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Published on 12/02/11 at 08:23These guitars are made in America (Kalamazoo, Mi.). They are actually made in the original Gibson guitar factory by many of the original Gibson Luthiers. So essentially it is the closet thing you can get to the orginal Gibson guitars (in my opinion, even better). Here are the specs from Heritage:
Neck : 17 degree peghead pitch; five-piece curly maple neck; multiple white bound head veneer inlaid with mother of pearl eagle and branch; back veneer inlaid with mother of pearl eagle and registration number. MOP truss rod cover, optionally engraved with customer's name.
Fingerboard : 25 1/2” scale ebony finger board multiple white bound with mother of pearl cloud inlays; with 20 frets. Radius is 12". Nut width is 1- 11/16".
Body : Single cutaway solid carved spruce top, solid carved curly maple back and solid curly maple rim; multiple white bound top and back; multiple white bound curly maple pickguard; with bound f-holes.
Body Size :
Rim Thickness - 3”
Body Width - 17”
Body Length - 20 1/4”
Electronics : One Heritage jazz floating pickup mounted on pickguard with one volume control. Tone Control is optional.
Hardware : Individual gold plated Imperial machine heads; gold plated Heritage bail tailpiece; adjustable ebony bridge with mother of pearl inlays; mother of pearl truss rod cover optionally engraved with owners name.
UTILIZATION
The Golden eagle has a nice cutaway so yes, all the frets are easily accessible. Getting a nice sound out of this guitar is as easy as strumming it once. The notes all ring out nice and loud like you would expect from a nice dreadnought but they also have a lot of projection, meaning you want get lost in the mix too easily. It is hands down the nicest guitar I have ever played. It is relatively light and extremely comfortable to play. The large body sits nice in my lap and because it is fairly thin, I can really wrap myself around it and get down. There are no drivers for this.
SOUNDS
I ran this into my Fender Twin Reverb Reissue with a little bit of the reverb on there and it sounded AMAZING!! Right away I was able to get one of the sweetest Jazz tones I have ever heard. I think Wes Montgomery would love this setup. With a few effects though, it quickly became a rocking beast. I threw on an Analog Man Bi-comp, a Modded TS9 and a Diamond Halo Chorus and was blown away at the fullness and richness this guitar still pumped through all those effects. There really isn't a sound that this thing makes that I don't like. I play all sorts of styles including Jazz, Electronica and Rock and I used this for all of them.
OVERALL OPINION
What I like most about this guitar is all the things I mentioned before as well as this guitar is loud and projects a lot even when used acoustically. That was a big hit because I like to jam a lot and there are some great acoustic musicians in the area. Nothing turns those guys off quicker than turning on an amp. The only thing I don't like about this guitar is I don't own it. It was a "Guest" at our studio for a month and I miss it horribly. The guy who brought it in was selling it used for $1200 and I would have happily paid that but at the time I couldn't afford it. This is hands down one of the best guitars I have ever heard or used and I give it a 10 out of 10. I have used a fair amount of Archtop guitars including an old 1947 Gretsch New Yorker, several Eastman's and even a couple of the Ibanez Artcores (least favorite) and the Heritage blows them all out of the water. I definitely recommend Heritage guitars to everyone I know.
Neck : 17 degree peghead pitch; five-piece curly maple neck; multiple white bound head veneer inlaid with mother of pearl eagle and branch; back veneer inlaid with mother of pearl eagle and registration number. MOP truss rod cover, optionally engraved with customer's name.
Fingerboard : 25 1/2” scale ebony finger board multiple white bound with mother of pearl cloud inlays; with 20 frets. Radius is 12". Nut width is 1- 11/16".
Body : Single cutaway solid carved spruce top, solid carved curly maple back and solid curly maple rim; multiple white bound top and back; multiple white bound curly maple pickguard; with bound f-holes.
Body Size :
Rim Thickness - 3”
Body Width - 17”
Body Length - 20 1/4”
Electronics : One Heritage jazz floating pickup mounted on pickguard with one volume control. Tone Control is optional.
Hardware : Individual gold plated Imperial machine heads; gold plated Heritage bail tailpiece; adjustable ebony bridge with mother of pearl inlays; mother of pearl truss rod cover optionally engraved with owners name.
UTILIZATION
The Golden eagle has a nice cutaway so yes, all the frets are easily accessible. Getting a nice sound out of this guitar is as easy as strumming it once. The notes all ring out nice and loud like you would expect from a nice dreadnought but they also have a lot of projection, meaning you want get lost in the mix too easily. It is hands down the nicest guitar I have ever played. It is relatively light and extremely comfortable to play. The large body sits nice in my lap and because it is fairly thin, I can really wrap myself around it and get down. There are no drivers for this.
SOUNDS
I ran this into my Fender Twin Reverb Reissue with a little bit of the reverb on there and it sounded AMAZING!! Right away I was able to get one of the sweetest Jazz tones I have ever heard. I think Wes Montgomery would love this setup. With a few effects though, it quickly became a rocking beast. I threw on an Analog Man Bi-comp, a Modded TS9 and a Diamond Halo Chorus and was blown away at the fullness and richness this guitar still pumped through all those effects. There really isn't a sound that this thing makes that I don't like. I play all sorts of styles including Jazz, Electronica and Rock and I used this for all of them.
OVERALL OPINION
What I like most about this guitar is all the things I mentioned before as well as this guitar is loud and projects a lot even when used acoustically. That was a big hit because I like to jam a lot and there are some great acoustic musicians in the area. Nothing turns those guys off quicker than turning on an amp. The only thing I don't like about this guitar is I don't own it. It was a "Guest" at our studio for a month and I miss it horribly. The guy who brought it in was selling it used for $1200 and I would have happily paid that but at the time I couldn't afford it. This is hands down one of the best guitars I have ever heard or used and I give it a 10 out of 10. I have used a fair amount of Archtop guitars including an old 1947 Gretsch New Yorker, several Eastman's and even a couple of the Ibanez Artcores (least favorite) and the Heritage blows them all out of the water. I definitely recommend Heritage guitars to everyone I know.