Heritage Gary Moore Signature

The Heritage Gary Moore Signature was made in 1991 or 1992 in Kalamazoo, MI at the old Gibsom Plant. It features a triple AAA maple top. Mine is an Amber color. They were made in short quantity I believe. 75 pieces only. It is essentially a Les Paul design and has all the similar controls. It does feature a matching flamed maple pickguard as well as the Gary Moore signature on the peg head. The guitar comes with EMG Active pick-ups. The finish of the guitar is absolutely wonderful in all respects. The workmanship and attention to detail is evident throughout. The joints are virtually seemless and the neck and bindings are smooth as silk. Grover tuners and came with a Heritage Hard Shell case.

The EMG's are powerful and really gives the guitar a chunky sound. Classic LP. Plugged into a Marshall it's a formidable weapon.

As mentioned the guitar was put together perfectly, nothing bad to say at all really. Flawless workmanship. Great job. You wont find that on a brand new Gibson today.

No issues at all with reliability.

Not sure, however they are in business today and are doing well.

Been playing for about 15 years and have owned several guitars. Always wanted a Gibson LP but just could not justify the cost. This guitar is better made and although not cheap, worth every penny.

Produced in 1991 at the old Gibson factory in Kalamazoo after it was purchased by some of the original craftsmen. 22 Frets. It is basically a Les Paul with a defferant headstock and hardware. Absolutely "solid" in terms of conctruction. This guitar was perfectly built and assembled. The joints are almost seemless. Active pick-ups, EMG 81's with a rosewood board and pearl inlays. Grover tuners and came with a Heritage hard shell case.

The guitar pumps out a strong sound. The active pick-ups provide all the power you would hope for. If you want you can always replace them with passive pick-ups and turn it into a true Les Paul. Plays like the best Gibson LP you have ever held in your hands.

As stated earlier, the fit and finish on this guitar is the best in my collection. really, really superb job in assembly, great care taken on the joints, only a hand made guitar can get this kind of fit. It just "feels" right. No flaws whatsoever. The flamed top is really nice. This one I have is an amber, darker with wonderful markings.

No issues at all on reliability. This guitar is super solid.

Never had to try it but I hear they are very supportive.

Been playing for many years now and own about 8 guitars, but have had many more. This one is a keeper for sure... I have played and been looking for that "perfect" LP for many years now and this guitar beats any I have tried or owned. It feels great, looks great and plays great, just cannot say enough good things about it. Heritage really makes some nice guitars.

This guitar was made in 1990 at the original Gibson factory in Kalamazoo, MI. The same craftsmen that brought you the original 50's and 60's LP's are still making some of the best guitars in the world right there. Guitar features a single cutaway mahogany body, bound carved curly maple top. 24 3/4" scale with a bound curly maple pickguard. It has 22 frets on premium bound rosewood with "real" pearl crown inlays. Tunomatic bridge/stop tailpiece. Black headstock with Gary Moore signature in red. Grover tuners and EMG active pick-ups humbuckers. Two volume and two tone controls with 3 way selector switch on upper bought ala LP. There were a total of 150 guitars produced. The first series had 75 in Amber finish and the second series had 75 in Almond Burst. Some pics at www.guitarscanada.com if you want to see them. They are in the Gary Moore Bio section.

It roars with the EMG's and it is basically a LP in design and feel. Better than any on the market today though. Hand crafted.

Again, this guitar is handcrafted by craftsmen. The fit and finish are fantastic. Joints and inlays are unbeleivable and smooth as a baby's bottom.

It will last forever and a day. Hardware is top of the line and without abuse will be around till the end of time.

There are actually "people" there at the factory. Have not needed any help but I know it's there.

Wonderful guitar, playing more than 20 years.

It's a 1991 Heritage Gary Moore signature model guitar. Made in Kalamazoo in the US. No. 30 of the 75 made, in case anybody is wondering, I've seen one other one on the web...
For those that don't know Gary Moore was one of the guitarists with Thin Lizzy. He's a great player and renowned for his fantastic guitar tone.

This is a solid-body mohagony Les Paul-like guitar with what looks like a AAA (or better) top. The 2 humbucking pickups are active EMG-81s. There's the usual LP selector, except without the rhythm/treble surround that I never liked anyway.

