Heritage H-555

Made in 2000. Chestnut burst. 22 frets.

Body -
Double cutaway semi-hollow body with laminated arch curly maple top and back; multiple white bound top and white bound back; solid curly maple rim; single white bound pickguard; with f-holes.

Fingerboard -
24 3/4" scale ebony single white bound fingerboard with 22 frets; mother of pearl and abalone inlays.

Neck -
17 degree peghead pitch; one-piece curly maple neck; single white bound mother of pearl and abalone inlaid head veneer. 1 11/16" nut.

Electronics -
Two gold humbucking pickups; with two volume and two tone controls; selector switch.

Hardware -
Individual gold plated machine heads; gold plated stop bar tailpiece and adjustable bridge.

It is almost too good looking.

From cool and clean to kick you in the ass and everything in between. Tone is on the darker side of the spectrum. Great for jazz and blues. Can get some really good rock tones too. Neck pickup is super-duper warm and full of bass, sometimes too much. No bright, chiming sounds here... not that it was meant for that though. One rating point knocked off here for that just because I am a hard-ass about giving out perfect 10's.

Sweet as could be. I did have to widen the nut slots to accomodate .011 - .049 gauge strings. Had to tweak the truss rod a hair when I changed string gauge, but what guitar do you not need to do that to?

Only problem with the guitar is the neck and fingerboard has a slight rise starting about the 5th fret and on up through where it meets the body. Detracting three rating points for this.

Built Kalamazoo tough. Some slight and very minor finsh blemishes here and there and a tiny flaw in the routing off one inlay. But I am the only one looking that closely anyways... no one in an audience will ever see it.

Minus 1 point.

Emailed the company with a pickup question and Ren hit me back in an hour or so and told me where to find the answer. I did give him the serial # in my initial email so he could have gone through the records and told me the answer, which would have been nice, but then again... those boys should be utilizing their time making guitars and not answering questions from some yahoo west coast guitarist who bought the thing used off craigslist.

I would have given a 10 if they had answered me directly instead of telling me how to find the answer. I am still very pleased though and I learned a thing or two finding the answer.

This is a bad-ass mofro.
People gasp when I pull this thing out of the case and then they murmur things like: "look at that guy's guitar" and "it's so beautiful" and "oh my god" and "wow".

I wish my playing would elicit the same responses, but at least they applaud at the end of most of the songs. Maybe it's only because the guitar sounds so damn good.

In about 26 years of playing a multitude of different instruments, this is undoubtedly the finest instrument I have ever played. I have to say I think Heritage guitars represent the finest value available in a hand-crafted, American made instrument. Go buy one right now!

2006 Custom Heritage H-555, handmade by old Gibson masters in Kalamazoo, Michigan. Several of its features are downgraded to 535 standards in order to imitate a classic ES-335. Heritage is fantastic for letting you custom-choose your features if you go through the right dealer. I purchased this instrument through Jay Wolfe, Wolfe Guitars, Jupiter, Florida. Gorgeously flamed laminated maple body with wine-red translucent finish, nickel Schaller hardware including stop tailpiece and tuners(not standard w/the 555), mahogany neck (ditto), rosewood fingerboard (ditto), block MOP inlays (ditto), H-157-style inlay on the bound peghead (ditto), deluxe binding on the body, unbound f-holes (not standard!), 22 frets, black vintage pickguard (not standard), two Duncan '59 humbucker pickups, treble and bass volume and tone pots, TRL case. A beautiful instrument. Very similar to the 335 Marty McFly played in Back to the Future, but a darker, nearly maroon red.

