Heritage Custom Shop Core Collection H-137 review – a high-class all-rounder disguised as a snarling punk axe
£3,299 / $3,299, heritageguitars.com
The Heritage Custom Shop H-137 is what happens when you take two notable events in guitar history, 30 years apart, and toss them into a cauldron with some nitrocellulose lacquer and a dollop of secret luthiery sauce.
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The first of those events is the launch of the Gibson Les Paul Special in 1955. Intended as a cheaper alternative to the standard LP, without the carved top and binding, this no-nonsense guitar turned out to be a perky little rascal and would later be played by everyone from Bob Marley to Billy Corgan.
And the second is the birth of the Heritage guitar company in 1985. You probably know the story by now: after Gibson moved south in search of sunshine and more laidback union reps, a group of ex-employees took over the company’s old factory in Kalamazoo, Michigan, and started building on a small scale using the original machinery.
Heritage is now an established brand with its own Custom Shop range, and the H-137 is its take on the Special formula. And when I say ‘take’, what I mean is that it’s basically the same in every aspect except one: the headstock shape. This is the one part of its famous designs that Gibson has been able to copyright, so it’s a little unfair to blame Heritage for getting it wrong… although, admittedly, other companies have found more elegant solutions than this.
Still, it’s not half as ugly as some gleeful sceptics seem to think; and one bonus of going for the Custom Shop instead of the cheaper Standard Collection is that here it just says ‘Heritage’ instead of ‘The Heritage’. Yes, I know the latter is a nod to the pre-1930s ‘The Gibson’ logo, but that doesn’t stop it being weird.
Image: Adam Gasson
Heritage Custom Shop Core Collection H-137 – what is it?
Let’s talk about P-90s. These single-coil pickups were fitted to all Les Pauls until PAF humbuckers came along in 1957, and they remain the type most commonly associated with Specials and one-pickup Juniors. P-90s are renowned for their bold and spanky voicing, and if you couple that with a simple slab body, the reason for these guitars’ popularity with punk rockers becomes clear.
But this really isn’t the sort of instrument you want to get covered in blood, sweat and other people’s saliva – so it’s just as well you’ve got three pickup settings and four control knobs to play with in the search for more sophisticated tones. In theory, clean pop, soulful blues and even boopy jazz should all be on the menu here.
The body and chunky 50s-style neck are mahogany, with a rosewood board, and the scale length is 24.75” – all classic specs for a guitar of this type. It comes in a beautifully plush hard case, and you get a choice of three colours for the fragrant nitro finish: faded cherry, TV yellow or this low-key but strangely sexy olive green.
It hardly needs saying that the quality of build and finish is excellent, from the smart black jack plate to the Heritage-branded kidney-bean tuners. Neither of the cavity covers on the back is an absolutely perfect fit, if we’re being really picky, but the wiring within is clean.
Image: Adam Gasson
Heritage Custom Shop Core Collection H-137 – build and playability
The words ‘chunky 50s-style neck’ can only convey so much – what you really need to know is that this one is distinctly rounded in the hand without feeling like you’re trying to play a tree. So as long as you’re not a stickler for the really skinny stuff, you should feel more or less at home.
It’s a fairly heavy guitar but well balanced, with no obvious neck dive, and the smoothly rounded fret ends make it an effortless player all the way up to the cutaway. A warm and resonant unplugged tone promises much, but now it’s all down to those P-90s – Heritage’s own 225 Classic types, designed and wound in house.
(Interesting fact no 1: The pickups are called that because the address of the old Gibson factory that Heritage now occupies is 225 Parsons Street. Interesting fact no 2: My sister-in-law is from Michigan, and I once actually went to a hockey match in Kalamazoo – it was pretty punchy!)
Image: Adam Gasson
Heritage Custom Shop Core Collection H-137 – sounds
Naturally the bridge pickup is up first, through a black-panel amp just about on the edge of breakup… or at least, it would be on the edge with a Telecaster. Heritage’s P-90s push it right over into sweaty, mucky overdrive.
The treble response is actually a pretty close match for a Tele, but it’s the extra oomph in the lower mids that drives the front end of the amp that much harder. It feels tight and compressed, cutting through crisply but with a solid foundation that makes it perfect for any kind of rock rhythm playing.
Crank up the gain and you get a nicely biting lead sound – maybe too biting for some humbucker fans – and at this point it’s safe to say we’ve got the whole ‘punk axe’ thing covered in supreme style. But what happens when we turn the amp right down?
Well, for a start the infamous P-90 background buzz eases off a little… but more importantly, we have some tasty clean tones to explore. The neck pickup is thick and smooth, with Steinway-like clarity on the wound strings; digging in on the bridge pickup produces a fattened-up version of Jaguar twang; and the middle position offers a rich blend of clucky chime and P-90 ‘thrap’.
If there’s one criticism, it’s that everything feels a little bit intense; but if you want more open and breezy tones, turning the volume knobs down just a smidge – from 10 to 9 – makes a surprisingly big difference.
Image: Adam Gasson
Heritage Custom Shop Core Collection H-137 – should I buy one?
Here’s the argument: if you’re wealthy enough to afford it, you’re not angry enough to want it. Or, to put it another way, who’s going to buy an expensive guitar to play cheap music?
There probably is a nugget of truth to this, at least in terms of the H-137’s appeal to potential buyers who haven’t actually played it yet. But once it’s in your hands, it doesn’t take long to work out that this is by no means a one-dimensional guitar. If you’re looking for something that specialises in rasping rock tones but can bring easy-playing refinement to other styles as well, it’s a mighty persuasive option.
Heritage Custom Shop Core Collection H-137 – alternatives
Do you insist on a curvy headstock – one with ‘the other name’ on it? Then you’ll be wanting the Gibson 1957 Les Paul Special Single Cut Reissue (£3,999). If that’s just not expensive enough, try the Collings 290 (£4,499); or if you’re happy at the other end of the pricing spectrum, there’s the Epiphone Les Paul Special (£489).
Editor’s note: Heritage Guitars and Guitar.com are both part of the Caldecott Music Group.
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Source: www.guitar-bass.net
