Heritage H-157CM

It's basically a cherry sunburst Les Paul custom, so the features are the same. Mine has Shaller pickups. One piece mahogany body and one piece mahogany neck. Nitro finish.

I play rock, country and blues. For rock and blues it sounds great. I use a tele for country. It's very quiet and doesn't feed back or squeal at high volumes. Mine has a very midrange voice that's very sonorous and hollowbody like, which is a good thing.

In my experience this is where Heritage falls down a bit. Mine has some minor flaws that I believe could be due to lack of attention to detail on the luthiers part. and some are core design philosophies that I disagree with . Here's my list of gripes.

1. One of the frets has a small ding or cavity in it. No big deal as it's in an area that wont affect the sound.
2. The binding to fret interface on mine is pretty good, on some of the H150s I've played it was terrible.
3. The ebony fretboard has some rough areas that still have the saw marks.
4. the binding to fretboard interface is a little sloppy. No big deal, it's minor.
5. Mine had a very poorly made nut. I didn't like the material, appearance, height or string spacing. If you are considering a Heritage, really check the nut! I hand carved a bone nut and it great now.
6. I didn't like the string spacing on the bridge. I bought a direct replacement and filed the slots myself. No big deal.
7. The nitro finish is very soft. I have other guitars that have nitro finishes and they are much harder and slicker. The neck can get really sticky.
8. Some areas of the binding around the body are sloppy. No big deal. you have to look close.
9. Several block inlays on the neck a slightly crooked. No big deal.
10. The headstock is just a tad non-symmetrical. No big deal.
11. I like low action and this thing doesn't like it as low as I do. It's close tho. no biggie.

Okay to defend Heritage a bit, this thing is almost totally handmade and some of these things are really not an issue for me. The items that affect playing and tuning are big deals. The inside of their factory looks like a 1950s cabinet shop. I mean that as a compliment. I like knowing that some guy hand crafted this thing and when you consider that, it's pretty awesome. Having said that, I have to ding em in this area.

That's 4 demerits :)

I wouldn't take this thing out to play because I wouldn't want something to happen to it. It will last lifetimes No doubt about that.

Never tried.

I've played for 30 years. Overall I'm glad I bought it. It's a very special guitar. Having said that, I probably would not replace it if it were lost or stolen. It's taken a fair bit of work to get it right for me and I just wouldn't want to do that again.

Model yr 2005, Kalamazoo, MI. USA, 22-frets, solid maple top, basic les paul controls, 2 Symour Duncan humbuckers, passive electronics, body & neck honduran mahogany, transparent wine red , flame maple top. Les Paul custom body style, stop bar tail piece, tune-o-matic. Grover rotomatics.

Guitar suit my style of music well Classic rock & original music, clean the guitar has almost Strat like cleanliness, very crisp & bright. I am using a Carvin SX300 head w/2-12 cabinet, and a Fender Stage 100 DSP w/ 4-12 cabinet with Celestion's. No more noise than any other guitar. I was amazed at ther full nes and bottom end of the guitar, a much different guitar than say a les paul standard,. I think the combination of the ebony fretboard, along with maple top, sharpens the attack stays crisp yet you can get it dark if you want very versitale, no issues with sound at all could pretty much cover anything.

My H-157 was purchased thru Wolfe guitars, Jupiter FLA. I dealt with Graham Zedebee, wonderfull experience, set up was near perfect, just did a minor tweak on the treble side raised it a slight bit most liely under a 16th of and in. even less. Craftsmenship is superb, the bang for the buck here is incredbile A les Paul CustomStyle guitar fro half the price of a gibson. After playing this for an evening at practice..sounded incredible sustain for days.... Upon e-mailing Wolfe guitars, I inquired about 4 guitars..finally chose the 157, all were nice..jusrt had to pick one..I have played for 27yrs, and the quality of this guitar is 2nd to none, I have owned many Gibsons and with each one had to have something done with them be it frets or waranty issues and craftsmenship bar none Heritage's bet Gibson hands down in all categories. I really do not understand why anyone would purchase a Gibson? AFter playing this Heritage, for a few days, I am a convert, will never purchase a gibson ever in my life again. especially for the quality they are putting out, junk.
Prior to buying my Heritage, I looked at a Les Paul Custom, sticker price of 3,000.00 junk honestly. Color was wine red like my heritage, mine beat that gibson in all ways. Gibson better wake up.but they are big business driven by bottom line. Summary have never played a guitar this good.

