Heritage Guitars

 Kenny Burrell is among the most beloved guitarists of post-war jazz.  Kenny’s influential recordings and strong interest in musical education has helped establish his name among students and educators alike. His expertise on all things Ellington has parlayed into a popular course at UCLA begun in the late 1970s on the life of Duke Ellington. After years of endorsing Gibson Guitars made in the Kalamazoo factory, he switched to the Heritage Guitar, which is made in the very same factory by former Gibson employees who did not move with the company to Nashville.  Heritage has since d

Roy Clark, the Country Music Hall of Fame guitar player, was always proud of his connection with the music products industry. In addition to the products he endorsed over his long career, Roy helped design his signature model for Heritage Guitars. Roy also was close to many in the music publishing industry ever since he wrote the first of many successful method books for both guitar and banjo. The popularity of these books' were boosted with the creation of the TV program, Hee-Haw, which Roy co-hosted for over 20 years.

Gregg De Lorto has had a passion for music and playing the guitar from a young age. Growing up playing in multiple bands and feeling the influence of popular music, Gregg eventually entered into a career in sales, working for companies like Music Man, Rickenbacker, and Gibson. Now with Heritage Guitars, Gregg’s love for the brand and their products shines through.  

Sharon De Lorto truly discovered her passion for music upon marrying her husband, Greg, and was introduced to the culture behind Heritage Guitars, Gibson, and the iconic factory at 225 Parsons St. With a desire to understand the history and preserve the legacy of Orville Gibson, Sharon has conducted significant research to understand nearly every facet of the Orville Gibson legacy.

James Deurloo walked through the old Gibson workshop, which is now the home of his company, the Heritage Guitar Company.  Pointing proudly to a workstation in the middle of the old building, “that was my first workbench.  I learned every skill on the line and had wonderful teachers.  The old men on the line when I was a kid were happy to share what they knew, and I still use all those skills.  That is why the name ‘heritage’ was the perfect name of our company.”  

Randy Dorman joined Kenny Rogers' road band in 1977 and worked with the legendary country singer until his last tour in 2017. Along the way Randy performed with each one of Kenny’s guest artists (including Willie Nelson, George Burns, Dolly Parton and Ray Charles) and also appeared on Kenny’s many live in concert albums. His mother Hazel was a steel guitar player who wrote the song “Hobo’s Lament” and encouraged Randy to express himself musically. Randy played clarinet in high school, where he learned to read music, and switched to guitar to play in bands as a teenager.

Mary Lou Hoogenboom was a factory worker for the Gibson Guitar Company when it was located in Kalamazoo, Michigan.  She was hired in 1951 and began working in the sanding department, but found that she worked in every department before she retired in 1985.  Her retirement occurred the same year the company left Kalamazoo for Nashville, Tennessee.  At the time she was one of only five employees that closed the famous factory down before it was reopened by several other past employees as Heritage Guitars.

Marvin Lamb was looking for a job in 1958 and found an opening at the Gibson
Guitar Company in Kalamazoo.  “This was right at the time of the boom in the
industry and it was a great time to get started.”  A year later he meet
James Deurloo and along with J. P. Moats, they stayed with Gibson until the
company was sold and moved to Nashville.  At the time all three friends
outlined an idea of creating their own guitar company, but keep it in the
same building with the same attention to details and craftsmanship.  In
1985, the Heritage Guitar Company was formed and all three men are

Maudie Moore was hired by Gibson Guitars in 1962 to do small piece work and soon branched out to engraving, which became a specialty for her over the next several decades.  In fact, she opened her own shop called Moore’s Engraving in Kalamazoo in 1972, which allowed her to work with several other companies over the years including C. F. Martin and Heritage Guitars.  Her special projects included the Gibson anniversary series with Les Paul and the BB King signature models known as “Lucille.”  Maudie’s great passion for her craft was clear in each and everyone of her projects. 

Bill Paige was one of the six founders of Heritage Guitars. The idea for the company began when the Gibson Guitar Corporation closed its longtime Kalamazoo, Michigan factory in September 1984 and moved production to its Nashville, Tennessee facility, which had been operating since 1975. While some employees were invited to relocate, many had deep roots and families established in Kalamazoo, making such a move difficult. As a result, former Gibson employees Jim Deurloo, Marvin Lamb, and J.P. Moats decided to begin a new guitar manufacturing company dedicated to preserving the craft

Tim Shaw is the Chief Engineer-Guitars for Fender Musical Instruments, helping the company create guitars, pickups and other products. Tim’s career began when Charlie Wicks hired him to repair guitars for his retail store. He found his way to R&D at Gibson in Kalamazoo in 1978 and worked with the founders of Heritage Guitars before relocating to Nashville. His friend Bruce Bolen hired Tim to work for Fender in 1996, where he worked in R&D for Guild with Bob Benedetto and Ren Ferguson. His current position has him designing new instruments, pickups and hardware for many of

Ren Wall proudly followed his father's footsteps and worked in the Gibson Guitar Company in Kalamazoo, Michigan.  He began working for the company in 1960 and continued until 1982.  A few years later he returned to the very same factory to work for Heritage Guitar Company, which was formed by several factory workers who desired not to move to the new Gibson buildings in Nashville.

Lane Zastrow was playing professionally and even teaching music as a teenager.  His main instrument was the accordion!  After years on the road, Lane made his way into the print world.  In 1967, Lane joined Sight & Sound, which was owned by Zeb Billings.  He later worked for the famed Chicago Musical Instruments (CMI) and in fact was the last person hired by the founder, MH Berlin.