Incoming Hollow Body, '66 Harmony H-22

[Dave W]

Thanks for that review, Dave!  Did some minor disassembly yesterday.  The pickup is surface mount, 3/8" tall!  For some reason there's a factory route in the body under it, to let the sound in?  Magnets are very hot, much hotter than a Thunderbird.  I'm starting to really love the sound of P-90 style (wide and short) pups like this one and the DiMarzio in my B-301.

The guy complains about marred finish under the pick guard...it's the same on my bass and many other vintage ones I've seen.  That's what happens in a mass production environment.

The H-22 came with an original 1970 catalog.  The blurb on the back says "... Harmony produces more guitars than all other American dealers combined."  Doesn't mention most of them were Silvertones.

I didn't realize the B301 had a DiMarzio.

Harmony made a lot of brand names.

Sears owned Harmony for years. Not by the time the H22 was made though. Between Harmony and its role in Danelectro guitars and amps, Sears did have a lot to do with increasing the popularity of guitars last century. Now Sears is a dead company (barely) walking.

[dadagoboi]

Please, Sir, may I have another?

1963.  Slightly different, rosewood block tailpiece with chrome cover. TR cover doesn't say 'Made in USA', wasn't really necessary in '63. Different top shading.
 

Oh, yeah.  Broken trussrod.  Other than that all original except missing neck screw ferrules.  This pic is with my '66 neck.  Same great tone and nearly mint.  These are AP longscale flats, they're just long enough.



I attacked the neck as soon as the bass came in yesterday.  After a mishap I decided to do some research.  The trussrod is a dual rod but single action, pretty cool and cheap.  Today I managed to remove the bord with lots of steam and new found patience.  The twin rods came unbrazed probably because the hide glue bond to the adjustable rod was stronger than the weld.  When someone tried to adjust it the weld broke.  No real harm other than that.  Plan is to complete the repair, reunite all original parts and sell the '66.

[Dave W]

Nice score, since you can repair it.

I wasn't aware that welded two-part trussrods were around that early.

[dadagoboi]

Nice score, since you can repair it.

I wasn't aware that welded two-part trussrods were around that early.

I wasn't either until yesterday. It's two rods but single action. They used the same setup on Harmony Sovereign guitars.  Seems they could have just put a hairpin bend in a continuous rod and it would have been bulletproof.  I do think its a better design than Gibson's single rod with an anchor.  There's no compression of wood fibers except slightly to the bottom of the fretboard.

[Highlander]

[dadagoboi]

Had to do a Ronnie Lane tribute, he would have been 70 April 1.  His H 22 is the only one I've ever seen with a black pick guard, I'd love to know the story.  This one took about an hour and a half.

[Chris P.]

I played John Stirratts reissue and some on fairs. An okay bass, but quite different than old ones yes. But certainly not bad and good lookers. They look a bit too shiny:)

[Rob]

https://reverb.com/news/take-a-photo-tour-of-the-1904-harmony-instrument-factory?_aid=listingrelatedarticle

[dadagoboi]

Got the rebrazed rod back from Steve yesterday, glued up the neck and board after the ball game and installed it on the '63 this morning after putting the '66 neck back where it belongs.

Farewell picture, the '66 (top) will be off to San Francisco to Stephen (copacetic).



I have a feeling these things might be going up in value...

[ilan]

Solo at 4:33

[copacetic]

Hmmm.. Thats a big change from her Sadowsky. Looks like she is also wirting and singing her own songs. Nice tone there sh's getting. I wonder if that is one of the reissues? The tuners on initial observation.

[dadagoboi]

That's an original late 60s, you can tell by the tailpiece, look of the fretboard, and size of the face dots.  Tuners have been replaced, all it takes is a little oil to make the originals work fine.

[dadagoboi]

I did it again...




Popped up on Ebay this AM, complete except for bridge and one tuner ferrule.  I get to try out my rosewood carving skills.  Neck appears to have side dots, always a good thing!  The others have none with the necks shaded black up to the top of the fretboard.  This one must be a later model.

[Droombolus]

Had to do a Ronnie Lane tribute, he would have been 70 April 1.  His H 22 is the only one I've ever seen with a black pick guard, I'd love to know the story.  This one took about an hour and a half.

I asked around ..... This is the reaction I got from Barry Best on the Steve Marriott FB page:
Your right it's an anomaly. It's actually black sticky backed plastic. I spoke to Mac about it when I met him. His actual words were ' you know, that stuff you used to cover your kitchen cupboard doors with'

[dadagoboi]

I asked around ..... This is the reaction I got from Barry Best on the Steve Marriott FB page:
Your right it's an anomaly. It's actually black sticky backed plastic. I spoke to Mac about it when I met him. His actual words were ' you know, that stuff you used to cover your kitchen cupboard doors with'

What we call 'contact paper' over here.  I thought it might have been paint.

Thanks for checking it out, nice to know Ronnie was a DIYer!