Heritage Alvin Lee

Features

Purchased Used.
I am the 3rd owner.
Price: Not important
Manufactured 1993.Kalamazoo, Michigan
M# Alvin Lee
S#J27604
Came with heritage hardshell case + truss rod adjustment tool
Cherry Finish
2 humbucker + 2 volume controls
2 humbucker + 2 tone controls
1 strat style middle pickup
1 main volume control- Just like Alvin's 1959 ES335 (Big Red)
3-way toggle switch
Grover machine heads
23 frets
Shapped like my 1969 Gibson ES335, but this is much lighter, and the pickguard is flat (strat style)
1/4 jack location is different than Gibson.

Sound

Played through a Marshall or Fender Twin Reverb.
Had to clean the pots & switch.
Sound: Sweet
I don't like the flat pickguard now, Maybe I'll get used to it with time.

Action, Fit & Finish

1 small 1/8" nick on the neck, not to worry about it.
Action:A
Pickups:A
Frets:A
Wood quality:A

Reliability/Durability

Will this guitar withstand live playing? Of course.
Does the hardware seem like it will last? Definitely.
Is the finish good enough to last, or does it seem thin and easy to wear off. With proper care it will last longer than me.
Are the strap buttons solid? Yes.
Can you depend on it?Would you use it on a gig without a backup?
Nobody should play without a backup.

Customer Support

Nah, Not Needed.

Overall Rating

If it were stolen or lost, would you buy it again or get something else? Hmmmm, they only made 25 so it would be hard to find another.

Network ES335 is easily found on the web using Google Search Engine.

Certainly not a COPY of a 335...more like the real thing. I compare it to the old ones and am quite pleased with the sound. As far as I know I have the last one made, (I was at the factory when it was being finished, thanks Mr Wahl). So I have not played it a great deal, I figure it's a great piece in my collection. The control config is a bit clumsey(unless you're Alvin I guess), but the stability for a intense player is quite nice. Nice finish, but a little light on the grain. Great nec and fret combo.

This has a great vibe to the sound, especially when in a great tube amp like a Tonemaster. I have always liked Alvins' sound, and this gets me very close. Seems to be fairly quiet on the hum side, and also has a deep rick clean tone...even sparkles for a semi hollow.

Factory set-up was probably rushed (remember I was there waiting for it). I did need to do (I know some will cringe) a minor route unde the oickups to lower the enough for the low/mid action I like. The construction and finish were top notch. Compared to recent Gibsons, this was a fun guitar to play after set-up

I found the folk at heitage to be very nice to deal with. The were very accomodating to me upon my visit, and were more that happy to provide an unscheduled factory tour. It was very cool.

I am a player of 40 years (blues and blues rock), as well as an avid guitar collector. I have many vintage and newer guitars from all styles. Mnay although, are of the ES type, and this is one of the finer pieces without even considering price. I will however be playing it one a cut or two of our new cd "Guitar Slinger With a Jesus Attitude" By: Walker (To be released early '02.)

gibson 335 style guitar made on the original gibson equipment by the older more experienced guitar builders. i hear gibson is trying to buy thier factory back from heritage because of the superior quality and fair pricing.

if your looking for the classic vintage gibson sound this on exceeds were newer gibsons fail at ridiculous prices!

the guitars are set up perfectly from the factory. the shallers sound great! the wood, finish, hardware and craftsmanship are all top drawer. i can't believe the previous reviewer had the nerve to compare heritage with inferior korean plywood guitars in the same breath!!!! get a grip!!!

other than light pick scatching on the pickguard this guitar has held up great and its a beauty. i would trust this guitar with no back because its built like a tank.

the great thing about hearitage is that when you call them with questions they pick up the phone in the factory by one of the guitar builders and are always friendly and courtious and why not! thier building beautiful guitars for a living at a fair price! in this day and age of voice mail and secratery buffers its nice to see thier not only providing old time customer service but vintage quality guitars, i believe fender and gibson can learn a few things here !

