Heritage Super Eagle

[AlsoRan]

I really love the binding and sunburst styling on these guitars and yours is, as always, a beautiful specimen.

This is not meant as an insult or to rain on your nice sunny day, but I am a little on the fence about the pickguard. I am not used to seeing them matched to the guitar. How do you feel about it?

And if I offended you, I offer you my head to beat up on.

[mr. beaumont]

That guitar looks great. I think it's a nice argument against the "Heritage headstocks are ugly" biz too...a little inlay, a little binding, looks great.

Now the plain headstock on my 575? That's fugly.

[Teddyfm]

Thanks guys. Kinda freaked out when I saw those cracks. This is my first used guitar I ever bought. Didnt no what to expect.

Two days in, couldnt care less. It is everything I could have hoped for. Chords sounds so nice. You get the whole spectrum, lows to highs just jumps out and hangs around.
Anyway, I love this guitar. Just like to have it on my knee and watch football, soccer. Very comfortable. I play it like a smaller guitar.

So in conclusion, this stray stays in the family. And oh, it was very, very cheap.

Again, thanks for your reassuring words regarding the small cracks.

Cheers
Ted

[2bornot2bop]

I really love the binding and sunburst styling on these guitars and yours is, as always, a beautiful specimen.

This is not meant as an insult or to rain on your nice sunny day, but I am a little on the fence about the pickguard. I am not used to seeing them matched to the guitar. How do you feel about it?

And if I offended you, I offer you my head to beat up on.

But the pick guard isn't matched. It's maple, and the top is spruce....even the shading of the pick guard is different from the shading of the top. Heritage offers an Ebony guard too, but generally SE's come with a maple guard. It's an easy fix for anyone considering an SE. They're really super guitars, and the longer I've owned more guitars the more I've come to appreciate SE's.

[Teddyfm]

@mr Beaumont
Hey thanks, but I dont agree. I like that headstock of the 575. Its bare essentials speaks to me. Like the Heritage headstocks in general. I dont buy wine or beer just by looking at the bottle. Much more interested of whats inside.
And on that that note, I think I will grab a beer.

[Max405]

Really nice guitar. Please don't worry about the bindings. It's easy to focus in on small imperfections. Just look at the whole guitar. It's a work of art. My Heritage has the same imperfections in the neck bindings. its unavoidable when you glue metal to wood and let the wood dry out a little. Humidification is the key. The metal frets push the nibs out when the wood dries out too much and shrinks. Get it setup for you and play it. You will in love with it.
Joe D

[Patrick2]

Teddyfm; You seem very pleased with your SE. That's great. How could you not be? It's a beauty for sure. You and I have discussed the mismatched pick guard color through PMs. My offer to assist you with that still stands. Regarding the fret nibs cracks in the binding . . as others here have said .. meh . . . No big deal. Just rehydrate the guitar and keep it in an environment of no less than 45% RH. The little areas of color problems on the top near the binding are indicative of inattentive scraping after the top was shaded. The color is sprayed on completely covering the binding. Then, with a very sharp steel, it's scraped off the binding. It's an exrtrtemely tedious process. It does happen frequently. But, then it's usually touched up prior to the clear coat going on. Not really too much you can do about it now, without spending a couple hundred bucks to have it fixed correctly. Best to just leave it be and accept it for what it is. The photo is a VERY close up shot of that problem. I'd imagin it's barely noticeable in real time. I'd be curious to see a close up of the back of the head stock.

Go to 2:20 of this video and you'll see the scraping process I mentioned.

[Teddyfm]

Thanks Patrick!
Regarding the small imperfections, I dont care. Doesnt have any bearing on my playing. Was a bit taken aback at first, but now? Not at all. The pickguard really does match the colour of the sides. They have an olive hue. Not as prounonced as the PG. Will give it some time and see if I like more after the honeymoon period.

I wanted to ask you something Patrick. The bracing is parallel. Do all SE´s share that?

And here is the headstock. The store listed it as a 2004 and misread the "S" as a 5.

EDIT. The tuners all line up. In the pic they do look a bit mismatched.

[Patrick2]

All dual pickup SEs will have parallel bracing. It's an absolute requirement for structural integrity. There are single pickup SEs with Cross (X) bracing . . I actually have one. SEs with floaters will always have X bracing.

Regarding the pick guard matching the rims and back a little better than the top; as 2b pointed out, the pick guards are made from maple . . as are the rims and the back. The top is spruce. Spruce and maple will always shade differently. But, the differences between the top and the pick guard are not differences in shading. If the photos are correct, I see actual differences in color.

If the pick guard color was a closer match to the top than it currently is . . the tone and playability of the guitar would be improved tremendously. (WHAT????)

But, back to seriousness . . if it doesn't bother you, then no need to even address it. After a few weeks, you'll see it as part of the guitar's overall character and individuality.

The guitar looks beautiful just as it is.

[2bornot2bop]

a brief factory tour that at the beginning features a killer shading on a Golden Eagle dual HB I've never seen. And is that a maple topped SE at 1:36? I've never seen anything but an SE featuring those style inlays. I could be wrong.

[Hammertone]

a brief factory tour that at the beginning features a killer shading on a Golden Eagle dual HB I've never seen. And is that a maple topped SE at 1:36? I've never seen anything but an SE featuring those style inlays. I could be wrong.

