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Post by Dessery on Mar 20, 2016 12:56:28 GMT
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Post by gaucho on Mar 20, 2016 13:23:08 GMT
No expert here, but I don't think that's a Harmony Stella. Harmony didn't take over the name until sometime in the 40's and they were cheaper guitars than the Oscar Schmidt Stellas. Looking at the shape of the body and the headstock, I'd guess that is a Supertone (sold by Sears I think) from the late 20's or 30's. I had one that was shaped exactly like that but the finish was different. They were "budget" or "student" guitars (like most all of the parlors from that time) but were very well made and could sound really great. Send some photos to the guy at vintageparlorguitars.com and he will help you ID it. The tricky part is that a few manufactures made a bunch or these type guitars for other retailers to put their brand on. Hope that helps. I looks to be in very nice shape. Is the neck straight and action low. Sometimes neck resets on these cost more than the guitars are worth....
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Post by slide496 on Mar 20, 2016 13:34:45 GMT
I think its a Maybell. Here's a different model with the same decal and bridge if you scroll down on this page here and here. I think they are well thought of as instruments. You might be able to search google images for your exact model, that's how I arrived at my reference pages. Lawd lawdy, Harriet
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Post by Dessery on Mar 20, 2016 14:03:05 GMT
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Post by Dessery on Mar 20, 2016 14:06:08 GMT
Hi Harriet
Thanks for your response. I was writing mine as you posted yours! That definitely seems to be the one, there are so many variations of these though, it is hard to pin down.
Thanks David
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Post by petej on Mar 20, 2016 14:15:08 GMT
I have a Harmony Stella parlour guitar my looks a lot Different to yours. petej
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Post by alexkirtley on Mar 20, 2016 15:10:56 GMT
If you decide to sell it please get in touch, might be interested...
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Post by gaucho on Mar 20, 2016 15:23:51 GMT
I wish I had a photo of the Supertone I had. It had the exact same neck (the top of the headstock and the amount of V in the neck are fairly distinct) heel cap, bridge and binding. There were a bunch of brands that Supertone manufactured for (or maybe the other way around) tho. Mine sounded excellent and was in great cosmetic shape. Just too much bow in the neck to fix at a reasonable cost.
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Post by slide496 on Mar 20, 2016 16:11:38 GMT
I wish I had a photo of the Supertone I had. It had the exact same neck (the top of the headstock and the amount of V in the neck are fairly distinct) heel cap, bridge and binding. There were a bunch of brands that Supertone manufactured for (or maybe the other way around) tho. Mine sounded excellent and was in great cosmetic shape. Just too much bow in the neck to fix at a reasonable cost. I think you are onto something there, Gaucho. According to the Slingerland website "It is a matter of debate, but there is evidence to suggest that Harmony and/or Regal built many of the guitars that ended up with the Slingerland and May Bell labels." This is in the history section,scroll down. Lawd lawdy, Harriet
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Post by gaucho on Mar 20, 2016 16:41:47 GMT
Yeah, there was a definite Harmony/Supertone connection as well!
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Post by Dessery on Mar 20, 2016 16:45:04 GMT
Thank you all for your input.
I have been wondering about doing this for a little while but now seems like a good opportunity. A little while back I recorded a couple of videos of myself playing this guitar to try and learn from, there far from perfect, only recorded with the in built camera and mic on my macbook, and it needed new strings even back then but it seems like a good opportunity to share how it sounds:
Thanks David
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Post by dbs on Mar 22, 2016 22:53:55 GMT
hi just looking at the 'pyramid' bridge & the pick guard it looks like a Schmidt- those are very much OS standard fair. & you won't often find them on a Supertone or a Slingerland-but i will say it's really hard to place guitars from that time unless you have a label or headstock logo-'cos all those shops made guitars for every mail order house there was & they made guitars for each other as well. can't really tell much by the sound i've had a OS & a SUPERTONE from around the same time period & they, being solid birch both sounded pretty much the same to my ears. only thing is if you can somehow authenticate it as a Schmidt it would be worth easily 3 times what a Slingerland or a Supertone would be. puzzles the hell out of me but purists will be purists.....DBS
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Post by Dessery on Mar 23, 2016 6:55:23 GMT
Hi dbs
Many thanks for your response. Of course I would love for it to turn out to be a Schmidt.
Although the obvious choice is the may belle based on the decal but the bridge, neck, and headstock are not consistent with any of the may belle no 7 that I can find.
Also on a few of the may belle's i have seen, they have stamped the brand on the inside, which looks (I could be wrong) to be burnt on so should of stood the test of time but mine has nothing like that.
Many thanks for your comments David
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Post by lacerta on Mar 23, 2016 9:27:53 GMT
It's a Harmony made parlour from the mid-30s. The body shape is wrong for Oscar Schmidt made instruments. The headstock shape is characteristic of Harmony made guitars of the mid-30s and can be seen on Harmony made National/Supertone Trojans of the period (see page 85 of Mark Makin's book). The Harmony factory was owned by Sears Roebuck, who also owned the Supertone brand so it may have been branded with either name, or something else entirely. That pickguard shape is seen on late 30s Schmidt guitars, but Harmony bought Schmidt in the late 30s so they would have shared parts after this time, and before the factories mergers. They may have also shared parts suppliers before Harmony bought Schmidt.
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Post by lacerta on Mar 23, 2016 9:39:50 GMT
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