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GPOTD 12.14.12


Kerouac

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heritage88h142-red.jpg
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A true closet queen and excellent example of an early model solidbody from Heritage. Heritage Guitars began in Kalamazoo, MI in 1985, just three years before this one was built. The company came about when a number of ex-Gibson employees decided not to uproot their families when Gibson discontinued production at the plant in '84. Using the same plant, and building many familiar (i.e. Gibson) designs, Heritage hit the deck running with top quality, tried and true guitars. The very first model they built was the H-140, a slimline Les Paul design. This H-142 is a very rare model, built only in '88, and identical to the H-140 except for the locking tremolo and black binding. The slimmer body reminds me of the Les Paul Studio "Lite", made by Gibson in the early-mid '90s, but instead of the Gibson model's Balsa wood (aka "Chromyte"), the H-142 uses the classic mahogany body with a maple cap. Looking into the pickup cavity, you can see that the maple is almost as thick as the mahogany. The other defining feature of this model are the Kahler USA 2700 locking tremolo and locking nut. Unlike some Kahlers which use a locking nut adjacent to a standard nut, this model uses only the locking nut, in the fashion of a Floyd Rose. Personally, I think these are excellent tremolos, using knife edges similar to a Floyd (e.g. fulcrum system), but the top of the bridge provides a very flat surface on which you can comfortably and accurately rest your palm. It differs from many other Kahlers which use a cam system instead of a knife edge. The last distinguishing feature is the black binding. Other features include Grover tuners, black hardware, black speed knobs, single ply black guard, set-neck construction, mahogany neck with rosewood board and pearl dot inlays, side-mounted barrel jack, tremolo cover plate on back, "bell" type truss rod cover, and the standard dual volume - dual tone - 3-way switch. We're not sure what pickups are in here but as clean as this guitar is we're guessing they're original. I suspect they're P.J. Marx as they look identical other than the lack of a logo. They have the same epoxy potting on the bottom, same 2+2 height adjustment screws, and similar wires. They're medium output and sound very good. You'll note the back of the headstock is painted black, coming down to a "V" at the headstock base, which was a features generally used on high-end archtops. Although this guitar is around 25 years old, it looks like a 2012 cosmetically. This thing has zero player's wear: no scratches, no fading, no headstock scratches from string changes, perfect frets, even fine tuners, which wear down to brass very quickly, are still black. The only flaws, if I must nit pick, are some minor finish impressions if you look very closely, but they don't appear to be a result of contact, rather more of "finish suck" on an old finish. The back of the headstock has a "2", indicating factory second but on a guitar of this age it's virtually impossible to find the cosmetic flaw. Could be one of the finish impressions but it's noting bad or obvious. For Les Paul fans in search of a locking trem, usually you have to turn to and 80's model with the factory Kahler with cam system, and they're few and far between. This guitar has a better system and in my opinion, is way above the quality of a Gibson "Lite". The set up is very comfortable with no dead spots or other issues; with a classic LP maple/mahogany tone. Although this is a very rare guitar, my guess is that this one is probably the cleanest one in existence. Includes similarly clean original case and original warranty; all for $1099.
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I guess I'm the first one who really likes it. I have a Heritage 150 and it is a sweet playing guitar so I'm very receptive to anything made by Heritage. Also, and I may be a heretic for saying this. I would like to have one LP style guitar with tremolo on it.

Unfortunately my wallet is pretty thin at the moment.

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