Heritage now offering the H-575 as part of their Core Collection Series

[Blkat]

...something to set them apart from Gibson.

They did. Consistent quality control. Gibsons are pretty hit-or-miss these days.

Anyways, the H-575 is sorta like an ES-175 and Gibson doesn't make that model any more.

Personally, I like what Heritage is doing. And why reinvent the wheel?

[Woody Sound]

Mine is an older one. I like the tailpiece, but the newer and simpler ones work fine. The bridge might be better if it's full contact. That's probably not worth the extra trouble though.

Attachment 110788Attachment 110787

Nice burst color.

[Cunamara]

They are all USA made. Price wise, it sounds like a lot and I don’t understand the solid rim either. On the other hand, try finding a decent, used, es-175 for under 4K. I’ll guess they saw that market and went there.

not to mention a lack of competition from Gibson in this particular niche market.

[Marty Grass]

I don't think they use laminates on H-575. One of the Custom Core guitars available on their website has seams on front and back.

[Stringswinger]

I don't think they use laminates on H-575. One of the Custom Core guitars available on their website has seams on front and back.

That is not dispositive. Roger Bory's and Steven Holst's laminate guitars have seams on the backs.

[Rickco]

J Wolfe has this '24 on rev for $4500. and says this:"No. 7401. Includes Heritage logo black Tolex hardshell case. Note- This carved body Heritage model is 1.5 years back ordered at present. This is a non-standard (custom) finish color for this model. SO beautifully crafted in the historic Parsons Street shop in old Kalamazoo.

Heritage's popular H575 has a “solid” carved top & back, and is NOT laminated. Also has- 24-3/4 inch scale, 1-11/16th nut width, bone nut, flamed solid carved Maple body, Honduran Mahogany neck w/ Rosewood fingerboard, 12 inch fingerboard radius, 16 inch lower bout width, 2.75 inch rim depth, Seymour Duncan's most vintage Seth Lovers, smooth and adjustable Grover Rotomatic keys, real Nitrocellulose lacquer finish and superb tone & playability. This beautiful Original Sunburst H575 is simply gorgeous, and was PLEK’d at the Kalamazoo shop for a superb setup and playability. Case and expert setup are included."
Not sure what this means in terms of if theyre also making a "custom core" laminate? I have emailed them yesterday. If they're making a laminate 575 it would essentially be a thinner 175, if the prices they are posting are correct you could get a very nice "real" 175.
To go backwards a little Marty mentioned he didnt hear much difference between the spruce vs maple tops when amplified. I have both and hear a not subtle difference. Marty has the gits and experience with these far exceeding mine so just mentioning individual results may vary.
I still think the 575s and S16s made under the old guard are some of the finest archtops of their kind with the 575 being completely unique and a real bargain when compared to anything in the "small carved archtop camp". If I had the bread and the space Id grab a few more!
Ill update when I get response from Heritage.

[2bornot2bop]

$6,000!!!! They better carve both the top back and sides for that amount of money,as well as make it out of solid non laminate wood!

Sorry, but I’d take Mark Campellone as well as other bespoke luthiers over this any day!

Even with today’s inflated prices one could purchase a modern, say 2016 or so, Golden Eagle for $4500. Mark C. can’t even make a new standard for that. A comp of a Golden Eagle would be a Campellone Special at $7.5k. But for the $3k difference one could get a new guitar. But there’s an even bigger problem….getting on a 4 year waiting list. Perhaps MC could retire before such a guitar is built?

[Marty Grass]

I have to agree about this individualality of the instrument. The woods have different densities batch to batch. The guitars are largely hand made. Bracing placement may vary slightly. Carving of the top, back and neck is not CNC, unless they changed that lately. Bridge fitting may vary.

Humans project their feelings and expectations on an instrument also.

[2bornot2bop]

I think the plain Heritage headstock, like the one one my 575, is pretty lame. The rest of the guitar more than makes up for it.

But I also think with a little binding the Heritage headstock goes from blah to great very quickly. And I like the big f-holes.

These new 575's look great. And I promise never to tell anyone here who buys one what I paid for my old one

Back in 2012 I purchased a 575 in a dark Sunset Sunburst finish from the Heritage Guitar forum marketplace, for $1200. If I had any idea that 12 years later they’d be selling for $3500 used I’d have acquired every 575 I could find!

These new 575’s from the new Heritage company, how I choose to refer to them, going for $6k look much like the $1200 guitar I purchased.

[deacon Mark]

We guitarist get pretty involved in our guitars, but truth is the average person is clueless about it all. For the last 7 months I have been playing the guitar with the choir at 4pm Saturday evening Mass. I have been using my 18 inch Hollenbeck exclusively for this gig until last week. I showed up with my Heritage Ghost Built D'angelico New Yorker. It preformed pretty much the same for me personally just in the environment.

Here is the catch. No one in the last 7 months has mention one thing about the guitar I play except one guitarist who plays occasionally in my spot. He mentioned the Hollenbeck was beautiful. So, a Mass full of people with average attendance 400 people each week and not one has a clue on the guitar itself. I have parishioners come up all the time saying, " deacon I see you are working in the choir again on the guitar." One mentioned they knew when I played just coming into church because I was the only one who warmed up playing " some kind of jazz thing."

