MTM105 Posted June 5, 2009 Posted June 5, 2009 http://www.heritageguitar.com/Heritage%202005%20Catalog.pdf1987 I bought my 81 Special in defiance of Gibson status quo.Is owning a Heritage the same principle?
edgar_allan_poe Posted June 5, 2009 Posted June 5, 2009 I have owned some Heriatges, my nod goes to Hamer and it isn't even close. Heritage makes a decent guitar but it is not the same quality of a Hamer. JMHO of course.
MTM105 Posted June 5, 2009 Author Posted June 5, 2009 Honestly, if I could afford a LP I'd buy.But I would wind up paying extra $ and it's the principle. Over the years I though I'd run into a down-and-out player looking to unload a gem. It hasn't happened. Even ne'er-do-wells know value when they see it.How about 70's MIJ legal LPs? Are they just as good?
santellavision Posted June 5, 2009 Posted June 5, 2009 Heritage makes a decent guitar but it is not the same quality of a Hamer. JMHO of course.Everyone has their opinions. But, I have to differ on Hamer vs. Heritage. My current Heritage H150 is amazing. I've had a few friends say it's the best sounding guitar they've ever played. Sure, it could just be that this one is 'Special'. (I've owned three other Heritage H150s and about a dozen Hamers.) There's always going to be 'Special' ones. To your post, personally, I don't care that it doesn't say Gibson. I kinda' enjoy the "wow, that sounds amazing, what is it?'" questions. Same applies to Hamer. I've always enjoyed being the odd guy playing Hamer, Robins, Hubers, Tokai, Heritages, G&L & Tom Andersons. Actually, at the moment, I only have two Gibbys in my collection! (The original '72 LPC my dad bought for me & my '66 335)
MTM105 Posted June 5, 2009 Author Posted June 5, 2009 Hamer does in fact have a reputation for consistancy and quality control.
Ethan Posted June 5, 2009 Posted June 5, 2009 i had a heritage h150 cm that was my main guitar for a while, it was by far the coolest looking guitar i've owned, but i wasn't real into the neck and it didn't have that signature les paul sustain...i read somewhere, maybe from bcr greg, that heritage uses a lot of glue in their neck joints and maybe that has something to do with it. if i run across another one i'd sure give it a shot though.
Guest pirateflynn Posted June 5, 2009 Posted June 5, 2009 I remember a few years ago there was some talk of QC issues and customer services problems at Heritage but I guess that's all rectified now. I liked the ones I've played. Heritage seems like a good way to go for a LP or 335 type guitar without breaking the bank.
atquinn Posted June 5, 2009 Posted June 5, 2009 I know this is ridiculous coming from a Hamer fan, but... Those Heritage headstock are so ugly! Having said that, I love the lines on this guitar: -Austin
Feynman Posted June 5, 2009 Posted June 5, 2009 I'm going to guess that the Heritage forums aren't as cool as the Hamer forum.
BOB Posted June 5, 2009 Posted June 5, 2009 There's a post on the Heritage Owners Club page titled "Did your brand new Heritage need work?" with 52 replies.Judge for yourself.I've been lurking here for years and never saw a "Did your new Hamer need work?" thread.
elduave Posted June 5, 2009 Posted June 5, 2009 Damn. A little heads up for the next guy on the 28 page PDF link.
Jimbilly Posted June 5, 2009 Posted June 5, 2009 There's a post on the Heritage Owners Club page titled "Did your brand new Heritage need work?" with 52 replies.Judge for yourself.I've been lurking here for years and never saw a "Did your new Hamer need work?" thread.ha-ha!, that's the best '2nd post' I've ever seen from a new guy (welcome!, btw.)I need to A/B my Tokai against my friends good LPs
Thundersteel Posted June 5, 2009 Posted June 5, 2009 I have been a member of the Heritage Owners Club almost since its inception. I used to be a die-hard Gibson fanatic, but since I've discovered Heritage, I refuse to buy any more Gibsons. They just have that "something special" that Gibson lacks nowadays. Heritage, just like ANY other brand out there, have had their share of problems. They have a new guy in chage, and quality control has been vastly improved. Are they perfect? No, but myself and about 1,000 other Heritage Owners Club members still prefer them to Gibson. At least they've never had Hameritis!Don't get me wrong--I like my Hamers, too, but even they aren't perfect. For instance, the nut on my Studio Custom wasn't cut properly. Other than that, it flawless! Is that why they call Hamers "furniture grade?"P.S. By the way, I think the Heritage headstock looks fine.
