Tell me about Harmony Rocket guitars .

[cbnutt]

Just looking at them on Reverb , never played one , they look cool, would they be a good classic old country guitar ? Are the necks decent or ball bat like , hard to play ? Was thinking about the 2 pickup models with a bigsby type tail , looks like they were under differant names for Sears, Wards etc. but same guitar , like to hear your thoughts , experiance on these , thanks , .

 

[Boreas]

The "Rocket" style guitars were sold under many brand names, but were all built about the same. Very popular in the 60s. I have owned a couple Silvertones (Sears) and enjoyed them all - and still own my favorite. Sturdily built, bolt-on necks, often with Bigsbys, reasonably light, and usually unique pickup styles - foils, lipsticks, and mini-humbuckers. Most, if not all, were full hollow-bodies, so feedback can be an issue in certain circumstances. MANY models shared the same body/neck with different appointments.

Necks are not for shredders, but very comfortable. 12-14" radius fretboards. To me, the necks felt and played very much like vintage Gibsons. Tuners usually junk. Hard to find a vintage model with original tuners. Really not many downsides to these guitars other than lack of esteem among cork-sniffers. Poor-man's Casino...

 

[mandoloony]

they be a good classic old country guitar ?

No reason they couldn't be. The DeArmonds have a chimey sound, with low output, and they can definitely twang if you want them to.

Are the necks decent or ball bat like , hard to play ?

They're on the chunky side but not baseball bats, at least not compared with earlier Harmony models. The real problem with old Harmony guitars was the frets, which were often questionable when they left the factory. Don't be surprised if the original frets are uneven and heavily worn; they were made of a softer material than Fender or Gibson used at the time.

Was thinking about the 2 pickup models with a bigsby type tail

The 2-pickup models were the H54 (trapeze) and H56 (Harmony's own vibrato). A Bigsby would be non-original to these models.

There are also double-cutaway Rocket models from the '70s (H654 and H656) but they're pretty rare.

looks like they were under differant names for Sears, Wards etc. but same guitar

The Rocket models were not sold through Sears or Ward, but Harmony did make other guitars for the Silvertone and Airline brands. I believe I've seen a re-branded Rocket sold through Aldens, though.

 

[bottlenecker]

Rockets are some of the best sounding hollowbody electric guitars ever made in my opinion. When I see pros playing them, they are almost always the guys playing very tasty stuff, because they have taste.
Harmony guitars are not usually maintained like a professional instrument, so they take extra effort and attention to set them up right when a player finds one. The people who play them put in the extra effort because they value that sound.
Please don't get a rocket if you think you might put a tune-o-matic bridge or different pickups on it. That's the quickest way to ruin the sound. Look for one that's as original as possible, because a lot of people don't understand them well enough to actually improve them.

 

[telestratosonic]

Just looking at them on Reverb , never played one , they look cool, would they be a good classic old country guitar ? Are the necks decent or ball bat like , hard to play ? Was thinking about the 2 pickup models with a bigsby type tail , looks like they were under differant names for Sears, Wards etc. but same guitar , like to hear your thoughts , experiance on these , thanks , .

In the 1964 Simpsons-Sears Christmas Catalogue, the Harmony double-cutaway Rocket III (three pickups) sold for $135 CAD (which was about the same in USD at the time I think). My friend got one for Christmas that year. My parents couldn't afford one for me so I received a $99 Harmony hollow-body single-pickup Les Paul copy which I used as a bass guitar and a rhythm guitar.

In 1965, at 15, we started a 3-piece band playing instrumentals (Tequila, Wipeout, Pipeline, Raunchy, Walk Don't Run et cetera) at Friday-night teenage dances in the Masonic Lodge basement, Anglican parish hall and the Fisherman's Lodge. Truth be told, our rather short set list forced us to play the same songs two or three times a night.

This was back on 'The Rock' (Newfoundland).

I played his Rocket III many times and it was a decent guitar. My friend was a fine guitar player even at 15 and he made it sound good even with our Simpsons-Sears catalogue mail-order amps. It wasn't a Gibson or a Gretch but it worked for him.

 

[Peegoo]

The necks are very similar to the original Danelectros: much less taper (width) as you progress up the neck, compared to most other guitars. It's a different feel, but not a bad thing.

They are quirky and finnicky, but nothing else sounds like one. They are very crisp and twangy. Here's one from my guitar pile.

4

 

[Hodgo88]

Early on I found one at the suggestion of my guitar teacher as a cheaper version of the Epiphone Wildkat I was lusting over. IIRC it had six knobs going down the side of it. Hollow but not lightweight, neck was a sort of medium chunky and the frets were small and very worn when I got it. I never bonded with that particular guitar mostly because the action was sky high and the pots were scratchy, and I never bothered to learn how to fix those issues.

