View Full Version : My Harmony Mandolin
Mandoman@
Mar-05-2014, 11:52am
Have you got a Harmony mandolin? I am trying to find out a bit about them.
niels
Mar-05-2014, 12:13pm
hello and welcome Madoman@, I am rather new here as well, also on the lookout for info on my mandolin. Mine is a Silvertone. As I understand it, Kay, Silvertone, Harmony and some other brands have a lot in common. Here is a link.
http://www.oldfrets.com/Brands.html
do yo have a picture of your mandolin?
nmiller
Mar-05-2014, 12:38pm
Harmony made mandolins for about 70 years. You'll need to narrow it down a bit (either with a model or a pic).
Mandoman@
Mar-05-2014, 1:50pm
116327 Yes I have a pic
Mandoman@
Mar-05-2014, 1:57pm
116328116329 It don't have any model on it or inside.
Petrus
Mar-06-2014, 8:48am
Look pretty cool. It's even got a pickup!
I've had Harmony guitars (archtop, flattop) and Kay mandolins, which I think may be part of the same company. It was a very big, mass manufacturer of inexpensive instruments in the U.S. for many years. Poor man's Gibson/Martin, basically.
MikeEdgerton
Mar-06-2014, 9:18am
Now for the bad news. That Harmony wasn't built in the US, it was imported from either Japan or Korea, circa 1980. These mandolins were brought into this country under dozens of brand names both as acoustic and electric. It is a Harmony in name only. It's one of these (http://www.mandolincafe.com/forum/showthread.php?79118-Key-Brand-Info).
MikeEdgerton
Mar-06-2014, 11:15am
Look pretty cool. It's even got a pickup!
I've had Harmony guitars (archtop, flattop) and Kay mandolins, which I think may be part of the same company. It was a very big, mass manufacturer of inexpensive instruments in the U.S. for many years. Poor man's Gibson/Martin, basically.
Kay and Harmony were separate companies. They were both in Chicago as were Regal and Lyon and Healy.
allenhopkins
Mar-06-2014, 11:32am
Tried to eyeball as many Harmony headstocks as I could find images for, to date that particular logo. I'd guess late-'50's-early-'60's, just a guess. Harmony used a lot of headstock logos over the years.
Later: checked out Mike E's post #7 above, including the link. Mandolins with that body were Asian-made, and later than I stated here -- 1980's or so. Harmony wasn't building in the US by that time, and the "Harmony" name was used, and is being used, for a variety of inexpensive Asian imports.
fentonjames
Mar-09-2014, 11:50am
harmony never had est. and a date on any us built instruments.
fernmando
Mar-09-2014, 6:41pm
The above post is very true.
I have an American made Harmony I keep in my work locker. It's a nice instrument though I had to glue the top & back on in several places when I first strung it up. Only light strings now. I really like the pickup on the OPs and doubt it's original. Other holes in top for the original is my guess. Any Idea where that pickup came from?