No issues with anything here would stand up to any situation. would gid without back up, Only thing I did was put straplocks on it, I do that with all my guitars.

E-mailed Heritage, with a question about Plek system at 10:30 at night had a e-mail by 7am next day from Ren at Heritage, suspect if they are this fast at e-mail questions the would be great too deal with on other Issues.

I have played for 27years this yr, and this is the guitar I have waited for perfect, I have gone thru guitars like water trying to find that one guitar. I expect from the quality of my 157, that others from Heritage would be equally as good. The people and craftsmen at Heritage really have gotten Gibson beat, you can tell byt he way they are built it really shows, a 90 to 95% hand crafted instrument for half the price of the big boy? no brainer, and the beautifull part of it is? These beautys are made in the same factory that made all the wonderfull instruments that really are good. not the junk produced now. I only will buy heritage now. Wolfe guitars are fantastic too, very very knowledgelable, they know the product have hands on descriptions, they really know how to treat customers, it is certinly evident of that being number 1 dealer for 15yrs. I for one will be buying another at some point in the future from them, Graham was so nice to deal with made you feel very comfortable even over phone imagine they woulud be great at the store in person too. Anyone having trouble decidning about purchasing over internet too would'nt worry, they are top notch at Wolfe guitars think they would go above and beyond the call to try to satisfy the customer, and with the selection they carry none finer. I would reccomend them to even the pickiest buyer, Many thanks to Graham & Jay was hesitant about buying site unseen..ahd looked at their site for a few months, really dont know why I didnt purchase earlier,, I'll never look back. Just buy and enjoy!!!

Bought my Heritage 157CM from Graham Zebedee at Wolfe Guitars. It's an Almond Burst AAA flame top with gold hardware, ebony fretboard, real mother of pearl block inlays Grover tuners and Schaller pickups. It is also clear coated with nitro-celulose laquer, just like the OLD Gibsons. Wolfe changes out the bridge and tailpiece to parts that are used on thier Gibson counter parts.
I changed the pickups to Zakk Wylde EMG set (81, 85) (had to add new black pickup surrounds as the ones that came on it have two adjustment screw holes and are slightly larger). I switched the volume and tone knobs to gold bell shaped knobs with white lettering (looks sweet now). I added a Gibson black five ply pickguard and a black pickup selctor switch surround with gold lettering. I also ordered new gold Sperzel tuners, as the Grovers go out of tune.

With the EMGs the 157CM is the best sounding guitar I have ever owned or played. It suits my style of music to a tee, Metallica, Zakk Wylde. With the real Honduras mahogny, which is lightler than the junk mahogny Gibson uses, this guitar sounds unbelieveable. When you play it un-plugged it's loud and sounds really awesome. I play through a Peavey 5150 modded with the deluxe mod by Voodoo amps. Awesome work by them. I run the 5150 through an Avatra custom 4x12. If you havent heard of them, you need to check them out as the are affordable and very good cabs. Better than Marshall 1960 lead cabs. Trust me.