I play the 555 through a Vox 30-Watt Valvetronix amp (sorry, I'm relatively new to playing) with chorus and reverb effects through the AC-30 setting, although I often put it on the Boutique clean or tweed settings with the amp effects shut off and pipe it through a Keeley-modded Blues Driver, a Keeley 4-knob Compressor, a Jacques Meistersinger Analog Chorus, and a Line 6 Verbzilla. Since it's a semi-acoustic, of course I don't stand with it inches from my amp lest I be vibrated apart by feedback, but it's really not that bad in those terms. This guitar produces a beautifully warm, shimmering jazz tone on clean with the tone pots dialed down, a a dazzlingly gorgeous bright Rickenbacker-ish ring (but fatter) a la Lou Reed on the Velvet Underground's eponymous lp on clean with the neck and bridge blended with the tone dialed up, does a phenomenal imitation of a Les Paul with a warmer, growling ambience (and a lot less mud) with distortion dialed up on the neck pickup, and has a great, stingingly growling lead sound with the bridge distorted. The versatility is absolutely fantastic - IMHO, the 335 style crushes all comers for versatility in terms of doing nearly absolutely everything very, very well - and I love the tone this baby produces on every setting even more (I also believe that the warm, woody semiacoustic sound of the 335 style is the best out of all guitar options for its basic sound and various tones). You can't go wrong with the 335 style, and from my limited playing perspective Heritage is certainly the way to go. I often go to bed at night savoring the sound of this instrument as I drift off.

This H-555 was my second Heritage (I sold an H140CM, since I was getting a little guitar-overloaded at the time), and I was pretty happy all around with these aspects. The wine-red finish is just heartbreakingly beautiful - great color, great lustre, consistently applied. There were a few problems with the action/fit - the dealer evidently raised the action a tad, so I had to have it lowered. Over time, I also detected some buzzing on the middle strings, exacerbated when the action was lowered. My luthier informed me that the fourth fret was jutting up due to some natural swelling since I received the instrument. Heritage put it back on the PLEK machine and redid the setup, so it plays great now. I have to be a little careful fretting the high E, as it does have that notorious Heritage tendency to slip off the board. Overall, however, after the repair, I'm quite pleased with the way this guitar plays as well as how it sounds. I would give it an 8 if the repair hadn't been necessary.

It seems reasonably durable, although I wouldn't want to treat a semi-acoustic 555 with its fairly delicate f-hole curly-cues as if it was a Les Paul. Sure, the strap buttons are solid (no cracks around them), but I'm getting strap locks installed to ensure it never slips off, as I'm sure that would more or less be the end of it. That considered, it seems to be pretty darn solidly made. I've had the guitar for five months, and I'm very careful to baby the finish by either wearing a long-sleeved shirt or putting a cloth over the rim where my right hand rests, and to wipe it down after playing it. With a finish as awesome as this one is, you don't want to lose it! The pickguard tends to pick up smudges to an obnoxious extent and needs beaucoup babying. I haven't experienced any failures in the electronics or anything like that, and have a pretty high level of confidence that the Heritage workmanship will last for years to come.

When the fret problem arose (pun intended), I called up Jay Wolfe in Jupiter, Fla. He listened carefully to the situation, suggested solutions, and finally concluded that this was a job for Heritage. I dealt with Rendall Wall at Heritage. He was very helpful in assuaging my concerns. I especially appreciated his instructions on how to protect the finish of the guitar for winter shipping. I shipped the 555 back to Heritage (it hurt both to have to part with it for a time and to have to trust a shipping service with it). They got to work on it right away. Mr. Wall was originally a little skeptical about the seriousness of the problem, which I didn't care much for as I trust my luthier, but once he saw the guitar, he acknowledged the issues and got them well taken care of. I had it back in great shape in about 10 days. These are guys who stand behind their product and want to make sure the customer is happy - certainly the advantage of a small company. Jay gets a 9.5 (friendly, takes time he doesn't necessarily have with you over the phone, and was very helpful to me as a relatively new electric player - I do, however, recommend calling over e-mailing), Heritage gets a 9. If I have any further problems in the next seven months, I know these gents will take care of it.

I am relatively new to electric guitar playing (a little over a year), but I've been a connoisseur of electric guitar sound since the age of 4 (I'm 35). I own a Ric 330/6 and a 360/12 (the latter will be replaced by a 660/12, since I can't play the #$%@ 360/12 with its Kafkaesquely narrow neck) as well as the 555. I decided I had to have a 335-style guitar for the reasons stated above in the sound discussion. I did quite a bit of research, especially here, on Heritage vs. Gibson and other manufacturers before purchasing. Hundreds of players have been bit in the hind end by Gibson's quality control (or more precisely abject absence thereof) given the price. Heritage does produce the rare lemon, but they're less expensive, handmade rather than machine-done, and their quality on the average is far higher/more consistent. Why pay for a name on a headstock? I am quite confident that, in choosing a Heritage, I have chosen a "real Gibson."

