The Harmony H-75-78 series of guitars were the Harmony Brand’s top tier electric guitar. No expense was spared to make a superb quality instrument to rival the likes of Gibson and Fender. This guitar had a price tag to match. The Bigbsy equipped models could be had for $300 US dollars in 1962 - which is approximately $3135 USD or $4800 Australian dollars today. To put this into perspective, a Sunburst Fender Stratocaster in 1962 cost $289.50!
Only days after selling our last 1962 Harmony H-75 we received an email from another guitarist who had a 1962 Harmony H-75 that they had decided to sell. These guitars are very rare and for us it was a wonderful coincidence.
This Harmony has had quite an interesting life. At some stage the original sunburst finish has been stripped and replaced with a clear lacquer. This would have been early in its life, possibly in the 1960s on account of the opaque hue under black light. Adding to the mojo of this guitar is the vintage 1960s pin up decal by famed Italian artist Ziloky Boston. Brian Setzer from the Stray Cats’ original 1959 Gretsch 6120 that he purchased when he was 17 sports a pinup girl decal by the same artist. How cool!
This guitar performs very well. The action is nice and low, the neck is straight and all of the pickups and controls function as they should. The rear volume pot has been replaced and sports a Marshall style knob. The vibrato system works well. It appears to be an amalgamation of multiple 1960s Japanese Teisco parts. While it is super cool and 'of the era' its structural integrity is questionable. This guitar would look fantastic with a B3 Bigsby like the original H76s and H-78s came with. The gold foil pickups are surprisingly versatile. They can rock hard, but have a nice clear jangle to them and clean up well for jazz and surf tones. The shorter scale neck has a comfortable vintage feel with some chunkiness to it. The neck has been refretted and has tall jumbo frets with minimal signs of wear. The tuners have also been replaced with metal tulip button tuners. Despite not matching the original tuner footprint they function very well.
This guitar has at one stage been set up as a left handed instrument and then converted back to right hand. This is evidenced by a strap button hole in the lower horn and a plugged up output jack hole on the bass side of the lower bout.
The natural finish really highlights some excellent flame maple on this guitar. Harmony did not hold back on the quality of materials with this instrument. This guitar also sports a Brazilian rosewood fretboard and Brazilian rosewood bridge and comes in a very sturdy Hiscox Liteflite Pro II hard shell case.
A super cool guitar with a very interesting history.
Brand: Harmony
Model: H-75
Year: 1962
Country: USA
Case: HSC
Serial: 1315
Colour (Body): Natural
Colour (Neck): Natural
Finish Type: Lacquer
Body Material: Maple
Neck Material: Maple
Fretboard Material: Brazilian Rosewood
Nut: White
Scale Length: 24”
Fret Number: 20
Fretboard Radius: 12”
Action: 2mm
Neck Profile: C
Nut Width: 44.6mm
12th Fret Width: 48.7mm
1st Fret Depth: 24.1mm
12th Fret Depth: 25.2mm
Pickups: Gold Foil
Resistance: Neck:10.95k, Middle: 10.97k Bridge: 10.8k
Electronics: 3 volume, 3 tone, 3 pickup toggles
Knobs: Original + one replacement
Pickguard: Tortoiseshell
Hardware: Chrome/Gold
Mods, repairs: Aftermarket bigsby/replacement bridge volume pot, replacement tuners, fill in left hand jack, natural refin from sunburst
Weight: 3.21kg