Grahn did the set up before he shipped it. Perfect!!
The book match is exellent.
There are a few things that were iffy. Below the thirteenth fret the ebony fretboard has a gough up against the fret. Its small but its there. Looks like when the binding was being shapped it was goughed with a file. Several of the mother of pearl block inlays are slightly crooked. There is a slight gap between the block inlay and the fretboard. I believe after they put the inlays they use some kind of filler. It looks like the gap didnt get filled all the way. And lastly the binding on the top edge of of the fretboard at the firts fret. In all fairness, I contacted Wolfe concerning these problems and was told that I could contact Heritage and they would "touch up" the guitar which was cool. I really dont want to be without it as I just got it. Maybe later I will send it to them.
The guitar goes out of tune on the higher strings. Not sure if its the tuners or the nut. I am going to install Sperzel locking tuners and see if that cures it. I am giving it a 9 because these problems do not effect the platablity or sound in any way and because Heritage will correct these problems for free. Its also cool that I live only a two and a half hour drive from Heritage.

Dont know as I just got it. But it feels very solid and appears to be very well put together. These guitars are said to be 90% hand made.

Havent dealt with them yet.

Been playing 20+ years off and on. If it were stolen, you bet I would buy another. I will NEVER buy a new Gibson, NEVER, EVER as they are junk. I had been shopping for three months before I bought this guitar. I must have played a hundred new Gibson Les Pauls and they all felt cheap. I swear they felt like Epiphones. When you look down the fretboard most were warped! Fret buzz every where. And they also sounded like shit. When I played them unplugged they sounded dull and lifeless. I bought this guitar without ever playing a Heritage. A big risk for sure. But in doing my research I was confident and I lucked out. I would recommend to anyone who is hung up on the Gibson name or any name, like I was for so many years, that they should give Heritage a serious look. The Heritage is made by the same guys that made the good Gibson Les Pauls back in the early 70s. Strange that thats when the good ones where made. You know the story.

I just received my new heritage H157 Custom ,all american mahonny,
+an AAA vintage sunburst flamed maple top +2 seymour duncan's vintage pickups:1 seth lover :neck & 1 custom/custom bridge !it is an incredible guitar & i encourage every one who thinks that gibson's
are the only ones to try such a beauty!it came with a deluxe binding
all around ,body & neck ,has the mother of pearl block inlays ,a stop bar & a tune'o'matic, an ebony finger board and came with a "TK" flycase(made in canada)like originals gibson LesPaul and "hamer" guitars...I forgot the rotomatic Grover's tuners!it is a new USA guitar made in 2003 in kalamazoo,hand made by the very well
known 4 guys who own that little factory !I 'm very ,very happy of
this purchase...

Whow!!!what to say !!!i play for 20 years & it sound's better than my
Gibson LesPaul std black beauty(whitch has been stollen a few years ago ...)It sound's in between a LP custom and a Deluxe!you can play
all kinds of music with that beast!!!the sound is warm & sustaining
like the old Alnico PAF on the Seth Lover(neck) and very punchy like
Gary Moore or Zack Wild on the custom/custom bridge one !!!& in the middle position ,you are getting the best of the 2 worlds!!!+ you can play with the volume & the tone to adjust the guitar on any style:from blues to trash!no problem !it is like a 6000$ Custom shop LP ...no kidding!

It came well adjust but i like to do the job myself !+ i put on some
11/52 strings & i like to have a high action !i give a 10 for the frets finishing :i bet they read the articles about this problem on the Heritage of 1999 !!!mine is perfectly done with a nice binding all along the fingerbord!i just found a little loss of laquer on the back of the head:a little "orange 's skin" look :but it is just in this part & to see it ,you must put your nose on it!!!

No problem !!!like i just said behind ,this is a "custom shop "hand made guitar & you can bet it will last for life !!!

not done any reclamations yet !!!

