Harmony Company Models

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The Harmony Company of Illinois, United States, manufactured a wide variety of musical instruments which were popular during most of the 20th century. This article is devoted to documenting these instruments.

[edit] Numbering Convention

Harmony's model numbers consisted of an 'H' followed by a 2 to 4 digit number. The 'H' stood for the name of the company.

[edit] Model and Date Stamps

Harmony hollow-body instruments were marked with inkstamps within the body of the instrument. A model/batch number of the form nnnnHmmmm where 'nnnn' is a batch number and 'mmmm' is a model number ('6072H950' for example would be an H950 model). They were also stamped with a date stamp with the season and two-digit year ('F-45' would indicate the instrument was manufactured in the fall of 1945). Only 'F-xx' and 'S-xx' are found as date stamps, S could be summer, perhaps Harmony synchronized its orders with the main catalog distributors (as Sears & Roebuck, Montgomery Wards). A former Harmony employee reported a different scheme: "We worked 10 hours, 5 days a week, any 8 more every Saturday. That was both shifts. I believe the "F" and "S" on the serial numbers was for first or second shift."

[edit] OEM Models

Harmony was also an original equipment manufacturer (OEM) for several other brands, most notably Silvertone. OEM models were typically very similar to a Harmony instrument but with cosmetic differences.

[edit] Models

[edit] Guitars

[edit] Acoustic Flattop Guitars

[edit] Acoustic Archtop Guitars

Harmony's archtop acoustic models differ most significantly in the woods used, the body size, and the finish. Mahogany, spruce, or birch were used on most models (or a combination thereof). The body sizes were termed by Harmony as "auditorium" (16" body width?) and "grand auditorium" (17" body width?) sizes.

Some common features displayed in these models are solid wood construction, F-shaped sound holes, and a steel non-adjustable truss rod.

[edit] Archtone

H1213
H1214
H1215
H1215T (tenor guitar)
H1222
H6415

[edit] Broadway

H954
H955
H961

[edit] Catalina

H1220
H1221

[edit] Cremona

H1300
H1301
H1302
H1303
H1304
H1306
H1307
H1308

[edit] Master

H1439
H1444
H945

[edit] Monterey

H1320
H1325
H1327
H1456
H1457
H1820T (tenor guitar)
H6450
H950 "Leader" - Birch top, back, and sides. Tiger flame red sunburst against black. Sunburst is smaller on older models.
H951
H952 "Colorama"
H953 "Colorama"
H996

[edit] Montclair

H956

[edit] Patrician

H1403
H1406
H1407
H1408
H1410
H1414
H1415
H1450
H1453

[edit] Electric Guitars

[edit] Mandolins

[edit] Ukuleles or Ukeleles

[edit] Violins

[edit] External Links

[1] - an extensive resource for Harmony guitars.

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