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In the summer of 2016 I was lucky enough to find very nice Heritage Johnny Smith close to where I live and I bought it from a very nice forum member. In keeping with Joe D‘s post honeymoon posting of his amazing 18 inch HJS, I wanted to post a little clip of that guitar.
Even a year and a half later, I really really like this guitar, it is light and acoustically loud and overall a pleasure to play. I frequently reach for it if I don’t plug in. The acoustic tone is very crisp with a fast attack which I like. If anything, the neck is a bit on the slim side for me since I tend to like really fat necks but it is easy to get used to. The guitar is a gem with all the elaborate ornamentation. Aesthetically, I probably would not have opted for black hardware, but this was JS’s choice, which I respect, and it also makes the guitar stand out. The pickup is an aftermarket floating mini humbucker from a German builder but I do not know the details. It sounds good to me though.
Here is a little recording ... my last day of holidays before work resumes and then I won’t bother you for a while with my mediocre playing. The tune is a gypsy waltz from an early Birelli recording when he was just 13. As always, there are rough spots, but given how difficult this thing is, it is probably pretty much as good as it gets for my abilities. A few places would really be better approached with gypsy picking, but overall I am far and away not precise enough with that technique, in particular at higher tempos. The next thing will definitely be simpler and slower :-)
Cheers to to all the good people here!
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01-05-2018 10:46 AM
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Frankie,
1st off, Your playing is not mediocre. Its great!
You get me mad when you say that.
The guitar sounds outstanding. Balanced beautifully. It makes me want to add a humbucker to mine (well, one that both coils work).
I heard something in the sound that screamed HJS!!! There was a run where you slid up the fretboard on the D or G string. I cant explain it. No other guitar that I've ever played sounds like that. Its like the note is pure and quick, but there is almost a trail right behind it. Its subtle, but I heard it.
I don't know for sure, but I am positive in my heart that Johnny would have loved they way these guitars came out. They are special. When they are setup right, they can be the greatest guitars ever made. I really mean that. At the very least, they are 1st rate, Elite Archtop acoustic guitars that outkick there price tags by a large margin.
You are on a roll bro!
Keep it coming.
Joe D
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And oh by the way, I see how much meat you have left on your bridge base. That is a difference maker in the sound and responsiveness of the guitar. Now I am convinced!!
JD
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Superb Frank ! Beautiful playing, beautiful guitar, and I wish I had your hair.
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Gorgeous guitar and your playing of that piece is fantastic. Come on man !! Give yourself some credit for tackling such hard stuff... You really got a lovely guitar there too...
All the best Frank in the New Year...
Big
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Frank,
Nicely done. Love the guitar. Big props to you for the full-range tone--no "pillow in front of the amp" stuff going on there.
GT
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Frank, I really enjoyed that. Thanks.
The pickup sounds good. The string volumes are balanced. Also, the march of notes up the fretboard showed excellent sustain and consistent volume. There were no choked or dead notes.
With regard to this Heritage, I do know that Johnny Smith very much approved of the Heritage model namesake. He sought out JP Moats at Heritage to discuss this after he broke up with Gibson. Johnny had a long term relationship of goodwill with JP and Jim Deurloo while they were at Gibson. He trusted them.
They agreed on a build that suited Johnny, who was highly involved. I don't know why Johnny wanted black hardware and the rose. He just did for his own reasons.
Johnny signed stacks of labels and sent them to Kalamazoo to be put on the guitars. Johnny did personally see the majority.
Within a few years Heritage was making some odd custom changes with customer requests. These included funny finishes (cherry, blue), odd sizes (16 and 18"), different depths (2.75 and 3 3/8"), and even at least one with parallel bracing. My guess is that these oddities did not set well with Johnny. I know that Johnny was not happy with "the consistency". OTOH, this is what the customers wanted.
I know that there is a strong bias among many in preference for the Gibson variety. I don't fault anyone for that opinion. I will tell you that among those who built and repaired both, I have yet to hear anyone say that one is inferior. This includes my respected luthiers, Aaron Cowles and Pete Moreno, who have no dog in this fight and are well known for their honest opinions. Both of them were quite fond of the Guild version as well.
The HJS tops tend to be thin. That's on purpose of course. They feed back a lot. They also can crack with humidity changes a bit more easily than thicker tops. Some of our local luthiers would sometimes put a thin maple patch in areas where they thought were most vulnerable, typically by the southern tip of the f hole. These delicate instruments have great overtones though.
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nice Frank. What kind/guage strings are those?
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You are such a nice man Joe! You play a million times better than I ever could with any amount of practice and I very much appreciate your encouragement!
Originally Posted by Max405
It is true that the JS’s are a really special archtop design that sound like no others. Are the Gibson’s similar in sound and feel? I am really privileged that I am able to own one of these rare birds. it is perfect complement to the fat and heavy electric archtops like the L5.
I am sure you would like a JS minihumbucker on yours. I have one from Lollar on my Super Eagle and it is a wonderful pickup.
Cheers again and many thanks!
