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#3
04-22-2018, 06:46 PM
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I did a neck reset on one last year and the owner of the guitar and I could not find a whole lot of info on it other then a pic of George Harrison with one in the background. Apparently they were made in Virginia in the 70's and seemed to have a good run for a while. His guitar really sounded great. Big booming solid and direct sound.
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#4
04-22-2018, 08:48 PM
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I don't think they were made in Virginia. Harptone was based in New Jersey, if I remember correctly. New Jersey or New York, in the NYC area.
Harptone guitars weren't on the market for very long, but Harptone cases were made for decades. I have a couple of instruments in Harptone cases. Like many other case manufacturers in the United States, they were bought out by TKL, and eventually shut down in the early 2000's. whm
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#5
04-23-2018, 02:30 PM
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Quote:
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#7
04-23-2018, 08:52 PM
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Broadway, congratulations on your purchase of a unique and rare guitar.
Supreme, Standel, and Harptone guitars were made initially by the Harptone company which had been known for building cases. Luthier Sam Koontz was associated with the design and production of these instruments. In the early 70s the business was purchased by Diamond S/Micro Frets and moved to Virginia where production continued for a number of years. Aside from George Harrison, David Bowie owned several Harptones. In this video of "Young Americans" he plays a maple 12-string on the Dick Cavett show in 1974. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ydLcs4VrjZQ There is much more to this story, if you guys are on Facebook check out the Standel, Harptone and Supreme Guitar Group and we will be happy to answer any and all questions you might have. Jim
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#10
04-25-2018, 10:26 AM
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Awesome! Love the Bowie video. I thought the one I worked on said Virginia on the label, only reason why I remember probably is because it's the state I live in.
Just glad to know I'm not loosing it. 
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#11
06-21-2019, 08:23 PM
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Harptone on the fone.
Hey all. well it only took 14 months for me to find this. I just love auto notices. Not. To answer to what I read here. Made in New Jersey from 1965 to 1975. The company was bought out and moved to Independence Va., where they were built the Diamond-S company. Diamond-S was owned by the two son of David Sturgill of Grammer guitars. He built Johnny Cash's Grammer., and there cousin and friend of mine Larry Sturgill. The company went under in 1980. Larry tried to revive it but it was not to be.
Now about those serial numbers. there are two sets for the acoustics. Both start at 2000. There may be a third set branded under Supreme but these are so rare that we have not been able to establish a pattern. So the first SN's run from 1967 to 1972. The second set run from 1972 til 1975. Now how the F do you tell the difference? The guitars of the first set have rounded pick guards and an adjustable saddle. The guitars with the 2nd set have thin bridges and a fixed saddle. Also the pickguard has a duck tail shape. most times you will see four digits , a dash and, followed by two more digits. The first four are the serial number. The two after the dash are batch numbers. Unlike other manufacturers, there is no date code within the serial number. Bug me and i'll write about how I date all the Standels, Harptones and supremes Built by Harptone.
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