Harmony Sovereign Appreciation Thread - Page 3

zombywoof · #31 05-30-2018, 06:57 AM

I cannot help but think it was the internet which breathed new life into the Harmony Sovereign. Once upon a time the Sovereign was a natural step in a progression which ultimately led to a Martin or a Gibson. Once we got there they were discarded. Into the 1990s you could not give a Harmony away. They remained in the hands of us geezers who still owned them or were picked up by those who were starting to get twinges of nostalgia for the guitars we had played early on in our musical journey. Why I held onto to mine I do not have a clue. I played it up to the point the neck got too inky to deal with and then stashed it away. As I owned a National Duolian I did not need a guitar for bottleneck and figured it was not worth the cost of a neck reset as I could buy a Sovereign with a good neck for a whole lot less than the work would cost. Then folks found out that Page, Townsend, Rory, and Keef played the six and twelve string versions. All of a sudden the Sovereign became cool. Interest and demand went up along with prices. Then came a nice little cottage industry dedicated to conversions. Who would have thunk it.

dermeister1331 · #32 05-30-2018, 07:02 AM

I have my dad’s 1969 Harmony Soveriegn H1260. It was pretty beat up when I found it under the stairs, but I had the crack glued, pickguard replaced, and neck adjusted. It sounded/looked pretty good after.

Judson · #33 05-30-2018, 12:24 PM

Harmony was not a "wanna be". Silvertone and Airline were simply different brands used on the same guitars produced by Harmony for Sears and Montgomery Ward.

Back in those days there was a serious price gap between a Harmony and pretty much any other acoustic guitar such as Martin, or Gibson, or Guild, etc.

Sure a Harmony wasn't the overall quality or play-ability or anything else that a guitar costing 4-5 times as much was. But, in many, many cases if it weren't for Harmony, a lot of us wouldn't have had access to any sort of guitar at all.

That's why there is a continued affection for the brand and particularly for nice examples of the all solid wood 1220 Sovereign models.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pitar

I suppose the Harmony brand was of some importance back in the day but I didn't see them that way then and still don't. To me it was a Silvertone or Airline acoustic guitar wannabe that just didn't fill the role I could accept for a serious acoustic guitar. Now they get infrequent attention and kudos for some reason. But, all things vintage in nature get that kind of attention.

Brent Hahn · #34 05-31-2018, 08:14 AM

Half the kids in my town had Sovereigns, and I'm sure a lot of them still do. In "Animal House," if Stephen Bishop had been playing a Sovereign the eventual outcome may have been the same, but Belushi would have had to work a lot harder.

zombywoof · #35 05-31-2018, 09:14 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Judson

Harmony was not a "wanna be". Silvertone and Airline were simply different brands used on the same guitars produced by Harmony for Sears and Montgomery Ward.

Harmony also built guitars for Aldens under the Holiday brand.

Sears actually owned Harmony up to 1940 when the house brand was Supertone. After the head of Harmony bought the company back, Sears initially went with Kay for about year which produced guitars for them under the Crest name. With Harmony no longer under Sears ownership, they were free to supply other mail order houses while Sears went with Harmony and Kay to build Silvertone badged guitars.

RichPGH · #36 02-05-2019, 05:15 PM

I just noticed, in the Woodstock movie John Sebastian is playing a Sovereign.

Dreadfulnaught · #37 02-05-2019, 05:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pitar

I suppose the Harmony brand was of some importance back in the day but I didn't see them that way then and still don't. To me it was a Silvertone or Airline acoustic guitar wannabe that just didn't fill the role I could accept for a serious acoustic guitar. Now they get infrequent attention and kudos for some reason. But, all things vintage in nature get that kind of attention.

A friend and band mate had a Sovereign that lived in the common room of the building where the band lived, back in 1978. It was kept there in case anyone got an idea and wanted to work it out. I used to play it and just shake my head, wondering why it punched so much above its weight. They get attention because they sounded good. I have still never heard the reason why.

Other Harmonies you can pee on IMHO.

Brucebubs · #38 02-05-2019, 05:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RichPGH

I just noticed, in the Woodstock movie John Sebastian is playing a Sovereign.

Apparently it was on loan from Tim Hardin.
Here's John posing with the guitar at Woodstock.

And here's Tim Hardin with it ... looks like at the same event!

... and welcome to the AGF.

Rhythmdoctor · #39 02-05-2019, 06:11 PM

I don’t have one of these but I have considered buying one of the X braced conversions done by Scott Baxendale. Anyone own a Baxendale Harmony Conversion? The few I’ve heard online sound very good.

AndrewG · #40 02-05-2019, 07:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rhythmdoctor

I don’t have one of these but I have considered buying one of the X braced conversions done by Scott Baxendale. Anyone own a Baxendale Harmony Conversion? The few I’ve heard online sound very good.

On another forum I used to visit (the Soundhole), one of the contributors specialized in restoring and selling old Harmonys. I wonder if it's the same chap. Long shot, I know.

Monsoon1 · #41 02-05-2019, 07:15 PM

If i'm not mistaken, Jimmy Page played a Sovereign for the acoustic parts in the first 4 albums.
That solidifies it as a proper acoustic, imho.

I think if I was going to look for a deal on one, i'd go with the H1265.

https://reverb.com/item/5046232-harm...-1968-sunburst

Rhythmdoctor · #42 02-05-2019, 08:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Monsoon1

If i'm not mistaken, Jimmy Page played a Sovereign for the acoustic parts in the first 4 albums.
That solidifies it as a proper acoustic, imho.

I think if I was going to look for a deal on one, i'd go with the H1265.

https://reverb.com/item/5046232-harm...-1968-sunburst

He definitely played the Sovereign on several acoustic Zep songs but I’m not sure he played that model exclusivities on them.

Goodallboy · #43 02-05-2019, 08:06 PM

A buddy just bought a Sovereign Deluxe. It is a sunburst with double pickguards. It sounds really nice from what I've heard online.

PHJim · #44 06-18-2019, 06:29 PM

Ian Tamblyn has a few Harmony Sovereigns. One of these is strung up in Nashville tuning (high-strung) and he plays it at almost every gig.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KnxdDZUuybY

phcorrigan · #45 06-18-2019, 06:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Guest 1928

Here's our H1203 flea market find from about 15 years ago. It is all original except for the pick guard which was missing. I made that one to match the footprint of the original. Homer Ledford reset the neck. It really is a wonderful guitar.

This was my second guitar, which I bought for $25 around 1963-64. My first guitar was a Stella "finger-bleeder," that I bought for $5. I sometimes miss the Harmony, but I never miss the Stella!