Heritage is really trying these days. I hope that they do well. I have a Artisan Aged H-150 plain top in cherry burst. Not weight relieved. It's a beauty I love it. I'm from Michigan, so I'm proud to own it. I haven't weighed it, but it feels light compared to some of my Les Pauls.
Fellow Michigander here... I'm also proud of Heritage guitars, though guitars in that price range are a little too rich for my blood. I did stop into the Sweetwater retail store in Ft. Wayne on my way to the Indy 500 and played a Heritage there in the store. Very nice....
It's nice to say we have a great guitar company in Michigan. I wish they made more affordable guitars but they are doing a great job and have for years.
@@mikecorey8370 The Asian market dominates the affordable guitar market and won't give up that mantle trophy. Heritage is smart in producing top quality guitars instead of trying to compete in the affordable market! IMO better than Gibson Guitars and more affordable.
I’ve played two Herritage H-150 guitars over the years. They both stay in tune great and are real workhorses. The more they break in the better they get. I love the necks. Yeah they are keeper guitars.
If the retailers really want to save money shipping cases- they could save a ton of money by shipping the cases and guitars together. Yes- take the guitar out of it's box and put it in the case you just bought. I've bought guitars in the past wishing they would do this, but they don't.
And they long since have done that. If you have an order of empty cases for a big surviving store or Sweetwater or whoever, they will come by truck on a pallet.
But I can understand why they don't in most cases. If you buy something like a Gibson that comes with a case, it's shipped from the factory with the guitar in the case, it's their guitar, their case, and their way of packing and choice of packing material. They know the quality level of their case and they know how to pack guitars. They know the guitar is unlikely to break in transit because they know the guitar and they know the case. If you're buying a 3rd party case from a retailer there's a much bigger potential for problems. Some cases don't offer enough protection to be shipped across the country unless they're packed in a specific way, the retailer is unlikely to know as much about how much protection different model guitars have in an array of various case brands and models. And then it becomes an issue if there's damage because who's at fault? The case manufacturer? The retailer? The guitar manufacturer? The shipping company? If they ship the guitar how it was shipped from the manufacturer, there's a much lower chance that it will suffer damage. Having to pay shipping on two items isn't ideal but it's better than having to replace a guitar and pay 3 different shipping charges.
@@ChrisEck13 despite comments to the contrary, sweetwater has shipped a newly-bought guitar inside a newly-bought (guaranteed-fit) case for me several times - no extra charge for the extra handling & re-packing. some branded with the guitar (but not included in the sale) by Gretsch, Guild, and Epiphone, others 3rd-party, like Gator etc. of course you know many Gibson guitars are broken (headstocks esp.) in transport IN the original Gibson case... also, sweetwater uses FedEx exclusively to ship guitars - I have had terrible experiences with UPS and USPS but never with FedEx. if it arrives damaged, they always pay return shipping.
Re the tone knob thing - i have two upper end Gretsches - a Vintage Select 59 Duo Jet and a Billy-Bo (both the same colour - I call them the Red Twins). Both have the same TV Jones pickup in the neck position. The Duo Jet has a tone switch, and the Billy-Bo has a tone knob. In the middle position of the tone switch on the Duo Jet the signal just goes straight through to the volume pots, whereas on the Billy-Bo the tone knob is always connected, and I can definitely hear more top end from the neck pickup on the Duo Jet (I'm concentrating the neck pickup as the Billy-Bo has a different TV Jones bridge pickup, so it wouldn't be a like for like comparison there). I actually find the tone switch really effective compared to a knob, maybe it's having two capacitors on a switch dedicated to having one job each as opposed to one capacitor and a pot trying to cover everything.
I had an h-150 from the first few years of heritage as a company I played forever until it was stolen at a gig. Tried to replace it but I found they weren’t really the same anymore playing the ones being made around 2015. When I saw the new custom cores announced I ordered one right away and it is everything my old one was and more, absolutely in love with it. Sold my 3 custom shop Les Paul’s within a few months afterwards, but I have an obvious sentimental bias as well, haha.
That Heritage sounds great! The definition from PU to PU clean is ideal IMO - lots of character, each position has its own personality! (Longtime '68 Custom player here and this 'feels like home' to me). If I was in the market for something in this price range I would certainly go for a Heritage . . . maybe deep burgundy, ebony board, 'lighter' frets etc. etc. Maybe Xmas! 😅
I recently discovered the Sweetwater certified case fit guide. I have 4 guitars/basses I need cases for and I was planning on just reading forums about the best fitting/budget one, searching pawn shops, etc. but I used their certified fit selection to picked out all of them within minutes. They continue to impress me.