I can tell you if I had been a similar event as a spectator with someone playing the guitars I used, I would have definitely gone up after mass to chat. I must say as much as I love my Hollenbeck, Heritage nailed the D'angelico guitar in all respects. No, it is not a real D'angelico but it cannot be. I firmly believe that a Heritage GE or similar offering from them is a bargain used and a sleeper. They are American made guitars and say what you want, that is powerful marker in guitars. I also find the headstock quite nice after a while and I will post my favorite in a bit.

[2bornot2bop]

I prefer to belittle them for their over-sized f-holes.
Funny, that, and the aesthetically-challenged headstock shape, hasn't prevented a few of them from following me home. Go figure, maybe they are good guitars, or something.

I’m happy you kept Patrick’s former custom built archtop!

[Rickco]

I prefer to belittle them for their over-sized f-holes.
Funny, that, and the aesthetically-challenged headstock shape, hasn't prevented a few of them from following me home. Go figure, maybe they are good guitars, or something.

So are the 2 next to the super also 18"? Really Really nice!

[jads57]

I have no doubt that these newer Heritage models are an improvement over the older ones,especially in the Aesthetics department .
But you could easily buy some great used bespoke made carved top from a bunch of great luthiers at that price.

Unger, Campellone,Hopkins,Comins,Elferink, Nickerson, etc.

[deacon Mark]

BTW,

To the ugly headstock fans. I find this particularly headstock is beautiful, and it has grown on me much. In fact, the headstock is thicker and has more beef in areas that Gibsons do not at least on the non-volutes. Construction wise, not necessarily better looking I think it is better than Gibson, at least in this guitar.

[Spook410]

So.. as others have noted, if the guitar description doesn't explicitly say 'solid carved', it isn't.

If Heritage has departed from this convention, would be interesting to know. Some have said these are solid top and back and hand carved and Sweetwater lists it as a solid top. Is there some way we could nail down how these are made?

[Hammertone]

I’m happy you kept Patrick’s former custom built archtop!

So are the 2 next to the super also 18"? Really Really nice!

IIRC:
-Blonde Super Eagle @18" wide, 3" rims
-Super Patrick @17 1/2" wide, 3 1/4" rims
-Gary Hines Spec Golden Eagle Custom Thinline @17" wide, 2 1/4" deep

[Rickco]

IIRC:
-Blonde Super Eagle @18" wide, 3" rims
-Super Patrick @17 1/2" wide, 3 1/4" rims
-Gary Hines Spec Golden Eagle Custom Thinline @17" wide, 2 1/4" deep

Those are gorgeous! Is Gary still working? we had a conversation regarding some work on my 16 initiated by Marty and he stopped responding? Thats some seriously fine work

[ThatRhythmMan]

BTW,

To the ugly headstock fans. I find this particularly headstock is beautiful, and it has grown on me much. In fact, the headstock is thicker and has more beef in areas that Gibsons do not at least on the non-volutes. Construction wise, not necessarily better looking I think it is better than Gibson, at least in this guitar.

I like that headstock, but the cheap looking truss rod cover looks really out of place to me.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[mr. beaumont]

Back in 2012 I purchased a 575 in a dark Sunset Sunburst finish from the Heritage Guitar forum marketplace, for $1200.

Yep, same year for me, same price. When it arrived I knew instantly it was a lot nicer than a $1200 guitar. Wish I had 2 so I could sell one now...I could use $3500! But I sure as hell ain't selling my one 575.

[Rickco]

Answer from Heritage: "Thanks for considering a Heritage H-575. The tops and backs are solid carved curly maple with a solid curly maple rim.

Thank you,
Mike"
Glad to hear that, So what makes the custom core so much more expensive? Not that I mind I have 2, Should've kept my 3rd one also!

[Gregc57]

Wow. They really should make that clear in their description!
Thanks for the news update~

[AllanAllen]

Glad to hear that, So what makes the custom core so much more expensive? Not that I mind I have 2, Should've kept my 3rd one also!

I hope this was your reply back to them.

[Rickco]

I hope this was your reply back to them.

Yes, I pointed out their description was not clear and there were rumors/questions about the construction. Personally Im holding on to my pre '03 Heritages as I dont think the workmanship of the new gits is on par with what was made under the old guard (when Ren was still on the floor) What made the Heritages special to me was that they were made at the same bench by some of the same guys from a nearly 100 yr old culture as our most cherished Gibson archtops. Ren was in the shop when my 175 was made nearly 50yrs ago and I have spoken with him regarding my H's and he remembered several that he in fact set up and or worked on. I think Heritage was a great company giving outstanding value but "victims" of bad timing and horrible marketing. Now they're competing with companys with far lower labor costs in a time where american manufacturing is at its lowest ebb ever. Labor costs have skyrocketed in the U.S. and our "skilled labor" base has nearly disappeared. It will be interesting to see if they can actually sell the new "custom core" for nearly $6k. At that point Id have something made or call TRM and ask him to find me an old something nice! (picture frame L7 with Mcarty setup) fortunately Im past the "collecting stage"

[Flat]

Yep, same year for me, same price. When it arrived I knew instantly it was a lot nicer than a $1200 guitar. Wish I had 2 so I could sell one now...I could use $3500!

You guys smoked me. I had to pony up $1300 for my 1994 used, quite a few years ago. (Hard to imagine this guitar is already 30 years old. What does it take to be called vintage these days?)

[mr. beaumont]

You guys smoked me. I had to pony up $1300 for my 1994 used, quite a few years ago. (Hard to imagine this guitar is already 30 years old. What does it take to be called vintage these days?)

That is lovely. Mine's a '95. They were really making some great guitars then.