DEMENTED Posted June 5, 2009 Posted June 5, 2009 I have owned both and prefer Hamer but there are some decent Japanese copies like Edwards out there now so...gotta try one sometime.
moozak Posted June 6, 2009 Posted June 6, 2009 For instance, the nut on my Studio Custom wasn't cut properly. Other than that, it flawless! but... on the other hand... that beats a truss rod rattle or a warped neck any day! (like on my Johnny A) plus... Hamer actually CUTS the saddle slots... gibson places the string over the saddle and whacks it with a hamer to let the string groove the saddle... thus... bending the saddle adjustment screw (making it nearly impossible to intonate) before you ever pull your brand new guitar out of it's case. on top of all that... actually advertising that you plek your custom shop guitars is pretty much telling the world that the frets are not level right off the bat. never had to do that with my Hamers (excluding the old ones, which i don't know a lot about).just sayin...
Ethan Posted June 6, 2009 Posted June 6, 2009 For instance, the nut on my Studio Custom wasn't cut properly. Other than that, it flawless! gibson places the string over the saddle and whacks it with a hamer to let the string groove the saddle... jesus! i wonder if they use a special, or if the sharp angles of the standard allow for a more precise hit
specialk Posted June 6, 2009 Posted June 6, 2009 gibson places the string over the saddle and whacks it with a hamer to let the string groove the saddle... jesus! i wonder if they use a special, or if the sharp angles of the standard allow for a more precise hitLOL! I didn't catch that the first time around...I think they use the Maestro, accounting for the scarcity of that model.
Scottcrud Posted June 6, 2009 Posted June 6, 2009 I dunno if they're better than Hamers, but I had an late 80's 150c in Honey, and it smoked Every Gibson Les Paul I've ever played.
mirrorimij Posted June 6, 2009 Posted June 6, 2009 I've owned both and I think Hamers will me more consistent in the hair splitting details. I have a Heritage 550 with HRW pickups and it is probably the best sounding electric I own. There are some imperfections in the body binding and finish. This from a brand new guitar. Once its plugged in I'm willing to overlook the nitpicky details. You would most likely not see those types of imperfections on a factory fresh Hamer. I owned that H150 that Santellavision is talking about. That really is a special guitar.
moozak Posted June 6, 2009 Posted June 6, 2009 jesus! i wonder if they use a special, or if the sharp angles of the standard allow for a more precise hitor perhaps the sharp edge of a 10+ les paul custom... the bottom line is, i like gibson as much as anyone... in fact, there's a good chance that i've probably played gibsons longer than you (i'm 50 years old now... even though i hate to admit that!)... but i've seen a lot of really disappointing stuff out of them over the years. hamers may not have the mass appeal... but i like the amount of detail work that goes into them. and i really love playing them... they feel great... sound great... look great... and i wind up keeping them - instead of trading them off like other guitars i've had.
proxmax Posted June 6, 2009 Posted June 6, 2009 careful question:can the new fender-owned hamers keep the high quality standardof the older ones?there where just a few usa hamers at musikmesse in frankfurt/germanythis april, they didn't really convince me.
atquinn Posted June 6, 2009 Posted June 6, 2009 ...they didn't really convince me.In what sense?-Austin
mirrorimij Posted June 6, 2009 Posted June 6, 2009 I believe as long as Frank U and Jol are in charge the quality will stay. There was speculation that the quality would drop when Kaman bought them. There was speculation that the quality would drop when they moved to Connecticut.
Brownsound Posted June 7, 2009 Posted June 7, 2009 I have heard but never confirmed that the Heritage LP "Copy" makes a Gibson LP feel like an SG...they are supposed to be brutally heavy.Again...never touched one before.
proxmax Posted June 7, 2009 Posted June 7, 2009 ...they didn't really convince me. In what sense? -Austin in quality!!! binding and paintjob lacked. ridiculous for show guitars. i also didn't have that feeling: I'm home! like i always had when i got my others. the guys (i guess fender) even left old dirty strings on and i had that feeling they want to ruin that brand. that doesn't make sense to me. the hamer "showroom" was ridiculous small for represent hamer at the world's biggest musicfair. (about 10 times bigger than the NAMM) they had about 7-8 USA hamers there, including 2 basses. rest was asian crap - see pic! klaus
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.