My Elite Vintage Guitars Collection

Following the departure of Gibson from the Kalamazoo factory in Michigan, ex employees from the old Gibson factory continued to make guitars in the plant and named the brand “Heritage” .

In the early 1980s, Gibson, faced with excess production capacity, closed its historic Parsons Street factory in Kalamazoo, Michigan and relocated much of its production to its factory in Nashville, Tennessee. Some of the Gibson employees who did not want to move their homes and families to Tennessee started production of guitars under a new name, “Heritage,” which was likely meant to stake a claim to their guitar-making tradition. The company set up their new factory in part of Gibson’s former Kalamazoo premises, but produced instruments in much smaller numbers than Gibson had.

The Heritage line initially consisted of electric and acoustic guitars, electric basses, mandolins, and a banjo. The line was eventually slimmed down to electric guitars only. Although most Heritage guitars were, and continue to be, based on Gibson designs, a few of their early electric guitars were based on modified Stratocaster and Telecaster designs.

Some examples such as H-140, H-150 and H-170 are listed in this section below.