The fretboard has mother of pearl trapezoid markers(the real deal, not like the pearloid that finds its way into some very expensive guitars) . It seems to be Indian Rosewood although I'm not sure. It's responsive and is good for shreddin-it-up aswell as more subtle licks.

The tuners seem to be grover imperials. Not sure about the neck scale, it feels thin but I've big hands! I got a professional-grade metal flight case with the guitar. The bridge is the Schaller version of the tune-o-matic. It's more solid than the Gibson fitted version and it seems to give better sustain.

**Warning, this guitar is so beautiful that you won't want to put it down! **

The quality of the inlays, neck, binding, finish etc. is excellent and everything feels reassuringly hewn from solid. This axe wasn't manufactured, it was born >:-)
Given how expensive Gibsons are in Ireland (where I live) and the good price I got the guitar for I think I've got a very good deal.

I play some hard rock, blues and even some metal. This is great. Think Zakk Wylde crossed with Carlos Santana and it sums up the tone of this guitar. Another player I know reckons it's a 'fruity' LP sound with an 'edge'. If that means anything to anyone out there then go with it but all I know is I like it, a lot.

I know there have been a lot of gushing reviews written about guitars on this site. I'm pretty sure that if you like Les Paul guitars then you'll love the sound of this.

A lot of people have commented on the 'hot' EMG pickups. Personally I believe that they cut through a mix in a balanced way. It's a penetrative tone but not harsh. It's oh-so clean, scary really.

Be warned however, this guitar does sound 'hot' and to my ears is unlikely to ever get mistaken for a Strat. If you want a strat then buy one. The EMGs are also an acquired taste, not everybody likes the sound. Clearly, I do. You'll have to try it out first.

The guitar was detuned so it's previous owner could send it to me from the states. Apart from that it was fine. The bridge really is wonderful with a range of height adjustments possible. Each string is on roller saddles which is quite useful in getting the right setup.
The finish is immaculate. The finger-rest is bookmarked mahogany (I think). No flaws worth talking about. It was very well taken care of by it's previous owner.

Ed Roman loves these guitars and with good reason. They represent much better value than the Gibson or PRS equivalent, trust me.

I'm sure this guitar would withstand live playing very well as it feels very solid. I doubt if I'd gig with it. Everything seems like it will last, I could depend on it etc.
This guitar is over 11 years old and hasn't yet had a problem. That says quite a lot about it. There is currently no problem at all with the guitar lead jack. I know some people have had problems with this item in the past but again, this looks like it will last.

The warranty is something like a 1 year limited warranty which means it's long expired. Don't care really. I'm told that the guys in the factory are keen to help anyone with problems that they have with their heritages and they're obviously a very competent group of individuals. I'll give them 9 because of the warranty. Seems a shame to interrupt a perfect score but if that put someone off buying one of these they're nuts. Jeez it's hard to be critical. I'd like to use this forum to personally thank the guys that made this guitar for doing such a wonderful job.

I've been playing a few years and I currently own the Heritage, a Fender strat 57 reissue and various classical and acoustic guitars. I've played lots of guitars in the past but the only one that comes close to this is an early 70s LP Custom Black Beauty (also with EMG's). I own two laney amps (tubefusion and all-valve) I like the sound of these, especially the un-marhsall-like clean tones and I recommend the combination.

I wish to god that I'd checked out the import duty for the guitar (several hundred euro/dollars) >:-(

My favourite feature, two features I suppose. The wonderful pickups and the beautiful top.

I was thinking of buying a parker fly as I always thought that was a really cool guitar. I may still buy one at some stage but I think my next guitar would be another Heritage (not that I'll ever sell this one). Maybe a Korina model with slightly different EMGs.

There is nothing I wish this had, however, it's perfect.
The price I paid (even with over 700 added to ship and import it) is still eminently reasonable when you consider that a new LP standard is over 3 grand in Ireland. I've used Ebay before and I recommend it, be careful however and study seller's reputations closely before you buy.

I'd would hunt down anybody I suspected MIGHT take this guitar rather than wait for them to actually steal it.

I realise that this review is glowing and a little bit arbitrary as there are so few of these guitars around. However I think that anyone who wants an LP like guitar and has a reasonable amount of cash should think about buying a Heritage, it makes a lot of sense.

I'd also appreciate emails from anyone else who owns this model of guitar.