c.1950 Harmony "Gene Autry" Guitar

I recently sold another of this same model and this one's every bit as nice as that one -- for a cowboy-themed guitar, that is. These were made by Harmony (for the Sears "Silvertone" line) from the early 1940s through the 1950s, and this one probably dates to the late 40s or early 50s, as it has the larger MOP dots and general build from that time.

It's a sturdy guitar, bound on the top and around the soundhole in cream celluloid, and sports solid birch back/sides/neck, and a solid spruce top. It's ladder-braced, but heavier than the old 20s and 30s Harmony builds, meaning that it sacrifices a little bit in volume but gains a heck of a lot more rigidity (ie, the top won't belly like the old ones do over time).

Someone got to this guitar ahead of me and I see evidence of a bridge re-glue (they managed to glue up some cracks in the bridge -- normal for these guitars -- at the same time) and also some back/side seam separation reglues, all sturdy. My work was mostly setup and cleaning, as well as the installation of some new Kluson-style tuners.

Cool stencils, as usual.

Ebonized hardwood fretboard... I think. It's awfully hard to tell. Note the side-to-side cut marks -- almost all Harmony guitars have these marks on them, up to the fancypants models. Must have been the type of machine they used.

Fun sunburst all over.

And an original end pin! What's nice about this fella is that it's crack free, a rarity among these old guitars, because students and kids were the folks who often got their hands on these.