1960s Harmony H173 "Classic" Classical Guitar

Unlike their competitor Kay's "classical" guitars of the 1960s (which were ladder-braced and clumsy), the Harmony classical guitars of the same time actually are built along "Spanish" lines -- with light fan bracing and a classical-style, D-shaped neck profile with flat fretboard. This gives them a surprisingly-good voice. I was pretty impressed with this one's sound after I finished work on it -- it's round, sweet, and full -- but not extra-boomy like some classicals can be. The birch back and sides lend a plainspoken feel to the voice, too, which gives it a friendly, "folk guitar" aesthetic.

Work included: a neck reset, fret level/dress, cleaning, and a new set of LaBella 900 Gold (these have polished basses) strings. Action is bang-on at 3/32" overall at the 12th fret. The neck had a little warp to it, so the level/dress removed that via shaving the frets down -- therefore the frets nearest the nut and nearest the 12th fret are a little lower than the rest. It plays nicely but I mention it for completeness' sake.

Scale length: 25 1/4"

Nut width: 2"

String spacing at nut: 1 3/4"

String spacing at bridge: 2 1/4"

Body length: 18 3/4"

Lower bout width: 14 3/4"

Waist width: 9 1/2"

Upper bout width: 11"

Side depth at endpin: 3 7/8"

Top wood: solid spruce

Back/sides wood: solid birch

Neck wood: poplar

Bracing type: fan, lightly-cut

Fretboard: ebonized maple/pearwood, synthetic nut

Bridge: rosewood, synthetic saddle

Neck feel: medium D-shape with flattened (classical-style) rear, flat board

Condition notes: zero cracks! There's general usewear throughout, though, with minor scratches and some playwear here and there all over. The guitar is entirely original, however, and the finish looks good overall.

Like a lot of Harmony boxes at the time, this one has neat tortoise binding.

I like the aluminum shafts that these old '60s classical tuners have -- it beats the plastic oversized ones that most classicals use... that tend to crack-up and irritate the heck out of me.