1966 Harmony-made Silvertone 1454 Hollowbody Electric Guitar

Post updated as of October 2020...

This is the coolest Harmony electric that I've ever played. It mixes a pseudo-Gretsch aesthetic with the wonkiness of Harmony wiring -- three on/off switches, tone and volume for each, and three high-output (for the time) DeArmond single coil pickups -- and then adds a Bigsby vibrato to it. Yum-city, hello, darling!

The tone of the DeArmonds is raunchy and, at times, metallic in a good way. They're best run wild through at least a little bit of drive. Even if you play clean, their high output will want to push an amp just to breakup -- the point at which they go mwah.

Like the 1429 that I also just worked on, it was in for sprucing-up to make it more "real." Harmony made some really great gear in the '60s, but all of it (if left stock) needs a healthy dose of work to make them compete with Gibson or Fender equipment in the electric realm.

Work included: a board plane and refret with jumbo, pyramid stock, compensation for 3-wound, 3-plain strings at the bridge, replacement strap buttons, mild cleaning, replacement relic Gotoh tuners, and a good setup. The neck's straight, the truss works, and it plays bang-on at hair-above 1/16" EA and 1/16" DGBE at the 12th fret.

Scale length: 24 1/8"
Nut width: 1 3/4"

String spacing at nut: 1 1/2"
String spacing at saddle: 1 7/8"

Body length: 19 3/8"
Lower bout width: 15 5/8"
Upper bout width: 11 3/8"

Side depth: 2"

Body wood: ply with maple veneer
Neck wood: poplar
Fretboard: rosewood

Neck shape: slim-to-medium C-shape, ~9.5" radius board

Bridge: adjustable rosewood

Nut: plastic original

Condition notes: there's nothing to complain about, here -- it's entirely-original save the strap buttons and tuners -- both of which are better than what was on it. The finish has some wear but it's overall in great shape.

While the new Gotoh relic Kluson-style tuners aren't perfect matches for the originals, they do have the same faded-nickel, metal buttons and fit the same footprint. They're also 15:1 vs 10 or 12:1, steady, and a joy to use. Sorry to stump for Gotoh, there -- but I'll always get behind a product that I actually enjoy putting on an instrument.