Private | |
Industry | Musical instrument |
---|---|
Fate | Company ceased in 1975; 'Harmony' brand relaunched in 2018 |
Founded | 1892; 128 years ago |
Founder | Wilhelm Schultz |
Headquarters | |
Products |
|
Owner | BandLab Technologies |
Website | harmony.co |
- Harmony Sovereign Guitar History
- Harmony Sovereign Guitar 1950s
- Harmony Sovereign H1260
- Harmony Sovereign Guitar Decal
- Harmony Sovereign Guitar H6562
Harmony Sovereign Guitar History
HARMONY 1971 MODEL H-1204 BLACK SOVEREIGN Hi and thanks for looking.This is a great guitar that was made in the USA during 1971.The guitar is 100% original except for the strings that are recent light guage and are set reasonably low.The neck is straight and everything works as it shouldThere are NO cracks.Breaks or repairs to this guitar. With its jumbo body shape, the Harmony H1260 is known for its big, booming voice. This guitar was a popular acoustic built by Harmony during the company's peak in the '60s. The Sovereign series also included a dreadnought and orchestra-sized guitar. Years of Production: 1958 - 1971Body Style. Harmony Sovereign Acoustic Guitar - H6560A, 1973 - Korea. Collection in person. Or Best Offer. Harmony Sovereign Vintage 90s Acoustic Guitar. Jun 18, 2011 Here’s a '60s Harmony Sovereign H1260 on the workbench. Vintage Harmony guitars have become a popular choice for collectors and often fetch high prices on auction sites. The H1260 was produced between 1958 - 1971. The Harmony Guitar Company became the largest producer in the U.S. They sold 250,000 pieces in 1923 and 500,000 in. This Harmony 12-string that became Peter's staple, go to guitar in the sixties and seventies. Pe ter was a huge fan of Leadbelly, and the Harmony was as close as he could get to Leadbelly's big Stella.
The Harmony Company is a former guitar manufacturing company that is currently a brand owned by Singapore company BandLab Technologies. Harmony was, in its heyday, the largest musical instrument manufacturer in the United States. They made many types of string instruments, including ukuleles, acoustic and electric guitars and violins.
The company ceased in 1975, with the 'Harmony' brand being relaunched by BandLab in 2018 to produce electric guitars and amplifiers.[1]
History[edit]
Harmony Sovereign Guitar 1950s
A collection of Harmony guitars: SS Stewart gold acoustic, H73 Roy Smeck, H37 Hollywood, Silvertone 1446, H44 Stratotone
Harmony was founded in 1892 by Wilhelm Schultz. In 1916, Sears, Roebuck and Co. purchased it, in part to corner the ukulele market. At the time Harmony was led by Joe Kraus, who was chairman until 1940.[2]
In 1928, Harmony introduced the first of many Roy Smeck models, and went on to become the largest producer in the U.S. They sold 250,000 pieces in 1923 and 500,000 in 1930, including various models of guitars, banjos, and mandolins.
In the late 1930s, the firm began making violins again after a 19-year hiatus. They also bought brand names from the bankrupt Oscar Schmidt Co.—La Scala, Stella, and Sovereign. They sold not only Harmony products, but instruments under the Sears name, Silvertone, and a variety of trade names—Vogue, Valencia, Johnny Marvin, Monterey, Stella, and others.[citation needed] In 1940, after Kraus had a conflict with management, he left, but then bought enough stock to restart the company independently.[2]
Between 1945 and 1975, the Chicago firm mass-produced about ten million guitars. The company reduced their output over the years, later focusing on student models sold through JCPenney. The Harmony brand peaked in 1964-1965, selling 350,000 instruments, but low-end foreign competition led to the company's demise 10 years later.
The pickups on almost all electric guitars and basses that Harmony produced were manufactured by Rowe Industries Inc. (later known as H.N. Rowe & Company, Rowe DeArmond Inc., and DeArmond Inc.) of Toledo, Ohio. Many of the instrument amplifiers badged with the Harmony name were manufactured by 'Sound Projects Company' of Cicero, Illinois.[3]
The Harmony Guitar Company ceased in 1975,[4] and sold the Harmony name. In the early 2000s, an unrelated company, the Westheimer Corp., based in Lake Barrington, Illinois briefly imported 'reissue' Harmony guitars.
