Silvertone acoustic question
JGreen
me date it or tell me its value?
the back of the head stock says made in USA 319.12119. and inside
the sound hole is a stamp that is faded , but looks like it might say
11 69 3 ?.
thanks for the help
Hojo2x
Its value is not much - whatever you can get for it.
But it's no newer than the early 1970s, as that's when Sears switched over to
foreign vendors to produce their Silvertone line of guitars.
My guess is that the 11 69 3 is a date: perhaps the 3rd of November, 1969, or
the 11th of March, 1969. But I'm just guessing.
It was probably made by the Harmony Guitar Company in Chicago, Illinois.
Sorry I can't be any more specific or helpful than that. There isn't a whole
lot of documentation available to the public on these less expensive
instruments.
Wade Hampton Miller
Chugiak, Alaska
Olin Murrell
"Hojo2x" <hoj...@aol.com> wrote in message
news:20020703232459...@mb-bg.aol.com...
Wade's right. Generally speaking, those old Silvertones aren't worth a lot
of money. But, and this is especially true with the ones made by Harmony,
with the right setup, and in the right player's hands, they can be downright
magical sounding guitars.
Ken Cashion
wrote:
This is a true fact. I love my Silvertone and Jerry Jeff
Walker loved his. Real mahogany neck, back, and sides, and rosewood
fret board. The wide bouts and deep waists were/are great to rest a
chin in and let the big box tell you some of his stories. They will
make a better musician of you because you will be a little more
sensitive to listen to other guitars.
Anyone interested in seeing some jpgs of my Silvertone and an
advert from the period can e-mail me. The jpgs aren't large.
If I had to sell my old round-shouldered Gibson J-50 or my
Silvertone, the Gibson would be sold.
Ken Cashion
SPRint3876
>Wade's right. Generally speaking, those old Silvertones aren't worth a lot
>>of money. But, and this is especially true with the ones made by Harmony,>
If it is a metal tailpiece all small birch ST, it is a TPOS. If it is a
Harmony Soverign type with solid spruce top and solid HM back and sides, it's a
real find. The same guy in Denver previously mentioned would take the backs off
these he found at the flea market for $5-10 in the 70's, remove the ladder
braces and X-brace them with a scalloped pre-war Martin style, "slip" the back
when replacing to set the neck (they all need a neck re-set it seems) and sold
them through the Denver Folklore Center to "non-label sniffing" real musicians
who would appreciate the punch and tone of a pre-war style X-braced rather
jumbo guitar with 30 year old spruce and mahogany and original finish. He
would also sand the interior of the soundbox to 600 grit and polish with #0000
steel wool. (Sorry to give away any trade secrets fellas:) Yeah I know, he
bastardized a collectible vintage guitar. Don't try telling that to the ppl who
bought them.
Leo in Tucson
Jim Page
>>The same guy in Denver previously mentioned would take the
>>backs off these he found at the flea market for $5-10 in the 70's,
A couple of years ago I spoke with a fellow who was doing something similar to
these old Harmony guitars. I believe he went by the name of Fat Dawg, and he
either worked for or ran Subway Guitars on the West Coast.
Anyway, if these guitars had a tailpiece, he would fit a pin bridge on them, do
the mandatory neck reset and some other mods, and offer them for (if I recall
correctly) around $350.
I came within an ace of buying one just to see what it sounded like, but bought
a couple of old L&H and Stella parlor guitars from eBay instead.
If anyone has any firsthand experience with these modified guitars, I for one
would love to hear about them.
--Jim
To e-mail, remove "FRAMUS" from e-mail address shown
No Busking
> Anyway, if these guitars had a tailpiece, he would fit a pin bridge on
them, do
> the mandatory neck reset and some other mods, and offer them for (if I
recall
> correctly) around $350.
>
> I came within an ace of buying one just to see what it sounded like, but
bought
> a couple of old L&H and Stella parlor guitars from eBay instead.
>
Hey Jim,
I picked up an old Stella from Joe Latham while in his shop yesterday...it
was literally coming apart at the seams, so I've been puttering around
glueing it together today.
It has the old pressed metal tailpiece and floating bridge...have you ever
tried putting a pin bridge on one of those guitars? I'm tempted to try it
just for fun. The scale is short and the top is hardwood, so I'm inclined
to think it can take the strain....maybe a bit of work on the braces would
be in order first.
What a cute little thing...it's sunburst with the faux "tiger stripe" wood
finish underneath. Near as I can tell, it's all solid wood, and was well
loved...the fretboard has lots of worn spots in the usual places, so someone
probably learned to play on the thing back in the '60's. Old things like
that just seem to have the breath of life, eh?
It's destined to spend the rest of it's life as a slide guitar...might even
make it on to a few recordings if it sounds funky enough.
Cheers,
Mike
Jim Page
I almost bought that guitar a couple of times. It was over to the side with
other stuff Joe was selling cheap, right?
I have an old Stella, very similar, but without the fake tiger striping if you
want to see that to compare it. It was an eBay special for $26, but a cool,
playable guitar.
I am glad that neat guitar has found a good home!
No Busking
with
> other stuff Joe was selling cheap, right?
Yup, that's the one.
It's going back together really nicely. The thing that really attracted me
to it was the fretboard wear. Kinda touched a "Velveteen Rabbit" place in
my heart.
Did you keep the wooden nut on yours? On this one, the nut is still usable,
but I think I'll fashion a bit of bone in it's place.
So now I've been spending the day looking up old Harmony archtops on Ebay,
thinking it might be fun to do another similar project.
First time I've been in Joe's shop. I could spend hours there just looking
at the bits and pieces. If there was a cosmic shift, and his shop collided
with Alan Marshall's, the number of existing guitars in the universe would
probably double.
- Mike
Jim Page
My Stella has an unusual bridge/nut combination; quite attractive and
functional. I could describe it better if my son hadn't taken the damned
strings off the guitar and misplaced the thing. I will find it and send you a
JPEG image of it.
Yep, I have spent many hours in Joe's shop, and it has been fun, instructional,
and claustrophobic. You know how big I am, and you have seen how little that
shop is.
When you add to that the fact that every flat surface in it has layers of
parts, wood, and debris balanced but ready to tumble to the floor, you can
begin to imagine my discomfiture!!!
Joe is full of wonders and I love him, but how he can work in such an
environment is beyond me! I have offered several times to go in there and
clean it up, but he won't let me.
--Jim (everything in its place is my motto!)
JGreen
looks like a solid wood top. I was thinking of converting it to a
lefty and using it at the beach.I guess thats what i'll do.
any tips on doing the conversion? I know i need to reverse or
replace the nut. but what about the floating bridge? should i just
turn it around? also the metal tailpiece has three small string holes
and 3 large ones. could i just drill out the small ones so i can
reverse the strings?
thanks for any and all ideas
SPRint3876
>looks like a solid wood top. I was thinking of converting it to a
>lefty and using it at the beach.I guess thats what i'll do.
You paddle left handed? :)
Leo in Tucson