1975 Harmony H6130 Student Parlor Guitar

Oh, man -- this guitar is living proof of Harmony's collapse as a builder in the mid-'70s. It has a 1975 date stamp and it's the first one of this general style (basically a Stella H929) that I've seen made in the US with a plywood (rather than solid birch) body. The ply certainly hurts the tone on this guy but, ya know, it's still enjoyable in a lo-fi way.

This received work for a local customer who bought it for the princely sum of $1. I bolted the neck,  reglued some seams, recut the plastic bridge insert from the original "adjustable" bridge into a hard-mounted bridge itself, added some downpressure screws to the tailpiece so the strings would make good contact on the bridge, and set it up. The frets could definitely use a level/dress, but the idea was to not spend more than 45 minutes or so on it. The money would be better spent on something a little nicer after that point. Still -- it plays fine and has a gross, thwacky, bluesy kind of vibe to it that's somewhat endearing.

I figured I'd shoot a video and post on this more to show what dire straights Harmony was in when they made this than to celebrate it. Poor, poor beast. At least you will be loved!

I love how the original bridge base sat in the wrong place for decades and left a bright orange mark in the middle