Frank
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Many thanks Vinny! It is a privilege to be able to play this guitar (I guess we are all only hosts of our guitars). The hair, I guess, I have to thank my father for :-) he is knocking 80 now with a full head of hair. Originally Posted by vinnyv1k
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Thanks so much GT! THere is actually absolutely no effect on the guitar signal. I wanted to add a bit of ambience after recording the dry signal but then I kind of liked the tone the way it was and later just forgot about it. Originally Posted by Greentone
The recording was done a bit different this time. I have a new toy - a Fryette power station. THis is an amazing piece of equipment. You can run the amp as hot as you want and then turn down the volume in the power station (it sits between amp and speaker). Then you have a line out that in this case I fed into a Torpedo CAB speaker simulator from where you can go directly to the audio interface. The cab sim is really nice. I checked it and I can barely hear a difference to the mic’ed up amp. The nice thing is that there is no interference of other sources like the backing track with the mic on the amp. The twin was running at volume 5, which is on the verge of breakup. I really like what the tubes are doing then. This would be way too loud in the room and the guitar would feed back like crazy (but probably my wife and neighbors would feed back before
)
Anyways - thanks a bunch! (... and I will listen more to Wes :-))
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Priceless info MG.
You and I have been around the block with these guitars. Although I still insist.. They sound better with the Rose on Pickguard.
JD
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Many thanks for the background info Mark!
This is a really interesting story! I can totally see that JS did not like it when Heritage started doing custom things with his design. This really is a unique design and I am absolutely certain that JS knew exactly why he wanted everything the way it is - the 25’ scale, the thin top, the slightly wider nut etc. These are outstanding guitars. It is absolutely true that there is no dead spot anywhere and the strong balance is beautiful. It does not get harsh, thin or boomy. What I also really really like is how fast the attack is. One does not need to fight the guitar, the notes are just popping out (... well, granted one hits the right ones). I have another acoustic archtop that I really have to work so hard for every single note that I barely pick it up. Heritage did an outstanding job (once more) with this guitar. It is an honor to own it!
Cheers and happy 2018!
Frank
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Thanks Woody! Originally Posted by Woody Sound
I only ever use Thomastik Infeld strings on my archtops. On the ones I consider as electric instruments I use the swing flats (or for kicks the George Benson variety) and on the ones with floating pickups, that I consider as acoustic instruments, I use bebops. I have settled for 13’s as the gauge that suits me best in terms of feel and string tension.
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Hi Frank, great recording, thanks! Was the tone knob fully up? Sounds a bit dark/undefined to me
but that's just me I like how it sounds when you pick harder at the end!
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Hey Jzjazz,
thanks man!
Yes, the tone knob was fully open. The amp settings were bass fully off, middle 8 and treble 4 on the twin. This is a tube amp on the verge of breakup. Hence maybe less definition than your used too?
Cheers,
Frank
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Great playing & sound! Brave is the soul who follows Birelli!
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I just feel it's less defined than e.g. a L5, I would expect the opposite since this one has a floating pickup. But it's sounds great!
I was wondering how you managed to break up a twin and then I carefully read what you wrote - sounds amazing!
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Definitely a superb instrument in very capable hands! Mr. Smith certainly knew what he wanted, and the results speak for themselves. I really appreciate the recording details. I would never have guessed that was a Twin on 5! The Power Station is a great idea. I use a Scholz Power Soak to the same end with my tube amps, both on stage and at home. Getting a little soft-knee compression and some even-order harmonics going just seems like the right thing to do. Thanks for sharing this!
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The power station is a revelation to me. It is so incredibly versatile too.
It is an amazing power soak that takes away no tone whatsoever. In fact it has tubes in it as well. These are 6L6’s I think. Yet, a EL34 Marshall also sounds authentic through it. Strange, but true.
I always wanted to hear my twin with everything on 10 ... it lets you do this at bedroom level and the result is amazing. ... and how cool is it to run an archtop into a breaking up twin with no feedback?!
Then one can use it as a recording device.
Then one can use it to drive two cabs and remedie impedance mismatches between cab and head since the PS lets you choose output impedance (actually, you can drive two cabs simultaneously).
Then on can use it to make a weak small amp loud, really loud.
Then it is a very capable poweramp in its own right. I run my pedalboard (with an AMT preamp pedal on it) into it and it can drive a big cab and simultaneously send a signal to the PA or the audio interface. That makes for a very compact rig.
The uses of this thing are endless. Some of the best money I have invested in gear in a long time. And that says a lot given all the GAS that I have given in to :-)
I plan to make some videos showcasing the power station just because it is *that* good. I have no affiliation with any gear company whatsoever (how could I :-)), but when something is good, I will say so. This thing *is* good.
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i've a question. In looking at the Heritage web site, i don't see anything listed as a Johnny Smith model. Do they no longer make it? The closest thing seems to be the Golden Eagle ??
Thanks
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No, they don‘t make it anymore and they likely never will.
MartyGrass is more qualified to talk about this than me. I guess the simple version is that the endorsement deal ran out and then Heritage stopped making them.
The Golden Eagle is, on paper, somewhat similar, but it is a different guitar (wonderful as well!). The top is thicker, the scale is longer, the nut is narrower, the ornamentation is different ...
I don‘t know about the new owners. You might be able to talk Heritage into a custom order that has some of these features but likely not all and almost certainly not the rose inlay.
Cheers and happy hunting!
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You did the heritage proud! I could hear the personality of the guitar in you video. Well done!
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Here is my Heritage JS, about 1999 I think. All stock except that it was special ordered with gold hardware. I love mine as well. George Benson 14s on it.
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Vinny, that's so funny. I was thinking that same thing! Can't stop laughing! My dad had hair like that all the way to the end, and an incredible tenor voice. Originally Posted by vinnyv1k
Frank, that sounds awesome. The guitar and the playing. Thank you for sharing.
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