1960s Harmony-made Silvertone 1446 Hollowbody Electric Guitar




This guitar is ridiculously nice for an old Harmony. Bigsby? Check! Gibson-made mini-humbuckers? Check! Amazing style and cool plastic fittings? Check! It's even black. I don't know how my gear-radar hadn't picked-up on these before. It's a bit like a Rocket that's all grown-up and is trying to play in the big leagues.

A customer sent this in for a refret and adjustments a while back. I did the refret right away, but this lingered-around waiting for a replacement set of original-spec tuners to get here. I slapped those on and then proceeded to the setup stage. Now that the work's done, it really feels quite "pro." The new, jumbo frets give it a fresh feel and more neck stability. Now that the pickups are at correct heights, too, one can enjoy the tonal grab of the Gibson-made mini-buckers as well. They're clean, clear, and raunchy in just the right way when you want them to be. They're a little bit like FilterTrons, I suppose.

Work included: a refret, compensation of the original bridge, minor cleaning, and a good setup. Action is hair-over 1/16" EA and 1/16" DGBE at the 12th fret, strung with 52w-11 gauges. The neck is straight and the truss works.

Scale length: 24"
Nut width: 1 3/4"
String spacing at nut: 1 1/2"
String spacing at bridge: 1 5/8" (very narrow)
Body length: 19 3/4"
Lower bout width: 15 3/4"
Upper bout width: 11 1/4"
Side depth at endpin: 2" plus arched top/back
Body wood: solid birch
Fretboard: ebonized maple
Bridge: original ebonized maple adjustable
Neck feel: medium C, 10-12" board radius
Neck wood: poplar w/truss-rod

Condition notes: it's all-original save replacement (but same-type) tuners at the headstock. I did have to remove the springs for the pickup height adjusters at the bridge so that I could get it to travel upwards enough. I've foamed-up the mounting ring, however, so it's still adjustable without rattling.















Comments

John Lou said…
What did you use to clean the finish?
Unknown said…
What tuning machines did you swap in?
I have the same guitar - it is great!
-Mo