1960s Vega FT-J (Harmony Body) Jumbo Flattop Guitar

I've worked on a few Vega-branded, Vega-necked, Harmony-body guitars (this was a thing Vega did in the mid-late '50s and '60s) -- several archtops and a couple of Harmony H1203 Sovereign bodies with Vega necks -- but this is the first and only time I've seen a jumbo-sized Vega/Harmony hybrid. It's a slick look, for sure, and even has a ton of big pearl eye-catchers set in the fretboard.

It looks like Harmony borrowed the shape and depth of some of their 16" archtops to make the flattop body shape for this guy. Inside, the ladder-bracing and design elements are all roughly the same as an average H1203 model, though sonically this thing is louder, gutsier, and has much more stinging mids/treble tresponse with a good, even, gritty sort-of low end to mix-in. It likes flatpicks or metal/plastic fingerpicks more than bare-fingers picking, but it does have a nice all-around sound to it. I think it'd probably be best used as a chord-banger as it has a pleasing grumble/rumble when going all-out.

The Vega-made necks (and, when they're still intact, the Vega-made bridges) make these boxes a few steps up the ladder in terms of playability/stability over a normal Harmony-necked guitar. Harmony necks can be great, too, but the Vega necks are more comparable in cut/build to something of a hybrid between a Martin size/shape/feel and a Gibson neck of the same time. They're simply a little faster/more upscale. The quality/stability is about the same as an average Gibson neck, too.

Work included: a neck reset (w/extra bolt-reinforcement at the neck block), fret level/dress, new bridge install (the old one split), pickguard reattachment, new bone saddle, general cleaning, and a good setup. It has a straight neck, plays with spot-on 3/32" EA and 1/16" DGBE action at the 12th fret, and is strung with 54w, 40w, 30w, 22w, 16, 12 gauges. It could go to "normal" 12s, no problem, but these are the gauges I usually string Harmony ladder-braced boxes with.

Scale length: 25"
Nut width: 1 11/16"
String spacing at nut: 1 3/8"
String spacing at saddle: 2 1/16"

Body length: 19 3/4"
Lower bout width: 16 1/4"
Upper bout width: 11 3/8"

Side depth at endpin: 3 3/8"

Top wood: solid spruce
Back/sides wood: solid mahogany
Neck wood: mahogany
Fretboard: rosewood

Neck shape: 10-12" radius board, slim-to-medium C rear profile

Bridge: new rosewood

Nut: original plastic

Saddle: new bone

Condition notes: no cracks but plenty of weather-check to the finish on the neck, minor weather-check to finish on the body, and replacement bridge, bone saddle, and pins all-around. This has a period-style chip case but I'm not sure if it's original or not.

The celluloid headstock inlay is a bit curled-up but still good to go.

The pickguard was located the same with the original bridge as well. Interesting how Vega set these on, huh?

One really nice feature at the headstock are the original, metal-buttoned Kluson tuners. How many folks would've yanked those off to go towards a fancier guitar? I love seeing these.

There's a tiny pockmark/filled hole at the back of the heel.

During neck reset I both reset the neck as-normal with shims and fitting of the dovetail, but also added an extra internally-installed bolt at the neckblock. The joint was not cut very well so I wanted to make sure it'd stay pat for the future.