Got my new Heiner D Model A!!

[Cams]

My Heiner Dreizehnter Model A in Tasmanian blackwood throughout arrived yesterday and I've just spent a few hours getting to know it.

 

For those that didn't see my last post, Heiner is a German builder whom I met at the recent guitar festival in Germany. I played many guitars at the festival, but it was this one that stood out above the rest. I left it behind and have been thinking about it these many months. I recently decided that my J-150 wasn't the sort of guitar that suited where I was heading guitar-wise and the sucessful eBay sale meant that I was in the market again. I gave Heiner a call to see whether the Tas was still there, and it was!!! So it's now no longer "the one that got away"! and is here with me where it belongs.

 

In terms of size, it's OM-ish but perhaps a little less deep? I'm not really sure how deep OMs are, but it's a few mm less deep than my Lakewood.

 

Woods used are Tasmanian blackwood top, back and sides, with ebony bridge, bridge pins and fretboard.

 

It arrived with a set of used Nanowebs, so I whipped those off today as they didn't really suit the guitar as well as they do my Lakewood. They need something a bit less jangly to bring out the chocolatey richness of tone. On with a set of JP Slack Keys, tuned to CGDGAD and away with some festive music, a bit of El's music and some noodling.

 

All I can say is: wow, did I ever do the right thing buying this guitar!! It handles the low C about as well as my Lakewood, perhaps a little better, which is to say not as well as I had hoped. Even with the 0.56 it's still slightly lacking in tension, but I guess that's not surprising with a scale length of 650mm (25.35"): just a tad on the short side. Still, it's good enough and is considerably louder than the Lakewood, despite its body's being less deep. With a capo on, the tension issue seems to sort itself out and in any case, that should be remedied with my next and final guitar!

 

One of the over-riding tonal qualities is the amount of sustain, more than I've heard on a guitar thus far in my playing career. Really good for slow Celtic style airs and what have you. But the quality that attracted me to it in the first place is the rich, creamy low end. It's not the same whump that my J-150 had, rather it's more subtle and creamy. Like watching a Star Trek movie with a good subwoofer - you can FEEL the Enterprise but it's not too much.

 

The overtones aren't overpowering and the tone is bright, but not too bright. I'm not sure that I would say it's perfectly balanced in terms of tone, perhaps being a bit heavier towards the lower end, but that's what rung my bell. It's certainly deeper and richer than the Lakewood, and not at all sprucey like the Gibson. I'm not quite sure how this guitar's tone will change in time

[orsino]

Oh man it sounds like a really beautiful guitar Cams. Congrats. Let us hear a clip soon.

[rh2d]

It's nice to see someone with your talent excited about a new guitar. Keep it up.

[EvilHippy]

Beautiful guitar Cams, can't wait to here a clip from it.That blackwood looks like Koa.Looks to be of very high quality....if you don't mind me asking, how much did it cost? ~EH

[Cams]

Originally posted by EvilHippy Beautiful guitar Cams, can't wait to here a clip from it.That blackwood looks like Koa.Looks to be of very high quality....if you don't mind me asking, how much did it cost? ~EH

 

Thanks! I'll try and get a recording done tomorrow, no, I WILL get a recording done tomorrow. There, how's that?

 

It cost me 2500 Euros, which ain't at all bad for a custom hand-made one-of-a-kind instrument, don't you think!

 

Just been playing it some more, doing some strumming with just my fingers in C-GAD - man, this thing has HEADROOM!!! This guitar was a steal!!!!!