DIY fret leveling tool: For $12 you can get a slab of window sill slate/(faux) marble from Home Depot, Lowes, etc. It's PERFECTLY flat, is the right size has a little weight to it so you don't even have to apply pressure. Just gently side it back and forth (with affixed sandpaper)
Ever notice that 95% of guitar for sale ads say: sounds awesome! Or one of the best guitars I’ve ever played! Come on, they all can’t be winners.. Just once I’d like to see some honesty: I’m selling cause the pickups sound wonky or there’s a couple of dead spots above the fifth fret.
@@acidfilth2007 lol Another fanboy.... Yes, people can change their minds. The video talked about Paul's quirks and the things he says. Professing loudly to the world that you'll never do something, then not only do it, but do it to the degree that he does, is worth mentioning, don't you think? Are you as upset about his tonewood argument?
There is a reason that most musicians like & trust Sweetwater- I have actually never been able to buy anything from them, but every time I called them over the years they were not only knowledgeable and helpful, but more importantly they always treated me with respect. Poor struggling musicians don’t get that sort of treatment very often, and that made a big impression on me, every single time...
Yeah! Eastman make great guitars. I'd watch most any Eastman you cover, acoustic or electric. I have an older acoustic OM size, had it since new, and the sound has really gotten nice.
A guitar case is basically an empty protective container. It's size and volume remain constant whether it's full or empty. Co-ordinating guitar manufacturers with case manufacturers could mean that the case almost comes free if there is a guitar in it. Packaging and logistics are a major price factor on items shipped from distant countries. This could be a gamechanger. Cases themselves aren't that difficult to manufacture. No electronics, playability issues or many other factors. QC is therefore straightforward and quick, even producing a model for a different guitar is quick and straightforward.
@@honkytonkinson9787 Not necessarily. All I'm saying is that if you're moving guitar cases from somewhere in Asia it might be a good idea to put guitars in them. Shipping containers are priced by weight as the volume is constant.Guitars and cases are light so you will incur volume issues before weight issues. Putting a guitar in a case is saving approy. 50% of the volume and cost.
Phil, a few years ago I bought a D'Angelico Premier DC 12 string. It has a MONSTER size headstock, even for a 12 string. Sweetwater had a beautiful classic-looking medium brown leatherette hard shell case. Perfect fit. I have bought several cases from them now. 100% PRO level service.
Gator cases got bought out! Thanks for the heads up. I hope it goes well for them. What you've outlined there about helping a competitor is interesting to say the least.
First, for anyone reading... A GIG BAG IS NOT A CASE. 21:09 Phil, if you're referring to the "Titan Series", those were outsourced to Nanuk, a Canadian company that makes rifle cases, pistol cases, etc. The Nanuk 990, for example, is the exact same shell as the Gator Titan Strat/PRS/LP case(s). All the "Titan" stuff is Nanuk with a Gator decal on it. I watched this section of the video three times: once when it was live and I was driving, a second time last night at home so I could hear it and pay attention to it instead of the road, and a third time so I could catch the chat and see people's comments. I am very into cases... VERY. Most musicians will buy an extra nice guitar and throw it into a gig bag or a case of suspicious quality; unless I have had my hands on it to inspect it, I cannot assume that a case is made well enough to protect my quality guitars and basses. SKB is king, hands-down. All SKB cases are made in California. The cheapest SKB case is still the best ABS molded product over all others. Gator, Road Runner, MBT, Pro Rock Gear... while I'm sure they're "fine" for most players, if it isn't an SKB, I simply won't use it. TKL is okay, but they don't make as much ABS stuff, so if a wood case is what you like, they're probably the way to go. Gator is flimsy, their latches fail, and they're all too often oversized for any guitar. If you have something weird and/or are on a budget, a Gator will probably work. If your guitar has value, I would think long and hard about using them. Maybe Sweetwater will improve them but I have doubts. I will give Gator this: their 335 case is so oversized that while I wouldn't dare put my Gibson in it, it fits my offset Squier Starcaster Reissue just fine (my Fender Starcaster, however, has a custom case by SKB). Gator also now makes cases for headless guitars Someone in the chat mentioned Hiscox - a good case, for sure, but I prefer form-fitting stuff. Great cases, though, for mandolins, saxophones, etc. Don't cheap out on a case. You paid good money for your guitar, buy something that's gonna protect it.
