I am working on a 1953 Silvertone arch top that is very similar to that. They were manufactured by 2 companies, Kay and Harmony, and sold by Sears which probably kept them in business during war time. This one is a Harmony evidenced by the serial number I found. It had a split on the side near the neck, top coming unglued and someone tried to epoxy the neck and side, what a mess. The point I was going to make is that on this one it is 2 braces running from neck to heel instead of a solid block.. The top is split from top to bottom in line with the upper "F" hole. If you look through the lower "F" hole near where the lower bout meets the waist, you can usually find a blue ink stamp with the serial number. Over from it,(very faint), you can find the manufacture date if you are interested. CHEERS1
These guitars did NOT have a truss rod. They are made with a pretty massive piece of wood, and are typically described as a "Baseball Bat" type neck profile. They don't really bend much just from the sheer mass of the wood. Putting in a truss rod is a pretty serious undertaking, and I don't know how effective it would be, again, in consideration of how massive, and stiff ,the neck is just from the wood mass and size of it.
I have this same guitar. I need to replace a small piece of neck binding and it needs a new nut. Can anybody give me good direction on what size to buy?
You say you’re using Titebond. Is that their Hide glue? They do various types of glue, but I understand that hide glue is best for facilitating future repair work.
Titebond is a white, what is called an aliphatic glue. Hide glue was used originally when the guitar was made. Unless it is a very much later guitar, Harmony guitars were made with hide glue from the 1920s to the late 1960s/early 1970s.
The Patrician model 1407 is a solid wood guitar and the only attempt at a professional archtop that they made. I have one from 1947 and I did a neck reset and put flat wound strings on it which sound pretty good. Much better then regular acoustic strings on that particular model.
@warrenhess3259- You simply are parroting back the general consensus, which would be wrong. This guitar is a Patrician H1414 or H1415. The center strip in the top is solid spruce, and the rest of the guitar wood is solid Honduras Mahogany. The purfling is a rectangular checkerboard of contrasting woods. How low end does that sound to you? There are many Harmony guitars that would be considered low end, but there are some that cannot be described as anything but well built of extremely high quality materials. The Patrician line, the guitar here being one of them, is an all solid wood model, and when in good shape, both sounds (I own both an H1414 and an H1415) and looks good. There are other Patricians that are a bit lower end, but all are solid wood models. The earlier Cremona models, also archtops of all solid wood, had tops of a solid block of wood (maple in those cases) that was carved, by hand, with a chisel (the chisel marks can be seen if you look underneath the top), so that the top not only had its proper shape and graduation, but the tone bars (the straight braces used on archtops) were not added on, but carved around when the tops were carved out. See how many other guitar makers did that, even the highest ones you can name. I'll wait. Also, the higher end Cremonas and Patrician archtops did indeed have block inlays (but made of plastic, not shell materials). The 1950s and later Harmony Sovereign line were also solid wood guitars. The most common, the large, somewhat uniquely shaped H1260, is an all sold wood flattop, roughly dreadnought sized. It was 16" across the lower bout. The back was one piece of Honduras Mahogany. Yes, one piece, 16" wide. Built with hide glue. Try and find a modern acoustic flattop that is made that way, even a hand-built. It sounds unique because of its ladder bracing, but for some types of music, like fast playing or acoustic blues, is an ideal instrument. It was good enough for Jimmy Page to use for the acoustic parts of Stairway to Heaven during recording (not used live). It is far more than good enough for most acoustic players, and truly good acoustic players will know how to use its special characteristics to best effect. Saying that all Harmony guitars are only good for firewood is like saying that all Gibson guitars are absolutely top of the line. Does Gibson not make Les Paul Juniors and Specials? How high end are those? In a similar way, not all Harmony guitars are only good for firewood.
A YT suggestion and I'm glad they did. Very enjoyable video all around, cheers.
great work!
I am working on a 1953 Silvertone arch top that is very similar to that. They were manufactured by 2 companies, Kay and Harmony, and sold by Sears which probably kept them in business during war time. This one is a Harmony evidenced by the serial number I found. It had a split on the side near the neck, top coming unglued and someone tried to epoxy the neck and side, what a mess. The point I was going to make is that on this one it is 2 braces running from neck to heel instead of a solid block.. The top is split from top to bottom in line with the upper "F" hole. If you look through the lower "F" hole near where the lower bout meets the waist, you can usually find a blue ink stamp with the serial number. Over from it,(very faint), you can find the manufacture date if you are interested. CHEERS1
Very cool. Good luck with the archtop, and thanks for the info.
