Harmony Guitars Club

[LGOberean]

Maybe you should get one of those pickups that clip on to the end of fretboard.

Okay, now comes the "true confessions" / really embarrassing part. I actually own a clip-on pickup system, specifically IK Multimedia's iRig Acoustic Stage...but I can't find it!

The day of the gig I went to where I thought the iRig A.S. was...but it wasn't. So I started searching everywhere, but to no avail. I have a thread over in the Bad Dog Café about New Year's resolutions, and one of them is to clean and organize my office/music room/man cave. If it wasn't obvious to me before that said resolution is an important one, yesterday's incident proves it.

So when I couldn't find it and it was obvious that I wasn't going to discover where I misplaced it without actually diving into the cleanup project/resolution (which I didn't have time for), I experimented with with putting a Shure mic in front of the guitar, only to find that unwanted noise was the result if I turned up loud enough for outdoor gig volume. So I took the tele acoustic/electric instead.

BTW, here is a pic of the rig, taken last month. My Logan Custom acoustic/electric tele style and my Fishman Loudbox Mini Charge.

 

[bottomfeeder]

Nice rig

 

[Wildeman]

I've got some real nice Kay's and Regal's too. Should we start a new club or just start showin off our budget vintage American guitars here?

 

[Bangdapoontwang]

I’ve had this loaded pickguard with a single gold foil in it sitting around waiting for a project. It sounds beautiful! It’s all original 1966. I even have the bridge and tailpiece. It would be such a easy build. I just need to do it already.

 

[bottomfeeder]

I've got some real nice Kay's and Regal's too. Should we start a new club or just start showin off our budget vintage American guitars here?

I've got two Kay's under rehabilitation, but no Harmonys. There are tons of "Kay" guitars out there, especially when you include Truetone, Old Kraftsman, Airline etc. I'm fine combing all, but a new club could be cool.

 

[Wildeman]

I've got two Kay's under rehabilitation, but no Harmonys. There are tons of "Kay" guitars out there, especially when you include Truetone, Old Kraftsman, Airline etc. I'm fine combing all, but a new club could be cool.

Well, I'll start then...

that's a Oscar Schmidt 12string...
.. Blind Willie McTell seems to dig it...

 

[Wildeman]

I’ve had this loaded pickguard with a single gold foil in it sitting around waiting for a project. It sounds beautiful! It’s all original 1966. I even have the bridge and tailpiece. It would be such a easy build. I just need to do it already. View attachment 808282View attachment 808283

Doooooo it!

 

[strat a various]

I’ve had this loaded pickguard with a single gold foil in it sitting around waiting for a project. It sounds beautiful! It’s all original 1966. I even have the bridge and tailpiece. It would be such a easy build. I just need to do it already. View attachment 808282View attachment 808283

I have a gold-foil on my old Harmony archtop. Maybe someone can tell me what the name of the model is: it's from the 60s, has painted faux-binding and an extra painted pin-line around the top right at the edge. It's dark sunburst, steel reinforced neck, no adjustment.

Maybe H1215?

 

[LGOberean]

I've got some real nice Kay's and Regal's too. Should we start a new club or just start showin off our budget vintage American guitars here?

I don't mind references to and/or pics of Kays and Regals here, but after 11-1/2 years and 600+ comments, I think it would muddy the waters if this was turned into a "Vintage American Guitars" thread. I'd much rather see new club threads started for Kays and Regals. And like @bottomfeeder said, such a new club thread would be cool.

 

[bottomfeeder]

OK. Its done. https://www.tdpri.com/threads/kay-regal-and-related-brands-owners-club.1060308/
Lets see some posts.

 

[LGOberean]

Yesterday was a VGHD (Very Good Harmony Day) for me. I started a thread about it over in the Bad Dog Café, but here's the link...

 

[LGOberean]

Okay, this past Thursday was a Very Good Harmony Day for me, as in Harmony guitar related content. There were two parts to that very good Harmony day, and so I created a thread about the first part, which I posted a link to above.

Long story short? I got to play my 1953 Harmony Broadway H954 archtop at a gig.

Long story long? Well, here again is a link to the thread.

But when I got home from that afternoon gig for seniors, the Harmony guitar goodness just continued. So here is Part Deux of my VGHD.

I didn't get on TDPRI immediately upon returning home, but not long after. And when I did, I found an Alert notification that fellow member @Wildeman had quoted an earlier post I made in the "Kay, Regal and Related Brands" owners club thread.

