Heritage 80's

[weaselboy]

What are these instruments and are they worth a damn? Anyone? Aren't they the first reissues? thanks.

 

[Bluejazz]

They seem to be mentioned every now and then here. So there are some threads around on them if you do a search. I,personally, have no interest in them since they look incomplete.

 

[Heritage 80]

MikeSlub can fill you in on these guitars much better than I can, but IMO H80's are under rated. A lot of people point out the "incorrectness" of the cutaway, knob position... All I know is that I bought mine new in '81 and haven't bought another Les Paul since. The Shaw pickups were actually on of the very 1st serios attempts at reproducing th PAF, and they're starting to gain more and more respect. I also often hear how heavy these norlon era monsters are, but I can say mine is just a shade under 9 lbs. A very resonant axe with great tone (& I think it looks pretty cool!)

 

[MikeSlub]

Like Heritage 80 says, they are a cool part of Gibson's history. They were an early attempt to come closer to 59 reissues, but they weren't very close (but are great guitars anyway that have a warm spot in many Les Paul lovers' hearts). The Heritage 80 Standard had a three piece mahogany neck, flame maple top, rosewood fingerboard. The Heritage 80 Elite had a one piece mahogany neck, quilted maple top, and ebony fingerboard. The Heritage Award (only about 40 made) had gold hardware, one piece neck, flame maple top. All Heritage 80's had Grovers and humbuckers that were designed by Tim Shaw of Gibson at the time (affectionately referred to as "Shaw humbuckers"). Most of these humbuckers were zebras. The Heritage 80's have an unusual cutaway shape that sticks out farther to the right than the vintage Les Paul design. Most are pretty heavy (not much attention paid to weight then). They had an eight digit serial number and a four digit sequence/serial number underneath the eight digit number which supposedly had something to do with their "limited edition" status, but the numbering system is all over The place (no pattern over the three years). These guitars were made from 1980-82. Tops vary on the Heritage 80 Standards, some were plain and others were nicely flamed. All Elites had quilty tops, and the Awards were usually nicely flamed. Heritage 80's in excellent or better condition seem to sell in the $2,000-$3,000 range, with the Heritage Award models going for more. Most look great and sound good too. Hope this helps.

Two Heritage 80 Standards, Two Heritage 80 Elites, One Heritage 80 Award:

 

[Big Al]

INCOMPLETE???

Don't know 'bout that. I'll tell you this though I love mine and it is a great axe. I have some sweet Lesters including Historic R9 and i tell you that Heritage 80 is still one of the best lesters I've played and heard....STILL!

HERITAGE 80!!!!!!!!:wow :wow :wow :wow

That guitar looks like a twin to mine. I shit you not! Same shade of honey burst and similar figure! What is your four digit sequence #? When i finish it,( I'm aging and refretting it) I'll post photo's. BrianG took some at the Mojo Jambulation but it was without hardware and on the floor.

 

[Heritage 80]

Big Al,
The 4-digit # is 1959! Serial # is 80911611. Lily suggested the name for her: Rusty Gates (what can I say. It's my #1 player and I share OranreFlavoredBeef's corrosion problem).:lolspin

 

[fl_799]

Those 80's look **great**. Thanks for sharing the pics.

 

[weaselboy]

With all due respect to accuracy buffs, I don't give a shit about whether the pots are to the exact specs of an original burst, etc. All I want is a good looking, great playing guitar. I am asking this because I saw one at Marks Guitar Loft's site and it really caught my eye. $2200 though... A lot of bread to shell out for a sort of dodgy guitar... Looks damn cool though. By the way Heritage 80, that's a nice git fiddle you got yisself there. Anyhow, what would be the maximum amount of currency that you guys would forfiet for one of these little honeys? Thanks.

 

[GreenRiver]

I own a couple and consider them to be excellent. I've seen them go for as much as $2000-2500 regularly.


I just went to Mark's site...it is sweet!:dude

 

[fast ricky love]

heritage 80's are kick ass!

i have two, an elite and a regular 80. i too don't give a rat's tush about the accuracy of the cutaway etc., they are cool guitars to PLAY and they have a great vibe you won't find on a historic. hey it all comes down to what you're looking for, i love my historic, it is really a keeper and sounds different to my heritage guitars but i said different, not better. but just like on historics, you gotta change everything (pots, caps, nut, pickups) before you really get to the potential of the instrument. and i think they are beautiful, 'heritage 80' (the man not the guitar) has a beauty! here are mine:

http://www.PictureTrail.com/gallery/view?p=999&gid=899970&uid=587993

 

[Sickstring]

I have an '80 elite that I loved and then decided I didn't like because of it's "incorrectness" - which, BTW, I wasn't even aware of until I found the forum! The fact of the matter is that these are great playing and sounding guitars with their very own vintage vibe - because they are vintage! They are cool because they are so different from other Les Pauls. I rarely play a gig where someone doesn't ask me about it.

