1972 Harmony H1266 Sovereign Jumbo Guitar

I've worked on a ton of old Harmony Sovereigns and at least a dozen or so of the fancier, sunburst, big-pickguard models like this, the H1265 (with the offset pickguards), and the H1264 Jet Set models. This one is stamped H1264 inside but it's really an H1266 model as that denotes basically an H1265 but with symmetrical pickguards. 

So -- what about it? It's a big, cool-looking, cowboy-style guitar of course! These have a woody, breathy, big-box sound that's perfect for heavy-handed strummers looking for a guitar to drive the midrange in a band. They also fingerpick nicely and have a robust, "different" sort-of sound.

As always with the big sunburst Sovereigns, these are on the rarer side. This one has had some inadvisable repair work done in the past and I've righted all of it, but it's got some anti-collector demerits along for the ride, for sure. Still, now that work is done, its condition is pretty decent and it's ready to go and playing spot-on.

Repairs included: a neck re-reset, fret level/dress (previously a refret), saddle adjustments, brace reglue, new truss rod install, tuner lube, cleaning, setup.

Weight: 4 lbs 7 oz

Scale length: 25 1/8"

Nut width: 1 3/4"

Neck shape: medium-bigger D

Board radius: 12"

Body width: 16"

Body depth: 4 1/4"

Top wood: solid spruce

Back & sides wood: solid mahogany

Bracing type: ladder

Bridge: rosewood

Fretboard: rosewood

Neck wood: mahogany

Action height at 12th fret: 3/32” bass 1/16” treble (fast, spot-on)
String gauges: 54w-12 lights

Truss rod: adjustable

Neck relief: straight

Fret style: medium-bigger

Condition notes: it's had some pretty funky repairs in recent memory. I had to undo a horrid neck reset job and both shimmed-up the joint and double-bolted it as well when gluing. There's replacement binding at the bass side of the fretboard extension. The pickguards are likely replacements but are in the same cut and style as the originals. I'm just not 100% sure as they used thin ones like this and also thick ones. There's extra sprayed black paint on the shoulders near the neck joint -- presumably to hide a bad steam-out job in the past. There's also a hairline crack in the same area on the side about 6" that's been repaired nicely. It's pictured. After my current reset, the fretboard extension dips down from the rest of the board a bit, but you weren't playing up in that region, anyway -- tell me I'm wrong, heh heh! I had to replace the truss rod in this guitar (the truss rod nut was hilariously glued in place after an old break) and usually one can simply yank the broken old Harmony rod out, rethread it, and reinstall -- but it was toast. The new rod is aluminum-encased, heavy-duty, and was installed by drilling-out the truss rod channel from the end rather than yanking the board to route, fit, and reglue. It's thus got the big truss nut hanging out the end as it was never meant for this headstock. I modded the truss cover to allow access to it. I know it's funny-looking but I really do enjoy it for a laugh and it means the neck is dead-stable, has fewer dead spots in tone (the original rods are thin and under-built), and ready to go.

It comes with: no case, sorry.