1960s Harmony H79 Electric Hollowbody 12-String Guitar

This refinished H79 is owned by a buddy who now has a whole lineup of these Harmony hollowbody electrics. I'd done most of the work on it a few weeks ago, though it'd been waiting for its bridge pickup to be rewound by Mr. Tom Brantley to be wrapped-up. He did a killer job on the rewind and now the guitar is running on all cylinders and sounds glorious. Mr. Tom told me that these DeArmond pickups are basically the same thing as those used on the Fender Coronados, though with different covers. They're loud, jangly, and saucy when driven. This guitar has plenty of strings to drive it, too.

The H79 is a fairly rare model and it's got idiosyncrasies all-over -- a slotted headstock, big-block inlay, cheap knobs, a harp-style tailpiece, and hollowbody (vs. semihollow) construction. Most of these seem to have been finished in a deep cherry-red color, though this one came to the shop stripped and sort-of refinished here and there. I clearcoated it where it needed it and then buffed-out bad areas of "new" finish.

Work included: new pots and caps for the tone/volume controls, a replacement pickguard, refret with jumbo stock, StewMac Golden Age tuner install, new rosewood pickup spacers/risers, mod to the replacement bridge for better compensation, general cleaning, a ground wire to the tailpiece, and setup with 46w-10 12-string gauges. The neck is straight, the truss-rod works, and it sounds alarmingly-good. It's got jangle, bite, and growl depending on how you play it. This has the usual, short, 24 1/8" scale that many of these Harmony electrics share.

Condition notes: refinished, new pots/caps, refretted, replacement tuners, replacement bridge, replacement pickguard.