My only regret with this instrument is that I do sometimes wonder if I should have ordered it with a Bigsby. I chose to avoid the tuning problems that can accompany that. And, while I am pleased enough to have the Heritage name on my headstock, the Heritage headstock cut is horrendously ugly. The deluxe veneer, binding, and inlays I chose cover it up pretty well, but Heritage would do well to look into redesigning their headstocks.

If my 555 was lost, busted, or stolen, I would lament in sackcloth and ashes for several days, but even before that, I would be on the phone with Jay to put Heritage to work on a replacement. I love the instrument itself, its gorgeous looks and its even more glorious tone(s), but the cherry on top is that this is *my* guitar, with the options and appointments I chose. Of course, the downside was that I had no way of playing the instrument in the shop, etc. and had to trust Heritage and Wolfe Guitars. No worries. I most highly recommend both. I have already had talks with Jay about my next Heritage, which I plan to put them to work on next November (chuckles nefariously).

2006 Custom Heritage H-555, handmade by old Gibson masters in Kalamazoo, Michigan. Several of its features are downgraded to 535 standards in order to imitate a classic ES-335. Heritage is fantastic for letting you custom-choose your features if you go through the right dealer. I purchased this instrument through Jay Wolfe, Wolfe Guitars, Jupiter, Florida. Gorgeously flamed laminated maple body with wine-red translucent finish, nickel Schaller hardware including stop tailpiece and tuners(not standard w/the 555), mahogany neck (ditto), rosewood fingerboard (ditto), block MOP inlays (ditto), H-157-style inlay on the bound peghead (ditto), deluxe binding on the body, unbound f-holes (not standard!), 22 frets, black vintage pickguard (not standard), two Duncan '59 humbucker pickups, treble and bass volume and tone pots, TRL case. A beautiful instrument. Very similar to the 335 Marty McFly played in Back to the Future, but a darker, nearly maroon red.

I play the 555 through a Vox 30-Watt Valvetronix amp (sorry, I'm relatively new to playing) with chorus and reverb effects through the AC-30 setting, although I often put it on the Boutique clean or tweed settings with the amp effects shut off and pipe it through a Keeley-modded Blues Driver, a Keeley 4-knob Compressor, a Jacques Meistersinger Analog Chorus, and a Line 6 Verbzilla. Since it's a semi-acoustic, of course I don't stand with it inches from my amp lest I be vibrated apart by feedback, but it's really not that bad in those terms. This guitar produces a beautifully warm, shimmering jazz tone on clean with the tone pots dialed down, a a dazzlingly gorgeous bright Rickenbacker-ish ring (but fatter) a la Lou Reed on the Velvet Underground's eponymous lp on clean with the neck and bridge blended with the tone dialed up, does a phenomenal imitation of a Les Paul with a warmer, growling ambience (and a lot less mud) with distortion dialed up on the neck pickup, and has a great, stingingly growling lead sound with the bridge distorted. The versatility is absolutely fantastic - IMHO, the 335 style crushes all comers for versatility in terms of doing nearly absolutely everything very, very well - and I love the tone this baby produces on every setting even more (I also believe that the warm, woody semiacoustic sound of the 335 style is the best out of all guitar options for its basic sound and various tones). You can't go wrong with the 335 style, and from my limited playing perspective Heritage is certainly the way to go. I often go to bed at night savoring the sound of this instrument as I drift off.

This H-555 was my second Heritage (I sold an H140CM, since I was getting a little guitar-overloaded at the time), and I was pretty happy all around with these aspects. The wine-red finish is just heartbreakingly beautiful - great color, great lustre, consistently applied. There were a few problems with the action/fit - the dealer evidently raised the action a tad, so I had to have it lowered. Over time, I also detected some buzzing on the middle strings, exacerbated when the action was lowered. My luthier informed me that the fourth fret was jutting up due to some natural swelling since I received the instrument. Heritage put it back on the PLEK machine and redid the setup, so it plays great now. I have to be a little careful fretting the high E, as it does have that notorious Heritage tendency to slip off the board. Overall, however, after the repair, I'm quite pleased with the way this guitar plays as well as how it sounds. I would give it an 8 if the repair hadn't been necessary.

