Heritage Hollow Body Guitars?

Michael Pierce · From: Madison, CT

Has anyone had any experience with the Heritage line of hollow-body guitars? I have only read good things about them -- which makes sense given that they are apparently made by ex-Gibson employees? I have been window shopping for a hollow-body guitar for jazz, and these seem more reasonably priced than the comparable Gibson model. Thanks.

Stu Schulman · From: Ulster Park New Yawk (deceased)

Michael,a friend of mine has an "Eagle" it's at least 15 years old and it's a beautiful guitar incredibly well made and sounds great,Built by the guys who used to work at Gibson.You can go wrong with one of these.There's a little violin shop by my house that sells Eastman guitars they're Chinese? and are amazing also. Winking

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Steeltronics Z-pickup,Desert Rose S-10 4+5,Desert Rose Keyless S-10 3+5... Mullen G2 S-10 3+5,Telonics 206 pickups,Telonics volume pedal.,Blanton SD -10,Emmons GS_10...Zirctone bar,Bill Groner Bar...any amp that isn't broken.Steel Seat.Com seats...Licking paint chips off of Chinese Toys since 1952.

Mark Carlisle · From: Springville CA

I bought a Golden Eagle new from Jay Wolf in Florida back in the mid ninties. It was an outstanding instrument-basically a L-5C for half the price and quite frankly a better guitar with Gibson's QC during that time IMHO. Check archtop.com Joe usually has a few Heritage guitars on the market. They are way undervalued for a handcrafted made in USA archtop.
Stu mentioned Eastman and ironically that is what I am giging with now-a John Pisano model. It is THE perfect workingman's jazz machine at that price point-around 2K street price. Guitars n Jazz in NJ seems to be the "Epi" center for Eastman online however I brought mine from a high school pal that owns Mac Kinzie River Music in Eugene OR.
I'm sure you have considered this, but I have to share that I have found a built-in pickup to be much more versitle than a floater over the years. If you get a call for a big band gig and your jazzbox has a floating PU, you MAY have difficulty with feedback. Also some players are of the opinion that a laminated guitar i.e. Gibson 175 is less prone to feedback, however my Pisano is a solid wood guitar. I've had both and it really hasn't made much difference IMHO. I'm sure you'll get lots of "feedback" on this issue.Happy hunting!

Michael Pierce · From: Madison, CT

Thank you Mark and Stu. I will definitely check out the Eastmans in addition to the Heritage line. One more question...

In your experience, have you found much of a difference in woods used for jazz box tops? I've heard about the laminate versus solid top differences (solid top being more prone to feedback), but not much about the difference in woods used in a solid top (e.g., spruce versus maple). If one were looking for mellower versus brighter, is one wood better than another?

Mark Carlisle · From: Springville CA

This is a subject that could get major flames, please remember that these are my observations and experiences. As far as wood choice, it its highly unlikely that you will find a archtop with a solid maple top-most are laminated. Solid tops are generally spruce. At the end of the day, your application is the guideline. If you are trying to get outstanding acoustic archtop tone for a retro swing band, go with the classic archtop construction-solid spruce top and maple back and sides. However, short of Eastman that can get very pricy. Since the majority of real world gigs using an archtop require amplification, and there are plenty of players that will disagree on this point, but 90% of the tone is coming off the pickup, which makes the wood choice kind of moot. Therefore, the icon guitar in this segment is the Gibson ES-175, or similar there are tons of 175 copies, which is a laminated guitar. Every famous jazz guitarist from Joe Pass, Herb Ellis, etc. has made beautiful and meaningful music with this type of guitar,one patch cord and a Polytone.

Mark Carlisle · From: Springville CA

http://archtop.com/ac_00_H575.html

I would look at this Heritage 575-they are GREAT guitars, Heritage's "remake" of the Gibson 175. This one is solid maple...

Michael Pierce · From: Madison, CT

Beautiful. Let me start the campaign with my better half!

Mark, just out of curiosity, what amp do you use for your jazz? I have an older Evans AE200 head (someone told me the AE stands for Archtop Electric) that sounds pretty good with an Epiphone Sheraton I have.

Mark Carlisle · From: Springville CA

Good luck with your better half! I've played several H-575's and they are totally pro grade, excellent instruments born in the USA-you can't go wrong.
You are lucky with your amp-many many notable jazz guitarists have used or continue to use and endorse Evans amps-I know Jimmy Bruno used to use one, I've seen Ron Eschete use one, you have the right amp for sure. Alot of guys use the Razors Edge cabs with an Evans head.
I myself use a Shertler Unico. It's a Swiss made/designed amp (although I think it is really produced in Italy). I am very pleased with it, I get complements from other players on the tone. It's really not my first choice for a top flight archtop amp, however it fits my needs at the moment.

Dave Mudgett · From: Central Pennsylvania and Gallatin, Tennessee

I have a Heritage H-575, which is sort of an upgraded ES-175 style model. It has a solid flamed maple top, sides and back, a one-piece mahogany neck, plays great, has excellent workmanship, and sounds great, all to my tastes of course. I got it used, and have probably about half of what a comparable used modern ES-175 would cost. The solid top does feed back a bit more in a loud gig setting, but I think it can be dealt with.

I've informally played most of the Heritage models - they've all been very nice guitars. When I have some money and see a reasonable deal, I'd like to grab an H-535, which is, you guessed it, their comparable to an ES-335. I've also played several Eastmans - also very good, although I don't believe they're US-made, someone please correct me if I'm wrong.

To me, these US-made Heritage guitars are more than competitive with a like-style modern Gibson archtop in every respect except resale. That means there are good deals on used ones, but the downside is that I think it's harder to move these as new guitars, and thus harder on the company itself.

