Harmony guitars and Adi tops?
 

I've got an old U.S. made Harmony Western Special I've been messing with, and noticed the top wood is different in appearance than my Sitka topped guitars. The grain is wider, and it just has a different appearance to it. I just wonder where they sourced their woods, and what the odds are that they could have used Adi Spruce, or other species other than Sitka.

Depends on when it's from but I believe they used white spruce at least through the mid 40's, sourced in neighboring Michigan. After that, my guess is Sitka as it was readily available at a low cost.

Also, basically every spruce can look exactly like every other spruce so going by visuals alone can be risky when determining which variety you have.

Harmony did not necessarily keep costs down by relying on more cheaply sourced wood. And Red Spruce was abundant before WII so finding enough sawn lumber was no problem. Harmony relied on speed of production to cut costs. I have seen and owned Harmony guitars (inlcuding Sears Supertones) with red spruce tops, ebony boards, fancy inlays and such. But to have an Adi top "old" would mean a guitar built before roughly 1945.

Harmony Sovereigns aren't to shabby.

Ed

Wider grain could also mean the wood was not quartersawn, BUT I’m no expert for sure. Even if it wasn’t quartesawn, the fact that it’s lasted this many years suggests it’s not a problem....it sounds very cool either way. Can u post a pic?