1971 Harmony H913 Stella 12-String Guitar

I've been working on a gaggle of Harmony 12-strings so I figured it would make sense to throw this consignor's 12-string in the batch, too. It's been here for ages so it was time.

This one has a 1971 date stamp inside and is the natural-finished, H913 model. Like the more-common H912 (sunburst) version, this is a 000-size instrument with an all-solid-birch body, poplar neck, and ebonized maple fretboard and bridge. The necks have truss rods in these and the bracing is ladder. Unlike the fancier Sovereign-branded Harmony 12-strings, these don't have radiused fretboards, though.

After these are all gone-through they make an excellent more-or-less stand-in for a 1920s Stella 12-string -- they have a lot of the same features -- and will do the Leadbelly chunky sound if strung a little heavier and tuned down -- or a sort of folksy, woody, chimey sound (as heard in the video) when tuned to standard EADGBE.

When I fix these up I tend to set the neck at a steeper angle than original so I can get a taller, fully-compensated drop-in saddle in the bridge. This both improves punch and volume (more downpressure on the bridge) and means that, because it's properly-compensated, you can slap a capo on up and down the neck without frustration (well, much frustration -- capos are still capos, mind you). For open-tuning players, that's a good advantage.

This one is all-original save a new saddle and is ready to go with quick action and a custom set of extra-light strings for a fast feel.

Repairs included: neck reset, fret level/dress, bridge mod and new drop-in compensated saddle, cleaning, setup...

Top wood: solid birch

Back & sides wood: solid birch

Bracing type: ladder

Bridge: ebonized maple

Fretboard: ebonized maple

Neck wood: poplar

Action height at 12th fret: 3/32” bass 1/16” treble (fast, spot-on)
String gauges: 22w/46w, 15/36w, 11/26w, 8/20w, 13/13, 10/10

Neck shape: medium-big D

Board radius: flat

Truss rod: adjustable

Neck relief: straight

Fret style: smaller, low

Scale length: 25 1/8"

Nut width: 2"

Body width: 15 1/4"

Body depth: 3 7/8"

Condition notes: it's crack-free (save a tiny repaired hairline at the top of the soundhole) and all-original save a new bone saddle. The treble side has a couple spots where gunk has merged with the finish over time -- I cleaned it up a lot but there are patches (pictured) where it's blended into the finish. Otherwise the finish shows average mild usewear throughout but it's a lot cleaner than most examples. Two of the tuner shafts (D&G strings) are bent but they still work just fine. These are not the best tuners out there but work well-enough -- this is the story on all old Harmony machines. What else...? Post-reset the fretboard extension dips down from the rest of the board a hair but does not impact playability.