i've owned this guitar for 2 years & been playing guitar for close to 36 years professionally and the heritage guitar is a good as the gibson 335 i owned in 1971. i also own a heritage 150 cm,a G&L l 2000, a jap fender, a hamer flying V, marshall jmp 1 & jfx 1, a tc electronics m 2000, a roland vs 1680, td 10 v drums, ds 90 digital speakers. if it were lost or stolen i would hunt down the culprits and punish them severly, i have already bought this guitar not once but thrice! i love eveything about this guitar but the coil tapping and phase control is the topper! plus the transparent blue finish is to die for! you'll never be disapointed by any heritage guitar you can find, they are truley an american heritage and treasure

Basically, this guitar is a very good copy of a Gibson ES-335 semi-hollowbody. It is called the "Alvin Lee" model and has 3 passive humbucking pickups. They are Schallers at the bridge and neck and in the middle is a pickup that says "Gibson USA." There are volume knobs for all the pickups and a 3 way selector switch. I believe the previous owner swapped pickups. There are no coil taps but they would be possible with the Schaller pickups. The guitar has a maple body (pressed plys), solid maple neck, rosewood fingerboard, transparent cherry finish, grover tuners, tune-o-matic bridge, no year of make but serial #K19904 (I think late 1970's/early 1980's).

I play the guitar through a Fender Squire 15 (which is an extremely basic practice amp) sometimes with an Ibanez Tube Screamer and/or a Boss Chorus pedal. I've also played it Through a Roland JC-120. I am currently waiting on a Trace Elliot Supertramp Twin. I like Rock, Jazz, Blues, Folk, Alternative, some metal. This is the best sounding guitar I've owned yet. The humbuckers are quiet though I may have coil taps done to get some of those noisy single coil sounds. Sometimes it is not the easiest guitar to tune but when in tune has lots of character and some variety of sounds depending on which pickup is selected and the amp and effects settings used. Hint, can you say "Fastball?" I knew you could.

The guitar was set up fine when I got it but the adjustable bridge can be tricky if you mess with it. The jack is a bit loose, I think from my kids pulling on my guitar chord, so watch out for that. Some scratches and wear from previous owner when I bought it.

It would be a great guitar for live playing if I got the jack re-souldered. If the jack was fixed I'd use it without a backup. But it would be good to have at least 1 backup. Alvin Lee has at least a dozen Gibson ES-335's. This guitar has been around for awhile and I play it a lot. I'm sure that if treated well it will continue to make great sounds for a long time to come. Usually, I have to get my frets worked on every year and 1/2 or so. But that's all just maintenance that affects any guitar that is played a lot.

I did e-mail the company to find out about what kind of pickups they had on it originally. They never wrote back. I did find an Alvin Lee website on the net and was able to find a page about his equipment and even a picture of this guitar. That's the most info I've ever seen on this model. The Heritage guitar website has no info on this model and it is discontinued. I'll give them a 2 since they at least have a website.

I've been playing since 1987. I also own an acoustic guitar and a really lame Japanese Squire Strat that I'm trading in to get the Trace Elliot Supertramp Twin amp. The Heritage Alvin Lee is a good ES-335 copy, probably not as good as a real Gibson ES-335 but I'm guessing it's pretty close. I wanted a nice hollowbody electric but didn't want to spend a fortune. I feel this guitar was a good deal. Since I live in a remote area I had a friend who works in a music store (in a not so remote area) find me this guitar. There are lots of hollowbody guitars out there with different variations. I've played some of the Chinese made Jay Tursor guitars and it's better than that. It seems similar to the Korean Washburn hollowbodys which I did get a chance to try during a brief visit to civilization. Epiphone makes a number hollowbody guitars like this one and I think that those would probably be about as good if they had better pickups. A friend of mine has a Rickenbacker John Lennon model and I think that sounds as good as the Heritage but I like the neck on this guitar better.
Maybe I'll get coil taps done but I don't think I'll do anything too drastic. I like the guitar as it is.