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Harmony H165 / 000 from 1967 / A Solid Mahogany Gem - $775 (Abington)
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Coming into the shop, the guitar was in fundamentally good shape, but did need a neck reset. There were no cracks, splits or open seams, and the finish is really is great shape for a guitar of this age. As part of its restoration, we reset the neck for an optimized playing angle, leveled and crowned the frets, adjusted the nut slot depths, made a new, bone saddle, and set it up with a fresh set of D’Addario Silk and Steel strings (.011-.047). Additionally, we added some light bracing on either side of the soundhole to support the top, reattached the pickguard, cleaned and lubricated the tuners, lemon oiled the fretboard and bridge, and procured a GearLux hard shell case which fits it beautifully.
Here are the important specs:
Scale: 25 1/4”
Top, Back and Sides: Solid Honduran Mahogany (a one piece top and back!)
Neck: Poplar
Fretboard and Bridge: Brazilian Rosewood
Lower Bout: 15 1/2”
Upper Bout: 11 7/8”
Body Depth: 3 5/8”
Nut Width: 1 /3/4”
String Spacing at Bridge: 2 1/4”
Action at 12th fret: 5/64”, both sides
The Harmony H165 is a solid Mahogany guitar, in production from he mid-1940s until 1971. Originally hour glass in shape, by the late 1950s, it had settled into more of an OM style and today, would be considered closest to a Martin 000-17. In the world of vintage guitars, it is often referred too as “the poor man’s Martin.”
These guitars are very well built, light and resonant, and project a great, snappy tone that is perfectly at home in folk and blues styles. They are among the very best values in the world of vintage acoustics, with tone to rival those famous brands that sell in the three to four thousand dollar range. As we often like to say, when buying a vintage acoustic, you focus on three things: tone woods, build quality and design. The tone woods here are top quality, quarter sawn Honduran Mahogany in widths that just aren’t available any more. The build quality on these Harmony guitars was very high, with the exception of poorly shimmed necks. Well, we’ve corrected that with our neck reset. The design is absolutely classic, hailing from the first golden era of American guitars. If you can pick up one of these H165s in great shape, and restored to great playing condition, you can’t go wrong.
Structurally, the guitar is in fine shape, with no evidence of prior abuse. The finish has a number of minor dings and scratches, purely cosmetic, and frankly hard to see in the photos. Other than the saddle, the guitar is completely original. As mentioned above, it will come with a new-ish GearLux Hard Shell Case.
Please be sure to check the photographs thoroughly and zoom in n them, as we have tried to capture the guitar from every angle.
Serial # 1825H165
Price: $775.00
For a video demonstration of this guitar, please visit our YouTube channel at this link:
https://youtu.be/3z80cKEEP4M