Members deadllama Posted January 20, 2011 Members Share Posted January 20, 2011 I love Harmony guitars. I had one (a Silvertone 1477) and sold it, and now I'm looking to get another one. Thing is, now the company that owns the Harmony name is making reissues in Korea that look to be pretty well made and pretty accurate. So my question is this: anybody have one of the MIK Harmony reissues? Are they any good? For some of the hollowbodies it might be a cheaper option, but for the most part they seem to be more expensive than the originals. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Mike Fiasco Posted January 20, 2011 Members Share Posted January 20, 2011 I haven't seen a new one. The old electrics were pretty bad with cheap hardware and sometimes flimsy necks. Even the made in Chicago acoustics weren't all that good compared to Martin and Gibson. Servicable but not sought after. I'll bet the reissues would be pretty good though. The will probably retain the best Harmony attribute - funky eye-appeal. Korea makes good guitars. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members deadllama Posted January 20, 2011 Author Members Share Posted January 20, 2011 The old electrics were pretty bad with cheap hardware and sometimes flimsy necks. Fightin' words! My 1477 had a neck like a baseball bat, and was one of the best-feeling guitars I've ever played. ...although the hardware (besides the pickups) was really crappy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members fretmonster Posted January 20, 2011 Members Share Posted January 20, 2011 I think you're going to be dissapointed if you're looking to get that vibe with an import. I agree that some of the 60's MIA Harmonys and Silvertones (made by Harmony) were wonderful guitars. I stupidly sold a Silvertone shortscale H-15 or something with the red foil DArmond pickups. That thing had a wonderful vintage voice and set up real well and the vibrato worked without going out of tune. Only drawbacks were the control placement (had to be careful not to knock the volume while strumming) and the lack of fret markers. I will never sell my H-19 now that the tuners, and bridge have been replaced (also has a bigsby), it plays and sounds absolutely fabulous. People should remember that Harmony was at one time the largest manufacturer of electric guitars and before they moved their manufacturing to Japan, used quality woods and electronics. My H19 has a Brazilian Rosewood fretboard. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Mike Fiasco Posted January 20, 2011 Members Share Posted January 20, 2011 The MIA's were essentially Danelectros, right? Different story from the Harmony imports. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members fretmonster Posted January 20, 2011 Members Share Posted January 20, 2011 The MIA's were essentially Danelectros, right? Different story from the Harmony imports. Not really. They did make a Stratotone that was similar in construction to the Danos. Here's a pic of my hotrodded H-19 from the 60s. In the middle Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Mel Cooley Posted January 20, 2011 Members Share Posted January 20, 2011 A shop near me has some. They're technically nicer guitars than the ones made in Chicago, but they completely lack the cool in your face twang of the originals. Better build quality, better fret work, necks that actually have a contour (i.e. wider at the body than at the nut) , etc. However the pickups are nothing like the Rowe Industry pickups from the '60s. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members D Carroll Posted January 20, 2011 Members Share Posted January 20, 2011 They seem to not be releasing the 802.I do not like this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Elias Graves Posted January 20, 2011 Members Share Posted January 20, 2011 They certainly seem to be proud of the new ones. Those prices are EG Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members fretmonster Posted January 20, 2011 Members Share Posted January 20, 2011 A shop near me has some. They're technically nicer guitars than the ones made in Chicago, but they completely lack the cool in your face twang of the originals. Better build quality, better fret work, necks that actually have a contour (i.e. wider at the body than at the nut) , etc. However the pickups are nothing like the Rowe Industry pickups from the '60s. I can see where the bridge design (metal roller one particularly) and the flat slab (ric style) necks could be improved upon. What sets the originals apart in my mind is not only the pickups but the wood and electronics. The two I've owned are very resonant guitars (they just sing), have very stable necks w/ very good fretwork, and I've never had a scratchy pot - not bad for a 50 year old guitar. Bear in mind that I have not actually seen or played the new reissue line, but am going on their other recent models which did not use the best electronics or musical woods. