The Harmony Company

Harmony Company

thumb|right|250px|A collection of Harmony guitars:SS Stewart gold acoustic, H73 [[Roy Smeck]], H37 Hollywood, Silvertone 1446, H44 StratotoneThe Harmony Company was an American company that, in its heyday, was the largest musical instrument manufacturer in the USA...

 of Illinois

Illinois

Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...

, United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

, manufactured a wide variety of musical instruments which were popular during most of the 20th century. This article is devoted to documenting these instruments.

Numbering convention

Harmony's model numbers consisted of an 'H' followed by a 2 to 4 digit number. The 'H' stood for the name of the company.

Model and date stamps

Harmony hollow-body instruments were marked with inkstamps within the body of the instrument. A model/batch number of the form nnnnHmmmm where 'nnnn' is a batch number and 'mmmm' is a model number ('6072H950' for example would be an H950 model). They were also stamped with a date stamp with the season and two-digit year ('F-45' would indicate the instrument was manufactured in the fall of 1945). Only 'F-xx' and 'S-xx' are found as date stamps, S could be summer, perhaps Harmony synchronized its orders with the main catalog distributors (as Sears & Roebuck, Montgomery Wards). A former Harmony employee reported a different scheme: "We worked 10 hours, 5 days a week, any 8 more every Saturday. That was both shifts. I believe the "F" and "S" on the serial numbers was for first or second shift."

OEM models

Harmony was also an original equipment manufacturer

Original Equipment Manufacturer

An original equipment manufacturer, or OEM, manufactures products or components that are purchased by a company and retailed under that purchasing company's brand name. OEM refers to the company that originally manufactured the product. When referring to automotive parts, OEM designates a...

 (OEM) for several other brands, most notably Silvertone

Silvertone (instruments)

Silvertone was the brand name used by Sears, Roebuck and Company for its line of sound equipment from 1915 to 1972. A hand-cranked phonograph was introduced under the Silvertone brand by Sears in 1915...

. OEM models were typically very similar to a Harmony instrument but with cosmetic differences.

Acoustic flat top guitars

• H162 - Spruce-topped 000-sized guitar. Very common.
• H165 - Similar to H162 but all mahogany.

Sovereign

The Sovereign series was Harmony's higher-end flattop line.

• H164 - Similar to H162 but with Sovereign logo and black finish.
• H1203
• H1204
• H1260
• H1270 - 12 string
• H55 - Acoustic/Electric flat top

Acoustic archtop guitars

Harmony's archtop acoustic models differ most significantly in the woods used, the body size, and the finish. Mahogany

Mahogany

The name mahogany is used when referring to numerous varieties of dark-colored hardwood. It is a native American word originally used for the wood of the species Swietenia mahagoni, known as West Indian or Cuban mahogany....

, spruce

Spruce

A spruce is a tree of the genus Picea , a genus of about 35 species of coniferous evergreen trees in the Family Pinaceae, found in the northern temperate and boreal regions of the earth. Spruces are large trees, from tall when mature, and can be distinguished by their whorled branches and conical...

, or birch

Birch

Birch is a tree or shrub of the genus Betula , in the family Betulaceae, closely related to the beech/oak family, Fagaceae. The Betula genus contains 30–60 known taxa...

 were used on most models (or a combination thereof). The body sizes were termed by Harmony as "auditorium" (16" body width?) and "grand auditorium" (17" body width?) sizes.

Some common features displayed in these models are solid wood construction, F-shaped sound holes, and a steel non-adjustable truss rod.

Monterey

• H1320
• H1325
• H1327 - Spruce top, unknown (probably birch) back and sides, rosewood fretboard. Earlier specimens featured 15.5" lower bouts but later the model was given the larger 16.5" lower bout. There is an intricate wood inlay all around the top edge binding in a "herringbone" pattern.
  
• H1456
• H1457
• H1820T (tenor guitar)
• H6450
• H950 "Leader" - Birch top, back, and sides. Tiger flame red sunburst against black. Sunburst is smaller on older models.
• H951
• H952 "Colorama"
• H953 "Colorama"
• H996

Stratotone

• H44 "Stratotone" - One of the more sought-after electric models. Used by several popular musicians such as Ritchie Valens
  Ritchie Valens
  Ritchie Valens was a Mexican-American singer, songwriter and guitarist....
  
   and Tom Waits
  Tom Waits
  Thomas Alan "Tom" Waits is an American singer-songwriter, composer, and actor. Waits has a distinctive voice, described by critic Daniel Durchholz as sounding "like it was soaked in a vat of bourbon, left hanging in the smokehouse for a few months, and then taken outside and run over with a car."...
  
  .
• H46 "Stratotone Mars" - Hollowbody, two DeArmond pickups. Used by several popular musicians such as Brian Jones
  Brian Jones
  Lewis Brian Hopkins Jones , known as Brian Jones, was an English musician and a founding member of the Rolling Stones....
  
   and Spencer Davis
  Spencer Davis
  Spencer David Nelson Davis is a British musician and multi-instrumentalist, and the founder of the 1960s rock band, the Spencer Davis Group.-Early life:...
  
  .
• H47 "Stratotone Mercury" - Hollowbody, one DeArmond "goldfoil" pickup.

Rocket

These are thin hollowbody electric guitars with one to three pickups.

• H53
• H54
• H56 (with vibrato bar)
• H56-1 (sometimes with no vibrato, sometimes with Bigsby
  Bigsby
  The Bigsby vibrato tailpiece is a type of vibrato device for electric guitar designed by Paul A. Bigsby. The device allows musicians to bend the pitch of notes or entire chords with their pick hand for various effects....
  
  vibrato)
• H59
• H59-1

Meteor

These are thin hollowbody electric guitars with two to three pickups.

• H70
• H71
• H72
• H75
• H76 (with Bigsby)
• H77
• H78 (with Bigsby)
• H79 (12 string
• H90D (rare)

External links

• Harmony Database - an extensive non official resource for Harmony guitars.
• Harmony Guitars - New company that owns Harmony name