I own 17 guitars, from a $20 pawn shop Rogue Racketeer, to a fender Pro Tele. But my FAVORITE guitar is my granddaddy's old 50's Silvertone archtop he bought at Sears. Nothing else in the whole world sounds like that!
I bought a new Harmony 1260 Soverign in 1970 and still love it. I had a neck reset done( of course) and got new tuners and put in a Baggs pickup. It is great, I will never part with it. I have other good guitars but this one is a cannon.
Back in time ( 60's 70's ) we could afford Harmony, not Martin or Gibson. The Sovereign often rivaled Gibson and Martin in quality and playability. Thanks for the memories.
I currently own two ‘60s Harmony arch tops (an H1215 and a Monterey with another 1215 on its way to me next week!) but never played one of their flattops. These are great videos, man!
I appreciate the old Harmony and Regal chicago made guitars and have had a few. This week I found a pawn shop 1948 pristine, never played all original Harmony made single 0 parlor 24 scale Harmony made, "Bob West" cowboy guitar, basically a stella design. I looks to be solid birch with a possible ebony or very dark rosewood fretboard, not the ebonized stained pearwood like most of these cheap catalog guitars. I strung some 11-50 strings on it and rounded out the square shaped brass frets and it came to life and is an incredible sounding guitar for folk and blues. It is going to my luthier soon to get a full set up and whatever it needs as it will be a keeper. It is very "waterlooesque" in feel and tone, like a wl-S.
Subscribed just because you're a fellow Harmony lover old enough to have a long standing appreciation for these fine instruments, not some young buck jumping on the latest fad or bandwagon. Concerning re-issues: The Harmony moniker has been resurrected but only as far as the electric guitars. Missing are the awesome acoustic renditions that were Harmony's bread and butter. There also now exist new Silvertone branded guitars unassociated with Harmony. They're mostly based on the old Harmony made Silvertones designs, including a Sovereign jumbo model. Unfortunately they've been heavily watered down by "modern" tweaking. Gone are the 3/4 inch nuts and full C necks. Instead the new ones sport 1 11/16 inch nuts on modern skinny C necks. Gone are the spanish string thru bridges or tailstock with floating bridge renditions. The modern versions all sport pin bridges. To top it off I believe they're all laminate construction like the later asian "Harmony" renditions as oposed to the solid birch or solid spruce mahogany Harmony made Silvertones of yesteryear.
Awesome! I have a mid 50s Harmony single O size. All birch wood. No idea what the exact model is. It was refurbished a bit and I really enjoy it! Other then the crappy spray paint “burst”. I really should strip that off one day.
I own 17 guitars, from a $20 pawn shop Rogue Racketeer, to a fender Pro Tele. But my FAVORITE guitar is my granddaddy's old 50's Silvertone archtop he bought at Sears. Nothing else in the whole world sounds like that!
Great information, please keep it coming 👍
I bought a new Harmony 1260 Soverign in 1970 and still love it. I had a neck reset done( of course) and got new tuners and put in a Baggs pickup. It is great, I will never part with it. I have other good guitars but this one is a cannon.
The Sovereign is my personal favorite
Back in time ( 60's 70's ) we could afford Harmony, not Martin or Gibson. The Sovereign often rivaled Gibson and Martin in quality and playability. Thanks for the memories.
I currently own two ‘60s Harmony arch tops (an H1215 and a Monterey with another 1215 on its way to me next week!) but never played one of their flattops. These are great videos, man!
Thanks
I appreciate the old Harmony and Regal chicago made guitars and have had a few. This week I found a pawn shop 1948 pristine, never played all original Harmony made single 0 parlor 24 scale Harmony made, "Bob West" cowboy guitar, basically a stella design. I looks to be solid birch with a possible ebony or very dark rosewood fretboard, not the ebonized stained pearwood like most of these cheap catalog guitars. I strung some 11-50 strings on it and rounded out the square shaped brass frets and it came to life and is an incredible sounding guitar for folk and blues. It is going to my luthier soon to get a full set up and whatever it needs as it will be a keeper. It is very "waterlooesque" in feel and tone, like a wl-S.
Another great video. Thanks again. Nice guitars and vibes in these vids.
good video
Subscribed just because you're a fellow Harmony lover old enough to have a long standing appreciation for these fine instruments, not some young buck jumping on the latest fad or bandwagon.
Concerning re-issues:
The Harmony moniker has been resurrected but only as far as the electric guitars. Missing are the awesome acoustic renditions that were Harmony's bread and butter.
There also now exist new Silvertone branded guitars unassociated with Harmony. They're mostly based on the old Harmony made Silvertones designs, including a Sovereign jumbo model. Unfortunately they've been heavily watered down by "modern" tweaking. Gone are the 3/4 inch nuts and full C necks. Instead the new ones sport 1 11/16 inch nuts on modern skinny C necks. Gone are the spanish string thru bridges or tailstock with floating bridge renditions. The modern versions all sport pin bridges. To top it off I believe they're all laminate construction like the later asian "Harmony" renditions as oposed to the solid birch or solid spruce mahogany Harmony made Silvertones of yesteryear.
Awesome! I have a mid 50s Harmony single O size. All birch wood. No idea what the exact model is. It was refurbished a bit and I really enjoy it! Other then the crappy spray paint “burst”. I really should strip that off one day.
I have a 1930 Sovereign I inherited. Know anything about the older ones?
Gary....what's your opinion of the H 159?
Great... now everybody knows...