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Verne Andru Posted January 20, 2011 Members Share Posted January 20, 2011 I checked out their booth at NAMM last year. Nice guitars and I would echo Mel Cooley's sentiments. I just checked out their site again [http://www.harmonyguitars.com] and the models I looked at are made in Korea. Prices have dropped considerably from when they launched a few years back and are consistent with other manufacturers. I like the Stratotones and Rockets from their Vintage line up and see they have a well priced Les Paul style in their Custom listings. The H310 Archtop has particularly nice specs for an MSRP $799 price tag - I think I'll check one out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Patuney Posted January 21, 2011 Members Share Posted January 21, 2011 I settled for a sunburst with a crack.........:poke: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Fuelish Posted January 21, 2011 Members Share Posted January 21, 2011 Have yet to see the re-issues in person, only on-line... no shops here carry them.... I started out learning and playing a Harmony H15 back in '68-ish (???), played it for decades, trashed it when the neck got broken while moving (stupid on my part, now that folks are selling parts on eBay and it was a bolt-on in original form.....new ones are set neck, it seems) Wish I still had it, have toyed with the idea of picking up a new one, but..... dunno if it would be the same - the gold foil pups were quite good - knowing what I know now, that was actually a pretty decent guitar....but I always thought it was crap because it wasn't a Les Paul...oh, well, water under the bridge, and all. Due to present $$$ circumstances, am limited to guitar and amp upkeep for the near future, anyway. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Mel Cooley Posted January 21, 2011 Members Share Posted January 21, 2011 I can see where the bridge design (metal roller one particularly) and the flat slab (ric style) necks could be improved upon. What sets the originals apart in my mind is not only the pickups but the wood and electronics. The two I've owned are very resonant guitars (they just sing), have very stable necks w/ very good fretwork, and I've never had a scratchy pot - not bad for a 50 year old guitar. Bear in mind that I have not actually seen or played the new reissue line, but am going on their other recent models which did not use the best electronics or musical woods. I wasn't even going to go there. The originals are shielded and have good pots. They wouldn't have dreamed of using imported stuff on the old ones. The electronics on the new ones do in fact suck. As for construction, they're modern guitars and quite solidly made. I never got that feeling from any of the old Rockets I've owned over the years. It's hard to find a hollowbody vintage Harmony without a cracked jack area or a hump in the neck where in attaches to the body. I won't argue the "plastic" vs. nitro finish difference. The old ones have definitely had time to come alive, etc. In the end, the new Harmonys look cool and conventionally play better (the necks aren't as wildly fat as the old ones either), but totally lack sound wise. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Verne Andru Posted January 21, 2011 Members Share Posted January 21, 2011 I wasn't even going to go there. The originals are shielded and have good pots. They wouldn't have dreamed of using imported stuff on the old ones. The electronics on the new ones do in fact suck. As for construction, they're modern guitars and quite solidly made. I never got that feeling from any of the old Rockets I've owned over the years. It's hard to find a hollowbody vintage Harmony without a cracked jack area or a hump in the neck where in attaches to the body. I won't argue the "plastic" vs. nitro finish difference. The old ones have definitely had time to come alive, etc. In the end, the new Harmonys look cool and conventionally play better (the necks aren't as wildly fat as the old ones either), but totally lack sound wise. Good thing IMHO. Electronics can be easily swapped out but there isn't much you can do with a duff body or neck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members fretmonster Posted January 21, 2011 Members Share Posted January 21, 2011 I wasn't even going to go there. The originals are shielded and have good pots. They wouldn't have dreamed of using imported stuff on the old ones. The electronics on the new ones do in fact suck. As for construction, they're modern guitars and quite solidly made. I never got that feeling from any of the old Rockets I've owned over the years. It's hard to find a hollowbody vintage Harmony without a cracked jack area or a hump in the neck where in attaches to the body. I won't argue the "plastic" vs. nitro finish difference. The old ones have definitely had time to come alive, etc. In the end, the new Harmonys look cool and conventionally play better (the necks aren't as wildly fat as the old ones either), but totally lack sound wise. Sounds like your experience has been more with the archtops (Rockets) and mine has been with the Jag designs (friend had a Stratotone). I know those