like i told you before ,i play for a while all kinds of music but my
style is the hard blues rock like Franck Marino & gary Moore ,dave Menikety ,that kind of stuff! i also love playin' Santana's licks &
pink floid's music !!!i have 2 other electric solidbody guitars:a USA Hamer eclipse ,all mahoganny,with 2 Seymour Duncan's mini hambuckers and a Willow's Stratocaster:the Bent top special model,with seymour hot rails(2) & one pearly gates (bridge)it is a french guitar maker to compare to Tom Anderson's guitars!!! it goes
thru a mesa boogie studio preamp & goes to my Carvin vintage 50w stack!nothing else to say !it fucking sounds great!+in my effectloop
i run a Ibanez AD 202 + MY STOMP BOXES /FROM BOSS COMP TO JACQUES'TUBE BLOWER...I WILL BUY ANOTHER HERITAGE AS SOON AS I GET SOME MORE MONEY !!!& if it was stolen ,i would surely purchase another one(from Jay's shop ,i guess !!!)cause he was very professional and i get exactly what he told me on line !!!+ he offered me a nice vintage pickguard & a Wolfe Guitar 's T shirt!!!i forgot ,i have seen some heritage H157 & h150 in england & they cost
around 1500 to 2000# !!!best to buy one in the US !!!

2000 model made in Kalamazoo,Michigan. The Heritage story is well documented on this site and on the Heritage website. The 157 is Heritage's version of Gibson's LP Custom with gold hardware and full binding. Even the headstock is bound and the wood pickguard is multi-layered. The fingerboard is ebony with large mother of pearl block inlays. Mine is black with the white binding and looks just like those $3,000+ LP Customs in the music stores. The people at Heritage have been making these LP's (including the original Gibson LP's) a long time and their expertise and quality shows. The neck is small and very comfortable for my small hands. It's funny though, I like the satin finish of my Kramer Classic Duo Pro better even though it is a cheaper guitar. The pickups are gold plated Schallers and the controls are typical LP configuration (though there is no Rhythmn/Treble ring around the three way pickup switch). The case is a nice, black plush-lined hardcase that is painted with a large "The Heritage" logo that has a nice fit. Even my cat likes it - he tried to use it as a litter box!

It sounds like a LP - as expected with the two humbuckers. Very powerful sounding and there is quite a wide range of sounds that can be dialed in. I love playing it, but its place is not in a small church setting. It has great sustain and the subtleties in sound can be clearly heard when compared to cheaper guitars. When I ran this guitar through a Boss Blues Driver and my Marshall AS80R, which is primarily an acoustic amp, my son and friends were blown away by the tone! I wasn't even trying as the Blues Driver and amp levels were moderately low. As I have gotten to know this guitar better, the more I am impressed.

When I first got the guitar, everything appeared fine, except there were a number of cracks in the fingerboard that ran down for most of the length. I contacted Junior's Music right away and also notified UPS. Even though it was shipped insured, UPS denied any liability, even though it sat in freezing weather for a couple of days in a truck in Chicago for whatever reason. The delivery was agonizingly s-l-o-w and their refusal to pay for damages was disappointing. Beware, there are very few instances where UPS will pay for damage. Thankfully, it was under warranty with Heritage and Junior made sure it was repaired. It took over a month to get it fixed, but I didn't want them to do a rush job on it. When it finally arrived, it was setup as I had requested. I did some minor tweaking with pickup height and one of the control knobs needed to be replaced, but nothing was a big deal for me. I looked it over carefully and I could not find anything in the fit and finish to complain about or even notice.

I've had this guitar for over a year now. This guitar is very solid and not that light - although it is lighter in weight than premium Gibson LP's. The finish will last, although with time, the gold plated hardware and tuners should show wear faster than chrome or other finishes. I expect this guitar to last for many years, especially since I baby it a lot. For my needs, I don't need a backup.

They shine here. My one year warranty has now run out, but you can see from my comments above about the cracked fingerboard that I had a great experience with Heritage. Junior (Junior's Music in Connecticut) was absolutely a pleasure to deal with. He handled all communications with Heritage simply because he felt that dealers would have more leverage with the manufacturers than any Joe Blow and I appreciated all he did. If I lived in the NE, I would definitely buy from him regularly - thanks again, Junior. I thought the repair time frame might have been long, but then, I was suffering from withdrawals and was missing the guitar immensely. Anyway, after all was said and done, I was completely satisfied. Even after that, I have communicated with Heritage with some questions and I have found them to be responsive and friendly. They act as if they want my business which is quite refreshing. They even asked my opinion of the website.