Scott

 

[tojoe]

I think there are some canucks on this thread, if yer interested I recently shipped a heritage 80 to Toronto, it's sittin in Richmonds Trading Post and heading to the 12th fret soon..Richmonds may have more wiggle...this is a psa..

 

[NickVig]

With all due respect to accuracy buffs, I don't give a shit about whether the pots are to the exact specs of an original burst, etc. All I want is a good looking, great playing guitar. I am asking this because I saw one at Marks Guitar Loft's site and it really caught my eye. $2200 though... A lot of bread to shell out for a sort of dodgy guitar... Looks damn cool though. By the way Heritage 80, that's a nice git fiddle you got yisself there. Anyhow, what would be the maximum amount of currency that you guys would forfiet for one of these little honeys? Thanks.

I used to own that guitar. I wish I still did. E-mail me if you want some details.

 

[GrinchMob]

I had 2 Heritage 80 flame tops, 1 plain top, and 2 of the quilts. As I remember they were all pretty decent guitars. As was mentioned above, all of mine were on the heavy side. Nice geetars and a fair early effort on Gibsons part!

 

[leoslespaul]

Does anyone have any pics of the "Shaw" pick-ups or can describe them? I've got a set of zebra's that came in my Leo's that sound like they may be these-Thanks

 

[Heritage 80]

Very nice H80's my fellow Heritage bros! Thanx for the comments on Rusty. She's a keeper.:dude

 

[Ed Driscoll]

Leo,

Does anyone have any pics of the "Shaw" pick-ups or can describe them? I've got a set of zebra's that came in my Leo's that sound like they may be these-Thanks

I'd try doing a forum search on "Shaw", and seeing what comes up--there have been several threads on them.

I think Gibson used them in a number of Lesters after the Heritage 80s. But here's my question to Mike, Big Al, and the other Norlin experts: there were a number of Les Pauls (and maybe other Gibsons?) that had silly little "Patent Applied For" stickers in a lower case, fairly modern looking typeface, applied to the pickup rings in the early 80s. Are these a reliable indicator that the guitar has Shaws? (My '83 Custom had those stickers, and I'd love to know if I've got Shaws in my axe.)

Ed

 

[Heritage 80]

Ed,

No expert here, but I'm fairly sure that if your Custom's pups have the thin silver Patent Applied For sticker on the side, they're Shaws. I've read the story on Tim Shaw, who I believe headed Gibson's R&D Dept. in the late 70's/early 80's. He was commisioned to make a PAF replica for the Heritage series, but was under some pretty heavy duty budget constraints. The coating on the wire for the windings differed, and some other cosmetic things were off, but all in all many people think that Mr. Shaw did a very good job. I know I do! spin

 

[Ed Driscoll]

Heritage,

I'm fairly sure that if your Custom's pups have the thin silver Patent Applied For sticker on the side, they're Shaws. I've read the story on Tim Shaw, who I believe headed Gibson's R&D Dept. in the late 70's/early 80's. He was commisioned to make a PAF replica for the Heritage series, but was under some pretty heavy duty budget constraints. The coating on the wire for the windings differed, and some other cosmetic things were off, but all in all many people think that Mr. Shaw did a very good job. I know I do! spin

I like the sound quite a bit, but I had no idea they were anything special until reading about Tim Shaw in the Forum. It's amazing--I have the Gibson catalog from the year I bought my guitar, and there's nothing about the Shaw PAFs at all, which to me is really inept marketing. They should have been playing up the story, how they're more like vintage PAFs than the previous T-top design, etc.

Thanks for the input!

Ed

 

[Big Al]

Gibson never called them Shaws. I coined that phrase here. Gibson called them 59 Reissue Pickups in the latter 80's and the early ones were called PATENT APPLIED FOR MODELS. DiMarzio had trademarked the phrase so gibson changed the name, but they were referred to in literature and catalogs as the Patent Applied For Model Humbucker.

I think they sound great.