1960s Harmony H1201T Sovereign Tenor Guitar

The H1201T is the "Sovereign" version of Harmony's basic tenor guitar mold. That means solid spruce for the top, solid mahogany for the back, sides, and neck, and binding all over -- top, back, and fretboard edges. This one's actually in excellent shape and doesn't have the cracks or wear and tear all over that I usually see on these.

It did have the usual problems when it came in, though -- it needed a neck reset, mild fretwork, and a replacement bridge. For whatever reason, I've noticed that on all 1960s Harmony tenor guitars, the bridges were never installed in the right place. They were always (as far as I know) installed with the saddle position 1/8" to 3/16" too far to the rear. Fortunately, the "ebonized maple" bridges usually dry-out and split along the pins, so they're ripe for replacing with something that puts the saddle in the correct place as I've done here.

The sound on these instruments is sweet, woody, and chimey in standard (CGDA) tuning, as heard in the video clip. They make good "all-around" instruments but they're not as punchy as something like a Martin 0-18T, so if you want to be easily heard playing lead work in a group, they're better for smaller (3-4 player) jams or bands. I like these a lot for chordal fills or open-tuned, couch-potato or recording instruments.

There is a typical Harmony date-stamp in the instrument but it's illegible so I don't know the exact year of manufacture. I'm guessing mid-'60s.

Repairs included: neck reset, fret level/dress, replacement (rosewood) bridge, new bone saddle, cleaning, setup.

Made by: Harmony

Model: H1201T

Made in: USA

Top wood: solid spruce

Back & sides wood: solid mahogany

Bracing type: ladder

Bridge: rosewood

Fretboard: ebonizded maple/pearwood?

Neck wood: mahogany

Tone: sweet, woody, chimey, sustained

Action height at 12th fret: 1/16" overall (spot-on)
String gauges: 32w, 22w, 13, 9 for standard CGDA tuning (can be restrung for GDAE or DGBE)

Neck shape: medium C/V

Board radius: flat

Truss rod: non-adjustable

Neck relief: straight

Fret style: small-medium

Scale length: 22 3/4"

Nut width: 1 1/4"

String spacing at nut: 1"

String spacing at bridge: 1 7/16"

Body length: 17 1/2"

Body width: 13 1/4"

Body depth: 3 3/4"

Weight: 2 lb 13 oz

Condition notes: quite clean with only minor usewear and scratches here and there throughout. There are no cracks. It's all-original save for the bridge and saddle, which are replacements. To get the saddle in the right place, the new bridge's front has to bump into the pickguard's lower edge.