1961 Silvertone 1446L

One of the greatest guitars Harmony (Silvertone) ever made was the 1446L commonly referred to as the "Chris Isaak" model.  Chris posed with this model for a couple of advertisements and also named an album "Silvertone."  What makes this guitar special is a combination of dashing looks, Gibson made and Seth Lover designed mini-humbuckers used only on this model and the Bigby vibrato.

The Gibson made miniature humbuckers really are the big attraction to this guitar.  If you want a guitar with these pickups you must buy this model or find some loose pups for sale (good luck!!).  Early production 1446 pickups came with the same "Patent Applied For" stickers as the highly sought after "PAF" pickups that came in 1957-1960 Les Pauls.  The PAFs in those Les Pauls are worth about $2000 each in good shape.  I think the 1446L is very undervalued at $1500 for one in great condition from a big vintage dealer.

The rest of the electronics are good, solid American made just like what came in an LP from that time period.  It has the same setup as well with two pickups, 2 volume and 2 tone knobs, and a 3 way switch.  The whole guitar just seems so solid even though it was manufactured by a budget company.  

I'm a big fan of the Bigsby B3 vibrato that came on these guitars.  The subtle, wavy, almost dreamy vibrato is a lot of fun to play around with.  I naturally lean towards blues licks when I'm playing so I haven't sought after guitars with vibratos.  I did seek out these pickups and I'm glad I was introduced to a good solid vibrato as a result.

If there was one drawback to this guitar it would be in the neck construction.  It does have a truss rod but doesn't taper in width from the heel to the nut.  It seems a little "cheap" at first but I got used to it very quickly and grew to really like it.  The nut width is small but I haven't measured it.

Bottom line:

This is a professional grade vintage instrument at a "prosumer" grade price.  It has the tone and feel of the early 1960s and the looks certainly don't disappoint.  This model shows no sign of declining in popularity and therefore value so it would likely be a good investment as well.  However, because of the nut width and neck construction this guitar may not be the answer for the player looking to own just one guitar.  

Do you have one of these that you would like to sell?  I'm looking for another.  Please email me about what you have for sale.

50s Kay Kraftsman Jumbo.... The poor man's J-200

I saw an old amp on Craigslist in Tuscaloosa the other day.  It was a Silvertone 1472 sporting about 10 watts or so and a 12" speaker.  I was heading to Tuscaloosa on business that day so I figured I would inquire about it.  Unfortunately I was about 10 minutes too late.

The seller was very nice and asked what else I was interested in.  I told him I like anything old and made in America.  He said he had an old Kay flat top that had a body made by Gibson.  I thought to myself, "I've heard that before."

The body was not made by Gibson but that didn't matter to me.  This is a mid 1950s Kay (Harmony) Jumbo (actual model? I dunno.  Maybe just Kraftsman).  It was made in Chicago and features a solid Spruce top, solid one piece flame Maple back and veneer sides.  It has 17" wide hips (a regular dreadnought is 16") and has ladder bracing.  It is original save for the Guild bridge added sometime long ago.  It even came with the original Kluson tuners!

I was drawn to this guitar for three reasons: the size, appointments and the FLAME MAPLE BACK!  This is an absolutely beautiful slab of maple.  They didn't even cut it in half and book match it.  It is just one solid piece of sexy Maple.















She came to me in pretty good shape except that the neck was falling out and there was no nut or saddle.  I was very excited to have another neck reset project.  My last one didn't go so well but I learned a lot from it.  You can read all you want about it but there is not substitute for just doing it.  I highly suggest it if you are so inclined and have a suitable subject (ie not Gibson).

This is a dovetail joint.  It requires skilled craftsmanship to make and fit the neck to the guitar at just the right angle.  It takes a lot more time and human attention than a bolt on neck.  Dovetail joints are not easily made by machines.  They are a sign of old world craftsmanship.  Do you own a Taylor?  Your guitar probably does not have one of these.

I was really excited to see no gaps when I was done!  These are crappy cell phone shots.  I forgot to take real pictures.  I didn't want any good evidence in case it went bad.

