1970s Harmony Opus V X-Braced Dreadnought Guitar

Overview: Harmony made their Opus line of x-braced, higher-quality guitars in the mid-'70s as, so the lore on the web goes, an effort to make their instruments more desirable to a populace increasingly-buying Japanese and Korean instruments. I didn't find a legible date stamp on this one but most date from around '75. This model is unlike the other Opus models which used older Harmony body outlines to build upon -- this one has a dreadnought body shape that only seems to be found on this model.

Interesting features: As mentioned, the top is x-braced and so the sound of this guitar is more-similar to period Martins and Gibsons (it's almost J-200-like, or Guild D-35-like, in its way) than Harmony's other products. It has block inlay in the fretboard and fancier, multi-ply binding throughout. The tuners are sealed, Gotoh-like units. The top is solid spruce and it has solid mahogany back and sides. The neck is quite slim and fast.

Repairs included: I reset the neck, fit a new replacement pickguard, and set it up. New recruit Max leveled/dressed the frets. It's playing spot-on and is ready to go.

• Weight: 4 lbs 11 oz
• Scale length: 25 1/8"
• Nut width: 1 3/4"
• Neck shape: slim D
• Board radius: 10"
• Depth at first fret: 27/32"
• Depth at seventh fret: 53/64"
• Body width: 15 3/4"
• Body depth: 4 7/8"
• Top wood: solid spruce
• Back & sides wood: solid mahogany
• Bracing type: x
• 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: There are some scratch marks on the top on the upper bout and near the pickguard. The pickguard is replaced and the pins likely are, too. One tuner button is a replacement (smaller) type. During the reset, the neck joint felt a little wonky (as on most Harmony boxes), so I also double-bolted it from the inside (hidden at the neck block). The guitar is fairly clean but there's some weather-checking to the finish and usewear here and there all over.

It comes with: As I recall, this has a case of some sort (nothing fancy) with it stashed in our storage area.

Consignor tag: MULK