Darvin Willhoite · From: Roxton, Tx. USA

I have a couple of Heritage guitars in my collection, a Blue H575, and an Eagle Classic. The quality, workmanship, and playability are great. I also have an Eastman that I don't have pictures of yet, but it's a great playing guitar also. The Eastmans are made in China, but are very high quality.

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Darvin Willhoite
MSA Millennium, Legend, and Studio Pro, Reese's restored Universal Direction guitar, a restored MSA Classic SS, several amps, new and old, and a Kemper Powerhead that I am really liking. Also a Zum D10, a Mullen RP, and a restored Rose S10, named the "Blue Bird". Also, I have acquired and restored the plexiglass D10 MSA Classic that was built as a demo in the early '70s. I also have a '74 lacquer P/P, with wood necks, and a showroom condition Sho-Bud Super Pro.

Michael Pierce · From: Madison, CT

Thanks everybody for their input. I definitely have a bad case of G.A.S. at this point.

Darvin, those are beautiful guitars. I've always wondered how it is playing one without a tone control like the Eagle Classic; are they pre-set to roll off some of the highs?

Also, has anyone played a Gibson ES-137 and, if so, how would you compare the sound to these hollowbodies? Less "airy" and more like a Les Paul or perhaps a semi-hollowbody?

Stu Schulman · From: Ulster Park New Yawk (deceased)

Mark,Seattle pedal steel guitar player Chris Middaugh is a big shot at Schertler U.S.A,Chris taught me steel guitar when I was starting out if not for him I would have quit[most of my friends wish I would]He sold a Schertler amp to a friend of mine up here and it's a great little amp.I met a guy at a huge wine tasting two weeks ago named Dave Minor he runs his family winery in Northern Califoria,he's friends with Bruno and The Pizzarellis and is part owner of Benadetto guitars,The guy who I play with is a good friend of his and Dave told him to tell Stu anytime he wants a Benadetto I'll give him a deal?I think they go for 15 grand...I'll just keep playing my old Silvertone. Laughing

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Steeltronics Z-pickup,Desert Rose S-10 4+5,Desert Rose Keyless S-10 3+5... Mullen G2 S-10 3+5,Telonics 206 pickups,Telonics volume pedal.,Blanton SD -10,Emmons GS_10...Zirctone bar,Bill Groner Bar...any amp that isn't broken.Steel Seat.Com seats...Licking paint chips off of Chinese Toys since 1952.

Mark Carlisle · From: Springville CA

Stu when I was looking for a workhorse amp I spoke to Chris about the Unico. I had no idea he was a steel player, our conversation was centered on specs and such. I went with the Unico after side by side comparos with other amps-it was a little more $$ but has proven to be an excellent tool.
Benedettos-now you have hit a nerve. I followed his work since I saw and played Ron Eschete's back in the 80's. Ron was giging with a drummer pal of mine at Dante's in North Hollywood-sax player Plaz Johnson's band. His early work was done in FL, IMHO Bob hit his stride when he moved back to PA. It was still possible to find a Manhattan for about 6-7K in the 90's or get on his 3 year wait list. The deal he made with Fender/Guild in the Corona custom shop didn't seem to do Bob any favors as the purists felt that they weren't getting a true Benedetto built solely by the master-somewhat true however I was able to play some at the NAMM show and they were superb.Fender also had him building Guild branded guitars with his signature on them. Then the whole Bravo line of "affordable" Benedettos-laminated but still wonderful in their own way at around 3-4 K price point. I've had a chance to play some of the Savannah guitars and I would have to say he's back to his 90's excellence, even though it's basically another custom shop.
If you can get a deal on one and can swing it, I think it would be a excellent investment as some people are of the opinion that some of his work will reach D'Angelico or D'Aquisto status. I recently played three of his early Florida built instruments at Guitar Center in Hollywood-two 6 strings and a 7. Asking prices for the 6's were in the 35K range. But that was a bargan compared to the 59 Les Pauls and vintage Strats lining the walls...
BTW in case you didn't know-the mainstay of the Eastman line called 805, 810, 9 series are direct copies of Benedettos-the way the story went was Eastman bought Bob's "How To Build an Archtop Guitar" book and video, gave the material to their Chinese cello and violin workers and said-here's your new job!

Joseph Carlson · From: Grass Valley, California, USA

Here's me playing my Heritage last Saturday. It's a Golden Eagle. I picked it up new about a year ago for around $2k. I'm playing it through a Fender Jazzmaster Ulralight amp.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pMkwR9Pc4l0

I also own a handmade arch-top made by Victor Baker and the Heritage is about 99% as good for a lot less money.

Michael Pierce · From: Madison, CT

Nice playing, Joe. Did you buy your Heritage from one of the on-line places, like Wolfe Music, or someplace locally?

Darvin Willhoite · From: Roxton, Tx. USA

Here's pics of my Eastman, it is a model AR800CE, which I think has been discontinued. It has a 16" lower bout like an ES175, and it came with a neat case. It plays and sounds great.

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Darvin Willhoite
MSA Millennium, Legend, and Studio Pro, Reese's restored Universal Direction guitar, a restored MSA Classic SS, several amps, new and old, and a Kemper Powerhead that I am really liking. Also a Zum D10, a Mullen RP, and a restored Rose S10, named the "Blue Bird". Also, I have acquired and restored the plexiglass D10 MSA Classic that was built as a demo in the early '70s. I also have a '74 lacquer P/P, with wood necks, and a showroom condition Sho-Bud Super Pro.

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