The Heritage H-157 Natural 2005 Electric Guitar

This is a Heritage H-157 electric guitar in Natural finish. The Heritage brand was born in 1985 after Gibson closed their Kalamazoo plant in 1984 and relocated to the Nashville plant. Some of the Gibson staff who did not move to Tennessee purchased space in the factory, and Heritage Guitars was founded in 1985. Drawing on the former Gibson employees passion for traditional, high quality luthiery, Heritage models are largely based on popular Gibson designs, but make use of solid woods rather than the laminated constructions Gibson had been using.

The H-175 clearly shares many similarities with Gibson’s Les Paul Custom model. This particular instrument left the factory in 2005, and features a set-neck construction comprising a Mahogany body with Flamed Maple top, Mahogany neck & 22 fret Ebony fingerboard. The body is double bound whilst the top & back feature multi-stripe purfling. The neck is double bound whilst the fingerboard is inlaid with MoP blocks. The headstock is also bound and features an Ebony headplate inlaid with more MoP. Gold hardware is fitted including a StopBar tailpiece, TOM bridge & Grover Rotomatic tuning machines. A pair of aftermarket Seymour Duncan ‘59 passive humbucking pickups are installed, and are wired to a 3-ay toggle switch & independent volume & tone controls.

The Mahogany neck plays exceptionally well, with a profile which might be described as a moderately-sized ’D’ shape which lends itself well to a wide variety of playing styles and techniques. The Ebony of the fingerboard is pleasant under the fingers, delivering a smooth and durable playing surface across the register. With its traditional 12” radius, the fingerboard is practical for both chordal and melodic playing styles, with string bending and vibrato techniques feeling nice and easy.

Amplified, the pair of Seymour Duncan ‘59 passive humbucking pickups deliver thick and full-bodied tones, perfect for a wide range of playing styles & genres. The neck position is round and powerful, and can handle plenty of gain for saturated lead tones when driving the amp, and can even achieve some jazzy sounds with clean settings and a rolled down tone control. The bridge pickup is of course brighter, and with a higher output can easily push your amp into a harmonically rich & searing distortion tone which is well suited to rock rhythm parts and riffs. The traditional control layout is as practical and comprehensive as ever, with the pots responding well to small changes for easy tweaking of your tone while playing.