- Sovereign Guitar History
- Harmony Sovereign Guitar H1203
- Straighten A Harmony Sovereign Guitar Neck Guitar
- Harmony Sovereign Guitar For Sale
Here’s a ’60s Harmony Sovereign H1260 on the workbench. Vintage Harmony guitars have become a popular choice for collectors and often fetch high prices on auction sites. The H1260 was produced between 1958 – 1971. The Harmony Guitar Company became the largest producer in the U.S. I learned to play on a Harmony (not a Sovereign; just Harmony) all-mahogany guitar my mother bought me for $20 in 1961 or thereabouts. It was used; a couple of years later I visited a friend who had a Harmony Sovereign that he had gotten for $40; I envied him his guitar: bigger and with a spruce top. Vintage Harmony Sovereign in great condition. All solid wood. The unique body shape is similar to a mini jumbo, giving this guitar a beautiful warm tone. Check out our video on youtube about Harmony guitars. Harmony was also using this bridge on the smaller auditorium size (roughly 000) H1203. String spacing is a generous 57 mm from E to E, wide enough to easily fingerpick. The saddle has been compensated for a perfect intonation all the way up the neck. Harmony H1203 Sovereign - Sunday Morning Serenade Back in 2009, my wife and I spent a long weekend visiting with friends at the Sycamore Haven House Bed & Breakfast. In case you're not familiar with it, this is a wonderful getaway location, in the small Chesapeake Bay town of Susan, Virginia.
The Harmony folk-style Sovereign Jumbo flatop was widely publicised throughout the 1960s, selling in large numbers.
The rich deep sustained bass and clear trebal tones so desirable for folk and Country and Western music are 'built-in' this specially designed Sovereign jumbo model. The large deep body has selected mahogany back and sides, resonant Spruce top, white edge bindings, with inlays. The 'Torque-Lok' reinforced mahogany 'Slim-Line' neck, with ovalled rosewood fingerboard, makes chording and playing fast and Easy. Beautifully finished, highly polished.
Harmony H1260 Sovereign vintage adverts
Acoustic guitar advertisements originally published from 1965 onwards. Click on the images for larger copies. Check out other vintage Harmony advertisements
Harmony 1260 - Harmony guitars (1965)
Mid sixties Harmony advert, showing a solid-body (H19), an acoustic (1260), and an electric semi-acoustic (H75)
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Mid sixties Harmony advert, showing a solid-body (H19), an acoustic (1260), and an electric semi-acoustic (H75)
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Harmony 1260 - The integrity of the Harmony guitar is known by the integrity of its maker (1965)
Mid sixties Harmony adverts for two instruments. The semi-acoustic H-77 and the 1260 acoustic
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Mid sixties Harmony adverts for two instruments. The semi-acoustic H-77 and the 1260 acoustic
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Harmony 1260 - Here are Harmony's Big 3 (1966)
Mid sixties advertisement for three of Harmonys best selling instruments: the H19 solid body, H76 thinline hollow-body and the 1260 flat top acoustic. These three instruments appeared in numerous H..
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Mid sixties advertisement for three of Harmonys best selling instruments: the H19 solid body, H76 thinline hollow-body and the 1260 flat top acoustic. These three instruments appeared in numerous H..
[more]
Harmony 1260 - Now Hear This (1966)
The three instruments appearing in this mid-60s advert are the H19 solid body, H76 thinline hollow-body and the 1260 flat top acoustic. These were Harmony's big-3 instruments and were promoted widely.
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The three instruments appearing in this mid-60s advert are the H19 solid body, H76 thinline hollow-body and the 1260 flat top acoustic. These were Harmony's big-3 instruments and were promoted widely.
[more]
Harmony 1260 - The Crafstmen Come From Here (1967)
In 1967, the American guitar market was under attack. Skilled luthiers at Gibson and Guild were safe, even those these companies had their problems to overcome, but at the lower end, where guitars ..
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In 1967, the American guitar market was under attack. Skilled luthiers at Gibson and Guild were safe, even those these companies had their problems to overcome, but at the lower end, where guitars ..
[more]
Harmony 1260 - Want To Take A Harmony Guitar Apart (1967)
Mid sixties advert highlighting some of the features of a Harmony guitar: the slim necks, truss rod, hollow body construction and De Armond pickups. The fact that Harmony was an American company (f..
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Mid sixties advert highlighting some of the features of a Harmony guitar: the slim necks, truss rod, hollow body construction and De Armond pickups. The fact that Harmony was an American company (f..
[more]
Harmony 1260 - You plug it in, it turns you on (1968)
The title of this advertisement, of course, is a play on Dr. Timothy Leary's 'Turn On, Tune in, Drop out' suggestion, so current amongst the youth of late 1960s America; Harmony new their market. U..
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The title of this advertisement, of course, is a play on Dr. Timothy Leary's 'Turn On, Tune in, Drop out' suggestion, so current amongst the youth of late 1960s America; Harmony new their market. U..
