The Jazz Guitar Chord Dictionary
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  1. #101

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    Joe and others:

    At 11:55 a.m. the FEDEX truck pulled up my driveway and brought a large (undamaged) guitar box to my door. The 1993 Heritage JS had arrived. I carefully opened the box, hoping not to find the guitar in several pieces - and thankfully, everything was in tact. Artisan Guitars did a fine job packaging the instrument. They did all they were supposed to do.

    The guitar is actually much, much nicer than the pics that one of the guys posted on this site. The antique patina has darkened a bit with age, so that it is nearly identical to the pickguard. It looks more like the one that was posted a couple of weeks ago here - except no Rose on the pickguard. The overall condition is excellent - I can't find any dings, imperfections to speak of at this point. The original case will need a bit a mending around the edges to prevent further tares, but that is why God made black duct tape.

    The HJS has flat wounds on it - so its hard for me to get a complete acoustic sense of the guitar's voice. The neck is wonderful as Joe D. et al have commented. Nice short scale, wide nut, small/medium size frets, I think. Plugged in it has a very rich, warm tone - what you would expect from a 17" acoustic with a floating pick up. It is a Kent Armstrong Adjustable Floating Pick Up - documentation and original pick up in case. The action is a bit higher than I prefer, but once I decide on strings that will be easily remedied. The original black Grovers were replaced with gold ones and the pickguard bracket is also gold - don't know if the original bracket was black or not. The gold grovers look okay - I would have preferred black, but again that is something I can easily replace. Unless it has had fret work done recently (which I doubt), it has been played very little. It just doesn't have much sign of wear.

    I never come to a complete conclusion about a guitar until I have it properly set up and have used it for a gig or two: but my initial impressions is this is a very fine instrument, certainly the quality is consistent with my other Heritage (575). I am really excited about this one, even more so that with others. I couldn't sleep last night, I suspect the anticipation of its (safe) arrival. Thankfully, that happened! I'll try to post some pics in the next week or so.

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  3. #102

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    FredH,
    Congratulations ! Its a beauty and I hope it meets all your expectations. In my opinion, the HJS was the finest product offering from Heritage guitars.

    Sent from my GT-N5110 using Tapatalk

  4. #103

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    Boy, I've had a number of these Johnny Smiths, and I thought I've gotten over them. They, in general, are light, delicate flowers of archtops with a very lively acoustic tone that's on the bright side. This one may be different. And I figured this may be my last go around with this model, so I got it.

    This one was built in 1991 and was ordered as a personal guitar for Jay Wolf. As the highest volume Heritage dealer, he'd sold quite a few of Heritage's best. He told JP Moats that if JP could find some truly outstanding wood, he'd like one. He wanted it thicker on top for durability since HJSs tended to be very thin. He also wanted it to be less bright.

    Eventually JP, who did the wood sourcing for Gibson then Heritage, called Jay back will some excellent maple and spruce.

    Jay gigged with it three times in an orchestra then retired it to his personal collection, which includes a 1964 Gibson Johnny Smith.

    Jay claims that this HJS is likely the best Heritage made. Of course "best" is in the land of opinion, but I do respect Jay's opinion. He has a pic of Johnny holding the guitar and smiling.

    Jay's shop has a PLEK machine, although he has been setting up and working on guitars by hand for 56 years. Jay just PLEK'd and put a new set of strings on it. It should be a real player.

    Jay knows a lot of inside baseball in the guitar industry. He's a real gentleman and always a pleasure to talk with. I learned a lot today from him.

    Heritage Johnny Smith-p1_uqdlvvfvv_so-jpgHeritage Johnny Smith-p2_uggwo3gg4_so-jpgHeritage Johnny Smith-p3_ujt5ylnvv_so-jpgHeritage Johnny Smith-p4_ueurvn0vs_so-jpgHeritage Johnny Smith-p5_urczgktqt_so-jpg

  5. #104

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    Oh, the early Heritages, including the Johnny Smiths, commonly had thinner 1960s style necks. I don't know about this one.

    Here's what I've been told about the thinner neck. Gibson used to have fat necks before they had adjustable truss rods, which makes good sense. When amplification occurred and chord melody emerged, a thinner neck had the advantage of thumb wrapping the lower two, even three, strings. Also, it's less stressful on the base of thumb to have a thinner neck when the thumb is positioned on the center of the back of the neck, especially with a lot of chord work.

    Now, anything goes. Most guys do single note solos and don't keep their thumbs centered on the back of the neck all of the time. They grip the neck like a rifle. A fat neck works fine there.

