Harmony Sovereign pin bridge

[brad4d8]

I'm always on the lookout for US Sovereigns, although they're not the bargain they were before the Internet and eBay. This one has a pin bridge but is described as "in original condition." I know there was, and may still be, a luthier who upgraded them with a pin bridge and, IIRC, fan bracing, but I've never seen one with a pin bridge from the factory. I know if I were selling one of the altered one, I'd put it in the description, but I wonder if late in their production run Harmony put out a few with pin bridges. It's not mentioned in the online Harmony database, which is usually pretty accurate. Anyone any ideas?
https://www.ebay.com/itm/183533889236?ul_noapp=true
Brad

[Osage]

That bridge is not original to the guitar.

[brad4d8]

Originally Posted by Osage

That bridge is not original to the guitar.

That's what I thought, too. Wonder if it has been rebraced as well.

[Silly Moustache]

There were some Harmony brand guitars made in Japan or China. I've got one somewhere in the attic.
They had pin bridges but not great.

[brad4d8]

Originally Posted by Silly Moustache

There were some Harmony brand guitars made in Japan or China. I've got one somewhere in the attic.
They had in bridges but not great.

The one in the link is definitely a US model.

[downtime]

They also have the model wrong in the description, the guitar in the pictures is an H1203. The pickguard is also not original.
You are correct about there being luthiers that fix these up and do mods with bracing and replacement bridges etc. These all need neck resets at a minimum but IMO they are worth the effort to make playable.
I have an H1203 Sovereign that I really love. It was converted to x bracing and pinned bridge by moonlightluthiers.com

[zombywoof]

What really drove the price of Sovereigns up was when the internet made it common knowledge that Jimmy Page had played one on "Stairway." Prices seem to have calmed down quite a bit except for the "Africa" pickguard 1265.

If you are talking about a 1203 Sovereign though the pin bridge would be a replacement.

In the end, as always, it comes down to the neck and whether you are willing to lay out the scratch for a reset which in all likelihood it will need. All in all though, the guitar looks to be in pretty good shape even coming with a hardshell case.

I got my first used Sovereign 1260 n the mid-1960s - a block letter logo guitar. Still have it. Over the years I picked up a couple more - a 1969 1260 which now sports a pin bridge off an old Guild and a mid-1960s Silvertone version on which I had the full X brace and pin bridge conversion done. A Sovereign with overtones/harmonics. Who would have thunk it. In addition to the Sovereigns I also own a 1942 H165 Stella and a 1956 H40 which is basically a 1203 Sovereign with the soundhole moved south and a Gibson P-13 mounted beneath the fingerboard extension.

[zombywoof]

Originally Posted by downtime

They also have the model wrong in the description, the guitar in the pictures is an H1203. The pickguard is also not original.

I am not 100% sure the pickguard is a replacement. That style would be right for a 1203 built in the early 1970s.

[Silly Moustache]

Well definately NOT an H1260, and H1203 ?

Duno , the Bridge doesn't work but it seemingly oversized to maybe it is a replacement, and there's a gap under the fretboard extension so maybe it was reset at sometime.

Here's pretty much everything you need to know about Harmony guitars:

http://harmony.demont.net/guitars/H1203/26.htm

[zombywoof]

Originally Posted by Silly Moustache

There were some Harmony brand guitars made in Japan or China. I've got one somewhere in the attic.
They had pin bridges but not great.

Not hard to pick the offshore built guitars out. They will have Est. 1892 on the headstock

[zombywoof]

Originally Posted by Silly Moustache

Well definately NOT an H1260, and H1203 ?

Duno , the Bridge doesn't work but it seemingly oversized to maybe it is a replacement, and there's a gap under the fretboard extension so maybe it was reset at sometime.

Here's pretty much everything you need to know about Harmony guitars:

http://harmony.demont.net/guitars/H1203/26.htm

Francois was fantastic. He left us all too soon. But collecting info on every Harmony is just about impossible. My '42 H165 Stella appears nowhere. The only evidence that it ever existed though is I own one. By 1944 Harmony dropped the Stella moniker and rechristened the guitar simply the H165. I also have a Granada-badged guitar which is fact is a leftover Schmidt Westbrook Stella that Harmony acquired and then sold when they bought out the bankrupt Oscar Schmidt company in 1939. Could be worse though. Kay had a habit of releasing un-cataloged guitars.