It seems reasonably durable, although I wouldn't want to treat a semi-acoustic 555 with its fairly delicate f-hole curly-cues as if it was a Les Paul. Sure, the strap buttons are solid (no cracks around them), but I'm getting strap locks installed to ensure it never slips off, as I'm sure that would more or less be the end of it. That considered, it seems to be pretty darn solidly made. I've had the guitar for five months, and I'm very careful to baby the finish by either wearing a long-sleeved shirt or putting a cloth over the rim where my right hand rests, and to wipe it down after playing it. With a finish as awesome as this one is, you don't want to lose it! The pickguard tends to pick up smudges to an obnoxious extent and needs beaucoup babying. I haven't experienced any failures in the electronics or anything like that, and have a pretty high level of confidence that the Heritage workmanship will last for years to come.

When the fret problem arose (pun intended), I called up Jay Wolfe in Jupiter, Fla. He listened carefully to the situation, suggested solutions, and finally concluded that this was a job for Heritage. I dealt with Rendall Wall at Heritage. He was very helpful in assuaging my concerns. I especially appreciated his instructions on how to protect the finish of the guitar for winter shipping. I shipped the 555 back to Heritage (it hurt both to have to part with it for a time and to have to trust a shipping service with it). They got to work on it right away. Mr. Wall was originally a little skeptical about the seriousness of the problem, which I didn't care much for as I trust my luthier, but once he saw the guitar, he acknowledged the issues and got them well taken care of. I had it back in great shape in about 10 days. These are guys who stand behind their product and want to make sure the customer is happy - certainly the advantage of a small company. Jay gets a 9.5 (friendly, takes time he doesn't necessarily have with you over the phone, and was very helpful to me as a relatively new electric player - I do, however, recommend calling over e-mailing), Heritage gets a 9. If I have any further problems in the next seven months, I know these gents will take care of it.

I am relatively new to electric guitar playing (a little over a year), but I've been a connoisseur of electric guitar sound since the age of 4 (I'm 35). I own a Ric 330/6 and a 360/12 (the latter will be replaced by a 660/12, since I can't play the #$%@ 360/12 with its Kafkaesquely narrow neck) as well as the 555. I decided I had to have a 335-style guitar for the reasons stated above in the sound discussion. I did quite a bit of research, especially here, on Heritage vs. Gibson and other manufacturers before purchasing. Hundreds of players have been bit in the hind end by Gibson's quality control (or more precisely abject absence thereof) given the price. Heritage does produce the rare lemon, but they're less expensive, handmade rather than machine-done, and their quality on the average is far higher/more consistent. Why pay for a name on a headstock? I am quite confident that, in choosing a Heritage, I have chosen a "real Gibson."

My only regret with this instrument is that I do sometimes wonder if I should have ordered it with a Bigsby. I chose to avoid the tuning problems that can accompany that. And, while I am pleased enough to have the Heritage name on my headstock, the Heritage headstock cut is horrendously ugly. The deluxe veneer, binding, and inlays I chose cover it up pretty well, but Heritage would do well to look into redesigning their headstocks.

If my 555 was lost, busted, or stolen, I would lament in sackcloth and ashes for several days, but even before that, I would be on the phone with Jay to put Heritage to work on a replacement. I love the instrument itself, its gorgeous looks and its even more glorious tone(s), but the cherry on top is that this is *my* guitar, with the options and appointments I chose. Of course, the downside was that I had no way of playing the instrument in the shop, etc. and had to trust Heritage and Wolfe Guitars. No worries. I most highly recommend both. I have already had talks with Jay about my next Heritage, which I plan to put them to work on next November (chuckles nefariously).

My H-555 is from 1995. I ordered it from Southpaw Guitars in Houston from Jimmy - good guy. He got me a sweet deal and steered me clear of Gibbo to Heritage instead. I'm really glad I went with Heritage. Mine has a solid top, back, and sides (wood upgrade package) instead of laminated maple. Antique natural finish, Grover tuners (which I love), Schaller bridge and tailpiece (which I hated) and Schaller pickups (no HRW available in '95).

