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I have been playing each of these side by side for nearly a week now and wondering why the Gibson is superior in every way--clarity, feel, tone, volume, etc. Is there something I'm missing with the Heritage? '57 Classics on it, clean condition overall, and somehow with the solid carved front, back, and sides, and its mammoth size--the Gibson has a laminate maple back--I expected more depth, bigger sound, for lack of a better term. Any opinions or comparison here? Does a 25-year-old guitar need a new set of pickups? It has new set of TI flatwound 12's...just wondering if there anything to address here for potential improvement. ...update...I get it now...much higher volume with the neck pickup with less amp volume. That's the sound I was looking for on this! It's still new in my hands, just took some playing around.
Last edited by tomvwash; 08-28-2020 at 05:37 PM.
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08-27-2020 08:55 PM
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Maybe you scored an exceptional L4 CES and a mediocre Super Eagle?
More seriously, each archtop has its own voice. Comparing one of the SAME brand and model can also have disparate tone, feel, sound, etc. as you've noted.
Heritage archtop builds tend to be lighter than Gibson. I'd be surprised if your Super Eagle is wasn't louder acoustically than the L4. If your SE has a thinner top than the L4's, that could be a factor, especially acoustically.
I once owned a beautiful Heritage Sweet 16 that just never seemed to cut it for me either acoustically or amplified. I changed the electronics and pots twice before giving up and selling it. Conversely, I had a Heritage H550 (17" laminate body) that sounded huge acoustically and beautiful amplified. I still regret selling the H550.
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So while every guitar especially carved and acoustic, have their own voice. There is a lot to to the luthier and the luck of good wood involved.
Also we each have our own expectations as well as individual preferences.
That all said, you are comparing a 16" to a 18" in terms of actual acoustic ability.
Maybe you prefer the smaller more focused voice of the L-4CES.
You might want to see if the Gibson was built by Jim Hutchins as well. He was regarded quite highly in archtop circles.
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I own a 2006 Heritage Super Eagle and a 1980 Gibson Super V. Both guitars are great. I’ve had the Super V since 1981 and the Heritage I bought around 2010.
I did change the pickups in the Heritage and replaced them with Seth Lovers which was a big improvement. The original pickups sounded thin and unbalanced to me (I cant remember now what they were.)
Acoustically they both have their own sound but I wouldn’t say I prefer one over the other.
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57 Classics on a Super Eagle? I’m not saying it cannot be. I’m saying that would be very unusual. Reason being is that a Seth Lover or Seymour Duncan would be the pickup choice for those guitars. I’ve never heard of anyone installing 57 Classics on an SE.
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Interesting point. Yes, they are '57 classics.
Originally Posted by 2bornot2bop
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the gibson is a bigger guitar and it's a heavier build. The heritage probably weighs 1-2lbs less, has a thinner top and the overall guitar is much thinner. I happen to love the heritage eagle classic. Gets a little more open, archtop sound because of the thinner top.
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That is what I am finding out the more I play it, well put. Outstanding guitar! Originally Posted by jzucker
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Jack, the OP said Super Eagle and L-4CES. Pretty sure that the Super Eagle is the bigger guitar. The L4CES is the size of the ES-175. It's a great guitar, but the only dimension that it is bigger in is depth, when compared with the Super Eagle (an 18" guitar).
I love both guitars, but I REALLY find the Super Eagle to be a great sounding (and playing) archtop guitar. Mine gets a sublime jazz tone. The full-range tone that the guitar gets is, I don't know, maybe perfect for 50s-60s jazz--IMO.
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Correct on size! Yes, the SE is larger, missed that, thank you Originally Posted by Greentone
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