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| Resurrecting an old beater... |
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I’ve been working on a side project for a friend and I've decided to document it on a website (link included)
so I can show everyone how I go about it. It’s long been my opinion that a name on a guitar is not always the most important thing. Many older guitars were made of pretty good stuff - just not put together very well. Such is the case with Harmony guitars that were made in the U.S prior to 1970. - Click "Read More" below.
At some point, the Chicago-based company went under and the name was bought by an overseas company that started to market terrible imported guitars with the Harmony name.
The good american made Harmony guitars were made of quality woods, but they were built like tanks inside. This kept the factory from having to do warranty work, and also it’s the reason the guitars are around today. (You can grab them on eBay for quite cheap, and you get an all solid wood guitar!) By the way, if you have looked at new guitars lately you may notice they will tell you, "this guitar has a Solid top!"-well that sounds good but what they might as well say is "this guitar has plywood back and sides!" because unless they state that the guitar is ALL solid woods, it isn’t!
So you get a good deal with one of these oldies. But you still have the problem of its construction…if you want a slide guitar, or are going to amplify it somehow, then you’re still ok, go ahead and have some cheap fun. But if you want to make it into a nice acoustic guitar, then you need to go in for some re-constructive surgery.
This guitar in my example (see picture) is almost exactly like a Martin 000-18. The same woods, the same shape. It’s got really nice mahogany back and sides, and a spruce top that has been aging since the mid-sixties, when this piece was built. Anyone want to venture a guess what a mid-sixties 000-18 will sell for? When I get done with this re-build, it will be very hard to tell the difference in sound with your eyes closed- and I’m serious.
Keep logging on to the website below every so often, I’ll be posting my progress as I go. - - Mark Swanson
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