I recently played a couple well set up examples while I was visiting Spacetone in San Antonio and they all played similar to older Gibson ES models feel wise. Plugged in they are bright and chimey at full bore, honestly maybe a bit underpowered for my tastes. I didn’t buy one but the prices were certainly not objectionable!

 

[cbnutt]

Do the ones with vibrato work pretty good , keeps tunning good ?

 

[mandoloony]

The Harmony vibrato is not as smooth as a Bigsby or a Fender vibrato. If you're looking at one with a Bigsby added, it's down to the quality of the setup like any other Bigsby-equipped guitar, i.e. the nut and bridge.

 

[Otisblove]

Are you guys talking about old Harmony guitars or the new ones?

 

[Dan German]

In the 1964 Simpsons-Sears Christmas Catalogue, the Harmony double-cutaway Rocket III (three pickups) sold for $135 CAD (which was about the same in USD at the time I think).

I have long known about Sears guitars, but until recently I hadn’t twigged that Simpsons-Sears would sell them, too. Mine’s not a Rocket, but the weirdness of a Simpsons-Sears label on the guitar makes me chuckle.

 

[cbnutt]

The Harmony vibrato is not as smooth as a Bigsby or a Fender vibrato. If you're looking at one with a Bigsby added, it's down to the quality of the setup like any other Bigsby-equipped guitar, i.e. the nut and bridge. > Thanks , was looking at one on Reverb that has the origanal vibrato , i am guessing a person could add a real Bigsby to one that didnt have one at all though ?

 

[cbnutt]

@Otisblove , the old ones .

 

[mandoloony]

Thanks , was looking at one on Reverb that has the origanal vibrato , i am guessing a person could add a real Bigsby to one that didnt have one at all though ?

Yeah, I'm 99% sure the original vibrato does not have any routing into the body. You'd just be left with a few extra screw holes plus some new ones for the Bigsby.

 

[Tricone]

I just know what my ears tell me. That is that a vintage Harmony Rocket with original p/u's have a warm, round , lo-fi tone on the neck and sweet clash and twang on the bridge. There is a lot of cool ground to cover between those two points.

 

[Shorty Medlock]

In the 1964 Simpsons-Sears Christmas Catalogue, the Harmony double-cutaway Rocket III (three pickups) sold for $135 CAD (which was about the same in USD at the time I think). My friend got one for Christmas that year. My parents couldn't afford one for me so I received a $99 Harmony hollow-body single-pickup Les Paul copy which I used as a bass guitar and a rhythm guitar

In 1965, at 15, we started a 3-piece band playing instrumentals (Tequila, Wipeout, Pipeline, Raunchy, Walk Don't Run et cetera) at Friday-night teenage dances in the Masonic Lodge basement, Anglican parish hall and the Fisherman's Lodge. Truth be told, our rather short set list forced us to play the same songs two or three times a night.

This was back on 'The Rock' in Newfoundland.

I played his Rocket III many times and it was a decent guitar. My friend was a fine guitar player even at 15 and he made it sound good even with our Simpsons-Sears catalogue mail-order amps. It wasn't a Gibson or a Gretch but it worked for him.

You copied my 1964 play list. My attorney will be in touch...

 

[cbnutt]

Theres a lot on Reverb now , its tempting , apears some older ones didnt have ajustable rods , would you mind one that didnt , or would it matter much ?

 

[mandoloony]

I would stick with an adjustable truss rod if you can. Just one more way you can maximize the playability.

 

[boris bubbanov]

The necks are very similar to the original Danelectros: much less taper (width) as you progress up the neck, compared to most other guitars. It's a different feel, but not a bad thing.

They are quirky and finnicky, but nothing else sounds like one. They are very crisp and twangy. Here's one from my guitar pile.

4

I think I got mine in 1966. Christmas, 1966. It was the Heathkit version, and had a crude vibrato in place of the bridge you see above. You had to install the wiring and the pots, which was kinda fun actually.

Easily the worst guitar I have ever owned, and I've owned hundreds. The neck, despite being crazy thick, was unstable. Fretwork awful, but you order these sight unseen. My bandmates complained about these pickups, and always smiled when I borrowed something else to do the shows. I also had access to a Farfisa and owned a '66 Fender lap steel, and they seemed to prefer putting songs on our playlist that called for me to play these instruments - instead of the dreaded Rocket.

 

[Ringo]

Some of the higher end Harmony / Silvertone etc guitars had Gibson made pickups. The econo versions had cheaper pickups which have their own sound.
The necks tend to be chunky, tiny frets and as mentioned they are narrow pretty much the same width from the nut to the body. Which feels a LOT different to me.
They can be cool alternative guitars but I wouldn't spend big money on one. Not when there are so many much better alternatives out there.