The Truth About Heritage Banjos

There are a lot of different rumors out there about the banjos made by Heritage Guitars. Some people claim they’re just StewMac kits, others think they’re cheap Asian imports, and some say they're put together from leftover Gibson parts.

Well, I actually managed to get in touch with the guy who used to do the final setups on banjos and mandolins at the factory before they shipped out.

Back in the early days, before Heritage started focusing purely on guitars, they actually made three mandolin models (A40, A50, H5) and just one banjo model: the Kalamazoo Standard Banjo. While there are no exact production logs, he told me that fewer than 40 of these banjos were ever made. They were completely custom, made-to-order pieces.

I also managed to decode the serial number because I actually own one of them! The first time I ever played it, I knew right away I had to have it in my collection. It took three years of waiting before the original owner—a collector—finally agreed to sell it to me. To be honest, there’s no reason this banjo should look or play any different than a Gibson. It’s easily one of my absolute favorite instruments in my small collection.

For a bit of context, Heritage Guitars was officially started in the spring of 1985 by a group of former employees and craftsmen from the legendary Gibson brand. The main founders were:

• Jim Deurloo
• Marv Lamb
• J.P. Moats

Shortly after, Bill Paige and Mike Korpak joined in as co-owners.

The backstory: When Gibson decided to completely shut down their historic factory at 225 Parsons Street in Kalamazoo, Michigan back in 1984 and move everything to Nashville, these seasoned luthiers refused to leave town. Instead, they bought up a portion of Gibson's original workspace and machinery, stayed right there in the historic building, and started handcrafting high-end electric and archtop guitars the traditional way under the "Heritage" name.

The serial number on my banjo is formatted as I 028 01. Here is how you crack the Heritage code:

1. The first letter is the year of manufacture:
   Heritage started with the letter "B" in 1985. Following the alphabet, the letter "I" lands exactly on 1992. (In 1984, the company didn't officially exist yet and wasn't labeling instruments).
2. The next three digits (028):
   This number shows how many days were left in the year when the instrument was finished. 028 means it was completed around December 3rd, 1992 (365 minus 28).
3. The last two digits (01):
   This is the sequence number for that specific day. This banjo was literally the very first instrument the Kalamazoo craftsmen finished on that day.

 

Edited by - leosber on 11/01/2026 04:40:53