I play classic rock rhythm guitar. This guitar, with all this maple and an ebony board, has a hard, sharp, bright, cutting tone. Very open and big, but bright. I play it straight through, no effects, to a '65 Deluxe and a '68 Super Reverb. I never liked the sound of humbuckers through Blackface Fenders. I replaced these Schaller pickups with Gibson Classic '57s, and they were just horrible. Literally sounded like putting a blanket over the amps. After surfing the Gretsch website and seeing that almost all of their guitars are made with maple bodies, maple necks, and ebony fretboards, I took the plunge and dropped 250 bucks on TV Jones TV 'Tron Plus (bridge)and TV 'Tron (neck), which are Gretsch Filtertrons (mini humbuckers)sized for a humbucker route and a Torres Bluesbucker wiring harness (1 meg pots, push/pull tone slope change). Now the sound is much more open and jangly. These pickups do indeed sound somewhere between single coils and humbuckers, with more of a leaning towards single coils.

This guitar has the most outrageous flamed maple I have ever seen. The back of the damn neck has more and better flame than most any guitar top I've ever seen. I was very unhappy with the cheap Schaller bridge and tailpiece. A guitar this nice needs decent hardware, just a simple tune-o-matic brige and stop tailpiece, so I put a set from Tone Pros (locking) on. I hated the way the Schaller tailpiece had this pivoting mechanism that secured the ball end of the string and the way the bridge saddles were adjustable on a threaded piece the way they were, it made for a very loose, not solid feel. Way too much energy transfer lost between the strings and the top. Also, the inlay work on the fretboard was horrid. Tons of filler around each inlay. The nut does indeed look like it was installed by a blind guy, as an earlier reviewer noted. I've had real intonation problems with this guitar. Also, the frets have worn the fastest of any guitar I've owned, including my '82 Ibanez Artist. The materials and workmanship of the body and neck (inlays notwithstanding) are awsome, but almost everything else except the tuners needed upgrading.

Damn solid, no worries here. I've banged her around accidentally in the 10 years I've had her, but there is nary a scratch on her. I notice that the finish can take some banging and not chip, which makes me suspicious if it is really a lacquer finish as I keep reading here. I think that, judging by the durability and non-coloration after all these years, this is a polyurethane finish. My Ibanez has a true lacquer finish that has yellowed considerably over the years and is extremely brittle.

Don't know, never needed them. I was really pissed this arrived from the factory not set up. The damn strings weren't even tightened, let alone tuned. I am glad they make their guitars available to lefties for a small upcharge (I payed 100 bucks extra).

I was really looking for an H-535/ES-335 when I shopped for this guitars, but got swept up in an "upgrade" fever and ended up with a completely differemt guitar. I held off posting a review on this for years because I thought I was the only one who thought this neck EXTREMELY narrow. Nobody else has ever mentioned this before WIHE. If you are into fatback or boatback neck contours, you will hate this guitar. This is a true finesse instrument, no bashing here. After playing it for this long I am used to the neck, but I wish it was more substantial. I do love the tone of this guitar now that I've dropped a small fortune on hardware/electronics upgrades, but I lost a lot of the savings I originally gained by going this route. I think the newer Heritages with the HRW pickups/PLEK machine, and it looks like they arrive with setups may be even better than my guitar. Looks like they are paying better attention to quality.

This is a 2004 modell,custom made for me.From where to start first of all this is a helluva nice guitar very very beatifull...!!! maple top, back and sides.Is made by 1 piece the cover and the back instead of the 2 pieces that Gibson is using (including the custom shop).The quality of the maple top is TOP10 as well as the back and the sides.The binding is perfect and is everywhere,the electronics are gold colour as well as the stop tail and the bridge.All the guitar is made by maple except the neck which is mahogany (custom feature)the standard is maple and the fretboard which is made by Ebony.

The stop tail and the bridge are both aluminium made (custom feature) as well the bridge is a tune-o-matic(custom feature) instead of the standard bridge from Heritage.Scale length is 24,75/22 frets.The Pickguard is made by flamemaple (try this with Gibson).

The tuners are the classic ones from Sperzel,P/Ups are the HRW from Heritage(no jelousy at all for the T.Holmes..!!)

Their inlays at the neck are very beatifull and unique made by REAL mother pearl and abalone.Inlays at the Headstock YES... the Brand and another very beatifull inlay (check their website) both made by abalone.
The combination price/quality is unbeatable try this combination with custom shop of Gibson and start thinking of selling your Porche or even your House.... (hah-hahaha)

Is unbeatable for what is designed for....Is better than any 335 Gibson i have tried and is by far a better looking guitar....!!!This baby (i'm sure you all know this is designed for Jazz/Blues/POP music even for light Rock but not for a lot of Gain as it wiil give a lot of feedback...!!!Is just perfect for what is made for.....!!!!