My post had been about my guitar-playing heritage, how my father and his father before him were guitar players. I included scanned images of photographs taken of them with guitars.

The first pic was taken circa 1920, of my grandfather and his brother posed outdoors holding instruments: my great uncle had a banjo, my Granddad had a guitar.

The second pic was of my Dad and his twin brother, taken circa 1949, also posing outdoors with instruments: my uncle on mandolin, and my Dad on guitar.

Six years or so ago, I searched the Interwebs for any clues as to the brand of guitars Granddad and Dad were posing with back then. Steve Chipman of Vintage Parlor Guitars, who restores and sells old parlors, ventured an educated guess that they could be Regals. Accordingly, I posted those pics in that Regal etc. club thread.

So, back to Wildeman's quote and reply. I followed the Alert notification link, and he had replied, saying "I think i found the one your Dad is playing, a Supertone (Harmony) sold by Sears ca.1930's." He included a couple of pics...

I replied, "By Golly! I think you just might have, at that!" I created a side-by-side image of the one of Dad's with that Supertone pic Wideman shared...

I've searched since using "Supertone" in the search parameter, and I've come across dozens of pics of parlor sized guitars branded "Supertone." A couple I found had that same style of fretboard, which turns out not to be some pearloid/MOTS material, but essentially painted on. Several have that same "T" shaped metal tailpiece, which one site described as "Kluson."

And I found a dozen or more pics of this same model, known as "The Prep." Some online examples said it was from the 1930s, others said 1940s. Of course, the guitar could have been in production in a part of both decades. Either way, that could fit what my Dad was playing. My Dad was born in 1932, but since his father also played guitar, it could have/probably was a guitar Granddad bought in the '30s that my Dad played in his teen years. Or if the guitar Dad was holding was made in the 1940s, like I said, that pic of Dad with guitar was taken around 1949.

The Harmony connection here is that the Supertone brand was the name given to instruments made by Harmony for Sears. At some point in the '40s, the Supertone brand name was replaced by "Silvertone" as the guitars Sears offered in their catalogs.

So I have little doubt now that the guitar in Dad's hands was a Supertone "Prep." And from 1961 on until I left home, Dad favored the Harmony brand. He had a Stella H929, an Archtone H1213, and a Harmony Silhouette H19.

So, there you have it: the second part of my Very Good Harmony Day. Makes no difference to anybody else, I guess (except maybe my guitar-playing kid brother), but I just wanted to share. And to once again publicly than Wildeman for this discovery.

 

[Wildeman]

NHD!
1952ish H50!! This model has been on my radar for 30 yrs or so and i was finally able to snag one. Great acoustic tone with a powerful P13 pickup, killer combination.

this is a top line guitar here, no department store cheeze (though i do own and love plenty of those).

 

[bottomfeeder]

NHD!
1952ish H50!! This model has been on my radar for 30 yrs or so and i was finally able to snag one. Great acoustic tone with a powerful P13 pickup, killer combination.View attachment 817438 View attachment 817439 this is a top line guitar here, no department store cheeze (though i do own and love plenty of those).

SWEEEET

 

[LGOberean]

Question: would you swap out the tuners on this Harmony?

I've posted here pics and description of this guitar. It's my 1953 Broadway H954, which I acquired last May. The guy I bought it from claimed that it was all original except for an end pin/strap button. If that's true, then the tuners are original.

Now the tuners work, more or less. The strings don't hold a tuning from one day to the next, but they usually don't need much more than a tweaking here and there. But they don't turn easily. Only the tuner for the high E string turns without the need of extra torque. The tuners for the B and A strings are particularly hard to turn, the other three are not as bad but still put up some resistance.

I know that this is not a highly sought after/collectible guitar, and swapping the tuners out for some modern Grovers or even Waverlys wouldn't hurt the resale value of the guitar for a lot of people. But it would kinda bother me. A large part of this guitar's appeal to me is this 1953 is original. I was born in '53; this is my "birth year" guitar. I have no plans to ever sell it. What my wife does with it after I'm gone is not a concern to me.

I think I'm answering my own question even as I type out my post, but still I'll put it to y'all. What would you do? Swap 'em out, or keep 'em original?

 

[bottomfeeder]

I bought one of these for my Kay restoration
Kluson traditional 3 per plate, Oval Plastic Button, Single Line Nickel WD90NPP https://reverb.com/item/7594094-kluson-traditional-3-per-plate-oval-plastic-button-single-line-nickel-wd90npp?utm_source=android-app&utm_medium=android-share&utm_campaign=listing&utm_content=7594094
Check the alignment specs. They may drop right in. If they're a direct fit....no harm.

