c.1935 Harmony-made Archtop Guitar

Update 2014: Going through old posts... my keener eye now believes this to be an odd Harmony-made one-off shape/build judging by hardware, bracing, etc.

Sweet archtop! This is a very spare, but great-playing, great-sounding, loud guitar. It's crack free, is made entirely from solid birch, has "tone bar" bracing, and is bound on the top and back with white celluloid. The body outline and shape/size recalls Martin archtops of the '30s, but the construction and feel is all Chicago... big old unreinforced v-neck, 1 3/4" nut, flat fretboard (ebonized maple), and big raunchy tone.

Original brass-plate tuners and bone nut.

Neck has a 1/32" bow... but a heck of a lot of new guitars have that, too. It's irrelevant, as far as playability goes, especially after the fret dress I did on this fella. Plays quick with great action.

Simple two-tone sunburst... with an orangey-red-brown center and black outside.

Nice original tuners!

Rosewood adjustable bridge and simple tailpiece.

All-black sides, back, and neck. Depression-era charm, no? The finish is in fantastic shape and combined with the guitar being crack-free, this looks like a relatively new guitar.

It's nice that the tailpiece screws are flush with the tailpiece edges.

Ah, and it has its original chip case, too!

Good neck join!