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1958 Harmony H-1203

Posted: Tue Nov 10, 2020 10:03 am
by kdawg2a
Just picked up this little, well worn jem.....
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1958 Harmony H-1203 'western' acoustic. OO sized body, fat neck, Sitka spruce top, Brazilian rosewood board, Honduran mahogany back (1 piece), sides and neck (1 piece).
This thing is well played but really sings. Great action and projection .
The quality of the wood is unreal, if it was a Martin or Gibson it would be priced beyond the realms of us mere mortals!
It kind of matches my Martin D-35 in the looks department so I'm a happy man.
Right, off to walk the railway tracks while I lay down some blues picking.....

Re: 1958 Harmony H-1203

Posted: Tue Nov 10, 2020 10:20 am
by robthemac
Dibs.

Re: 1958 Harmony H-1203

Posted: Tue Nov 10, 2020 10:30 am
by Bg
You've been ripped, the jem should have a monkey grip!

Unless you mean 'gem' :P

Re: 1958 Harmony H-1203

Posted: Tue Nov 10, 2020 10:58 am
by kdawg2a
Bg wrote: Tue Nov 10, 2020 10:30 am You've been ripped, the jem should have a monkey grip!

Unless you mean 'gem' :P
I meant like 'jem and the holograms '.

Top show.

Re: 1958 Harmony H-1203

Posted: Tue Nov 10, 2020 12:14 pm
by Bg
kdawg2a wrote: Tue Nov 10, 2020 10:58 am
Bg wrote: Tue Nov 10, 2020 10:30 am You've been ripped, the jem should have a monkey grip!

Unless you mean 'gem' :P
I meant like 'jem and the holograms '.

Top show.
nice try ;)

Re: 1958 Harmony H-1203

Posted: Tue Nov 10, 2020 4:00 pm
by k1w1
Nice score. They are great pickers. I have the Fender branded version and the 12 string version as well. Yeah the woods are top notch, one piece mahogany backs on all this line. My Fender has the most amazing bear claw spruce top.

Re: 1958 Harmony H-1203

Posted: Wed Nov 11, 2020 6:22 am
by kdawg2a
[quote=k1w1 post_id=880847 time=1604980817 user_id=1027]
Nice score. They are great pickers. I have the Fender branded version and the 12 string version as well. Yeah the woods are top notch, one piece mahogany backs on all this line. My Fender has the most amazing bear claw spruce top.
[/quote]

K1W1, ma man! I knew this thread would interest you!
As the very well respected NZ expert of these cool and underrated American guitars, I have a question.
Here's the action at the nut end....[attachment=2]phpdG1WtmAM.jpg[/attachment]
Nice and playable. Here's the action at the heel end...[attachment=1]phpOiwgxIAM.jpg[/attachment]
Still playable but could be lowered.
Here's the bridge/ saddle....[attachment=0]phpHaCL5XAM.jpg[/attachment]
As you can see, the saddle has a bit of height to it and could be gently filed to lower the action. There's pretty minimal bellying (especially considering it's a 60+ year old guitar) so would that be the action you would take? Lowering the saddle will also reduce the break angle over the saddle, would that effect the tone?
Any advice on this would be greatly appreciated!

Re: 1958 Harmony H-1203

Posted: Wed Nov 11, 2020 9:07 am
by Miza
kdawg2a wrote: Tue Nov 10, 2020 10:58 am
Bg wrote: Tue Nov 10, 2020 10:30 am You've been ripped, the jem should have a monkey grip!

Unless you mean 'gem' :P
I meant like 'jem and the holograms '.

Top show.
"We are the Misfits; our songs are better!" :lol:

Re: 1958 Harmony H-1203

Posted: Wed Nov 11, 2020 4:01 pm
by k1w1
Can you take a measurement of the fret top to under the string at the 12th fret and a photo of the neck heel side on and one with a ruler beside the side of the saddle to get a height.

Most of these old girls of any brand need a reset but it looks like you could shave 1mm off the saddle and still have a reasonable height and break angle. I have reset all mine, the 12 string is still waiting for me to pull the neck.

Re: 1958 Harmony H-1203

Posted: Wed Nov 11, 2020 7:13 pm
by Mini Forklift
That looks awesome, nice score

Re: 1958 Harmony H-1203

Posted: Sun Nov 15, 2020 3:53 am
by kdawg2a
k1w1 wrote: Wed Nov 11, 2020 4:01 pm Can you take a measurement of the fret top to under the string at the 12th fret and a photo of the neck heel side on and one with a ruler beside the side of the saddle to get a height.

Most of these old girls of any brand need a reset but it looks like you could shave 1mm off the saddle and still have a reasonable height and break angle. I have reset all mine, the 12 string is still waiting for me to pull the neck.
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Sorry, I had to use a ruler with inches. Damned Imperial heathens!
12th fret is 4mm, bridge is 11mm. The heel looks worse in the photo than it does in person.
My plan is to lower the saddle by 1-1.5mm. The guitar is actually pretty playable up high (nut end is lovely, very low action) but taking it down a touch can only help. I'll remove the Waverly tuners too, give them a clean up and re-grease. They function ok but could definitely use some maintenance.

Re: 1958 Harmony H-1203

Posted: Sun Nov 15, 2020 1:22 pm
by kdawg2a
K1W1, would this semi compensated saddle be original?
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Check out the checking!
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Re: 1958 Harmony H-1203

Posted: Sun Nov 15, 2020 3:47 pm
by k1w1
I reckon you could drop the saddle height by that much. The neck is still tight to the body which is good, these usually have a gap at the bottom as they pull up over time.

No that is a replacement saddle. I was going to say consider making a new one, that doesn't fit the slot tight and has been shimmed at the front and is tilting forward. It would pay to square up the saddle slot sides and make a tighter fit, you can get those compensated saddles at most guitar shops and sand to fit.

These tuning pegs work great with cleaning up, I usually wipe the gears and base plate with naptha then soak overnight in 3 in 1 oil, wipe down and reassemble. Take care to keep the buttons out of the oil.

Re: 1958 Harmony H-1203

Posted: Mon Nov 30, 2020 6:42 pm
by vinylguy
That looks like my old one, did you buy it off a guy in Chch who bought it from a guy in Nelson ?

Re: 1958 Harmony H-1203

Posted: Tue Dec 01, 2020 3:20 am
by kdawg2a
vinylguy wrote: Mon Nov 30, 2020 6:42 pm That looks like my old one, did you buy it off a guy in Chch who bought it from a guy in Nelson ?
Nope. Got it in the U.S.