Which Harmony

[Sheryl McDonald]

This looks like an "new" Harmony done up in the old style: http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h4...lson/mando.jpg

Anyone know what it really is?

Thanks.

[Joe Mendel]

It's a real Harmony, I've picked up a few of them at yard sales & flea markets really cheap. Some of them has Stella on the headstock, but were exactly the same mandolin. I'm guessing late '60s, early '70s. Amerrican made, decent instruments, but they suffer from the same things most of the CMI instruments of the time had, Sloppy glue, necks pulling, etc.

[Sheryl McDonald]

It's a real Harmony, I've picked up a few of them at yard sales & flea markets really cheap. Some of them has Stella on the headstock, but were exactly the same mandolin. I'm guessing late '60s, early '70s. Amerrican made, decent instruments, but they suffer from the same things most of the CMI instruments of the time had, Sloppy glue, necks pulling, etc.

So what would you say they are worth now?

[MikeEdgerton]

I sold the last one I had for 50.00 with the case. Honestly, this model is no real gem.

[Sheryl McDonald]

My niece wants a mandolin and my sister didn't want to spend much while she tries out her latest whim. Thanks for the info though.

[MikeEdgerton]

If it was me I'd be looking at Kentucky's. Those Harmony models weren't really easy to play and there's no sense in discouraging them right from the start. They are inexpensive, and that's just about it.

[Sheryl McDonald]

Thanks for the advice.. I won't pursue the Harmony.

Sheryl

[Joe Mendel]

Mike's advice is right on. They can be playable, but they aren't worth messing with if they are not. None that I have run across sounded real good.

[mrmando]

None that I have run across sounded real good.

Most instruments don't sound good after you run across them. That's why I don't leave my instruments out in the driveway.

[John McGann]

I started on one, they are generally as 'good' as any under $500 instrument.

[MikeEdgerton]

Wow, I'd never put that $50.00 Harmony in the same league as a Kentucky 505S for playability or sound.

[John McGann]

Wow, I'd never put that $50.00 Harmony in the same league as a Kentucky 505S for playability or sound.

Well, I haven't played every mando under $500, so my post is coming from a place of ignorance, actually, I should have qualified it with "ones I've played or heard students play"...but you'd be surprised with the (low quality) instruments some people show up with at Berklee...I need to get better educated about what's available, and I'll look for that KY next time I'm in a shop.

Some of those oldies like the Strad-o-lin or Harmony are fairly OK with a proper setup. I did poke around on a refinished harmony (setup by John Zeidler) for a couple of years before I got my first proper (Zeidler) mando.

[MikeEdgerton]

Well, I haven't played every mando under $500, so my post is coming from a place of ignorance, actually, I should have qualified it with "ones I've played or heard students play"...but you'd be surprised with the (low quality) instruments some people show up with at Berklee...I need to get better educated about what's available, and I'll look for that KY next time I'm in a shop.

Some of those oldies like the Strad-o-lin or Harmony are fairly OK with a proper setup. I did poke around on a refinished harmony (setup by John Zeidler) for a couple of years before I got my first proper (Zeidler) mando.

I love my Strad-O-Lin and I've seen some decent Harmony models, that just wasn't one of them. The KM-505 Kentucky mandolin is a really decent sub $500.00 mandolin.

[John McGann]

The Harmony I learned on was actually an F hole type body..probably looked like this before the refinish.

The peghead was veneered over, and I taped "Boomer" from a set of GHS Boomer strings, in a twist of irony (a cannon it ain't).

[MikeEdgerton]

You can actually find some of those without the faux stripes that aren't all that bad. The necks are generally in the baseball bat realm though.

[Spencer]

You can actually find some of those without the faux stripes that aren't all that bad. The necks are generally in the baseball bat realm though.

Like this??

It's currently on loan to my son, who plays it quite a bit, even though he has a real nice "name" mandolin and the strings on the Harmony are ancient. It's from 1977, plays well and has a good tone. There is a different bridge on it, maybe that helps. The neck never bothered me.

It was much better than anything for the price back then. I haven't played enough of the modern low price instruments to compare, but I would have no qualms about using this one for a starter. Along with John, Mike Compton started on a Harmony, so they aren't all bad. Be interesting to see what all the good players started with.

Spencer

[MikeEdgerton]

I have one exactly like that sitting here. The really neat ones are dated a little earlier, like in the 30's. The one I currently have needs a new bridge, the stock bridge is sagging in the middle.

[Spencer]

I. The one I currently have needs a new bridge, the stock bridge is sagging in the middle.

Might be fun to change it, and see what happens. I think the same happened to mine, but somebody else was using it at the time, so I´m not sure. If its sagging I can't imagine its doing great things for the tone.


Spencer

[MikeEdgerton]

It isn't helping.

[Paul Hostetter]

Back to the really simple Harmony Sheryl started the thread with:



Because they're cheap to buy, I've had several over the years, and set them up and gave them away to people who want to dabble with mandolin. Well set up, they're quite playable, it's not rocket science. They occasionally came with spruce tops instead of birch (the one above is all birch), and those sounded a bit better. The pressed-top Harmony archtops are OK for what they are too, and again just need a setup to make them fun to play. They all had short scales (13") which for most folks, including myself, is a bit of a handicap.

A $50 Harmony in certainly not the same league as a Kentucky 505S for sound, but it's also not in the same league for price either. The Kentucky street price is around $450, and a good deal at that. The issue of playability just isn't relevant. You simply get that adjusted.

[MikeEdgerton]

I'd still shy away from that model and look at the less expensive Kentucky's. You can buy that for $50.00 bucks and put money into the setup and still not have what you'd get from a cheaper Kentucky model.

[Paul Hostetter]

If you bought it for $50, and put even $100 into strings and a setup, it'd still be just one third the price of a Kentucky 505. And the lesser Kentucky mandolins (pressed tops, etc) really sound bad. The 505 is certainly worth three times more, but sometimes people can't invest that much in an experiment.

[MikeEdgerton]

That wasn't the suggestion made. The suggestion was to look at the lower priced kentucky's. The 505 entered the equation in a later message when someone said the harmony in question was as good as any mandolin under $500.00. I then said that I wouldn't put that $50.00 mandolin in the same league as the 505.

[Spencer]

Is the pick guard screwed to the top of the round hole model? Looks like it in the picture. The arch top had a bracket.

Spencer

[Paul Hostetter]

Yep, two little screws. Elegant, no?