    Some say a thicker neck conducts nut vibration better to the soundboard. Maybe in theory that's true, but I am highly skeptical that it makes a noticeable difference. What is noticeable is the weight difference of a baseball neck after the third set, but that was in my blues days.

  6. #105

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    MG, is the pic of Johnny holding the guitar going to you with the guitar?
    There aren't many pics of Johnny out and about.
    A fresh one with your new guitar in hand would be something special.
    we've talked offline but I have to say once again, congratulations! A Heritage Johnny with a thicker top is a world class guitar for the masses! And don't forget the rose!
    Joe D

  7. #106

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    The neck you have on your HJS is LOVED by the overwhelming majority of the folks who play. It's viewed as a faster neck by many.
    Thats a heck of a guitar.
    JD

    Quote Originally Posted by Marty Grass
    I hope to get the pic. Jay said it was taken when Jay visited Johnny back in the pre-digital days. He'll need to rummage through boxes and scan it.

    On the thin neck issue, there's one more thing. Some argue that the thinner neck with less mass transmits nut (and fret) vibrations better than in a fat neck. That makes sense and is consistent with the preference for a low mass bridge on stringed acoustic instruments.

    Most of us choose the neck for comfort.

  8. #107

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    That is probably the finest-grained spruce I've seen, and that maple is outstanding. Congratulations on a superb instrument, and play it in good health!

  9. #108

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    Mark,
    Congrats ! I had the opportunity to play that guitar during a trip to Florida back in March. I dropped by Jay's shop and spent the afternoon with him reminiscing about the good ole days and he brought out some guitars from his personal collection.

    We spoke prior to my visit and he showed in interest in selling 3 NOS Heritage guitars that were not posted on his website at the time - your incoming HJS being one of them - and a Golden Eagle and matching Super Eagle were the other two. All three were in brand new unplayed condition and actually had original strings.

    It was a fun visit - wishing you many hours of enjoyment .

    Here are a few pics





    Last edited by QAman; 06-13-2017 at 04:53 AM.

  10. #109

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    Beautiful, QAman.

    Note the flat neck heels on all three. JP Moats did that to improve higher fret access. Some other luthiers, like Aaron Cowles, did the same. Many don't.

    Here's a local obituary of JP.

    Heritage Guitar Inc. co-founder J.P. Moats dies | MLive.com

  11. #110

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    Quote Originally Posted by Max405
    MG, is the pic of Johnny holding the guitar going to you with the guitar?
    There aren't many pics of Johnny out and about.
    A fresh one with your new guitar in hand would be something special.
    we've talked offline but I have to say once again, congratulations! A Heritage Johnny with a thicker top is a world class guitar for the masses! And don't forget the rose!
    Joe D
    She's a beauty Marty,congratulations.I just wanted to add to Joe's statement as to the photo. I have never seen Mr. Smith in ANY photo op with an HJS. I'd love to see that photo! Please keep after Jay about it. Do you think that the guitar is a lot warmer with the the thicker top? The HJS's are thin topped. My early model cracked with the thin top. But they are also soooo responsive because of it. Good with the bad I guess. Feel free to add more photos to this thread! Enjoy

  12. #111

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    Beautiful score Marty, I remember talking to Jay about that guitar last year when I got that '39 L-5P from him and again later in the year when I got a guitar I have not shared here, a Hamiltone Stevie Ray Vaughn. Based on my conversations with him over that HJS of his, was it the left nut or right nut that you let go of to get it ?? LOL.

    And Jay is a great guy, I remember talking to him many times before I ever bought from him. When I got my L5 we talked maybe an hour. I told him I was giving him his street name, Jay The Gent. Becuase he is such a nice gentleman.


    Kudos...


    Big

  13. #112

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    A big congrats Mark ! You keep Heritage in business and I will do the same for Gibson. 2 American icons !
    That thicker top has me drooling too. Nice score my friend. That axe may turn out to be your finest yet.

  14. #113

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    I will harass Jay about that photo. I don't remember seeing Johnny with a HJS either, but I know he was very hands on with the Heritage guys in designing it. He even picked out the shade of rose natural that was an option for his guitar by pointing to a Playboy calendar on Marv Lamb's wall, indicating that was the shade he wanted. Johnny also wanted black hardware and a finger tailpiece. He came up with the rose inlays.

    I speculate that he wanted the thinner top, and he certainly approved of the faster neck.

    I don't know how many trips Johnny made to Kalamazoo, but he was the one who approached Heritage to build his namesake guitar when he was dissatisfied with Gibson.

