Harmony mandolins

[pickinBob]

I just strung up an old Harmony for this old timer at church. I took it out of the case and the strings were literally falling apart. I am thinking " oh boy this is going to be fun" I got him a couple of sets of GHS lights. After tuning a bit and settling in , this thing is a monster compared to what I thought it would be. Tons of volume and punch. Not alot of sustain but enough. Teh tone is bright all the way across the strings.

Anyone else ever have this experience with a Harmony?

[cutbait2]

no, mine sounded like a cheap import and eventually the neck seperated from the body.

[John Flynn]

Harmonys seem to run hot and cold. They were mass produced, with a lot of different designs over the years. Some came out well, some not. There is a local professsional musician and mando instructor in my area who has a great Gibson Fern, but when he plays rough gigs or plugged-in gigs, he plays an old Harmony that he has set up perfectly and attached a pickup of his own design. It sounds great. I heard he has expressed a little dismay over the fact that he gets more compliments on the sound of the Harmony than he has the Gibson, even though the Gibson is obviously a far superior instrument.

[jessboo]

My buddy Stanley has a Harmony from the late 20's that has the tone you discribe plus flame on the back that is just killer. But it playes like #### pass the second position. when he start going on about it I have to remind him It's just a g@%%##m Harmony

[odeman]

When the Harmonies were built in Chacago, from the '30's up until the late '60's, they were decent sounding and playing student instruments. The ones from that period that are still around have only gotten better. Later, the Harmony name was sold and they were built, rather cheaply, in the Orient. Those are the one that are probably falling apart.

[Brookside]

I remember the day my father bought a Harmony mandolin from Quigleys Music in Kansas City. I was about 8 years old. I heard him picking on it and thought man, I hate mandolins. Last Dec I took a crack at building one. I had forgotten he ever had it. He came over and saw my progress and was toting that old Harmony with him. The neck had a bunch of play in it. It too was separating from the body. It had cracks in the back and one side. He asked if I wanted to mess with fixing it up since I was now a luthier. This is exactly what they are good for. A first timer learning mandolin repair. I actually got it half-way put in playable shape and strung it up. When I took it back to him his face just lit up. He started picking on it and we both just looked at each other. It sounds terrible. Now it hangs on the wall in his basement and he plays the one I built. He thinks mine sounds fantastic since he has only that old Harmony to compare. I love Harmony mandolins!

[Spencer]

You get what you pay for, if you're lucky. I bought a new "F-hole" Harmony in 1977 as a "throwaway" for a 6 month stay in Europe, it cost around 80 dollars. I have since moved over here and got it back, still in fine shape. A friend had put a rosewood bridge on it in the meantime. I was playing it a little this weekend, still sounds and plays ok, better than a lot of cheap mandolins. Guess I was lucky. At the time and for the money, it was a fine sounding instrument, repeat "for the money". Much better than those "tubby" Oriental imports of the early 70's. I believe it has a solid top, I was told they were steam pressed or somehting like that. You will never confuse it with a good hand-built, but I have had a lot more than 80 dollars worth of enjoyment out of it, and my son started messing with it and has since moved up to bigger and better things.

There was a thread on COMANDO a few years back, and I remember Mike Compton saying that he had learned a lot on his Harmony in the beginning. There are some dogs, but if you look around, you can probably find a reasonable, playable, beginner's instrument in a used Harmony.

The old Harmony Sovereigns guitars, were also pretty decent beginner instruments, I had one in the 60's.

Spencer

[PlayerOf8]

Harmony made a "Monterey" model in the late '60s that is all solid wood. Some of them have painted on simulated-flame. These are as good if not better that anything I've seen coming from China today. They can be found in music stores and on E-bay for under $250.00. .
With the right light ga. string they can be fun to play.

George

[bmac]

Harmony put out some nice sounding instruments. In the '60s I had a Harmony 12 string guitar which had spectacular sound.

Apparently Harmony mandolins came as close to Gibson sound as any of the low priced mandolins. They were obviously designed as near copies of Gibsons with shaped fronts and backs. If you can find one it should be reasonable in price. Don't expect it to increase in value though.