Aren't the Gibson cases ABS? I know there's been several different Gibson cases made by various manufacturers. I know TKL has done a lot of them. But the brown (USA not Custom Shop) cases feel like ABS to me. I've never looked into it though. Those 2015 Gibson cases that were gold and rectangular were definitely ABS, I don't remember who made them though.
@@ChrisEck13 The gold cases were TKL's "Concept" line. They're decent, but TKL's focus is the traditional line of wood cases. Don't get me wrong, they're great, but I prefer ABS. The body cavity for those Lester cases left a bit to be desired.
I like playing at low volume, also. But, like everyone I like a great sounding amp at low volume. I find that playing through a 4x12 at low volume sounds great.
Really love to hear your comments on the heritage. I have a custom core h150 and it’s absolutely amazing. I bought mine used and basically paid for what a new standard would have costed. I couldn’t be happier.
Phil, I agree with you 100% about the setup of a guitar being the most important thing. And not just for the playability but the setup also has such a big effect on the sound. I think its the most often overlooked component of how a guitar sound. There are so many different ways that a guitar can sound depending how its set up.
you can usually score cheap used cases at guitar center due to their incompetence, used gyuitars OFTEN come with cases from the seller, WELP they lose, or fail to document them, the guitars that go with them get sold and they rot in the back room, literally bought two gibson LP hardshells for 50 a piece
They recently had two pallet size boxes, one for hard cases and one for soft cases marked $10 for hard cases and $5 for soft. These were Gibson branded cases. Got o e of each and should have bought more!
Thanks again, Phil! This Episode is particularly thought-provoking on a lot of fronts. For me, it's not difficult to determine what the driving force behind any RU-vidr IS; and if it's mainly to "make money", I'm not "there" (Who likes having their time "wasted"?). It makes sense that Sweetwater now has their own case supplier--there's better "value" all the way around. ALSO, "wood-density" differences WILL make the same model guitar sound different (one of the reasons Sweetwater advertises the weight of each guitar).
For the sake of being able to change overall tone I prefer one tone and one volume nob per pickup. The addition of a ""bypass all pots" setting would be nice. But, I would still want to keep the ability to blend signal from pickups. - somehow.
Many stores aren't stocking hard shell cases to go with the guitars they sell anymore. So for Sweetwater to have a case company under their owner ship is good for them. If they have cases that are made for the guitars they sell, they will be doing well because of it. I had to buy 3 SKB hard shell cases from Sweetwater to store the guitars I have, because the retail stores don't have the cases anymore.
You are hilarious Phil. The PRS personality profile was spot-on, in my world. You should have an R-rated version where all the words are let loose. Ha.
The Heritage is beautiful and yes it’s better value than some of the Gibsons but honestly I would not personally spend that much on a guitar for myself. I am very happy with my Epiphone 59 Les Paul.
I use volume and tone knobs on single coils all the time. Less so on humbuckers but I think that's why I like single coiils. More versatility. I can get creamy clean jazz tone with singles just fine.
there is something to the tone wood thing Rett Schuel did on fender necks and he changed the neck on the same bike Strat. neck set up by Sweet water. Ther was a difference between the rosewood maple and roasted maple. the difference was subtle but was there. Basswood is similar to Mahogony, yet darker then alder.
During Covid my guitar collection grew from 0 to 7. I stopped playing guitar for about 15 years. Then during Covid I needed to get back to playing to occupy my time. I kept 4 of them and sold 3 that didn't fit my specific needs. I have 3 guitars that are the same brand and model and they all play the same, but have a slightly different volume response when played unplugged. 2 of them have humbuckers and 1 has P90s. So they will sound different when plugged into an amp.
Purchased a brown gator case for an SG about a month ago. I thought it was a really good deal for what it looked like in the pics and the reviews. When it arrived it seemed really cheaply made. Immediately returned. I love Sweetwaters case fit approved thing though. Very cool idea. Jerk reference 10/10
As a fellow “creator” your comments about selling out are so relatable. I wish they would make the decision harder with bigger numbers! 😂 Keep up the great work!
I'm curious to find out whether the larger frets will make a perceivable difference in tone "to your ears? This "noticeable" difference may not come across through RU-vid.
The tone wood debate is so stupid... Wood likely impacts tone on a solid body guitar, but not in any big and meaningful way. Wood on an acoustic instrument is different, the top vibrates and different woods make it sound much more different. I've seen Paul Reed Smith talk about wood as if it's the most important thing. He knocks on wood to show that different woods sound the same. But the most stupid thing he said was when he talked about different singers (I don't remember if it was Streisand and Sinatra, or two other well known singers, man and a woman), and he talked about HUMAN VOICES as his proof that wood is the decisive factor for the sound of a guitar.