    Quote Originally Posted by Archtop Guy
    She's a beauty Marty,congratulations.I just wanted to add to Joe's statement as to the photo. I have never seen Mr. Smith in ANY photo op with an HJS. I'd love to see that photo! Please keep after Jay about it. Do you think that the guitar is a lot warmer with the the thicker top? The HJS's are thin topped. My early model cracked with the thin top. But they are also soooo responsive because of it. Good with the bad I guess. Feel free to add more photos to this thread! Enjoy

  15. #114

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    I don't know what it will sound like, but I will report back later.

    Yes, thin topped guitars are more vibrant but are prone to cracking. Pete Moreno continues to encourage me to put a small wood plug under areas of my guitars that appear thin to him in order to protect from cracks forming. I followed his suggestion on a HJS once, a stunningly beautiful instrument. When I sold it, it became an issue because there was an assumption the guitar must have had a crack. Not true, but I don't want to go through that again.


    Quote Originally Posted by Archtop Guy
    Do you think that the guitar is a lot warmer with the the thicker top? The HJS's are thin topped. My early model cracked with the thin top. But they are also soooo responsive because of it. Good with the bad I guess.

  16. #115

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    Here's what Jay Wolfe sent me:

    Johnny Smith used to attend NAMM and spend time with Lane Zastrow & myself in the Heritage booth. He didn’t play much- just an occasional strum, but he’d pose for pictures while holding the Rose Heritage and sign things. I recall selling a few JS models during the show and when he was around he’d pose with the customer.

    I remember selling them in the standard trim, burst, for $3250. One potential customer later told me he bought one from Smith in Colorado for $5000 at JS’s shop. He said...” I realize I coulda’ bought it from you Jay for less......but......I bought it from “Johnny Smith”, which is priceless. Couldn’t argue that logic. He was known to sell them for full price at that time.

  17. #116

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    Quote Originally Posted by Marty Grass
    I speculate that he wanted the thinner top, and he certainly approved of the faster neck.
    More acoustic volume ? Also I read that larger f-holes make for a brighter acoustic tone, is that correct ?

    Congratulations, it's an exquisite beauty !

  18. #117

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    Johnny Smith played mostly acoustically by the time he switched to Heritages. He stated that he generally did not play in his home with amplification. So it may have been more important to him to have a thinner top at that stage in his life. This is speculation.

    Smaller f holes tend to favor brightness. This goes back to the early jazz days.

  19. #118

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    Heritage Johnny Smiths have larger f holes than others. Is that correct ? So in spite of that they are brighter sounding. The thinner top is a factor. What else ?

    By the way, mine is not that bright. I like bright.

  20. #119

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    Regarding the f holes, here is what I've read and have been told.

    In the early part of the 1900s as jazz was emerging, the flattop guitar could not project well through horns. The banjo did. The large round hole in the sound board reduced the volume produced and darkened it.

    Loar's design brightened the sound a lot, which created a louder percussive effect. This allowed the guitar replace the banjo.

    The arching of the top made a larger sound board, and this board had a larger surface area of wood with smaller f holes. A thinner top vibrates with greater excursion and is better able to produce higher frequencies at greater volume due to reduced mass per square inch.

    The sound holes are needed to allow the body cavity to breathe easily, which facilitates faster responses. Large f holes though would reduce the overall volume of the instrument.

    Why smaller f holes favor a brighter sound is unclear to me unless it allows the top to be carved thinner.

    Archtops generally are thicker in the center of the top then thin out a lot toward the rim. They are thin at the region of the f holes.

    Aaron Cowles, Epiphone and Guild had smaller f holes. The Heritage Johnny Smith has larger f holes, which with a thin top may make it fragile.

    Violins have been built with some of the same principles. It was necessary to project the sound loudly prior to amplification. This made the instruments fragile.

    Jay Wolfe wanted a somewhat thicker sound board on his custom built HJS. Supposedly this not only makes it warmer but also adds durability. It was still hand carved by JP Moats for a certain sound. I suspect that it will sound more like a Gibson JS. I'll soon know.

  21. #120

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    The 2 HJS's I had were very nicely balanced. The lighter weight made the guitar seem more fragile but I'm not sure they were fragile at all. My HJS's held up extraordinarily well for there ages.
    I've gone on record saying that my HJS's made sounds that no other guitar made. Its hard to explain, but the difference in the sound was focused mainly when I "slid" my finger up or down the fretboard when playing a note. There was almost a repeating of the notes for a micro second. Sort of like a built in delay. I could never replicate that sound with any other guitar. The sound to me was beautiful. My GJS, while having the same dimensions, feels much bigger than the HJS's. And it feels a lot more substantial on my lap.
    Something about the upper fret access on both guitars.
    The 20th fret is almost unreachable on my GJS. As MartyGrass pointed out, the flatter heal of the HJS made upper fret access a breeze.