[more]
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Private | |
Industry | Musical instrument |
---|---|
Fate | Company ceased in 1975; 'Harmony' brand relaunched in 2018 |
Founded | 1892; 128 years ago |
Founder | Wilhelm Schultz |
Headquarters | |
Products |
|
Owner | BandLab Technologies |
Website | harmony.co |
The Harmony Company is a former guitar manufacturing company that is currently a brand owned by Singapore company BandLab Technologies. Harmony was, in its heyday, the largest musical instrument manufacturer in the United States. They made many types of string instruments, including ukuleles, acoustic and electric guitars and violins.
The company ceased in 1975, with the 'Harmony' brand being relaunched by BandLab in 2018 to produce electric guitars and amplifiers.[1]
History[edit]
A collection of Harmony guitars: SS Stewart gold acoustic, H73 Roy Smeck, H37 Hollywood, Silvertone 1446, H44 Stratotone
Harmony was founded in 1892 by Wilhelm Schultz. In 1916, Sears, Roebuck and Co. purchased it, in part to corner the ukulele market. At the time Harmony was led by Joe Kraus, who was chairman until 1940.[2]
In 1928, Harmony introduced the first of many Roy Smeck models, and went on to become the largest producer in the U.S. They sold 250,000 pieces in 1923 and 500,000 in 1930, including various models of guitars, banjos, and mandolins.
In the late 1930s, the firm began making violins again after a 19-year hiatus. Windows server 2003 activation check. They also bought brand names from the bankrupt Oscar Schmidt Co.—La Scala, Stella, and Sovereign. They sold not only Harmony products, but instruments under the Sears name, Silvertone, and a variety of trade names—Vogue, Valencia, Johnny Marvin, Monterey, Stella, and others.[citation needed] In 1940, after Kraus had a conflict with management, he left, but then bought enough stock to restart the company independently.[2]
Between 1945 and 1975, the Chicago firm mass-produced about ten million guitars. The company reduced their output over the years, later focusing on student models sold through JCPenney. The Harmony brand peaked in 1964-1965, selling 350,000 instruments, but low-end foreign competition led to the company's demise 10 years later.
The pickups on almost all electric guitars and basses that Harmony produced were manufactured by Rowe Industries Inc. (later known as H.N. Rowe & Company, Rowe DeArmond Inc., and DeArmond Inc.) of Toledo, Ohio. Many of the instrument amplifiers badged with the Harmony name were manufactured by 'Sound Projects Company' of Cicero, Illinois.[3]
The Harmony Guitar Company ceased in 1975,[4] and sold the Harmony name. In the early 2000s, an unrelated company, the Westheimer Corp., based in Lake Barrington, Illinois briefly imported 'reissue' Harmony guitars.
In 2018, BandLab Technologies claimed to be 'relaunching' the Harmony brand with a new series of electric guitars and guitar amps.[5][6]
Sovereign Guitar History
Gallery[edit]
- 1963 Sovereign
(Syd Barrett's 1st guitar) - Harmony acoustic
- Silvertone model 1219 Buck Owens 'American' (1971) by Harmony Company[7]
- H1213 Archtone (c.1963)[8]
- H15 Bobkat
- H19 Silhouette
(Silvertone 1480) - H88, H44 Stratotone, compared with travel guitar
- H7208 Roy Smeck Stratotone[9] (Airline Roy Smeck Stratotone)
- H49 Stratotone Jupiter (Silvertone 1423)
- Stratotone
- H53 Rocket
- H78 3-pickups with Bigsby
- H82 Rebel
Further reading[edit]
- Acoustic Guitars: The Illustrated Encyclopedia. New York: Chartwell Books. 2011. ISBN978-0-7858-3571-4.
References[edit]
- ^Our Guitars on Harmony website, 14 Oct 2019
- ^ abKohman, Peter Stuart (June 2014). 'Journey to the Stratotone! Harmony and the Early Solidbody'. Vintage Guitar. pp. 54–60.
- ^Lectrolab guitar amplifiers
- ^'Harmony Guitar Page'. Broadway Music Co. Archived from the original on 2012-09-23.
In 1975 the Harmony Guitar Co. in Chicago ceased operations and had a huge three-day auction. - ^NAMM 2018: Harmony resurrected with new guitars and amps on Music Radar, 31 Jan 2018
- ^BandLab to Reboot Teisco and Harmony Guitar Brands by Carly Smith on Reverb.com, 14 Dec 2017
- ^http://www.silvertoneworld.net/acoustic/1219buckowens/1219_Buck_Owens_American.html
- ^Zachary Fjestad. 'Harmony Archtone H1213'. Premier Guitar (Dec 2011).
- ^'1962 Harmony Roy Smeck Stratotone Model H7208'. Traynor Tweaks (kilback.net).
Manufactured by Harmony in Chicago, USA, in mid-1962. Similar to Harmony Stratotone H49 Jupiter, but different pickups and controls.
Harmony Sovereign Guitar H1203
External links[edit]
Straighten A Harmony Sovereign Guitar Neck Guitar
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Harmony Company. |
- Harmony at National Music Museum
Harmony Sovereign Guitar For Sale
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