Heritage Guitar Repairs Manager

[Marty Grass]

Rob Doolittle just accepted the position at Heritage. Rob is a gifted and very dedicated luthier. He has decades of experience. This is good news.
I have been fortunate to have him work on my instruments in his basement shop. He'll be a great addition to Heritage. I hope he'll bring back some of the archtop line.

[Woody Sound]

I had a very bad and insulting experience with the Heritage shop. A neck as curved as a banana, and they refused to acknowledge it or fix it. They told me I didn't know anything. I've been performing for nearly 50 yrs since I was 11 yso. Never again with Heritage. Pompous asses.

[Marty Grass]

My hope is that your bad experience is never repeated with others. Service has been almost non-existent or at least spotty. Some has been excellent recently.

Rob made the pickguard for my Howard Roberts and replaced part of the old harness. He also installed electronics on this Heritage D'Angelico. The workmanship was just excellent.

[2bornot2bop]

Funny, that I can barely count the number of heritage guitars I’ve owned, yet never a single problem. Hmmm.

I hope they keep Rob busy making archtop’s!

[Hammertone]

...I hope they keep Rob busy making archtop’s!

My guess is that he will have his hands full with repairs to Heritage Les Pauls and Heritage ES-335s, since that's kind of 99% of what they've been making and will, no doubt, continue to make.

[Woody Sound]

It was a 555 Semi with a sideways downward banana neck. The high E was off the fretboard. I sent it to them, fully paid and they said I didn't know what I was talking about, and I had to pay to get it back. Arrogant incompetent jerks.

[Gitfiddler]

Several years ago I purchased a used H535 from Wolfe Guitars. The guitar was great but had a visible forearm wear mark on the upper bout. I complained to Jay Wolfe about the undisclosed finish issue. He plead ignorance, but listened anyway. It was my third or so purchase from his shop over the years, so he intervened on my behalf with Heritage.

Heritage co-owner, Vince Margol contacted me via email, asked that I send the H535 to the factory for a look. I paid to have it shipped. Heritage did a beautiful refinish and even swapped out the pickups for a set of Seth Lovers, then shipped the guitar back to me. No drama and no charge.

Maybe that was not the norm, and maybe it had to do with the call to the factory from the largest Heritage dealer at the time, but they made good on my instrument. I have heard of other repair and warranty complaints about Heritage over the years. With the addition of a dedicated repair person, I hope Heritage offers consistent and expert service to all customers who have legitimate issues with their guitars.

Here's the H-535 post factory refin:

[AKA]

Rob Doolittle just accepted the position at Heritage. Rob is a gifted and very dedicated luthier. He has decades of experience. This is good news.
I have been fortunate to have him work on my instruments in his basement shop. He'll be a great addition to Heritage. I hope he'll bring back some of the archtop line.

Well - Let’s just hope his impact exceeds his good name.

AKA

[Doctor Jeff]

My hope is that your bad experience is never repeated with others. Service has been almost non-existent or at least spotty. Some has been excellent recently.

Rob made the pickguard for my Howard Roberts and replaced part of the old harness. He also installed electronics on this Heritage D'Angelico. The workmanship was just excellent.

Oh I see you live in Mecca…when I was a kid, “Kalamazoo” was a expression people used to mean far away, as in, “How far does she live from here, Kalamazoo??”

What’s the story on that “Heritage D’Angelico”? BEAUTIFUL guitar.

[Marty Grass]

First, Rob Doolittle is a smart, talented and reasonable person. His standards are high. He will be a plus there. My guess is that he will do more than repairs, but I don't know. He has been building custom guitars a long time.

Second, here's the story on the D'Angelico. Heritage D'Angelico New Yorker

Stringswinger has one also.

[Woody Sound]

Funny, that I can barely count the number of heritage guitars I’ve owned, yet never a single problem. Hmmm.

I hope they keep Rob busy making archtop’s!

I owned a H Johnny Smith that was awesome in every way, perfect. But that 555 was a disaster that they wouldn't admit to.

[Doctor Jeff]

Cool, thanks for sharing!

[Marty Grass]

I've had Heritage do some repair work in the distant past. The difference with me is that I would walk into the factory with the guitar and ask for the repairs. One actually wasn't a repair. There was a lot of buffing compound on the edges of the unbound f holes. It was not that easy to remove by me anyway. They took care of it. Another was a guitar damaged in shipment.

I expect things will be much better within a few weeks.

[jads57]

They screwed up a 535 I had re necked. Took almost a year and when I got it back it was unplayable and needed a total refret . To their credit they offered me a replacement instrument a H550 in place of it. So it worked out okay, but really unbelievable it was sent to me in that condition.

I think the old guard there had funny ideas about how to run their company. They seem to like to go fishing a lot,Lol!

[2bornot2bop]

They screwed up a 535 I had re necked. Took almost a year and when I got it back it was unplayable and needed a total refret . To their credit they offered me a replacement instrument a H550 in place of it. So it worked out okay, but really unbelievable it was sent to me in that condition.

I think the old guard there had funny ideas about how to run their company. They seem to like to go fishing a lot,Lol!

Come now, many of those guys are now passed on. Let it go.

[jads57]

Seems like the newer Heritage owners and luthiers have it way more together. I guess in the old days it was take the bad with the good, Lol! They did like fishing I hear!