In 2018, BandLab Technologies claimed to be 'relaunching' the Harmony brand with a new series of electric guitars and guitar amps.[5][6]
![Harmony Sovereign Guitar Harmony Sovereign Guitar](https://reverb-res.cloudinary.com/image/upload/s--VRIhTyMy--/a_exif,c_limit,f_auto,fl_progressive,g_south,h_620,q_auto:eco,w_620/v1475613936/hy2k2lghxn2ha32flehk.jpg)
Gallery[edit]
- 1963 Sovereign
(Syd Barrett's 1st guitar) - Rocket media player for mac. Harmony acoustic
- Silvertone model 1219 Buck Owens 'American' (1971) by Harmony Company[7]
- H1213 Archtone (c.1963)[8]
- H15 Bobkat
- H19 Silhouette
(Silvertone 1480) - H88, H44 Stratotone, compared with travel guitar
- H7208 Roy Smeck Stratotone[9] (Airline Roy Smeck Stratotone)
- H49 Stratotone Jupiter (Silvertone 1423)
- Stratotone
- H53 Rocket
- H78 3-pickups with Bigsby
- H82 Rebel
Further reading[edit]
- Acoustic Guitars: The Illustrated Encyclopedia. New York: Chartwell Books. 2011. ISBN978-0-7858-3571-4.
References[edit]
Harmony Sovereign H1260
![Sovereign Sovereign](https://www.vintageguitar.com/wp-content/uploads/1957-Harmony-Sovereign.jpg)
- ^Our Guitars on Harmony website, 14 Oct 2019
- ^ abKohman, Peter Stuart (June 2014). 'Journey to the Stratotone! Harmony and the Early Solidbody'. Vintage Guitar. pp. 54–60.
- ^Lectrolab guitar amplifiers
- ^'Harmony Guitar Page'. Broadway Music Co. Archived from the original on 2012-09-23.
In 1975 the Harmony Guitar Co. in Chicago ceased operations and had a huge three-day auction. - ^NAMM 2018: Harmony resurrected with new guitars and amps on Music Radar, 31 Jan 2018
- ^BandLab to Reboot Teisco and Harmony Guitar Brands by Carly Smith on Reverb.com, 14 Dec 2017
- ^http://www.silvertoneworld.net/acoustic/1219buckowens/1219_Buck_Owens_American.html
- ^Zachary Fjestad. 'Harmony Archtone H1213'. Premier Guitar (Dec 2011).
- ^'1962 Harmony Roy Smeck Stratotone Model H7208'. Traynor Tweaks (kilback.net).
Manufactured by Harmony in Chicago, USA, in mid-1962. Similar to Harmony Stratotone H49 Jupiter, but different pickups and controls.
Harmony Sovereign Guitar Decal
External links[edit]
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Harmony Company. |
- Harmony at National Music Museum
Retrieved from 'https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Harmony_Company&oldid=940058592'
Harmony Sovereign Guitar H6562
There are some who say Harmony Sovereign guitars should stay ladder braced. They say that ladder bracing is just as good as an X-braced or a V-braced guitar. I suppose this is debatable one way or the other, although many proponents of ladder bracing have a ladder braced guitar to sell you.
I’ll go for new hide glued X- or V- bracing any day.
Other than enhanced tone quality there is another reason to re-brace (and restore). See images below.
This H1260 is typical of most Sovereigns that we work on. If the braces were installed with the 60’s version of polyvinyl acetate (PVA) glue, the braces are now barely sticking to the top. On the guitar below, I was able to pull two of the braces out with no tool at all. The braces basically fell out. The others took only a bit more of a tug with a pair of pliers to remove and that was only because they were tucked under the liner blocks (kerfing). Note the very minimal glue residue on the top. This is typical of the Sovereigns we work on. Also note the very minimal reinforcing plate still stuck to the top. That is an invitation to brige roll and top deformation.
We restore the best sounding Harmony guitars on the internet. And our guitars hold their own against any other brand in terms of sound quality.
When we finish this restoration, this Sovereign will have new bracing, a new very hard and dry maple reinforcing plate, all cracks repaired (if any), a new rosewood pin bridge (to match the fret board), lovely new ivoroid or ebony pins and matching end pin, new frets, bone nut and saddle, and new fully functional smooth working tuners. For the price, it’s a bargain.
We include instructions for Harmonic tuning. Can you do that with a ladder braced guitar?
Harmony Sovereigns are very well worth restoring.