I'm using it mainly with a Framus Ruby Riot(a class,point to point amp)

PERFECT>>>>>>>This is the 3rd Heritage i own and i have allways been very satisfied with this brand.They've had a problem for years but know they do have a plek machine.

This is A GUITAR for ever....!!!Based at my expierence with other Heritage's it will die a lot after me...

Years ago it wasnt a dealer in Athens Greece where i'm located and i asked them few Q regarding a 2nd hand one which i bought from the ebay and the next day i've had a reply.That's positive isnt'it.The Greek dealer is Fine allways there to assist (no need so far!!!)

I have been playing in and out for more than 25 years i've had and still own some of the best guitars ever made.This one is one of them a keaper.....!!!!!!!.Do ineed to say more...!!!Give it a try and you wont regret.

Update to my previous review.

Regarding the high E string spacing so close to the end of the frets.

I ordered a new bridge from Heritage and had it notched on the centers. I also had the neck pickup adjusted so the strings aligned with the pickup poles.

I am happy to say that the guitar is now perfect in every way. It sounds and plays wonderfully. The first string doesn't slide off the fret anymore unless I want it to (and I never do!). It measures out to almost the same string spacing as my 335.

Why they couldn't do this at the factory is beyond me. The original bride is cut in a different spot on four of the six saddles.

I emailed Heritage on a Sunday afternoon and got a reply from Rendall Wall in about thirty minutes. We exchanged two emails that afternoon about the problem and the fix. Problem solved : ))

Try to get that kind of response from Fender or Gibson or even your local music store (unless you're related to the owner). Amazing customer support.

Ordered new from the factory in summer of 2005. Took exactly seven weeks from start to delivery. Won't go into the technical details as they are the same specs as previous reviews. The only options I got were the HRW pickups and a matching wood pickguard. The guitar was ordered in the Amber finish. As features go, the 555 is beautiful. Excellent inlays on fretboard and headstock. Better wood than a 535 - very nice maple grain. Nice ebony fretboard. Gibson ABR-1 bridge (not that roller thing they used to use). All-in-all, a very impressive instrument to look at and to play. (with only one gripe about the neck I'll get to later).

Sound - wow. The HRW pickups are the loudest I've ever owned. These guys pump it out. They blow away every other guitar I own (about eleven at the moment). I actually had to lower the neck pickup. It was too strong for the jazz standards I like to play. Sustains like a siren too.
The guitar sounds very nice unplugged too.

Fit and finish were excellent. Absolulety no complaints - only the highest compliments to the guys at Heritage. The new fret machine they have does a perfect job.
Action - well it was set up a little high like most new guitars are but I dropped it a bit and it's now perfect for me. Everything was great with one exception. The fingerboard stays very narrow all the way up the neck. I did some comparison measurements with a Gibson 335. The Gibson gets a little wider as you go up the neck. The E-strings are about a 1/16th of an inch farther away from the fretboard edge than the 555. The Heritage changes very little and only has about 1/32nd spacing to the edge. So, it is a very unforgiving player. The E-strings slide right off the frets and make a "thwank" sound on the binding which sounds pretty bad in the middle of a otherwise perfect arpeggio. It's more like an ARGH-peggio. You have to come straight down on the string or it will slide right off. Makes you want to always play on the inner strings. The only other guitar I've ever had that would do that as easily is a Gibson Byrdland which also has a tiny, narrow neck. None of my other guitars will do it unless I deliberately pull the string off the fretboard.
So that's my only gripe. It does kind of tarnish my feelings about an otherwise terrific intsrument. So I'll give it a 8 for the action.

No problems. It's a bit lighter than a Gibson 335 or Les Paul. But it isn't fragile and will last a very long time with a little care. The nitrocellulose finish is no more or less sensitive than a Gibson's finish. Needs the same care. No big temperature changes, etc.

They are almost a custom shop when it comes to talking directly with their customers or their dealers. You can email or call anytime and they will answer promptly and completely.

