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Post by kiwi on Dec 12, 2017 6:50:15 GMT
Having owned 5 Republics and still having a wood body tricone that is one thing I have never had a problem with is the tuners. Two with poor internal wood work and set up. That looks bad. I notice the website has far fewer guitars in stock, perhaps the death of Frank senior has affected the company.
I will also say the Stewmac Golden Age are great tuners, I have used them on 5 vintage Harmony guitars and they drop right in and I have not even had to drill a new screw hole.
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Post by kiwi on Nov 26, 2017 5:24:06 GMT
They look identical to Republic guitars, that wood body tricone is the same as my Republic one apart from the headstock (the middle one in my avatar). And the metal models the same apart from headstock shape.
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Post by kiwi on Nov 2, 2017 6:53:47 GMT
A 1935 Harmony La Habanera parlour guitar, although I have an older Harmony Tiple and a mandolin from the same period. IMG_1494 by Laurie Franks, on Flickr
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Post by kiwi on Aug 16, 2017 8:59:02 GMT
Very sad to hear, RIP Paul Oliver. I have a 1982 reissue of The Story of the Blues. It was the first blues history/research book I bought and I read it so many times it is starting to fall apart. I have many more now but his was a very thoroughly researched book.
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Post by kiwi on Jul 24, 2017 7:49:06 GMT
Montgomery Wards branded Harmony H51, not sure of the model number, but yes that is a P13 Gibson made pickup, have one in a Harmony H55 and mighty nice it is too.
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Post by kiwi on Jul 17, 2017 6:58:27 GMT
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Post by kiwi on Jul 7, 2017 8:22:19 GMT
Yes Frank Sr died and Frank Jr has taken over. I have owned a few Republics and the swap is pretty easy. As Snakehips says a matter of adjusting saddle height. The Hotrod cones are a couple of mm taller than the Continental ones in the Republics. So dropping the saddle height to your preferred action is all that is needed.
Only guitar folks I dealt with in Austin were Austin Vintage Guitar, they fixed a 50s Valco amp for me when I was passing through in 2008. Have a pretty good reputation. May be worth giving them a ring.
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Post by kiwi on May 6, 2017 6:26:14 GMT
Hi George I owned a style 2 Regal tricone made by Amistar, the engraved model of yours. The original saddle inserts were maple so that has been changed out for bone, I screwed up a height adjustment and contacted Franta at Amistar to find out what to use and he sent me a new saddle. The cones were Continental and I think made in Germany at that time.
That T bridge is fine, take the paint off with paint stripper and it will improve the sound. I replaced my cones with National Resophonic ones and didn't get any improvement in sound only a little more volume so immediately put the originals back in and was very happy with the sound for years. Mine was a very well made instrument.
Cheers
Laurie
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Post by kiwi on Apr 7, 2017 8:02:42 GMT
Naphtha (lighter fluid) is great for cleaning nitro finishes, I have many old Harmonys and use that as a cleaner. For polishing I use Mothers carnauba wax. Avoid anything with silicon in it.
The serial number in Harmonys is merely a parts number no real rhyme or reason for them, suspected just to keep parts together it should read XXXXHXXX, the part after the H being the model number. There should be (but not always) a second stamp F or SXX that is the date stamp the XX being last 2 digits of the year of manufacture.
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Post by kiwi on Feb 17, 2017 5:37:08 GMT
Hi Alan welcome from across the ditch. I had a set of those riveted tuner cogs on a wartime Harmonmy Cremona II which were knackered. Thought you might be able to use a couple of the posts but looking at them the cogs are a lot thinner than yours.
I have used those Stewmac Golden Age tuners on 4 Harmony guitars 1935 - 43 and they dropped right in with no drilling for any screws, they are really a great fit and look the part.
That is some really nice restoration on those guitars.
Cheers
Laurie
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Post by kiwi on Nov 22, 2016 4:23:36 GMT
I had one of these back in the early 2000s. The cones are pretty dull sounding and quite thick. In order to make it a good player I had to level the cone well as the plywood was very poor quality and had chips on the cone seating surface. Once I got it level I hardened the wood with superglue and put in a National cone and biscuit.
It became a great sounding and playing resonator.
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Post by kiwi on Nov 18, 2016 5:46:40 GMT
Some of the folks on the Harmony forum have used a plain B string soldered to the jack and wrapped around the tailpiece screw. It is near invisible unless up close. I tend to drill to the cavity.
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Post by kiwi on Nov 18, 2016 0:11:14 GMT
Hi Harriet
Harmony did not ground the strings on any of their solid body electrics and they usually have some hum. You could solder a wire to the ground on the output jack and run it under the pickguard and over the body and attach to the tailpiece screws or drill a hole from tailpiece screw to control cavity. That usually fixes it.
Cheers
Laurie
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Post by kiwi on Nov 12, 2016 2:39:29 GMT
Ahhh, you are right Fred, I shouldn't go from memory it is not what it was. The tube complement is 50c5, 12au6 and 35w4.
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Post by kiwi on Nov 12, 2016 2:10:41 GMT
Thanks Laurie, I am real glad to move forward with the guitar and your comments helped set me at ease, it's kind of a new territory for me so I greatly appreciate your sharing your experience with the bobKAT. Can you please tell me what weight string you use on the bobKat if yours is a short scale model, if you use it for slide, and the salesman advised me to get a vintage tube amp - would you concur with that? Right now I am planning on either a roland microcube or a pignose. Thank you, Harriet Hi Harriet I use 12 - 52 strings and currently have D'Addario NYXL strings on it and I like the sparkle they have. All the Bobkats were 24 1/4" scale. Go to Francois Demonts site for more information. harmony.demont.net/I do play slide on it, and although I use my Daddyslide german silver pretty much all the time, on this my Diamond glass slide is my go to, just easier to play on electrics. I have 2 5 watt vintage tube amps and a copy of a 50s Fender Princeton so I am biased but yes I prefer small vintage, I only play at home so no need for bigger. In the first picture with the Bobkat is my 60s Harmony H400A amp. I picked this up at the beginning of the year for $100 from a shop in Florida. 6v6 and 5 watts, but you need to be careful these have no power transformer and can give a nasty shock. Luckily I have to run it off a step down transformer so that provides some protection. This is my main amp and pairs fantastic with the Bobkat. In the second picture is my 1954 Valco 5 watt, again 6v6. I got this 8 years ago for $250. This is almost identical to the 50s Fender Champ circuit and has been fully recapped and restored. Great warm sounding with nice breakup. Both of these can get loud at full volume. Heard good things about the Roland cubes but have never played one. Never got on with the Pignose I bought years ago so long sold. Cheers Laurie
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