I have a friend who has an old Harmony Monterey mandolin. #The number stamped on the inside is 1878H417. #There's also another blurry stamp in there that looks like F47. Anyhow...I'm assuming that H417 is a model number, and perhaps the 1878 is a serial number. #Is there any way to put an approximate date and/or value on this creature?
"I'm a farmer with a mandolin and a high tenor voice."
The Monterey line was introduced in 1958 and expired in the early 70s. Most of the Montereys, in fact most of the Harmony instruments, date from the mid-to-late 60s.
The H417 was the better of two possible Montereys in that it had a rosewood rather than dyed maple board. The top is heat-pressed.
I don't know of anyone tracking serial numbers on Harmony instruments, and at that, 99% of the attention is on the guitars. Check this link for some Harmony history and links to a few other sites.
A little late in the thread but thank for the info Paul. I saved one from the trash can and referbed for fun. It is a quite and mellow sounding mandonlin and it has a slightly shorter scale than standard so the strings are a bit looser. Fun instrument to play when I just feel like noodling by myself.
Harmony's dating scheme was S or F (spring, fall), then the year, so F47 would indicate it was made in 1947.
Also, there is a Harmony discussion board. As Paul said 99% of the interest is in the guitars, but they have a lot of devoted Harmony fans and I'm sure someone knows about the mandolins. Harmony Group
Uh huh. The Monterey line was introduced in 1958, but this one was made in the fall of 1947? Good trick.
He said the "F47" was blurry...
Harmony mandolins are a pretty good deal for a starter instrument. I own a pair of harmany baroque mandolins, also known as "batwings". They intonate, have good pegs, and a reasonably easy set-up on them is enough to keep me from hurling it at the wall along with most cheapies. Good deals on ebay if you budget around $250 as a top bound
I cannot locate any numbers in/on my Harmoney Monterey; where might I look to find them? Cannot see any trace anywhere by looking through the keyhole, I mean F hole, habits are hard to break!
Okay after more inspection I can see numbers, but faint. They look like 0096H417, none others seen, yet.
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