I'd be interested to know whether Heritage Guitars sold in the UK. I bought a new Custom h-150 for $3,400 USD last summer. I got the impression the shop was keen to shift its stock. They don't appear to have restocked since. Everybody raves about them. I find mine a bit heavy and large, like it's made in MineCraft. I guess I need to work on it a bit more. I prefer my Tokai which is a wee bit smaller.
I don't know why Heritage doesn't use their own pickups in their regular production guitars. Seymour Duncans are great for an Epiphone or something like that but with a guitar that costs thousands of dollars and is USA made the Seymour Duncan's seem kinda generic.
Phil, that one person asked about your opinion on the 490 pickups and you said you didnt know them, I think you may have just not made the connection at that moment. I'm sure you know the Gibson 490 pickups, they're usually the stock pickups in an SG, 490R/490T, plus a bunch of other models, the 490R is the typical neck pickup of the Les Paul Studio and Les Paul Custom.
my iem system has been checked under the plane in a gator case around 100 times with 0 problems. it weighs 50lbs and nothing has gone wrong. definitely not poor construction lol chill
Now, I need the guitar volume in the upper 70s to feel right. I used to enjoy it just above 90dB. When I play along with recorded music that is set at about 80dB. My 9 ft x 10 1/2 ft room isn't happy above the mid 80s. Even playing live with un mic'd horns and drummer I'm under 90dB.
?? Regarding the leveling beam you speak of; you say it should be percectly level but shouldn’t it be curved side to side to allow for the radius of the fretboard?
Heritage did make a small run of the Tim Pierce style guitar they made for him with the thinner neck, weight relief and tall frets.. I was Lucky enough to be able to get one and I am blown away completely! I will be selling my 2019 '60s style Les Paul. Not even a comparison..
Cases are awesome, but I really like the higher end Mono gig bags. Still, $500 plus for a case seems excessive… but, I understand why they’d be so high.
Had a terrible thought it was going to be reunion blues and European availability was going to take a hit. I like the SW approach on this and it makes a lot of sense. Oddly I realised that we have a couple of gators from back when, but haven't actually bought any in many years, preferring RB for gig bags and Ibby hard cases (surprisingly high quality and affordable for a manufacturer's case.)
Are hard cases overrated for protection? The guitar can still bash around in the case. The only way I will ship a guitar is totally wrapped in several layers of bubble wrap, no hardcase.
i love gator cases, and i like sweetwater. in fact i bought a Gator G-tour flight case for my 1990 left handed charvel 475 back in 2005 i9 believe and plan to get more. I hope they bring back the double g-tour flight cases they used to make for strats, les pauls and basses, i need one for my left handed Ibanez 6 string basses, and one for my lefty Epiphone Les Paul cherry sunburt and for mu Lefty Ibanez RG450DXB guitars. Also like to replace my SKB 12 space rack with a Gator G-tour flight case that is more than 12 spaces maybe 16 space with 2 spaces for Amp Heads and shock mounted something like that. I dreamt of having the money to where i bought all the guitar and music instrument anfd gear brands and defunct out of business legendary music stores example thorougbred music, Manny's, etc. and robin guitars, hamer, and buy fender and all the brands the conglomerate that owns them and gibson and all the brands the conglomerate that owns them, Peavey, Marshall, Randall, Dean guitars, Washburn guitars, ESP and Ibanez, Schecter, Then Floyd rose, Kahler and pickup companies. Cause i know that i can give them the focus and time to bring all of the legendaty music gear, music stores, musical instrument manufacturers except for the ghost builders like aria, samick, valley arts and others , or the brands to cheap to bring back such as westone, Series 10, but i could bring B.C. Rich, Kramer, Hamer, back to their legendary status and get people to get back to going to brick and mortar music stores by adding more to the stores. such as areas for concerts that can be used for clinics, iso rooms for taking guitar lesssons, customers checking out gear, etc. and a place to do live streaming which i believe if Sam ash would move on to doing that like sweetwater and andertons did they would still be around. I am not saying jump right into all the new methods but slowly intergrate just enough so your not falling behind. and missing out. Also I loved to get and still do physical catalogs from music stores, music gear and instrument manufacturers. Now A Days i know it may be too costly but at least do PDF Digital versions where people can go and download them. I would have done that if i owned lets say Musicians friend. I would have completely redone every physical catalog from the first one they put out to the latest one as digital download pdf file. I love music gear and instrruments so much that i would give anything to live in a music store or better yet live at Namm. in fact i could make Namm better and more productive for the dealers, manufacturers and consumers. I would make it 3-4 weeks longer but the things i would had would make better experience. But it would not be