Heritage H-575 Damage assessment Please!!

[davang55]

Hi friends, quick question. I just received a guitar from an estate type sale and discovered this (see pic) under the pickguard.
Could this be spot repaired or would it require full refinish of the top? Also approx. how much would this damage detract from a guitars value? I paid $4000 not knowing about the damage. I understand this is a somewhat rare find.

This is a 2002 Heritage Custom H-575 with spruce top, Gold hardware and a Ren Wall (HRW) pickup.

Thanks in advance.

Jeff

[wintermoon]

the finish looks melted. is the guard celluloid?

[rob taft]

I see bare wood so any "touch up" while possible will not be invisible and yes it will hurt the value. In my opinion even without the damage you paid on the high side of retail.

2006 Heritage - H575 MH Carved Spruce Top - Natural | Reverb

[davang55]

No, its bound ebony. Whatever the guy put under it has been gone a long time. I suspect there was a rattle and he put some foam of some sort. He also put a thicker rubber grommet under the pickguard for the screw but it didn't harm the lacquer at all. This is a custom model with bound ebony fingerboard and gold hardware.
I'm going to send it back for refund. Thanks for your help.

Jeff

[wintermoon]

No, its bound ebony. Whatever the guy put under it has been gone a long time. I suspect there was a rattle and he put some foam of some sort. He also put a thicker rubber grommet under the pickguard for the screw but it didn't harm the lacquer at all. This is a custom model with bound ebony fingerboard and gold hardware.
I'm going to send it back for refund. Thanks for your help.

Jeff

good move, it's about a 3K or so guitar w/out the damage.
frequently at estate sales/auctions, things get bid up higher than their value.

[Gitterbug]

Don't sue me me if things go wrong but since this is under the pickguard, my No 1 suggestion is to leave it as is. There may have been a spongy thing to keep the pickguard from vibrating. Perhaps one will be needed going forward as well. No 2: Again, as this is under the pickguard, and assuming this is a nitro finish, try brushing a light coat of cellulose lacquer diluted 70-80% with thinner over the damaged area. Use a fine weasel/squirrel hair brush. If it starts looking better, repeat. If not, don't. You won't have done any further damage. Everybody agrees that structural defects of an old instrument may/must be repaired. It beats my reason why flaws in original finish are considered untouchables.

[icr]

I was thinking the same, if it is a desirable guitar to you, it might be hard to find another, which might have a worse problem. I'd put the pickguard back and play it.

[davang55]

Several members have said I overpaid for it and the last thing I need at my stage of life, is another problem fix. Yes, it's a nice guitar, plays and sounds great, but quite frankly so do my cheap archtops. I wanted nice piece to enjoy the sound and the beauty of it as well. Thanks for your input.

[Cunamara]

I have to admit, I would return it also due to the undisclosed damage. Sorry this happened, good luck with the search!

[Cunamara]

It beats my reason why flaws in original finish are considered untouchables.

Because collectors. It's just part of the thinking in those circles, doesn't matter what the subject is. Tonka trucks, guitars, furniture, etc., refinishing = bad.

[Gitterbug]

Because collectors. It's just part of the thinking in those circles, doesn't matter what the subject is. Tonka trucks, guitars, furniture, etc., refinishing = bad.

Yup. Visited a museum to see a huge private collection of furniture prototypes and one-offs by famous architect Alvar Aalto. Felt itchy and scratchy. I've collected axes (real ones, not guitars) and the first thing I do is remove the rust and clean the shafts.

[Cunamara]

To me there is a difference between a collectible objet d'art and a useful tool. I used to collect fountain pens, but eventually realized I didn't care about collecting- instead I just like writing with them. So the collection gathers dust while I have a dozen pens- some vintage, some not- in rotation. Need to sell them one of these days.

Guitars to me are tools, first and foremost. So I stay away from vintage D'Angelicos, L-5s, what have you (except I've really wanted a vintage Johnny Smith for decades; we all have our kryptonite and fortunately they are all priced far above what I would ever pay for a guitar). For my purposes, a Tele or Strat are as good as much fancier instruments; there is also my GB10.

[rob taft]

First off, in the case of the OPs guitar, it isn't a "collectable" but if the OP bought the guitar at a price that reflected the finish damage or wear then I would also say live with it but he/she did not.

[Marty Grass]

I agree that if there is an undisclosed problem, the sale should be renegotiated or reversed.

Here's one with a rosewood fretboard.

2004 Heritage 575 Custom with Spruce Top (Demo)

[Crm114]

Auction houses make a lot of money:

they charge the seller a percentage of the final sale price at the end of the auction

and they charge the buyer what is called a buyers premium usually 20 to 25% added on to the final price of the item

so they make a killing on the auction

if you have a problem with the item, report it to the auction house immediately and include pictures of the damage finish under the pickguard, and tell them plainly that it was not disclosed in the auction
They will work with you either to give you a refund if that’s what you want or adjust the price according to what Luthier will tell you to refinished or repair that spot would cost you. They have a lot of money here in this.



The magic question for you is do you want to deal with this or do you want to just send it back and get your full money back?


you are not stuck with this item, so treat the auction company accordingly