#1
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Stella/Harmony Guitar construction?
I've been keeping an eye out for an inexpensive tenor guitar and have been checking the usual channels. This is a quote from stellaguitars.com:
"Until the 1970s, the Harmony Company used only solid woods for just about every acoustic flat top instrument they made. Their Stella instruments were made from solid slab-sawn birch, which to the untrained eye often has a grain pattern that looks rather like "plywood". Harmony Stella guitars usually have a poplar neck with a dyed maple or birch fingerboard. High-end Harmony flat tops feature solid mahogany and solid spruce components." The one I'm looking at is being touted as a sixties vintage, but the close up pic through the sound hole looks like it's made from fiber board (the back anyway). This particular one says Stella & Harmony on the head.
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SteveH Taylor 414CE Ltd Redwood Sinker Martin 00-15M Seagull Performer CW MJ Flame Maple Seagull S6+CW Folk GT 05 Limited Edition Burgundy Seagull S6+CW Folk GT 05 Limited Edition Blue Oscar Schmidt Sovereign Mahogany a 1932 Model #5077 Campbell American Transitone (electric) Ibanez SR650 Bass, natural finish ash Yamaha SC400 natural finish ash |
#2
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Quote:
http://harmony.demont.net/guitars/H929TG/240.htm# Brad
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Guild F212: 1964 (Hoboken), Guild Mark V: 1975 (Westerly), Guild Artist Award: 1975 (Westerly), Guild F50: 1976 (Westerly), Guild F512: 2010 (New Hartford), Pawless Mesquite Special: 2012, 90s Epi HR Custom (Samick), 2014 Guild OOO 12-fret Orpheum (New Hartford), 2013 12 fret Orpheum Dread (New Hartford), Guild BT258E, 8 string baritone, 1994 Guild D55, Westerly, 2023 Cordoba GK Negra Pro. Last edited by brad4d8; 01-22-2012 at 12:28 PM. |
#3
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Stella....I cut my teeth on one of those back in the late 50s. As for whether it was all solid wood or not....I can't help ya. It wasn't something I was paying any attention to back then. Even today, I try to be open minded about it. I own and have played a whole bunch of great sounding guitars that are NOT all soiid wood.
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Three Dreads - 2 Martins and 1 Yamaha |
#4
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I have the Silvertone version of the Harmony Sovereign from when I was in high school in the late 60s. It is a big guitar with all solid wood construction and has a terrific voice. Unfortunately, as a calllow youth, I let it get in a bad state of repair over the ensuing years. Right now it's undergoing a full restoration. Looking forward to seeing how it turns out in the hands of someone who knows how to bering old guitars back to life.
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"Alas for those that never sing, But die with all their music in them!" --- Oliver Wendell Holmes Hear my original music at: https://www.reverbnation.com/judsonhair |
#5
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Quote:
Along with the above on the headstock, it should have a paper label, look in the lower right corner for "Made In Taiwan". If it has these markings, it was made after 1975, and they were laminates, or as some refer to them, "plywood". Most Harmony guitars have a blue stamped Made in USA, along with a model number, and a mfg. date inside the sound hole and most were solid wood construction.
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Vantage VS-25SCE 1992 Model Luna Americana Classic AMP-100 "Parlor" 2012 Model Cort Luce L900P 2011 Model Goya GG-161 1971 Model “Youth ages, immaturity is outgrown, ignorance can be educated, and drunkenness sobered, but stupid lasts forever.” ― Aristophanes |
#6
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Here's some pic's of it
Thanks for the input. Brad4d8, yes almost identical to that one. I can't tell if it's a fiberboard or pressboard in there or not, or is that the fine grain birch which the website (Stella) spoke of? Probably doesn't matter, but I'd like to know, it'd be a bit nicer knowing it was solid birch . . .
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SteveH Taylor 414CE Ltd Redwood Sinker Martin 00-15M Seagull Performer CW MJ Flame Maple Seagull S6+CW Folk GT 05 Limited Edition Burgundy Seagull S6+CW Folk GT 05 Limited Edition Blue Oscar Schmidt Sovereign Mahogany a 1932 Model #5077 Campbell American Transitone (electric) Ibanez SR650 Bass, natural finish ash Yamaha SC400 natural finish ash |
#7
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I had a Stella back in the mid sixties. It had no redeeming qualities. It may be that a great set-up could have transformed it from a guitar-shaped object into an actual guitar, but I'm skeptical. Of course, there were lots of different models. Harmony Sovereigns always had a good reputation. I'm pretty sure the model I had was the bottom of the barrel. But truly, it was not a good guitar in terms of playability, tone, or any other criterion I can think of. Others may have had better experiences.
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Bob DeVellis |
#8
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On these guitars take a mirror and always look inside ...... these were ladder braced guitars and sometimes that build style coupled with birch wood can seperate
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Collings OM1ss ~ Gibson CF-100e ~ Taylor T5z ~ CA Cargo RT --------------------------------------------------- "Buy used and buy often" Last edited by Dulope; 01-22-2012 at 05:06 PM. |
#9
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ive had more than 30 stellas thats a solid birch stella tenor cool vibe and tone but not everyones cuppa tea very easy to repair loose braces and joints excellent travel and camping guitars
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#10
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Hi I found this on craigslist.
Wonder what you guys think http://detroit.craigslist.org/wyn/msg/4555318555.html |
#11
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Oh yeah...that's the faux tiger stipe maple model....all birch...usually from the fifties....although that has the unusual deco tailpiece that is from the forties.....not a steel reinforced neck....they are generally a bit more skranky sounding to my ears than their natural topped cousins....they almost always need a neck reset...I do a poor mans reset on them if the neck is not bowed...if it is I set em up for lap slide....I played one set up for slide with a vintage dearmond pickup in it and it was killer...for a good campfire guitar I would recommend a later built natural topped model....the necks are usually in better shape and they have a warmer tone...but 65 bucks is a good price even if it needs some work...
Last edited by J Patrick; 07-13-2014 at 11:34 AM. |
#12
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I have several old Harmony acoustics, and they are all made of solid wood. All but one, though, are solid birch. The exception is spruce topped with birch b&s. Every pre-seventies Harmony I've ever seen was indeed made of solid woods of one sort or another...most often birch.
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#13
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Quote:
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