Members guitarist21 Posted December 19, 2006 Members Posted December 19, 2006 http://cgi.ebay.com/Vintage-70s-Harmony-Grand-Concert-Acoustic-Guitar_W0QQitemZ190062065524QQihZ009QQcategoryZ118982QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem For $70?! How can I argue with that?
Members Cripes Posted December 19, 2006 Members Posted December 19, 2006 Geez. If you get the chance I'd like to hear it. Good find.
Members AK47 Posted December 19, 2006 Members Posted December 19, 2006 I think Early 70s' were the last of the USA Harmonys. They weren't as quality as earlier Harmony guitars. Still could be a good sounding guitar. I would do something to change out that adjustable saddle they sounded horrid. Gibson tried this for awhile and repented for their ways. Do they say if it is solid or laminate? The laminate Harmonys did not sound good IMO. If you try it good luck and let us know how it turns out. This might not be a USA Harmony I haven't got great knowledge on them. I was playing Gibson in the early 70s'.
Members recordingtrack1 Posted December 19, 2006 Members Posted December 19, 2006 Beautiful back. Is that Rosewood? Overall, the guitar looks to be in reasonably good condition. I know almost nothing about Harmony Guitars. Good Luck on it if you decide to go for it. RT1
Members T.B. Posted December 19, 2006 Members Posted December 19, 2006 That is a nice guitar, I agree, what a beautiful back. I would like to add a Harmony to the collection, a H165 in fact.
Members bjorn-fjord Posted December 19, 2006 Members Posted December 19, 2006 If that Brazilian is solid, as opposed to a veneer, somebody got a hell of a deal.
Members Hudman Posted December 19, 2006 Members Posted December 19, 2006 Originally posted by bjorn-fjord If that Brazilian is solid, as opposed to a veneer, somebody got a hell of a deal. It didn't sell.
Members Cldplytkmn Posted December 19, 2006 Members Posted December 19, 2006 i almost bought it, but i figured it was laminates
Members Roy Posted December 19, 2006 Members Posted December 19, 2006 It says straight neck but it doesn't mention how high the action is. I don't think this is in the same league as the Harmony Sovereign series. GuitarCapo is the man to ask.
Members guitarist21 Posted December 20, 2006 Author Members Posted December 20, 2006 I think it was a laminate. I'm tempted to email the seller about it anyway. Ellen
Members guitarist21 Posted December 20, 2006 Author Members Posted December 20, 2006 Originally posted by Roy It says straight neck but it doesn't mention how high the action is. I don't think this is in the same league as the Harmony Sovereign series. GuitarCapo is the man to ask. As far as the action goes, I'm feeling I can putz with that. But I do agree it may not be a Sovereign. Most of the Sovereigns said "Sovereign" somewhere on them. Still... I don't know. I'm just a sucker for old Harmonies . Some of them are great guitars. Still working on an old semi-hollowbody I have. I might get it refretted. Ellen
Members bjorn-fjord Posted December 20, 2006 Members Posted December 20, 2006 Originally posted by guitarist21 As far as the action goes, I'm feeling I can putz with that. But I do agree it may not be a Sovereign. Most of the Sovereigns said "Sovereign" somewhere on them. Still... I don't know. I'm just a sucker for old Harmonies . Some of them are great guitars. Still working on an old semi-hollowbody I have. I might get it refretted. Ellen High action cannot necessarily be easily fixed. It can mean something as simple as a truss-rod adjustment or as horrendous as a reset. Freeman Keller does a good job of explaining the ins and outs of this in his sticky but I can distill much of his specifics to the one most important question a person can ask when checking out a guitar: Is the action somewhere between medium and low and is there at least 1/8th inch of saddle exposed? If you get an affirmative, it can be consided a good indication that the guitar is in reasonable structural condition. If you get a negative, you should look elsewhere.
Members guitarcapo Posted December 20, 2006 Members Posted December 20, 2006 That's a Japanese one. All plywood and glued with epoxy. Impossible to neck reset. No truss rod either from the looks of it. Stay away. THIS on the other hand is the real {censored}! See how nice they clean up if you have them restored?
Members guitarist21 Posted December 20, 2006 Author Members Posted December 20, 2006 Originally posted by guitarcapo That's a Japanese one. All plywood and glued with epoxy. Impossible to neck reset. No truss rod either from the looks of it. Stay away.THIS on the other hand is the real {censored}!See how nice they clean up if you have them restored? Saw both of those ad was impressed also. I'm going to do some hunting around. I'm not a big fan of ebay, but I do have a huge soft spot for 70's Harmonies. I'll keep my eyes open for the next one. Or if one of those up there doesn't sell. Ellen
Members guitarcapo Posted December 20, 2006 Members Posted December 20, 2006 Harmony went out of business in the early 70's and then the name was sold to an Asian company. HUGE difference in quality. Stick to 1950's to 1960's Harmonys in my opinion. Asian Harmonys are way cheaper in quality compared to American Harmonys. The Asian ones are all plywood including the top. The glue is epoxy. No solid woods anywhere to be seen. Polyester finish.Just all crap. Part of the reason Harmonys are so undervalued is because of the reputation nosedive that happened when the name was sold to Japan. Another example I can think of is Epiphone. In the 1940's Epiphone was a guitar on par with Gibson as far as quality goes. Nowdays on the vintage market an Epiphone sells for a lot less than a similar Gibson of the same era. It's because of the consumer's association that Epiphones are inferior to Gibsons...which was created decades later when Gibson bought Epiphone and sold it out to Japan.
Members guitarist21 Posted December 21, 2006 Author Members Posted December 21, 2006 Originally posted by guitarcapo Harmony went out of business in the early 70's and then the name was sold to an Asian company. HUGE difference in quality. Stick to 1950's to 1960's Harmonys in my opinion. Asian Harmonys are way cheaper in quality compared to American Harmonys. Its too bad, really. My current Harmony work-in-progress is a seventies semi-hollowbody evidently constructed of the finest plywood in all Asia. It sounds great nonetheless, but is in serious need of a refret. But otherwise, I'll keep on the lookout for 50's and 60's Harmonys. Ellen
Members guitarcapo Posted December 21, 2006 Members Posted December 21, 2006 Actually the original Harmony factory took up a whole city block in Chicago. When they went out of business they basically opened the doors to the factory and let people buy stuff. I wish I was there. Apparently there were racks of necks, bodies, pickups, hardware...and the machines to make them. They were practically giving the stuff away. One guitar maker said that they were trying to sell stuff in large quantities because there was so much. All those machines that bend the wood to make an acoustic. The machines that cut and shape the guitar necks. Bridge makers...Basically a woodworkers paradise all for sale cheap.
Members fastvfr Posted December 21, 2006 Members Posted December 21, 2006 I can see why no one bought that thing for almost $100 shipped. Personally I wouldn't have paid $40 for it, delivered to my door. That binding is flat N-A-S-T-Y!!! The saddle's been ground away, so it's obvious that the action is Hawaiian-high (hope whoever buys it has a decent slide!) and the construction is such that the neck cannot be reset without the guitar being altered to a bolt-on style. Not worth it, IMO, unless you are a fully-equipped luthier looking for a time-consuming practice job--and can pick it up for really cheap.
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