 

[Wildeman]

Question: would you swap out the tuners on this Harmony?

View attachment 819594

I've posted here pics and description of this guitar. It's my 1953 Broadway H954, which I acquired last May. The guy I bought it from claimed that it was all original except for an end pin/strap button. If that's true, then the tuners are original.

Now the tuners work, more or less. The strings don't hold a tuning from one day to the next, but they usually don't need much more than a tweaking here and there. But they don't turn easily. Only the tuner for the high E string turns without the need of extra torque. The tuners for the B and A strings are particularly hard to turn, the other three are not as bad but still put up some resistance.

I know that this is not a highly sought after/collectible guitar, and swapping the tuners out for some modern Grovers or even Waverlys wouldn't hurt the resale value of the guitar for a lot of people. But it would kinda bother me. A large part of this guitar's appeal to me is this 1953 is original. I was born in '53; this is my "birth year" guitar. I have no plans to ever sell it. What my wife does with it after I'm gone is not a concern to me.

I think I'm answering my own question even as I type out my post, but still I'll put it to y'all. What would you do? Swap 'em out, or keep 'em original?

Those look stock all right, have you tried lubing them? Also, the screws on the gear might be too tight. They are pretty good tuners and can usually be made to work well.
Another thing, do you hang the guitar by its neck? I have some that hate that and will be unstable for a while when i take them down.

 

[LGOberean]

I bought one of these for my Kay restoration
Kluson traditional 3 per plate, Oval Plastic Button, Single Line Nickel WD90NPP https://reverb.com/item/7594094-kluson-traditional-3-per-plate-oval-plastic-button-single-line-nickel-wd90npp?utm_source=android-app&utm_medium=android-share&utm_campaign=listing&utm_content=7594094
Check the alignment specs. They may drop right in. If they're a direct fit....no harm.

I tried to follow the link but it brought up an error page. Thanks, though. I may try just searching Kluson traditional tuners myself and see what I find.

Those look stock all right, have you tried lubing them? Also, the screws on the gear might be too tight. They are pretty good tuners and can usually be made to work well.
Another thing, do you hang the guitar by its neck? I have some that hate that and will be unstable for a while when i take them down.

I've never heard that bit about some guitars being unstable (I assume you meant with regards to tuning issues) after being hung by the neck. I have ten guitars on hangers in my living room. I haven't really paid attention to their tuning stability when I take them down. And some stay on their hangers longer than others. Now I'm curious; I may have to conduct an experiment on this.

BTW, the only time I've had the Harmony Broadway on one of the hangers was for picture taking. Most of the time, it is in my man cave on a guitar stand. It gets played a lot. Sometimes I store it in its case when I'm looking to switch out the guitar I play regularly.

As for the tuners on the Broadway, I'll try lubing and loosening screws before I consider changing them. Or I could just live with it. Of course, if I swapped out the tuners I would keep the originals.

 

[Wildeman]

I tried to follow the link but it brought up an error page. Thanks, though. I may try just searching Kluson traditional tuners myself and see what I find.




I've never heard that bit about some guitars being unstable (I assume you meant with regards to tuning issues) after being hung by the neck. I have ten guitars on hangers in my living room. I haven't really paid attention to their tuning stability when I take them down. And some stay on their hangers longer than others. Now I'm curious; I may have to conduct an experiment on this.

BTW, the only time I've had the Harmony Broadway on one of the hangers was for picture taking. Most of the time, it is in my man cave on a guitar stand. It gets played a lot. Sometimes I store it in its case when I'm looking to switch out the guitar I play regularly.

As for the tuners on the Broadway, I'll try lubing and loosening screws before I consider changing them. Or I could just live with it. Of course, if I swapped out the tuners I would keep the originals.

Also, the nut is usually more a culprit in tuning problems. If there is any binding, it will do strange things. Do you ever hear any pinging at any time (re-stringing, tuning or playing)?

 

[Wildeman]

New Meteor, it's a '66 and plays and sounds great. Its getting hard to find these types of guitars nowadays, they were low hanging fruit back in the day, not so much now. I had a three pickup Silvertone with a Bigsby and 3 or 4 Rockets back then but never a Meteor, it's better than i remember any of them being, very happy to have it. Ive already bought the correct pickup for it though I'm in no hurry to change it as it sounds killer.