Heritage 80 Questions

[Kluson]

Hey Mike,
I' had a gold one and had it verrified by Gibson as a true H80, I also saw a black one not long ago which I'm sure was the original colour as I know the guy who owned it from new, He also had the original invoice from the shop, as I did with my Gold one,
Were the gold ones rare? There was one for sale in London not long ago.

 

[El Gringo]

Heritage 80 Les Paul Models

With the exception of a few Kalamazoo-built prototypes or “one offs” in circulation, all Heritage 80's were made in the Nashville plant between 1980 and 1982. These LPs have a unique sharp and wide cutaway at the horn, Grover kidney tuners, and an eight digit serial number with four digit second number beneath it. There does not appear to be any pattern to the second four digit number – it was used for marketing reasons to distinguish these guitars as limited editions by Bruce Bolen, then head of R&D. They have a unique headstock shape. They are generally on the heavy side (high 9's to high 10 lbs.), have the thin binding in cutaway, small black side dot markers, and a Nashville bridge. The back plates for the control cavity and switch are brown. The Gibson logo on the headstock has a closed “b” and “o” and a dot over the “i”. The necks on these guitars are of medium thickness. While not as close in terms of vintage specifications to the Guitar Trader and Leo's LP models, they are well regarded guitars by many players and collectors and have excellent fit, finish, tone, and playability. Tim Shaw of Gibson at the time designed reissue PAFs for them which sound very good and have come to be known as "Shaw PAFs" in the collector community. The pickups are one double white and one zebra under the covers. The truss rod covers are inscribed with the model names.

1. The Heritage Series Standard 80 has a three piece neck and rosewood fretboard. Some came with rather plain tops and others have moderate flame. There are a few examples with one piece necks and ebony fretboards, which indicates that Elite necks were used during parts shortages. The example in this article has a very deep flame. Colors were dark cherry sunburst or honeyburst. The truss rod cover is inscribed with “Heritage Series Standard 80”. The example below weighs 10 lbs. 10 oz. It has an exquisite curly flame top.

2. The Heritage Series Standard 80 Elite has a one piece neck, ebony fretboard, and a quilted top. Most came in honeyburst but some were also made in cherry sunburst. The truss rod cover is inscribed with “Heritage Series Standard 80 Elite”. The two examples below are at opposite ends of the weight scale, one being 9 lbs. 3 oz., the other being 10 lbs. 8 oz.

3. The Heritage Series Award has a plaque on the back of the headstock with a number from 1 through approximately 50 (only approximately 50 of these guitars were made for dealers who sold a lot of Heritage models), cherry sunburst, ebony board, flame top, and gold hardware. The truss rod cover is inscribed with “Heritage Award”. The example below weighs 9 lbs. 4 oz.

Just plain stunning and nothing less than I would expect from you Good Sir . My compliments !

 

[DvnLesPaul]

Hey! Lily taught me a new trick!!! This is going to be bigger than the new polls feature backstage. I got me a new toy, and I'm a gonna be playin' wid it! Woo hoo-- Lily, you ROCK!

Dayyyng, haven't seen that one in forever....

 

[Big Al]

I sold bunches, owned 3. Mike's post is word but standard finish options were a deep Cherry Sunburst, Honeyburst and Antiqueburst. A very few rare Gold and Ebony were made but not catalogued. The Antiqueburst was the dark brown STAINED Tobacco looking burst like on the KM & 25/50. The Honey & Cherry were classic tinted lacqure burst and the Honey had a wide range of shades from very light brown honey fade and others much darker with stronger honey brown bursting with all points inbetween. They were made by demand by dealer pre order and were very popular.

The coverd pickups hid mixed colored coils which could be double cream or black or reverse zebra. It was arbitrary with no telling what you could find under the covers.

I loved them and though not very accurate 59 spec they had the vibe, a great neck with a perfect rounded profile for comfortable playing. Very stiff and stable a real Goldylocks neck that is full but not as large as Historic R9, makes for a neck shape with wide appeal to most. I think they sound great. My son has my dark Honeyburst HS Standard 80 and it is his go to guitar.

 

[El Gringo]

I sold bunches, owned 3. Mike's post is word but standard finish options were a deep Cherry Sunburst, Honeyburst and Antiqueburst. A very few rare Gold and Ebony were made but not catalogued. The Antiqueburst was the dark brown STAINED Tobacco looking burst like on the KM & 25/50. The Honey & Cherry were classic tinted lacqure burst and the Honey had a wide range of shades from very light brown honey fade and others much darker with stronger honey brown bursting with all points inbetween. They were made by demand by dealer pre order and were very popular.

The coverd pickups hid mixed colored coils which could be double cream or black or reverse zebra. It was arbitrary with no telling what you could find under the covers.

I loved them and though not very accurate 59 spec they had the vibe, a great neck with a perfect rounded profile for comfortable playing. Very stiff and stable a real Goldylocks neck that is full but not as large as Historic R9, makes for a neck shape with wide appeal to most. I think they sound great. My son has my dark Honeyburst HS Standard 80 and it is his go to guitar.

I remember seeing all 3 of the burst finishes in stock at the Mom and Pop . I never seen the 25/50 or the KM models . I loved the 25/50 and the stained tobacco looking burst finish , but not the TP -6 Tailpiece . Which gave you the ability to further fine tune each string , which of course is a good feature , but visually unappealing to my traditionalist eye . In addition to the Tobacco stained looking burst , I really loved the Super 400 style inlays on the fingerboard which I thought were beyond cool . Speaking of the Super 400 , I have always lusted after one , but that would cost 2 to 3 R9's which will always be my first choice . But damn a Big Box Jazz guitar would be cool .

 

[dnabbet2]

I've had four of them: three Elites and the Standard I have now. I agree with everything above, especially the attractiveness of the honey sunburst, the heavy weight, and the bassiness of the pickups. I'm not sure anybody commented on the deep body-carve or the short neck tenon, though.