Heritage Custom Core H-150, 2022, Upgrades, Great specimen

I have a 2022 Heritage Custom Core H-150 here. This one is the flamed top model. It is matched with a Gibson Custom Shop case. I don't have the paperwork with this one, but I assure you it is unequivocally genuine.

This one has been further customized by its original owner. I will go over the gist of that. The bridge and tailpiece are German made Faber. And I have included the Faber tool that is used to unlock and adjust the bridge posts.

A new set of Jim Dunlop USA strap buttons were added. The tuners are a drop in replacement. They are the vintage style Gotoh 510 tuners, with cream pearloid tuner buttons that match the binding. And lastly, I do not have the original Heritage case, but a Gibson Custom Shop Historic case is included, which is actually higher quality. These are made by TKL.

Conditionally, the guitar has some average, typical playwear that I will describe for you.

The body top shows just faint scattered traces of superficial swirling on the body, with no accumulation or buildup. I see a pattern of light playwear right between and above the two pickups from guitar pick strumming, so there's a little bit of aggressive strumming, but no deep scratches. I found a couple of tiny superficial indentations, one about a millimeter in size and one about a couple of millimeters in size, that do not break the finish.

The body sides/edges show a couple of small dings right where the upper body back right side meets the body edge. These are about 3 or 4 mm in size. Beyond that, there's about a handful of surface indentation bumps ranging from 1 to 4 mm.

The body back shows a few small superficial worming marks. I see a generalized scattering of light surface playwear that is about the same intensity as guitar pick strumming. So, nothing I would quantify as buckle rash, but a fair amount of surface swirling type playwear. There are about a couple of handfuls of micro surface indentation type marks, too, some as little as a pencil tip and some as large as a millimeter or so. These are tiny little impressions that do not bust up the finish. They just lightly press into it. The original film sticker sleeve protector is still on the selector switch plate.

The neck shaft contour shows just a couple of tiny line shaped indentations, but otherwise looks and feels excellent. The headstock shows a handful of micro sized marks, little marks about a millimeter in size or less, but I didn't find any major marks, nothing big or hideous. The face of the headstock looks nice and clean.

The frets are tall and meaty. I found just a tiny little smidge of level use on a couple of frets in the lower cowboy chord area, which is the first couple of G and B strings. Nothing sinking in deep, just a tiny little bit of use. The setup plays fantastic. Part of a great setup is having an immaculately made neck, and this one has both going on. The neck and fretwork are exceptional, and it's dialed into a typical fast, easy to play setup. The PAF style humbuckers are working perfectly as they should. The Gibson hard shell case is in very good condition, with some average signs of age and use but nothing major.

So this guitar rates anywhere from a 7.8 to an 8.1, which is right at the threshold of good and very good. I'm going to conservatively grade this one as good, but consider that the higher side of good. As most people would list this as VG or even excellent without a second thought, I'm pretty exacting in my descriptions here.

Worth mentioning is that this VOS lacquer style historic guitar shows small marks a little easier than a hard modern polyurethane finish, but any playwear looks more subtle and not as stark and glaring. And it honestly convincingly looks like a light relic guitar. So it's actually pretty close to the Artisan Aged Heritage naturally, but without the finish checking, which is done through thermal cold temperature treatment.

So this one is priced as a player grade model, but I think you will very much still find this a gorgeous high end guitar. The pictures do it justice. It plays phenomenal. It sounds phenomenal, and will have enduring equity at this price point for this caliber of instrument.

I have had and featured many Heritage H150's here. If you are contemplating buying one i figure you are wondering how it compares to the already fantastic Standard line.

The Custom core very much is comparable to what Gibson does with it's Historic line. Immediately noticeable was the different fret laying method and and vintage tinted binding, thinner VOS style finish that is not reliced but looks slightly subdued, not popping shiny.

It has a historic 50s style bridge where the thumbwheel is mounted right into the body wood. It features customized pickups (which are amazing!). And has perhaps the best looking headstock inlay work i have seen. It is not as over the top as Custom PRS inlays but this is as classy and classic as it gets. The new tuners by the way feel so so smooth. Grovers were already nice so you wonder if it was even necessary. You won't wonder once you try them, they have a flawless engineered feel to them. And lastly what we have is a significantly lighter premium mahogany body.

Tonally expect a guitar that has articulation and presence. It is warm but more articulate and distinct sounding than heavier bodied single cuts. It sings, sustains, blooms. It definitely has that frequency rich woody tonality. You can play Any style of music with it. The increased articulation will translate to anything you can throw at it.

The pickup voicing is classic PAF personified. Probably most comparable to Throbak or Bare Knuckle Mules. It's a well balanced PAF voicing.

Heritage is in my subjective opinion is the best value to performance on a vintage style singlecut out there. That is true for the standard line. And the Custom shop model is reasonably priced for this level of quality that is every bit the equal to Gibson Historic or a Collings City Limits or any other boutique singlecut. So if you are ready treat yourself, This is as good as it gets.

Note that this listing may come down at anytime as I am a multi-platform seller and do sell locally and on my own Site as well in an effort to keep sales fluid. State sales tax will be charged on sales when applicable, so factor that in to your purchase.

I will immaculately pack it as well. I use quality shipping boxes, ample tape on all sides. And sufficient bubble wrap filler and bracing inside the box. And always Marked/denoted as fragile. I generally detune guitars 1/2 half step prior to shipment as well if needed.

Thank you for reading and considering!