Almost NGD ~ Took my semi back in time......

[kidsmoke*]

A while back I became an owner of a Heritage H-535. You probably know, Heritage guitars are built at the original Kalamazoo Gibson plant, was started and is still run by, and built by, guys who worked in the shop since the 50's. Long story short. Same workbenches/machines/etc,These are fantastic old school hand built guitars. They still make a Les Paul (H-150) and a 335 (H-535), as well as many variations of semi and hollow body jazz guitars.

So as a fan of the 335 style semi, I came across a 535 in a shop and fell in love. WAY more than I ever thought I'd spend on a guitar....but these are special on a bunch of levels, so I sold off half of my gear and bought it.

Here is how it looked at that time:



In this iteration, it had Seymour Duncan Jazz in the neck and a custom /custom in the bridge. Also the chrome TOM hardware as well as Grover tuners.

I love the guitar, flamed maple, nitro finish, the D neck...all of it. The one thing I wasn't crazy about was that the bridge pickup is on the hot side, 14k or so, and was a little more metal oriented. Like many folks, the legend of vintage PAF's is intriquing, and I immediately started thinking about swapping the pickups to take the 21st version of a 50's classic back closer to its sonic roots.

As I started exploring this, I was bitten by the vintage bug, which was kicked into overdrive when I saw Warren Haynes solo in a 400 seat theater. I was a stage hand, and got to talk with his tech. That night he had "Big Red", his all original '61 ES-335. Apparently is is not usually used on tour, but this night, it was one of his two guitars. The other was an acoustic. It sounded spectacular, of course, and looked even better with it's checked nitro finish and worn neck. I stood right next to it but did not touch it.

I decided to take my Kalamazoo built 535, and make it a modern representation of that same instrument. Aged hardware, quality handwound PAF clones, brand new 50s style wiring harness with paper in oil capacitors and CTS 500K pots, and even the old school Kluson tuners and aged cream rings.

So here's what I decided to do. I replaced everything on the guitar but the frets and the bone nut.

Top to bottom:

Out: Grover Rotomatics 14:1
In: TonePros Kluson Aged Nickel tuners 15:1 (Vision Guitars)

Out: SD "Blackbacks" Jazz Neck and Custom Custom bridge w/black rings
In: Sheptone Tributes PAF Aged Nickel w/ cream rings(Sheptone)

Out: Gibson/Schaller Nashville/TOM
In: Faber Tone Lok master Kit (ABR Locking bridge, locking aluminum stoptail) Aged Nickel (CV guitars)

Out: Stock harness 250k WD tone pots, 500k WD vol pots, .022 caps
In: 50's wired 335 harness matched 500k CTS pots Vitamin Q .022 paper in oil caps (JonesyBlues)

Pics of the refurbished axe....
old:



New:



old:



New:







The end result is that I've got a guitar I can leave to my kids, but that I intend to play the snot out of until that day comes. The lower output p'ups and the new harness have made a huge difference in the tone. Fuller and throatier, and with DVM's Centaur and tube amp set low, with the volume knobs backed off to about 7-8, it's an organic "just" breaking up sound that I love. I mentioned in another thread, I feel I need a different amp, as my Ampeg tends toward a darker tone, and sounds fantastic with a tele, but I think a different amp may open it up a bit and give it a brighter more defined sound. Suddenly words like "note bloom" have meaning. I'm in love.

I'd welcome amp suggestions from those of you with Humbucker/Amp matching experience. DVM...Otaypanky...Robert...I know you guys have had the opportunity to play legit Lesters and other guitars/pickups through fine amplifiers. Is there a certain type of circuit that does particularly well with a PAF/Semi?

[duhvoodooman***]

It looked great before, but looks just flat fabulous now!

As far as a good match in an amp....that is so dependent on your tonal preferences and the types of music you'll be using it for. I would think that something with the versatility to handle cleans up through moderate distortion would match up well. Maybe something like an Egnater Tweaker?

[@nthony]

Wow what a gorgeous guitar!

[sunvalleylaw]

It looked great before, but looks just flat fabulous now!

As far as a good match in an amp....that is so dependent on your tonal preferences and the types of music you'll be using it for. I would think that something with the versatility to handle cleans up through moderate distortion would match up well. Maybe something like an Egnater Tweaker?

Ditto! For my taste in amphs for that sort of guitar, I think of something Bassman-esque, or a blonde or brown fender, re-issue or otherwise. Something not quite so squeaky clean as a silver or blackface. But that is my taste. For instance, I love my Viking, which is not nearly as nice a semi-hollow as that, through my fender concert.

[kidsmoke*]

It looked great before, but looks just flat fabulous now!

As far as a good match in an amp....that is so dependent on your tonal preferences and the types of music you'll be using it for. I would think that something with the versatility to handle cleans up through moderate distortion would match up well. Maybe something like an Egnater Tweaker?

Thanks!
And your assumption is correct. I tend to end up playing a lot of 70's type rock stuff, but i love the clean tones on the neck, just don't know much music to play to maximize it. I wish to go in a Audley Freed direction most of the time...but then consider Dickey Betts lead work...pretty full and clean.

What makes me ask, is as I mentioned, the Ampeg experience, but then I was talking to a guy about a P2P Champ clone, and his comment was it was built for, and sounded great with, single coils, and he didn't care for it with his LP type guitars.

What is a Tweaker modeled on? I notice Tig's got one. How' does it sound with that Idol Tig?

[mrmudcat]

Looks awesome!!...........a low watt marshall or bogner shiva...........................just saying

[Tig***]

What is a Tweaker modeled on? I notice Tig's got one. How' does it sound with that Idol Tig?

First off, I love what you did with that Heritage. You took it from great to beyond exceptional! Their 535 is worth selling half of your gear for. I know I would do the same.

The Tweaker 15 sounds good with everything! I recently installed some EL-34's and it has a nice crunch now, without losing the glassy cleans. Now the mid to upper range has a nice fullness/roundness to it, but a little less low end. I'll still put the 6V6's back if I want a chimey clean.

While I'll certainly keep the Tweaker, I'm enjoying the SCX2 head even more, thanks to it's range and feel. The only serious amph GAS remaining is for an AC-15 and a Fender '65 Deluxe Reverb reissue.

The Idol had '59 Reissue neck, Custom-Custom bridge, so that won't help you as far as pickups.