    You are making me want another HJS. Maybe an oversized one, with a Nice Rose.. Mikey.. Oh Mikey...

    Joe D

  22. #121

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    I don't mean to convey that the HJS is super fragile. It isn't. I've had quite a few of them, six as I recall, and never had a whisper of a problem. But I do know that thinner topped guitars require care regarding humidity, temperature and battering. This is true most commonly in flattops. My Guild AA also has a thin top, as do the tops of two of my Super Eagles. They are protected species.

  23. #122

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    Mark,
    Not sure if you received the guitar yet, and based on your expectations I think you will be very pleased . After playing the three guitars previously mentioned during my visit to Jay's - the HJS was in my opinion the better of the group - but for my personal taste it was a little too bright.

    As for the other two Eagles - they were carved so thin on the top it was alarming to me and I immediately passed. I've had hundreds of Archtops go through my hands and I've never come across thin tops like on those two Eagles.

    I had an Almond burst HJS that was a real beauty- very nice lows and thick highs. A physician friend of my came over one day to play an Andersen I had for sale and asked to play the HJS and fell in love . I wound up selling him the HJS and he is forever grateful.

  24. #123

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    A couple thoughts:

    • The size of the f-holes (or any sound hole) influences to the natural Helmholz resonance of the "box" (volume). Larger holes will raise the Helmholz resonance.
    • Top thickness needs to be evaluated together with the arch radius (shape) and recurve shape and graduation. The stiffness is tied thickness, shape (e.g. a flatter radius will be less stiff) and cross-grain stiffness of the spruce billet used.
    • The bridge mass, down pressure and rim depth all can influence bass response as well.

  25. #124

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    The guitar arrived. Unfortunately the pickup came off during shipment. The two fine wires that go into the pickup case are dangling and the pickup itself was tumbling around in the case.

    Connecting the pickup should be a quick resolder. But there are some slight scratches on the top. Otherwise the guitar looks mint.

    I called Jay and told him what happened. I suggested I take it to Heritage for them to resolder the pickup and for them to buff out the top. Jay has an account with Heritage. Jay called Heritage and said to put it on his tab. Jay also said they should buff the whole thing out since it's never been polished since 1991.

    This guitar is light. The top is only slightly thicker than what I recall my two tap tuned HJSs to be, but that's only if my memory is right. It's definitely thinner than my Super 400s. The neck is on the thin side, or as some would say, it's fast.

    The action is low. The set up is perfect. It was freshly PLEK'd, and it shows.

    It probably sounds different now than what QAman described. Jay told me it had the original strings on it prior to the very recent PLEKing, which would have made the strings 26 years old. He put a fresh set of Chromes on it.

    It sounds warm, balanced and lively to me. It is pretty loud. I can't find a dead spot on it yet and have no complaints.

    I took it to Heritage at 4 PM today. None of the luthiers were there, but the receptionist and two others were. They were very friendly, outstandingly so. One of them called Jay and put me in a room while I waited with over a dozen guitars and an amp to play around with while I waited. This lady came back and said she can take the guitar now or I can bring it in Monday morning. No one will work on it until Monday, so I kept it for the weekend.

    On the way home I took the guitar to Pete Moreno, a luthier extraordinaire. He told me I should have Heritage do the finish touch up and that it should be like new. He added that with the new equipment and people in buffing, he can't beat their work.

    I have the opportunity to have Heritage put a different humbucker on, like a Kent Armstrong or a Zoller. Honestly, I'm a big fan of the Heritage 3#. Ken Rambow, who designed and built it, went through many iterations of the Heritage floating pickup before he got the recipe right. Ken still builds them by hand in Kalamazoo.

    So that's the story.

    I'll post pics after I get it back from Heritage.

  26. #125

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    MG,
    i am with you on the pickup choice. Some guitars are meant to be what they were designed to be. That pickup, while not loud is an absolutely PERFECT pickup for that guitar. Perhaps the thicker top can support a more powerful pickup but, really, do you need it? You made the right choice.

    You know, the way Heritage attaches the pickup is the most elegant solution. The block with the holes that accept the 2 metal studs that wrap neatly around the pickup on the INSIDE of the pup cover is the best design I've ever seen on a floater. Some of the fit and finish touches from Heritage are some of the best kept secrets out of Kalamazoo. For a period of time, Gibson was missing a lot of details. Heritage seemed to always "finish" a guitar just right.

    Sorry for the mishap. It will be as good as new within a week.