1960s Harmony H165 000-Size Flattop Guitar (Hawaiian Slide Setup)

May 24, 2019

1960s Harmony H165 000-Size Flattop Guitar (Hawaiian Slide Setup)

I've been traded so much gear lately that I just can't keep up! I'm selling this one essentially "as-is" because I can't foresee myself doing the repairs to make it 100% anytime soon. The neck has a 1/32" warp which means I'd need to plane and refret it, it could use a neck reset for "Spanish"-style playing, and the bridge saddle slot needs to be recut at a more compensated angle for "Spanish" as well. So -- I've slipped a 1930s Slingerland-branded Hawaiian-style "extender nut" on it, re-adhesived the pickguard, and tuned it open for use as a Hawaiian guitar (played Dobro-style in the lap). I suppose it could be used for "blues" with a bottleneck slide and the nut extender off, too. With this setup, anyhow, it does a nice impression of the punchy, woody, Regal-made Oahu squareneck mahogany Hawaiian guitars of the '30s.

The good bits: it has no cracks, it's all-original save maybe the endpin, and its body is all-solid mahogany. There's finish "blush" on the back and small sections of the top and usewear throughout, but otherwise in good order finish-wise.

Scale length: 25 1/8"

Nut width: 1 3/4"

String spacing at nut: 1 3/4" (Hawaiian extender nut spacing)

String spacing at bridge: 2 1/4"

Body length: 19"

Lower bout width: 15 3/8"

Upper bout width: 11 5/8"

Side depth at endpin: 3 13/16"

Top wood: solid mahogany

Back/sides wood: solid mahogany

Bracing type: ladder-braced

Fretboard: rosewood