1969 Harmony H1270 6-String Mod Jumbo Guitar

This guitar is the result of one wacky player's dream mixed with one wacky repairman's affirmation of said dream. It was originally a hard-luck H1270 12-string but he wanted it modded-down to a 6-string version. That's what I did -- and that makes it a 12-fret version, basically, of the normal H1260 6-string model.

It worked really well converting it mostly because Harmony used identical internal bracing between the 12-string version of this body and the 6-string version of it. The 12-string version had a tailpiece string-load rather than glued pin-bridge (like it has now), and that's why the tops remained stable with the extra strings.

The conversion process included the normal repair work for an old Harmony (neck reset, etc.) but also included some modding -- plug of the extra headstock holes, modifying and gluing-down the original "floating" bridge, new tuners, new nut and saddle, and whatnot.

After work this has a huge, warm, aggressive, fundamental-sounding voice with a ton of volume. It reminds me a lot of Martin's robust-sounding D-18S models (with the longer, 12-fret body), though with that Harmony Sovereign "openness" to the voice. It's got tone in spades. The idea was good!

Repairs included: a neck reset, fret level/dress, headstock and bridge modifications, replacement pickguard, minor crack repairs, cleaning, K&K pickup install, and setup.

Setup notes: it plays perfectly with 3/32" EA and 1/16" DGBE at the 12th fret action. Strings are 54w-12 normal gauges, though I beefed the 54w to a 56w "just because." The truss rod works and the neck is straight, though the board starts dropping-off a bit from fret 11-onwards.

Scale length: 25 1/8"

Nut width: 2"

String spacing at nut: 1 11/16"

String spacing at bridge: 2 3/8"

Body length: 19 3/4"

Lower bout width: 16 1/8"

Waist width: 11"

Upper bout width: 12"
Side depth at endpin: 4 1/4"

Top wood: solid spruce

Back/sides wood: solid mahogany

Bracing type: ladder-braced

Fretboard: rosewood, bone nut

Bridge: rosewood, bone saddle

Neck feel: medium D-shape (wide) w/~10" board radius

Condition notes: it's beat, beat, beat, but only has one small back crack (repaired) and one small hole (mitigated) on the top. The owner and I decided to leave the hole for fun's sake. I did stick some cleats around it so it wouldn't pose an issue in the future. The original bridge was used but its original saddle slots (yes, 2 of them) got filled and I converted it to a glued-on, pin-bridge setup. Both nut and saddle are replacement bone. Of course, it's all modded-up, too.

I used unbleached bone for the saddle and nut to fit-in with the worn-in look of the guitar.

The heel cap is also a replacement I made from some vintage cream celluloid.

The new Gotoh "aged" Kluson-style tuners work great and look nice on the outsized headstock.

The Harmony endblocks are so thick that I couldn't use the strap-button-output-jack as a strap button. I installed a matched set of "vintage Gibson"-style ones here and at the heel instead.