in California no more I would Move it to Ohio, Cheaper Taxes, etc, Also where i would have the place to do it would be right next to I-75. I won't go into all the ideas i have for it but one would eliminate the noise police and its a simple solution. But back to Gator Cases being bought by sweetwater. I hope this means we can order custom gator cases , custom gator rack cases, etc. I would like to see gator case version similar to Coffin cases flight case Model SK-125 the the skull and crossbones plate. But instead of skull and crossbones plate, you could have other designs stamped out such as a ninja with sword in his hands, maybe Dimebag Darrell or a image of a rock guitarist with a guitar stamped out and get it in different finishes for the cases. So I hope it is true, This way when i do buy a guitar from sweetwater being a lefty then i know which case i will need and buy it with the guitar and have them both shipped together. When I bought the first run of the Tony Iommi Signature Epiphone Guitars, I bought mine and bought a SKB case to go with it from AMS and they shipped the guitar in the case. Personally i prefer to buy guitars with the cases especially if i am buying them online and having them shipped. being left handed is a lot harder to find the right cases for instruments such as my left handed Ibanez 6 string basses which i would love to get a Gator Double bass G-tour case for them. So i see it as a great thing if this is true.
Musicians Friend had a case finder where you type in the guitar or bass and the options are displayed. Not sure if it's still active, but they did have it for like 20 years. IMO, if Sweetwater and other e-tailers were smart, they'd offer big discounts on cases when you buy a guitar or bass. If it costs them say, $60 to ship a case, then they can easily discount $50 off the case price when bundled with a guitar that they're going to ship anyway.
Godins soft shell are very good and most of the time one usally come with a guitar. Their HS cases are also built well. And as you say Phillip, "so there you go"
What is keeping Heritage from doing a weight relieved version H-150 in their standard line? They could start with a small percentage of them made that way, see how well they sell or not, then increase or decrease from there. IMHO which doesn't mean much, the whole heavier weight thing gives better tone just doesn't make sense to me. It's also confusing to hear YT'ers talk about it, then the next guitar they discuss is super light and their excited about that.
It's obvious to me that there can be no "one thing" about anything.. Every "thing" is a portion of a system of "things" Every "thing" has a partial effect on a system. Every system is comprised of "things" with various result in effect on "that" system. Comparisons of systems cannot escape the relative influence or their components.
The case issue has been an interesting chapter in Corporate Cheapness for several years. SW's vertical alignment purchase of Gator is good for business, good for guitar buyers. Gator makes good cases. Paul Smith is likely the smartest guy in the room regarding guitar stuff, so I can accept that he thinks the way he does and even that he perceives the thing as he does. The guy may have the ear that is equivalent to the eyes that tetrachromats see the world through. For those of you keeping score at home, the way we observe the universe is what we build the rules of science on, and that has been one of the more human bits of bungling through a thing without really having our finger on its nose. For me, i dont need to think about Red-Shift physics rules or unified ear field guitar theory, however. They just let me out of my cave and im mostly just into clapping and smiling.
If Paul Reed Smith sounds like a rambling mad scientist, he might just be one: Apparently he also launched some companies that deal with frequency/waves that have medical, military, and video applications. Look up Digital Harmonic
Every time someone brings up "Tonewood" on the internet they're just stirring the pot. Hearing is subjective or you can be'lie've the numbers on a chart, which isn't how we hear sound. This debate will go on for years. I'm 44 years old, I have my opinion & everybody else is entitled to their own opinion. For me it has a minor effect, it's more the sum of all of the parts, pickups, amps & speakers make a more drastic change in my opinion. I'm not right & I'm not wrong, that's what I hear. The wood used makes a difference to the sound but I think many other things change the sound as well.
I'm 69 y.o. and have followed rock and guitars most of my life. I can't remember anyone in the 60's, 70's and possibly the 80's ever talking about tonewood. No doubt it was a subject with acoustic players but not electrics. Somewhere down the line someone discovered that an instrument had mojo and that it was made of a certain wood. They added 2 and two together and got 5. Every piece of wood is unique even if they belong to the same species and even come from the same tree. If you play it and like it then it's right. End of discussion.
@@laurencehastings7473 I totally agree. The listener probably doesn't care, they just want to hear music. A guitar player will have a different perspective on any guitar they play. If you hear or not & it's your personal guitar, I couldn't care less. Just enjoy it.
