1940s Harmony H1203 Mini-Jumbo "Figure 8" Guitar

These "figure 8" mini-jumbo Harmony H1203 models are the earlier version of this 000-sied guitar design and pretty collectible, these days. They're lighter-built, of course, and look gorgeous in their downmarket J-185-ish way. The body shape is taken straight from Harmony's smaller archtop guitar molds with their round-shoulders looks.

The owner of the guitar did a bit of work on it but I rectified a few things and finished it off. Now that it's playing spot-on, it has that punchy, woody, airy sound that I think of when people talk about these. It doesn't do that x-braced "chunk" thing and, I think, suits fingerpickers best, though flatpickers will get a sort-of Kalamazoo KG-11 or KG-14 thing out of it when they dig in -- a nice "slap" with emphasis on the mids for lead/melody work. Flatpicked for chordal work, it's best to "let off" a bit with the attack and then it really shines in the jingle-jangle airiness department.

I forgot to even mention that though this has SS Stewart branding at the headstock that yes, indeed, it's a Harmony-made guitar. It even has the H1203 stamp inside -- and per the usual "Sovereign" styling, it's solid spruce over solid mahogany, has a mahogany neck, and Brazilian rosewood fretboard and bridge. Both the nut and saddle are bone.

Repairs included: a neck re-reset, fret level/dress, recut saddle slot and new bone saddle, minor cleaning, and setup work.

Weight: 3 lbs 8 oz

Scale length: 25 1/8"

Nut width: 1 3/4"

Neck shape: medium-bigger C

Board radius: 12"

Body width: 15 1/4"

Body depth: 3 7/8"

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

Condition notes: it's quite clean and mostly original. There's one 3" hairline crack on the lower bout top, bass side, that is pictured. It's mostly over kerfing and is glued/filled as well. Otherwise it appears crack-free aside from a patched jack-hole in the side near the endpin. Said endpin and the heel cap are replacements, too. The fretboard has mild wear and the customary gross-grain sanding you find on all radiused Harmony products but is in generally great shape. The frets have much of their height left after the level/dress but these were low/medium to begin-with so that's relative. The tuners are not original but fit in with the aesthetic. They're actually earlier. The nut appears original though the saddle is new. The fretboard extension drops away from the rest of the board over the body but it plays more or less as-normal up to the 17th. The top is not dished around the soundhole as you might expect on an old Harmony, though it does have a little "doming" up under the bridge strung to pitch.

It comes with: sorry, no case.

Consignor tag: PV2