The wife was kind enough to let me turn the apartment into a repair shop.  It was a mess and still kind of is.  This is a shot of me cutting the me bone nut.  It was my first full nut made from scratch.  I was happy with the result since it was my first try.  I will definitely do some things differently next time.

This is an interesting guitar because it has a 26" scale length.  That is the distance from the saddle (the white piece on the bridge) to the nut (the white piece at the top of the neck).  The standard scale length for a Gibson is 24 3/4" and the standard Martin scale is 25 1/2".  This is significant in both the way it plays and sounds.  A longer scale means that the strings must be tighter in order to sound the note.  This  usually makes for a louder and more difficult to play instrument (on average).  The tighter the string is the more difficult it is to push the string down to the fret.  Needless to say, this thing is a hoss to play and sounds great!

Another interesting feature (or lack thereof) is the absence of a truss rod.  Maybe it was just an attempt to save money.  They accounted for this by making the neck a monster.  It is by far the biggest neck I have ever seen.  It really gives it that 40s and 50s feel.  The neck is straight as an arrow so I guess they called Time's bluff.

I really like the peghead overlay on this one.  They used a celluloid overlay and carved and painted the detail and logo with white and gold paint.  I was talking with a friend about this guitar and he made a good point about how the peghead is very underused and plain on most guitars.  I agreed and thought that this was one of the most beautiful headstocks I have ever seen.  

Enough talk.  Let's pick.

1963 Harmony Rocket H59 with 3 Rowe Industries DeArmond "Gold Foil" Pickups

This one has been a favorite since day one, the Harmony Rocket:

I just about jumped out of my chair when this one popped up in PoDunk, AL (not a real place).  It was covered in half a century's dirt and dust from being in a garage for so long.  After a quick wipe down with a barely damp cloth the finish was sparkling.  I was amazed at how well this one cleaned up.  

Seems like the first thing anyone notices about these are the knobs.  SO MANY KNOBS:

Individual Bakelite volume and tone knobs for each pickup.  The rotary pickup selector allows you to select pickup 1, 2, 3 or All.  So if you want just pickups 2 and 3 you must select All and turn the volume all the way down on pickup 1.  I really like the tone possibilities as well as the way all those knobs just call to you when you see it.

Tuners are cheap Kluson knock offs that tune very well after you lube them and adjust the screw on the poll.  I have had no problems with them and do not wish to change them out.  No, they are not as smooth as "Grovers", or as lame.  Sorry.

These had very thin Nitrocellulose finishes that wore off very easily in certain places:

This one shows very little (to no) fret wear.  It does have this tasteful looking wear mark on the neck.  Almost looks like it had some kind of red primer or undercoat.  Do any of you guys have any definitive info on this?  Comment and let me know.  I'm curious to hear what you think.

The Rowe Industries Gold Foil Pickup:

I really like these pickups.  Loads of output but still has a jangly, single coil "Harmony" thinness to them.  Kind of hard to describe I guess.  If you want a '57 Classic sound then do not buy this guitar.  Go buy a Gibson.  

These pickups usually read about 12k ohms which is pretty hot!  I haven't measured mine but they sound great.  Check these pickups out on eBay- people are really digging them as of late.  You could buy one of these guitars and make money just parting out the pickups on eBay. Don't do that please!

October 30, 1963

Still has the original case which is pretty dirty and wouldn't do a very good job protecting it on the road:

The only downside to this example is that it doesn't have an adjustable truss rod.

The later ones ('65 or '66 and later not sure) did have an adjustable truss rod.  The neck is actually pretty straight and plays well.  It has just a little more relief in it than I would like.  Probably would benefit from a fret leveling and crowning but I haven't gotten around to it.  I do most of my play between 0 and 9.  I'm no lead shredder.  It sounds really good with just a little tube compression and nice smooth bluesin'.  

See those little wooden spacers?  These guitars don't have adjustable poles or pickup heights unless you can make more spacers out of Walnut!  I really like the aesthetics of the spacers.  They just look really classy and neat.  

A note on my pictures:  I am not a photographer.  I don't know anything about it.  My wife has a cool camera that I borrow.  Do you have any feedback on how I could get better pictures?  Let me know.