... I've tried about 3 different CS Gibson '59 and none of them have ever compared to my Heritage. Build quality is fantastic and the neck did not come stupidly sticky like the Gibson. As well, pretty sure the custom shop Heritage all come around 8 and a half pounds... I love my Heritage. I couldn't care less about the headstock when what you feel and touch is AMAZING.
Anyone know if the VOS style finish is something that's applied to the guitar, or if it just isn't taken through as many stages of buffing as the high gloss finishes?
The headstock was always an issue for me, but after I got my heritage h150 custom shop it really doesn't look as bad in person... I still think they could improve that headstock design but it is what it is
@@cadams1607 I hesitated for quite a while, but I found one I couldn't resist buying last year... honestly in person the headstock looks fine...I never saw one in person until I bought mine
Hey "T" MAN I've never had the opportunity to give any of these guitars a go ! everything I have heard is 100% positive ! your going deeper on this one (right on) thanks you have answered every question for me ! a very beautiful guitar at a great price and made in AMERICA !!!!!!!!!
I agree.👍. Gibson headstock shapes have varied quite a bit over the years. I have quite a few Gibson guitars from ‘55 to 2008 and I’m kinda partial to my ‘85, ‘97, and ‘98. Heck, I’m really enjoying some REALLY cheap Squier Bullet Hardtail Strats through my Fender HotRod Deluxe. A nice tube amp really helps.
From what information I have gathered, Heritage guitars are considered high end Gibson guitars. Elixir strings are definitely high end. and the poly wound strings are supposed to lengthen the time between string changes. because the oils and acids from your hands don't soak into the strings. effecting the need for string changes more often. I swear by Elixir strings, but they are expensive. and I only use them on my better guitars. and I use Ernie Ball strings on the rest of my guitars.
A good friend of mine got a new Heritage back in 2002 similar to this one, but in a gray quilt finish. It was an amazing guitar with tons of versatility.
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So happy you reviewed a Heritage guitar. I've been waiting for this. You're very experienced with Gibson guitars, so it's great hearing your thoughts on Heritage. It's nice seeing what happened in Kalamazoo after Gibson left. Hoping for more content on Heritage from you. Would be cool if you actually visited and did a tour of Heritage to see where a lot of Gibson history was made. Maybe there might be a Heritage wing in your future museum?!? Thank you Trogly!!!
I have the 'Heritage 535' in emeral green. Unplugged, it also has a sound that resonates and you can hear and feel the quality. Good Luck in trying to find another Emerald Green colour because they don't make them anymore.😎
I have never seen a Heritage in person. This one looked and sounded fantastic. Tim Pierce had an LP version made for himself. It sounds fantastic as well. I would most definitely love to own one.
They use a down cut router bit so as to not tear out the top of the guitar, that's why it looks that way. This is a very dull bit and should have been changed, I have seen the same problems in Gibson Les Paul carves having dull bits and sloopy pickup routing.
I've noodled on Heritage Les Paul style guitars in music stores and never felt like they quite fit my hands. But they still interest me and, I have to say, that one sounded pretty darn amazing!
I played the h530 3 years ago. Luckily I was able to make a spur of the moment guitar purchase and take it home with me. It was love at first strum. It felt like the guitar had been waiting for me since the 80s - even though it was a newer made model.
I am fortunate enough to own a Heritage H-535 guitar in a beautiful tobacco sunburst. It has wonderful Seymour Duncan 59 pickups. I can attest to the fact that my guitar is right up there with the high end Gibsons as far as build quality and tone.
Custom Core references the lineup. It’s a core series of guitars from their custom shop. H535, 150, 530, etc. If you want a tour of the plant, come join us Austin. Aug 2nd is a tour of the plant.
There are some videos slating Heritage quality. My experience, I ordered a left handed H535, waited nearly 10 months for it, and they got the spec wrong (for example, I ordered rosewood fretboard and they put Ebony on it) They play heavily off the 'old boys from Gibson' but in reality the company has been sold since and in my opinion, no real artisans there anymore
A Gibson ES 330 is what I learned to play guitar on. A 1961 model that used to belong to my dad and now belongs to me. He had a Bixby tremolo installed on it right after he bought it, and it's still there. It's not very playable right now because it's in desperate need of a fret job. Im getting that done pretty soon and restoring it to form. It's heritage cherry red with the P90s and dot inlays. He also left me a very, VERY, unusual Les Paul that is semi hollow, has cream colored pups that almost lok like P90s themselves but im sure they aren't. It also has a very odd shape and strange electronics for a LP model? Odd guitar.
I almost got one, but when talking to a sales person, they are just as cnc as Gibson these days. So, I just bought a 70s Gibson custom sunburst instead.
Pretty sure Trogly is wrong about the Bigsby. I had a B7 (not B3)added to my 330 recently with no issues. I had casino before with the same. They all have that bracing I believe.
Austin, you want to mute the low E-string with your left thumb when playing D chords! 😉👍 And that is a really nice guitar indeed! 😍 I remember when Heritage first started appearing in the 80's - and also that the one thing I _didn't_ like about their Les Paul models was the missing poker chip on the switch 😄
Truthfully, not weird at all to list the pick up types, Trogs. Heritage has built quite a reputation and following. They’re no t Gibson, they do it their own way, and in many ways, BETTER. Puzzling about the damage on the headstock corners. I’m sure HERITAGE will address that! About time, you featured them! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
In a way, they’re making better Gibsons than Gibson. For a very long time, they were essentially making more true to vintage classics than Gibson with many of the folks who wouldn’t relocate to Nashville when Gibson abandoned Kalamazoo. I still love Gibson guitars, but The Heritage has impressed me from my experience getting to see them work in person. They were a very small operation during the 2 tours I took, only using a small portion of the building making only electric guitars, but very high quality hand made electric solidbodies, semi and full hollowbody guitars in the old Gibson quality way. Great stuff.
I have had three gibson ES-335 guitars, never bonded with one. I picked up a Heritage H530 artisan aged. Phenomenal guitar with unbelievable response and with the most beautiful musical controllable feedback. Feed back response is really fun and sounds like an old recording.
Have you ever thought about measuring some of the different distances of the pole pieces on different pickups if there are even any differences. Just curious Maybe one day you can do a show on just different pick ups and there different measurements, if there are any
I had a factory three-pickup walnut brown Heritage H-157. I've never seen another 3 pickup H-150. Sweetest sounding guitar ever. Paid $1500 for it in 2006. Should never have sold it. Sigh...
I own a Heritage H-150 Les Paul style guitar with soapbar P-90's. It sounds huge and plays incredible. It slightly beats Gibson for the price, in my opinion.
I would definitely love to give this Heritage a try and I'm no more a hollowbody fan than Austin. I doubt a working guitarist would be bothered by that headstock . That guitar might have a lot of inspiration on tap just waiting for the right player. It would be a shame if it just sat in storage
Very cool, thanks for doing this. Also, like a few others have stated, I’d like to see what you think of the Les Paul models H-150 and up when you can and thanks 🤙