I've been playing for about 35 years with a stretch of about 5 to 6 years of not playing. In addition to the Heritage 157, I own and play a Kramer Classic Duo Pro (Tele-type with piezo bridge and two Duncan Nashvilles that I did a review on), Takamine AE, an Ovation Legend (bought way back in 1974), and a cheapie that my mother bought for me and I will never get rid of. I have a DOD Accoustec processor for my acoustic guitars and a Boss Blues Driver - a sweet little box. I will be getting a Johnson Amplification JM60 Marquis in the mail any day now to add to my Marshall AS80R. I am constantly looking to refine my sound. The Kramer is my main guitar to play in church as it has the sound that I am satisfied with. But, I still love playing my Heritage in other settings and I would definitely consider getting another one if it were lost or stolen. When I consider the gear that I have collected over the years, there is not one piece of equipment that has disappointed me. In fact, I have gotten great deals on all of my equipment, so I feel doubly blessed. My Heritage Les Paul is so special to me, I named it after my youngest son, "Wes Paul"!

H-157 CM, September, 1997, Made in Kalamazoo Michigan. The Heritage Guitar Company resides in the venerable old Gibson plant on Parsons St. It would only stand to reason that no scalloped, bolt-on, Floyd Rose sporting, canary yellow lightning-bolt graphic, Fisher Price guitars come out of this address. The designs are traditional, understated and decidedly Gibson inspired. That brings us to the H-157 CM ( CM stands for "curly maple" I think). It is the Heritage version of the Les Paul Custom. It sports a two piece flame maple top on a solid mahogany back and neck. Finished in a striking Emerald Green Transparent nitrocellulose laquer. The flame is not as strong as some Heritages I have seen, but is still quite nice and even grained. It has all the Les Paul style appointments such as two pickups with individual tone and volume pots for each and a three way toggle selector switch. It boasts a single bound 22 fret ebony fingerboard with large mother of pearl block inlays. Gold plated passive humbucking pickups and hardware are made by Schaller and are of high quality. The tuning machines are gold plated Grovers. The bridge is in the Tune O Matic style but with the added feature of side to side saddle spacing adjustment. The stop bar tailpiece has six rocking steel string holders allowing for quick on the fly string changes, without having to pull the broken string end through the little hole at the end of the Gibson style stop bar tailpiece, the strings just pop out of the holders when tension is released. The neck is comfortable but a little odd feeling if you are used to Gibson neck shapes. The neck is flatter at the back than a Les Paul and feels a little "squarish". The body is Multi bound front and back in wide, thick layred binding. The body binding is a bit wider than Gibson's and stands out well against the dark finish. The headstock is also multi bound , but the binding is much thinner and more delicate. The Heritage logo is slikscreened on the front of the headsock and a small Mother Of Pearl Diamond is inlayed below the logo. The head stock shape is narrow and tapered towards the end. The pickguard is solid flame maple, finished in an attractive tranparent black and is also multi bound!!! My understanding is that Heritage ships it's guitars with the pickguards not installed and no holes are drilled for them. Also the flame maple guards are in the same colour as the finish. My theory is that the store I bought it from either lost or broke the green guard that came with my guitar and substituted a transparent black one for it. A good thing I think. As the black guard matches the knobs, switchcap and pickup rings, also a green pickguard would probably look a little silly! The H-157 is the same body size and shape as a Les Paul Custom but the cutaway is a little shallower and rounder than a Gibson, I guess to avoid a complete baldfaced rip off. The Heritage H-140's and H-150's are quite a bit thinner than a Les Paul. I like the fact that Heritage beefed up the specs for the H-157. This guitar came with a black plush lined hardshell case with "The Heritage" written boldly in gold on the lid. High quality components and features. No complaints.

