1968 Harmony H1270 Natural, Very Good, Soft, $525.00

Harmony 12-String H1270 1968 |

The Harmony factory in Chicago was among the first to return to building a 12-string guitar post-WWII. Most were constructed from slab-sawn birch, and adorned with painted trim; a solid guitar for everyman back in the day. However, this model of Harmony 12-strings took it up a notch from its plainer/cheaper siblings. Both the Harmony and the Sovereign branded 12s of this model were made with pretty nice materials, and included inlaid purfling and celluloid binding to boot!

This original 'jumbo' example, in good condition, is stamped inside H1270. The date stamp is unreadable or missing. The top is solid spruce and ladder-braced, with multiple sound hole and edge purfling. The back and sides are solid mahogany. The neck is mahogany with a radiused Brazilian rosewood fingerboard under which is an adjustable truss rod. The head stock sports a Brazilian overlay and a gold Harmony decal. The 'floating' bridge is Brazilian and is designed with the two saddle setup (we only used one saddle for the sake of simplicity). The tailpiece is the fancier variety that appears in 1968, so this feature helps date the guitar to '68 or later.

This 'jumbo' 12 measures 16 1/8" across at the lower bout. Scale length is 25 1/4" and the flattish 'C'-shaped neck measures 1 15/16" across at the nut, and string spacing is 2 3/8"" at the saddle.

The neck was recently reset. A few back braces were glued. The frets were leveled and dressed. The nut is the original made from nylon. Tuners are original. There appear to be no cracks anywhere. There is an amateur-like repair on the back where it appears a piece of mahogany was knocked out and reglued (see photo)..now solid. The guitar is missing its pick guard and truss cover (these could be sourced or made easily). Action is set nice and low and, coupled with the radiused board and short scale, the guitar plays easily.

These guitars should be tuned low, about a step-and-a-half, and the sound produced is big and full in the bass, convincing in the mids, with ringing sustain in the trebles. This particular Harmony model was made 'famous' by a number of well-known guitarists over the years, Pete Townshend and Dick Rosmini to name a few, and are among the best values in the vintage market today. This one was well used, but not abused and gives a lot of American-made blues twang for five-hundred bucks!

Comes with a soft case in excellent condition.

Be sure to check the sound clip!