Looks like an H-550 body to me - small bound f-holes, no cupid's bow, flamed maple top. Interesting colour on the neck - tinted maple, or perhaps a custom order with a mahogany neck.

[Teddyfm]

Just got back from the doc, a luthier. No worries at all. He said, "You got a good one". Frets fine. Neck is straight as can be after some corrrection. Nut was cut too deep. Fixed that. Did everything. It was a pleasure to watch.
Did a remarkable setup. Hung around for 2 1/2 hours. Played it a bit, did some alterations, played some more.
As good, if not better than the good ones from the Gibson custom shop according to him.

Feels like a very nice insrtument. An instrument that fits me. What a difference a proffesional setup can do. Make no mistake, it was fine when I got it, but now...

[Patrick2]

Super Eagles are just amazing guitars. Every jazz guitarist should have the opportunity to experience a Super Eagle, even if just for a little while. You'll be discovering secrets hiden within the Super Eagle for quite a long time. It only gets better and better . . . even for the pre owned ones.

[2bornot2bop]

And some of us would argue that the used ones are even better!

[Teddyfm]

So, was´nt that happy with the HRW´s. Got a Seth Lover 55 installed, neck position. Patrick2 has once or twice described the HRW´s to be, soundwise, brittle. I agree with that opinion. Thats why I had great expectations on the new PU. What can I say?

I like it alot. Very articulated and snappy highs and pleasant and matured lows. Not boomy or spiky. I think I can make this guitar mine. Well, I am certain. Now to get that pickguard sorted....

My chain is, TC HoF reverb, FrenzelFM-DP1 preamp and a Mambo amp.

Cheers
Ted

[setemupjoe]

I have a super eagle. I bought it around 4 years ago. After playing it for a week or so I couldn't wait to change out the pick ups. Thin highs, unbalanced lows. Just awful. I put in Seth Lovers and problem solved. Awesome guitar.

[Greentone]

Hey, setumupjoe, do you recall which pickups were in your SE originally? Mine has the original Schallers. Some came with HRW pickups. I find that the Schallers sound great for the jazz that I play. I have heard some folks complain about the HRW pickups, but I believe that they were designed not for the SE/GE, but for the solid body guitars.

Glad you have found a solution to your liking.

[setemupjoe]

It was the schallers. I was used to the feel and tone of my previous guitar, a Gibson Super V, and the schallers just didn't cut it for me. The Seth Lovers felt very similar to the sound of my Gibson.

[Greentone]

Ah...the Super-V that I played was a very special guitar. (I now own a copy.) Can't see what folks dislike about Norlin-era guitars, at all. The ones I've played and the ones that I have owned have been winners. Change is unsettling to most people.

[Marty Grass]

This is another one that I got through Joe DeNisco that came for Patrick via his son, Chris.

This year the archtops were in transition at Heritage. They previously had 7 layer binding on the fretboard. They switched to 5 layer for two reasons. First, 7 layer is significantly more skill demanding and time consuming to install. Second, the headstock has always had 5 layer, so 5 layer on the fretboard area flowed visually.

Later Heritage changed the eagle in the headstock veneer to abalone. Mine is MOP.

This particular guitar has premium wood in antique natural. The top is thinner than most with a mounted pup, and it's x-braced. The neck is medium in thickness and is more of a D than a C. The fretboard inlays are clouds, like the Gibson Citation, instead of the usual split blocks seen on Super Eagles.

It originally came with a HRW pickup, and it has the 4 point mounting system that limits contact of a pickup to the top so that the pickup ring only touches on the corners. The idea is that the top is more free to vibrate. The volume and tone pots were placed outside the f hole near the rim to reduce damping of the top. The tailpiece is an old style Heritage with an ebony insert.

I bought this guitar from a friend a few years ago. Patrick saw the photos and didn't like it because he doesn't care for cloud inlays at all. When he was visiting me, he reluctantly looked at it then played it. He played it some more. Then he really wanted to keep it. I sold it to him with the understanding that I wanted it back one day. He agreed. Well, that day has come.

As soon as he got it, and I mean immediately, he took it to Heritage to get rid of the HRW pup. They pulled it out and put in a Seymour Duncan 59. They also gave him a leftover ebony pickguard that was unfinished.

This guitar has a very nice, full acoustic sound. I don't know if it is tap tuned, but it's fine the way it is. The top is quite lively.

The spruce has good grain and dense medullary banding. The maple is Michigan (Eastern) with all of it's features, including mineral streaks. The flaming is 3D.

I put LaBella FW 13s on it. They're heavy enough to drive the top and sound excellent amplified. No disappoints.

I don't have the original pickguard yet. Chris, who sold this to me, will get that to me. I'll post photos with that when I can. For now, here's what it looks like.

[Marty Grass]

Some more, Thanks Chris and Joe!!!

~

[mad dog]

That spruce top is sweet. Beautiful guitar.
MD

[Max405]

Wow MG. That looks beautiful. I like the finger style Tailpiece and the Maple Pickguard. I would have kept it just like that!
Enjoy it and make beautiful music with it.
You and Patrick have a keen eye for picking out really special guitars. The wood on this particular guitar is unreal.
Thanks for Sharing MG!
JD

[Max405]

PS, and the Black knobs would come off and gold ones would take their place!

[Patrick2]

The wood is grain is awesome