Nice work
Thanks!
Why no shim under the fretboard extension? Seems like an important thing to keep the stresses on the body controlled.
I would bet that the holes on top are from a pre-war wooden trail piece. Thanks for the video
Nice job……nice guitar
Did you consider a truss rod installation..or does it have one already.?
Truss rod adds quite a lot to the repair cost for the client, and as the guitar was built without one, and the neck was straight, there seemd no need.
These guitars did NOT have a truss rod. They are made with a pretty massive piece of wood, and are typically described as a "Baseball Bat" type neck profile. They don't really bend much just from the sheer mass of the wood. Putting in a truss rod is a pretty serious undertaking, and I don't know how effective it would be, again, in consideration of how massive, and stiff ,the neck is just from the wood mass and size of it.
I have this same guitar. I need to replace a small piece of neck binding and it needs a new nut. Can anybody give me good direction on what size to buy?
Sorry, I don't have the guitar here any longer, or I'd measure it for you. Can't remember what it was.
You say you’re using Titebond. Is that their Hide glue?
They do various types of glue, but I understand that hide glue is best for facilitating future repair work.
Not hide glue - just regular titebond or titebond II is very good.
Titebond is a white, what is called an aliphatic glue. Hide glue was used originally when the guitar was made. Unless it is a very much later guitar, Harmony guitars were made with hide glue from the 1920s to the late 1960s/early 1970s.
Harmony has always been a low end guitar I hope the person that owns this insturment has a lot of money other words all it is worth is fire wood
The Patrician model 1407 is a solid wood guitar and the only attempt at a professional archtop that they made. I have one from 1947 and I did a neck reset and put flat wound strings on it which sound pretty good. Much better then regular acoustic strings on that particular model.
I don't think this guitar is a Patrician because they didn't have block inlays nor a headstock overlay and the holes are not the same.
The only suitable response I can make to that is this: Any guitar that plays okay is better than no guitar at all :)
Yes I agree!
@@SandersAmps
@warrenhess3259- You simply are parroting back the general consensus, which would be wrong. This guitar is a Patrician H1414 or H1415. The center strip in the top is solid spruce, and the rest of the guitar wood is solid Honduras Mahogany. The purfling is a rectangular checkerboard of contrasting woods. How low end does that sound to you? There are many Harmony guitars that would be considered low end, but there are some that cannot be described as anything but well built of extremely high quality materials. The Patrician line, the guitar here being one of them, is an all solid wood model, and when in good shape, both sounds (I own both an H1414 and an H1415) and looks good. There are other Patricians that are a bit lower end, but all are solid wood models. The earlier Cremona models, also archtops of all solid wood, had tops of a solid block of wood (maple in those cases) that was carved, by hand, with a chisel (the chisel marks can be seen if you look underneath the top), so that the top not only had its proper shape and graduation, but the tone bars (the straight braces used on archtops) were not added on, but carved around when the tops were carved out. See how many other guitar makers did that, even the highest ones you can name. I'll wait. Also, the higher end Cremonas and Patrician archtops did indeed have block inlays (but made of plastic, not shell materials).
The 1950s and later Harmony Sovereign line were also solid wood guitars. The most common, the large, somewhat uniquely shaped H1260, is an all sold wood flattop, roughly dreadnought sized. It was 16" across the lower bout. The back was one piece of Honduras Mahogany. Yes, one piece, 16" wide. Built with hide glue. Try and find a modern acoustic flattop that is made that way, even a hand-built. It sounds unique because of its ladder bracing, but for some types of music, like fast playing or acoustic blues, is an ideal instrument. It was good enough for Jimmy Page to use for the acoustic parts of Stairway to Heaven during recording (not used live). It is far more than good enough for most acoustic players, and truly good acoustic players will know how to use its special characteristics to best effect.
Saying that all Harmony guitars are only good for firewood is like saying that all Gibson guitars are absolutely top of the line. Does Gibson not make Les Paul Juniors and Specials? How high end are those? In a similar way, not all Harmony guitars are only good for firewood.