1970 Harmony H165 000-Size Guitar

I can't remember the last time I worked on an H165! I used to buy them up locally to fix and sell somewhat often but at some point the pricing drifted into "the margins are too thin" zone and so I haven't touched one in a long time. You have to be careful when buying them as the poplar necks that don't have the adjustable truss rod are often twisted or warped. The ones with the adjustable rods are the ones to buy, though they're a lot harder to find.

They're 000-size, solid mahogany in the body, ladder-braced, and usually sound pretty decent but. This one sounds rather exceptional, though, sort-of like a '50s LG-0 with a lot more "air" and punch.

Repairs included: a neck reset, refret with jumbo stock, saddle-slot recut and a new bone saddle (it's wide and big because I couldn't think of another way to get that close to the front of the bridge -- for intonation -- without blowing-out the front wall... this works), minor side crack repair, and setup. Post-repairs it's playing spot-on and really feels nice with the big new frets. I love the way jumbo frets add that special sauce...

Top wood: solid smahogany

Back & sides wood: solid mahogany

Bracing type: ladder

Bridge: rosewood

Fretboard: rosewood

Neck wood: poplar

Action height at 12th fret: 3/32” bass 1/16” treble (fast, spot-on)
String gauges: 52w, 38w, 28w, 22w, 16, 12

Neck shape: medium-big C

Board radius: 10"

Truss rod: adjustable

Neck relief: straight

Fret style: jumbo

Scale length: 25 1/8"

Nut width: 1 3/4"

Body width: 15 1/4"

Body depth: 3 3/4"

Weight: 3 lbs 13 oz

Condition notes: one cluster of repaired side cracks on the bass upper bout, replacement saddle, sanded headstock, new frets. Otherwise the body is pretty clean! The owner had converted this to fretless at one point so there are chip-outs in the fretboard here and there that still show red bondo...!