2000s Harmony H-22 Reissue Hollowbody Electric Bass Guitar




I don't run into too many reissue Harmony products, but I was surprised at how fun this H-22 reissue is. It's a fair bit lighter in weight (this feels like a lightweight acoustic guitar) than the originals and it has a faster, less-quirky neck, too. It came in last week for consignment and all I had to do was give it a quick cleaning and a 10-minute setup to get it playing bang-on. Heck, the owner even had tapewound flats on it -- perfect for that vintage chuggy thump.

These were made in Korea and the quality is quite good. The neck's stable and has a nice cut to it but it does have that glossy, thick finish you'd expect of a modern mass-market instrument. The owner also added a second thumbrest at some point, too. It looks in-place, however.

The controls are "tone/volume" with a 2-way switch that engages/disengages a tone bypass. This lets you preset a "straight to the jack" tone and a second setting modified by the tone pot -- really useful if you're wanting to switch from a more aggressive/hi-fi sound to "vintage tubby" a lot.

Repairs included: a cleaning and setup.

Setup notes: action is 3/32" on the low E to hair-over 1/16" on the G. The neck is straight, the frets are in great shape with only the most minor wear, and the truss rod works as-intended. Strings are tapewound flats for that tubby, warm, rubbery, vintage vibe. I did tack the bridge in place lightly with adhesive so it stays in position for good compensation.

Scale length: 30"
Nut width: 1 11/16"
String spacing at nut: 1 3/8"
String spacing at bridge: 2"
Body length: 19 1/2"
Lower bout width: 15 1/2"
Waist width: 9 5/8"
Upper bout width: 11 3/8"
Side depth at endpin: 1 7/8"
Body wood: ply flamed maple
Neck wood: maple?
Fretboard: rosewood
Bridge: rosewood, archtop-style adjustable
Neck feel: slim C shape, ~12" board radius

Condition notes: it's all-original save an extra thumbrest on the bass side. There's minor wear-and-tear to the finish (light scratching) here and there, but it's not obvious at all. The top has mild sink in the middle where the bridge is, but it's not worrisome and is stable.

It comes with: an older (1970s? 80s?) hard case in good shape.

















Comments