Been playing for 47 years but only about 20 semi-seriously. If it were lost or stolen - first I would have a cow - but after that, I would probably not replace it. I do like it very much. It's beautiful to look at and has an incredible sound. But, the narrow neck bothers me enough that I wouldn't order another one. I would try a Gibson Pat Martino custom or just stick with my trusty 335.

My H555 is nine years old, made in 1996. Much of it's features are already covered, so I will be brief. The body is a beautiful natural maple which is aging wonderfully, it's no longer 'white' but a lovely light honey colour. It's between flamed and quilted maple. The neck is Tiger maple with an exquisite ebony board with beautifully crafted inlays, not a speck of filler. I don't like the perfectly acceptable TP6 type stop piece, but that is a purely personal point of view and does not mean it is not excellent in its functional design, I just don't like it. The case is a genuine Heritage case, just like a 335 case only the name is different.

The guitar sustains beautifully with w natuaral resonance you can hear and feel when played accousticly. I only have a small 15 watt practice amp just now, but when played through a friends vintage fender valve amo the tones were wonderful, clear and mellow. It plays Jazz beautifully, great for blues and can handle any of the rock genres. However, I don't play rock on this guitar.

I bought this guitar used. It was set up nicely, no fret buzz etc. The gold plating is just begining to show signs of wear, but there's nothing wrong in that. I will probably have the guitar tweaked to my own preferance at some future point, but it is fine as it is. The wood is exquisite, somewhere between flamed and quilted.

This guitar is well capable of live gigging, but I have bought it to learn jazz on and for my home use, I have two other guitars i GIG WITH. As my jazz playing improves I will use it for jazz gigs, it can certainly handle a gig on it's own. All hardware is A1 and solid as a rock.

I have e mailed Heritage a couple of times, these guys are just excellent, they really do have the 'customer first' ethos. I have had no need for any warrenty work, just infprmation.

I have been playing since I was about fifteen, but am nowhere near as good as I should be for my thirty years of guitar owning. I have no regrets about buying this guitar at all, I dread to think about it being stolen and I would replace it instantly, if I could find one in the UK. I love the shape and build of high quality semi's, I find them very comfortable. I was wanting a Gibson 335 but they kept escalating in price out of my budget. I couldn't believe my luck when I got this guitar, particularly for the price and I will buy a Heritage H150 [les paul] in time. I don't want to slate Gibsons, but when you look at what the Heritage gives you, particularly used value, there is no comparrison. I feel thaty these guitars will increase in value when the old guys who used to build the gibson's retire, but that is just a personal thought, I did not buy this guitar as a finacial investment. I bought it as an investment in my own playing and I am so glad I didn't pass up the opportunity to own it. My other guitars are an '88 fender USA strat with Seymour Duncan Alnico 2 Pick ups and a '96 Les Paul special with 2 P90's. My son owns a Fender Aerodyne Telecaster with p90 And standard bridge pick up configuration which I enjoy playing. I don't own a decent amp just now, I am keeping an open mind on what is available and when the right one presents itself I will buy it.

Model 555 Heritage made in Kalamazoo , MI. 2004 USA, Laminated super curly maple. solid super curly maple neck, with ebony fingerboard. Standard 2 pickup guitar controls. 335 style, only better...Hrw pups, hot! Standard style finger rest, ebony, and bound. Tune o matic taile, and bridge. Medium jumbo frets, flawlessly finished and leveled.

To play rockabilly, and old stuff I like, there is no better. It is not for heavy metal, or grunge. Pups are quiet, sound is rich. No dislikes here.

The Nitro finish is just about flawless. The real mother of pearl and abalone inlays are superb. They look as if they were born with the ebony fingerboard, no gaps or visible filler. Saddle and nut were right on the money. They also have a new laser fret dress and polish machine, and the guitars they turn out now show the difference....

This is a true nitro finish, so it will require some common sense handling. No sudden temperature changes, wipe down with a dry guitar chamois when finished, use only true non-silicone polish....etc..Hardware is lifetime, so is build quality. I don't use the strap buttons anymore, so I can't answer if they are good. Since it is my my main axe, I do use it without a backup.

They are always friendly, supportive, and answer straight questions with straight dope. No neon rainbows, but simple , atraight forward, truthful data...I am not sure of the warranty, but I suspect that if you have a problem due to their stuff, they will take care of it.

