A different Harmony Silvertone I'm trying to identify.

[Rosewood99]

I posted a thread yesterday but the sale fell through. Found another but not sure what model this could be. Want to make sure it's a 1.75 nut width. The seller seems kind of clueless. Is there somewhere to look to find the model or serial number?

[mcduffnw]

I don't know what model it is, but it is not nearly as nice of a guitar as the Harmony was.

What's the interest in these old 60's El Cheapo's?

If you want to go that route, whatever route that is for you, then I would definitely stay with the Harmony's. They are actually fairly nice guitars, and sometimes...very hit and miss...they have a really nice plain but warm and pleasing tone.


duff
Be A Player...Not A Polisher

[Ben M.]

The model numbers are usually stamped by the neck block. It's not uncommon for them to have the wrong number in them.

If I remember right that's an H621. I could be wrong.

It should have a 1.75 inch nut.

Spruce top, birch back and sides.

That's not the original bridge

[lowrider]

Ah, somebody's got ''old Harmony fever''!

If it was me, I would only buy one in person. Most of them need neck resets, have massive necks, and didn't sound so great to begin with.

And then some of them are gems!

And the asking prices are way out beyond reality these days.

[beatcomber]

Cool that it still has a 1960s Bobby Lee "No-Mishap" strap.

[TiffanyGuitar]

That looks very similar to my Harmony Sovereign H 1203 (now a Baxendale conversion). It has the same pick guard and body shape. My guess is late 60s. Can you tell if it has a solid mahogany back?

If you had asked me a year ago, I would have said you were crazy to seek out an old Harmony, but I am very glad I have my Baxendale. I will never part with it. It sounds great and is very comfortable. It has some kind of mojo to it. Hard to explain.

[Rosewood99]

I went ahead and took a chance site unseen. The seller says he's the original owner and bought it around 1962-63. Said the neck is straight. This is only costing me $140 including shipping so it's a low risk gamble. If anything, I'll have a nice ornament for the wall.

[TiffanyGuitar]

Maybe my Baxendale conversion is a little older than I think. I did a little googling on the harmony sovereign and it seemed like pick guards weren't added to them until the late 60s. Also, mine has a truss rod, which I think dates it later too.

It would cost some money, but you might want to contact Baxendale about doing a conversion on it. Mine is really something. He doesn't clean up the scuffs and checking. And you can tell the back has been off. But the neck is straight, reset, neck angle is perfect, frets are new and level, and fret board has been leveled, new bridge (yours doesn't look like it would need a new bridge) and x-bracing. Makes all the difference.

The neck shape is bigger than my Gibsons - sort of a flat C shape. I don't find it uncomfortable, just different. I discovered my Shubb capos don't work well with the shape - they can't quite hold down all six strings. But my old Kyser handles it fine. Normally I don't like the Kyser because it seems to pull the strings out of tune, but I don't notice that on the old Harmony. Could be the thicker neck shape is handling that spring stress and keeping it off the strings, if that makes any sense.

[Earl49]

Paul, I have a similar Silvertone 000 size bought new for Christmas 1968. I have looked carefully and never found any model numbers inside, and also never found anything on line that gives me the number. I did see one exactly like mine in a shop in SF in the late 80's and another in a the back of a repair shop in the mid 90's in Anchorage. Mine has a faux tortoise pick guard, but is still attached using three screws. And mine has a nice orange colored (think aging toner) solid birch top and sides stained to like mahogany, and a pinless bridge. Try looking at this web site: http://www.silvertoneworld.net/acous...600series.html

I have done a lot of work to it (re-fret to get rid of worn brass frets, added pearl dots on the neck, re-finished neck and headstock, new setup with double-wide compensated saddle) so it is a pretty decent player now. I'd add a picture of mine if I could ever figure out how. [Please don't bother explaining it - I've tried many times with zero success].

[Rosewood99]

The hesitation I have with the Baxendale conversions are that every A/B test I've heard, the ladder brace sounds better than the converted X brace. Depending on the shape it is, I may take it to my luthier to to further restoration.

[Guitartanzon]

go here for info on old sivertone models

http://www.silvertoneworld.net/acoustic.html

I am selling a harmony made 1970 sears atomic logo ladder brace for 85 bucks

https://reverb.com/item/31219407-sea...firmation=true

[bisco1]

The Silvertone pictured is typically labelled H621, but I have seen identical models with a different number. I my opinion, having worked on dozens of these old Harmony 000 sized guitars, is that this model , the spruce/birch, is the best. I then like the H165 all mahogany model and lastly the H162s which are spruce/mahogany. Also, the Sovereign models H1203 are also spruce/mahogany.
Virtually ALL of the '60's Harmony will at a minimum, require a neck set. I generally take the backs off and rebrace them in '30's Martin fashion and they make wonderfull instruments. The H621, H162 and H165 all have nickel/silver frets which are generally in good shape because the guitar didn't get played much because of the high action. All of these miodels have 1-3/4" nuts. It is very common to see a split Brazilian bridge on these guitars. What is most amazing to me is that these bargain basement guitars featured GREAT quality woods including Braz. fretboards, quality spruce, and many times one piece backs!! Try that on a modern guitar. Because of the quality of the woods, they have great potential to make fine instruments. One thing to be aware of is that the H621's sometimes had faux spruce tops that looked like spruce on the outside, but were really birch. Have fun, Bill

[zombywoof]

Yeah, looks like a 'mid- to late-1960s H621 or at least one of the Silvertone 600 Series.

On the whole coversion thing, the best you could do for that or any Harmony with a pin bridge is to replace the spruce bridge plate spanning the width of the guitar with a traditional size maple one. The guitar will retain the immediateness and fundamental sound of a ladder braced guitar but be more responsive with a bit more oomph. The biggest change you will hear with an X brace conversion is it makes the guitar rich in overtones/harmonics.

[Ben M.]

At the very least you’ll have a great slide guitar.

I’d be interested to hear what you think of it when it arrives.

[lowrider]

Good luck Paul, I hope you find a gem!