This Heritage H-150 in Dirty Lemon Burst features:
- Nitrocellulose Dirty Lemon Burst, 9.2 pounds
- Carved curley maple top
- Mahogany back
- Cream binding
- One piece "Soft C" Mahogany set neck, 1-11/16" nut width, 24.75" scale
- Bound Rosewood fretboard, 22 frets, block inlays
- Plek'd frets
- TonePros locking bridge and stop bar
- Bone nut
- Heritage Branded tuners
- Seymour Duncan '59 pickups (wound on the original Leesona winder from the Parsons Street factory)
- Separate volume and tone controls (CTS pots and Vishay orange drop .022uf caps)
- 3-way pickup switch
- Hardshell case
Since Gibson left Kalamazoo in the early 80's, Heritage Guitar has had a storied if not thriving existence. However under the stewardship of Bandlab, they've paired down their standard offerings, improved consistency, and have turned out some really nice guitars in the process. Traditionalists may bemoan the passing of the good old days, but the "new" Heritage continues to impress us with excellent build quality and respect for tradition without being prisoner to it.
The Heritage H-150 is an unmistakable design that the folks at Heritage have perfected in terms of construction and performance. Even if you are not a devotee of the "LP" shape, the Dirty Lemon finish and rosewood fingerboard is the Siren Call of rock 'n roll. Yes, it's 9.2 pounds: That's not excessive for a guitar of this ilk that has not been swiss-cheesed for weight relief. But it's well balanced and sits comfortably on the shoulder. The long tenon neck, ideal headstock pitch and extra thick curly maple top create a perfect recipe for natural resonance and harmonic content. This is a traditional guitar made with traditional materials, and Heritage has no intention of messing with that formula.
As with all new Heritage guitars that we've experienced, the H-150 hits a home run in terms of fit finish and setup. It comes equipped with Seymour Duncan '59 pickups, which are one of our fave Duncan sets. The neck tones are warm and woody, but still have reasonable bite and attack. The output is strong enough to easily coax some natural crunch out our our Little Walter '59 head, but these pickups turn down surprisingly well. In fact, we really liked the tone with the guitar volume turned down around six. It sounded more openly chimey, and less bass heavy, but still drove pedals very well. Moderate levels of gain produced a zesty crunch that retained admirable note separation and texture.
Ditto for the bridge pickup: The route to best tone is not necessarily with the controls max'd out. We liked the volume rolled off similar to the neck pickup and maybe a little tone roll-off too. This results in nice clarity, articulation, and the Duncan '59 still has plenty of attack without sounding too aggressive. Even so, there is still plenty on tap to drive pedals, and the H-150 punches out thick crunch with lots of harmonic detail. Response is very even, without a hint of upper midrange nasal honk or snarl.
Both pickups together produce some of the sweetest and cleanest tones around, and we always urge players to delve into all the possibilities. Good quality electronics help a lot in this regard, and the CTS pots have a nice taper and usable range. If you just play this guitar wide open on one pickup, you are missing a lot.
The Soft C mahogany neck is approx. .870" at the first fret tapering gently to approx .960" at the 12th. The nicely rounded C profile provides good palm support; and it's more generous than a Slim 60's neck, but without feeling as if you are grabbing a phone pole. The medium Plek'd frets are smoothly finished to a fairly low height of around .040", providing action that feels sleek and speedy.
It's no surprise that the Heritage H-150 hits the mark, and is a testament to the enduring legacy of Heritage Guitars. Its inspiration and history is obvious, and we like how BandLab is managing the brand and improving the product. Its construction and materials give it a classic vibe, and it easily straddles both rock, hard rock, and even jazz with amazing ease. You owe it to yourself to check out Heritage Guitars has to offer.