I play a variety of styles and I know what sound I like. This guitar sounds close to a Les Paul, rich and warm with a singing sustain. The tones are not that varied but there is good contrast between the neck and bridge pickups. If you use the middle switch position and back off the tone pots a little, you will get a good warm jazz tone. If you open it right up and use the bridge pickup with an overdriven amp you will get a scorching rock tone with plenty of sustain for lead work. Although you won't get that twangy chicken pickin' country tone , this guitar is good for jazz, rock, blues, punk, metal and even surfy rockabilly. All styles of which I play. Silent switching and low noise and signal loss are hallmarks of the electronics on the guitar. Well behaved and only feeds back when you want it to. I play it through a 100 watt Marshall tube amp (Model 4102) and use no effects except for reverb when I'm playing Surf or Rockabilly. No complaints.

The factory set up was too high for me, but I don't hold companies responsible for set ups. Every player has a different ideal feel in mind and the factory just ships the guitar with a neutral setup anyways. If you read some of the reviews in here, some people rail against the manufacturer for not getting thier perticular feel spot on from the factory, and some even go on to give the guitar an unfavorable overall rating because they didn't like the factory feel. These people are MORONS! How in the world can you hold a company in disfavour for a setup??. Setups and fret dresses are the responsibility of the owner not the company. A high action or the need of a minor fret mill is the last thing you should be whining about when you buy a new guitar. "My guitar buzzes when I use .008 strings on an 1/1000 of an inch action at the 12th fret, this guitar is a piece of s**t, whine , whine , moan, moan." Get real!!!. Some people are never satisfied. Any guitarist worth their salt does all their own setups any way. So factory setups are inconsiqential as far as I'm concerned. I lowered the action and it plays fine. The finish was flawless and well applied. The overall attention to detail was very good and no obvious factory miscues were found. The pickups were too close to the strings and were difficult to lower for some reason. No big deal. All hardware, electronics and controls were tight and properly placed as well as the electronics in the back cavity. The nut was properly cut and spaced. No complaints

This guitar is very well built and will last many years. I have not had it long enough to say weather the finish and plating will stand up any better than other guitars. The strap buttons are large and the screws holding them in are huge, they aren't going anywhere. The H-157 appears to be very dependable and with proper up keep, a back up will not be needed. If you are used to playing with a back up continue to do so. I don't use a backup for the simple reason a crowded bar is not the environment I would leave a couple of Heritages or Les Pauls lying around in. One guitar is way easier to keep track of than two. No complaints

Never dealt with them, but I hear they are VERY good for customer support. If you read the reviews of the H-150 some pinhead didn't like the fret dress and he took it to a shop and had it done and Heritage re payed him for the work!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Incredible customer support for a lameass who actually went out of his way to stick Heritage with the bill. IMHO Heritage should have taken the guitar back and broken his left index finger just for being an idiot! He doesn't deserve a nice axe. I have a one year warranty and I don't forsee any warranty work needing to be done on this guitar, ever. No rating.

I have been playing guitar for fifteen years. I play a variety of styles, mostly hard rock and punk. My collection includes, Six Gibsons; '69 LP Custom, '71 LP Deluxe, '93 LP Classic, '92 SG Standard, '59 Southerner Jumbo (SJ), '94 Centennial-1934 Jumbo Re-Issue. As well as a '68 Gretsch Viking, '83 Ibanez Roadstar II Strat knockoff and a '94 G&L L-5500 Bass. If any of my guitars were stolen I would try to replace them right after I got out of jail for hunting down and killing those responsible. I like this guitar very much and being a dyed in the wool Gibson fan I must say the workmanship and performance is every bit as good if not better than Gibson. The value for the money represents one of , if not the last great deal available on the retail market today. Due to no advertising and extermely small prodution runs, Heritage has been overlooked by almost the entire guitar industry. With out a doubt in my mind Heritage is the best quality for price ratio in modern guitar history. I must add I bought this guitar at a close out sale for a store that is going out of business, and got it at 50% off. Even at the full retail price this guitar is an incredible value. The eqivalent Gibson would cost OVER THREE GRAND CANADIAN. Heritage is the logical choice for quality and value... OUTSTANDING