1966 Silvertone H 1454L
(Harmony H-78) BACK to Refinishing Page
History:
This guitar was made by Harmony for Sears Silvertone.
The Silvertone version was identical to the Harmony in every detail except one. It had a plain headstock and the Harmony had a laminated tortoise shell faceplate.
It was the top of the line electric guitar in the 1966 Sears catalog.
It had a thin hollowbody archtop with a cherry tone finish, and five layer binding on the front and single layer on the back. The top and back were laminated maple. The pickguard and switch plate are four layer tortoise shell.
The 20 fret fingerboard had three layer binding and block postions markers on a 24” scale neck.
It had a bigsby vibrato tail piece and a vintage Harmony (non-compensating) bridge.
The electronics were three DeArmond designed Rowe pickups. There were three on/off switches, three volumes and three tone controls. Like most hollowbody guitars from this era the pickups were prone to hum and feedback at certain distances and angles to the amplifier. Their tone was great. The three on/off switches allowed for a multitude of tone combinations. They go from very full and deep jazz sounding, to overdriven blues, to very crunchy rock.
The picture to the right is from the 1966 Sears catalog.