I have been playing for 32 years....

2002 custom order from Kalamazoo. 22 frets, laminated maple top semi-hollow thin archtop. The details are in other reviews, and on the Heritage website. D-VIP option so it has 1 master volume, 1 master tone, and a variable phase pot for each pickup. Three way switch for the two HRW pickups, plus two three way micro switchs for the D-VIP (more on that later).
Maple body and three piece maple neck, ebony finger board. The finish is transparent black, and with the choice woods upgrade (flame everywhere, and I mean everywhere) it is visually stunning. The stock setup has the master vulume, that I use constantly, located out near the rim, and the D-VIP control, that will be adjusted occasionally, next to the bridge, and that didn't make sense to me. I had the master vulume and tone pots located closer to the action, with the vari-phase pots out near the rim. I didn't like the stock roller bridge/tailpiece, so I opted for a T.O.M/string thru tailpiece. Knowing what the standard gold hardware would look like in one year, I chose nickel. Grover Imperial tuners, multi-ply binding on the pick guard, MOP headstock logo inlay, choice woods upgrade, and the wiring are the other custom features.

I play jazz, fusion, funk, blues, and good old R&R, and this guitar is perfect for all of it. The HRW pickups have the clarity and bite of vintage P-90's, without the noise, with the warmth of humbuckers. And they're very powerful...I had to reset all the gains on my MKIV for it. The sound is bright from all the maple, but it is rich and warm at the same time. The D-VIP system gives a huge range of sounds, along with a substantial drop in volume when activated. I found this disappointing at first, but after working with it for a while, that is now an advantage. I use the VIP knob like a preset rhythm volume control. I get very clean and bright sounds for chording the funk tunes, and can choose to use the pickup selector switch between solo/rhythm pickups, or using the D-VIP micro switch if I want to use the same pickup for solo and chording. I have the graphic EQ on the MKIV set with just enough boost (slightly more in the lows)and engage it to make up for the volulme drop when using the split coil position on the micro switchs. That setup gives my favorite sound for cleans. The full humbucking position fattens everything up, and the HRW's never get muddy or shrill. For most of what I do, (can't beat a carved archtop for quiet jazz), this is the best sounding guitar I've ever played.

When I brought it home for the first time and opened the case, my wife gasped, it's that beautiful. The build is flawless, the binding perfect, and that finish! The only spot without shimmering flame is the black headstock face. I first thought that the black tint was too light, but under stage lighting it's perfect. The Schaller hardware is solid, and their version of the Tune-O-Matic beats Gibsons hands down.
The factory setup was terrible. I think the slots in the nut were cut by a blind person...different spacing between each pair of adjacent strings, and wildly varying string height. And the truss rod cover is off center. I can't understand how they can build such an outstanding instrument, and screw up the easy part. That's why I'm giving them an 8.

This guitar is built like a rock. It's a semi, so a little more care is in order. The Schaller/Grover hardware is excellent, no concerns there. The nitro finish will get all the care it needs. The strap buttons are fine, but I immediately replaced the one at the neck heel with a straplock. I always bring a backup, but I don't think it will ever come out of the case. This is a real workhorse of a guitar.

Before I ordered it, I called Heritage to ask about the custom features. My call was answered by none other than Rendal Wall, who was great to deal with. He spent about 45 minutes with me going over my ideas, liked some of them, and talked me out of a couple. Subsequent calls were answered by either him or one of the owners. Imagine that happening at Gibson!!

I've been playing almost 40 years. My other guitars are a 1966 Strat, a 1966 Epiphone Casino, and a 1965 Gibson Byrdland. The H-555 really rounds out my collection. If it were stolen or lost I would replace it without hesitation. Other than that stupid nut/trussrod cover, this guitar is a real work of art. I looked at 335's but couldn't find a good used one for a good price. I had the use of a Lucille for a few weeks, so I knew I didn't wont one of those (great guitar, but I didn't want to deal with the weight). The H-555 is better sounding and playing, and weighs only slightly more than my alder bodied Strat.
As has been stated in previous reviews, it's the small details that get in the way of this being one of the all time great guitars. Having said that, I still give the H-555 my highest recomendation if you're considering this type of guitar. I don't think there's a better value out there.