Heritage H-160V

My example was built in 1986 at the Heritage Guitar, Inc. factory at 225 Parsons Street, Kalamazoo, MI. Heritage Guitar was founded by four former, long-term Gibson employees who stayed behind after Gibson moved to Nashville. I bought the guitar NOS from Lost Art/Vintage Instruments (http://www.lostartvintage.com).

This guitar sports 22 frets on a single-piece mahogany neck with rosewood fretboard. The neck is set in to the body (e.g., glued, not bolted on), with the body being solid mahogany. The body style is reminiscent of the Fender Stratocaster, but is not an exact copy, having a slightly thinner body. It does have a tummy cut (which Heritage refers to as being "scarfed.") The neck is thin- to medium-thick and I believe the standard 1-11/16" wide at the nut. Radius looks to be about 12".

Pickups are Schaller Single-Single-Humbucker, with the humbucker in the bridge splittable for single-coil operation. There are individual mini-toggle switches for each pickup (on-off) and the 'bucker split (split, full). There is a single master volume and master tone. All electronics are passive.

Hardware consists of non-locking black Grover tuners, Kahler string lock, black Kahler Pro (23xx series) tremolo bridge (flat mount) and standard Heritage output jack.

The finish is nitrocellulose lacquer, originally white but has aged to a warm, buttery cream color. There is some finish checking on the upper and lower horns (front and back, in the cutouts) as well as on the lower bout (on the back), but given this guitar's age, it's not bad at all.

Having a mahogany body, neck and rosewood board, I expected the guitar to be very dark. Surprisingly, the overall tone is what I would call mid- to mid-high. It has some mid-frequency "girth" but with a bit of sparkle on the top end. In retrospect, I think it really does sound like what you would expect an all-mahogany Superstrat to sound. I typically play through a Digitech GNX4 into headphones and Cakewalk Sonar, or through a hand-built ax84.com p1x tube amp. I also play it through a Peavey Bandit 112. While each amp lends it's own character, the guitar has it's own voice which tends to come through regardless of which amp I choose.

Having the ability to engage any combination of pickups, and split or not on the bridge 'bucker, gives a lot of options. I don't think the tone pot is working properly, but I haven't had the control cavity cover (yes, the controls are back routed; no pickguard) off to see what the problem might be.

I have no idea how it was set-up at the factory, but with a fresh set of 9s from the dealer it was just about perfect, action wise, for my playing style. I can dig in without causing any rattles, but the action is moderately low. I normally string my guitars with 12 or 13 flatwounds, but I don't think that is going to work with this guitar. I think I'll leave it set-up for 9s and stick with roundwounds.

Fit and finish are typical Heritage...first class all the way. Based on the obvious sinking of the nitro into the grain, I'm assuming the actual finish is very thin. There are no sanding marks, swirls or other blemishes showing through the (as I mentioned earlier) beautiful creamy finish. The neck is finished in clear nitro, but it isn't really high-gloss (read: it isn't sticky). Then again, it's not really satin, either. The pickups are properly mounted, the bridge is properly aligned, the strings run up the neck with proper spacing and the 'E' strings are equidistant from the edges of the fretboard.

Would it withstand live playing? I don't see why not. The pointy headstock might come in handy for fending off "Freebird" fanatics. ;) The hardware is all top notch, so I don't think that's going to be a concern. The finish, with it's apparent thin-ness, might be a concern, but I don't really know how much of a concern that should be. Guitars are meant to be played, after all, and play means wear.

I don't gig, unless you count "The Living Room Club" in my house, therefore I am selecting "No Opinion" for my rating. I do believe it would hold up, though.

I have dealt with Heritage Guitar, Inc. several times, including prior to my purchase of this guitar (I needed information, and there isn't much to be had on the Internet). Every time I've contacted Heritage, I've talked with Ren Wall, and he has been exceedingly helpful and generous. Other members of the Heritage Owners Club (http://www.heritageownersclub.com) report similar, outstanding experiences with Heritage customer service.

I've been playing guitar, off and on, for at least 25 years. Not particularly well, but there you have it. I also own several other Heritage guitars, several Hamers, Adamas, Ovation, and Peavey. In the past I've also owned many G&L guitars (ASATs and Comanche) and a fantastic Steinberger. There may have been more, but I lose track easily. ;)

I have no regrets about buying this guitar, sight unseen. I have dealt with Al at Lost Art/Vintage Instruments several times over several years and trust him explicitly. If it were stolen or lost I would be very upset, as not only is it a great guitar, but it is considered an extremely rare model (per Ren at Heritage). To find one in NOS condition was an epic score. The only thing I wish it had were the OHSC, but Al did throw in a very nice gig bag, as the OHSC had gone missing in the intervening years.