archtops looked a little funky with the bolt-on necks etc., but man do they ever sound good. Check out a blues artist named Rick Holmstrom sometime if you get the chance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Mike Fiasco Posted January 21, 2011 Members Share Posted January 21, 2011 Here's the good and bad of the old 60's or 70's MIJ Harmonys in a nutshell: I love the body shape. I love the pickguard. Even the pickup has a unique sound. The hardware is crap, but the neck is actually ok. It's a 23.5" scale which gives is a wierd vibe too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Buttcrust Posted January 21, 2011 Members Share Posted January 21, 2011 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members deadllama Posted January 22, 2011 Author Members Share Posted January 22, 2011 The Silvertone 1477 I had was the whammy-bar version of the Bobkat, and the neck was more like a club or a bat than anything else, but it played so well you got used to it after a little bit. Mine had an extremely microphonic bridge pickup, but that was okay because I'm more of a neck pickup guy anyways (or at least I was then). What really set that guitar apart was the vibe: the way that bigass neck felt in your hand, the divots worn in the fretboard around the cowboy chords from years of use by whatever kid got it for Christmas in 1966 (I actually bought it from the original owner), the not-too-ugly sunburst, the way the Silvertone logo didn't quite look right on the headstock. Just a great musical instrument. I play a lot of expensive guitars day in and day out, and none of them feel like that Harmony. Not to say the Harmony was objectively better, but it certainly was different, and had mojo for days. Sounds like I'll have to buy another old one to get that feeling again. What's the deal with the Stratotones? They're hollowbodies with no f-holes, correct? Like a Dano? I know Dan Auerbach of the Black Keys has one with dogear P90s on it, but those can't be the original pickups. He played a three-pickup Rocket with a Bigsby when I saw him on his solo tour, too. Killer tone through what looked like a couple of 6E6 Bassman clones. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members fretmonster Posted January 22, 2011 Members Share Posted January 22, 2011 Yep you're right about the Stratotones. Junior Watson and Rick Holmstrom are two bluesers that play them extensively on stage. Prices are goin up on these. Oh, and I'd take one over a vintage Dano any day of the week. [YOUTUBE]sdUEP73E3Mc[/YOUTUBE] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members mistersully Posted January 22, 2011 Members Share Posted January 22, 2011 i like the look of them... shop i bought my amp at today stocks them Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members SirJackdeFuzz Posted January 22, 2011 Members Share Posted January 22, 2011 They certainly seem to be proud of the new ones. Those prices are EG Ahh man tell me about it. I too thought it was gonna be way out there. http://www.harmonyguitars.com/ProductLine.asp?pl=vintage&pid=95E7954A694FF2919B3317348476A7DABFA3703656376067 - $599.00 http://www.harmonyguitars.com/ProductLine.asp?pl=vintage&pid=DE33BE14F71F7D740C3DA7003FCC3817C065C20E645BDFF7 - even Marc Ribot plays one (Robert Plant band) http://www.harmonyguitars.com/ProductLine.asp?pl=vintage&pid=62FCFA3426B44EEE876BE0C35937B16E9316CF9E63560144 - $699.00 "old" guitars with modernday craftsmanship and reliability Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members ajympt Posted January 22, 2011 Members Share Posted January 22, 2011 A local shop has the Ritchie Valens Stratotone- it looks pretty well put together. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members theManfromAlabam Posted January 22, 2011 Members Share Posted January 22, 2011 I want to try out the Rocket54. This dude is awsome! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Verne Andru Posted January 22, 2011 Members Share Posted January 22, 2011 Sounds like I'll have to buy another old one to get that feeling again. What's the deal with the Stratotones? They're hollowbodies with no f-holes, correct? Like a Dano? I know Dan Auerbach of the Black Keys has one with dogear P90s on it, but those can't be the original pickups. He played a three-pickup Rocket with a Bigsby when I saw him on his solo tour, too. Killer tone through what looked like a couple of 6E6 Bassman clones. Both Eastwood and Harmony have reissued the Stratotones. Eastwoods is branded as an Airline. They had a pissing war a few years back as to whose was closest to the original. I think the long and short of the argument went that Eastwood tried to stay truer to the originals in terms of neck, etc. while Harmony took some liberties. The original was a neck through build and I'm not sure which of the reissues kept that feature, if any. And, of course, there's the bickering about the electronics. Best to try both if you're in the market for a Stratotone IMHO. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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