harmony ukulele
- Thread starter hankpym
- Start date
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RyanMFT
Guest
I have a Silvertone with a wood fretboard, made by Harmony. I like it and I think it looks great as it has the stencil of the Hawaiian woman playing a uke. It is a rather quiet uke compared to other uke's I own, even with Aquilla strings. I have an earlier Regal made uke that looks very similar but is much louder and has a brighter sound. However, the Silvertone plays nicely and I am glad to have it.
Do you have a lead on an old Harmony?
Do you have a lead on an old Harmony?
Teek
Well-known member
I have one from the late 20's early 30's with a Hawaiian style neck with the frets set in directly. It is loud with great mahogany sound. It has a nice rounded back. The only thing I don't like is the bar frets are not as smooth as I like on my fingertips, and the tuners are a bit hard to fine tune. Otherwise it's a sweetie!
ichadwick
Well-known member
Harmony was a mid-to-low range company, producing adequate but unspectaclar instruments for many decades (almost a century). It was founded in 1892 by Wilhelm Schultz but in 1916, it was bought by Sears, Roebuck and Co., which wanted to corner the rapidly growing ukulele market.
They were the largest stringed instrument and guitar maker in the USA for quite a while. A lot of their line was in the budget category, however. They also made many instruments that were rebranded for other companies. Vintage Harmony instruments are now collectibles for many people, but are not valued in the same range as Martin or Gibson instruments of the same era.
According to one site:
They were the largest stringed instrument and guitar maker in the USA for quite a while. A lot of their line was in the budget category, however. They also made many instruments that were rebranded for other companies. Vintage Harmony instruments are now collectibles for many people, but are not valued in the same range as Martin or Gibson instruments of the same era.
According to one site:
My first acoustic guitar was a used, somewhat battered, Harmony.
Sambient
Well-known member
Harmony ukuleles seem to be the most prevalent old ukes on ebay. I figure there's a reason for this and that reason being they've held up decently.
Also, L.A. White Jr's Ukulele Players Guide seems to be keen on the old Harmonies.
Also, L.A. White Jr's Ukulele Players Guide seems to be keen on the old Harmonies.
I think Harmony Ukes came about and were produced in HUGE numbers supporting the Uke craze in the 1930s. Many of them were entry level. I have a Harmony banjo Uke myself from 1930. It is not a percision instrument by no means. But, fun to own and play just for the nostalgia of it. It took allot of work to make it a joy to play. I replace the crappy original tuners with a decent set of geared tuners, and it took allot of work to lower the action to a playable level. New maple, ebony and bone bridge, and polishing the frets, as well as filing the edges of the frets to make it smoother to run my hands along the fretboard made an otherwise clumbsy old Uke into a nice playing uke. They are cool, just because they are vintage, but, again, not so un-common because so many were mass produced, and not the best of quality. The Banjo Uke is built like a tank though..
hoosierhiver
Well-known member
At there peak, I think they produced 500,000 in one year. As mentioned above, alot of them aren't that great. However I've seen some really great ones. I once saw a beautiful Harmony baritone that looked like solid maple and sounded fantastic.
