Harmony Ukulele question

[DavidGuitar95010]

I received this Harmony instrument as a gift. The family friend who gave it to me said it was a "guitalele", but I'm not sure. Maybe a tenor or baritone ukulele? I looked at a couple of sites with information on Harmony to try to determine its age, but it doesn't have a typical Harmony logo on the headstock. Inside the body there are two things printed. The first says "Made In USA", and "HB", with some smudged numbers that maybe say 6550. The second marking is also a bit smudged, but in larger font it says 4346H950 (the "6" is really a guess on my part - could be S or B or other). Anybody have thoughts on the vintage and details about this instrument? It definitely needs to be re-strung but otherwise seems in decent shape. It's got a unique sunburst coloring, and I can't wait to hear it with proper strings (any suggestions?). Thanks UU

 

[Bluesy]

I received this Harmony instrument as a gift. The family friend who gave it to me said it was a "guitalele", but I'm not sure. Maybe a tenor or baritone ukulele? I looked at a couple of sites with information on Harmony to try to determine its age, but it doesn't have a typical Harmony logo on the headstock. Inside the body there are two things printed. The first says "Made In USA", and "HB", with some smudged numbers that maybe say 6550. The second marking is also a bit smudged, but in larger font it says 4346H950 (the "6" is really a guess on my part - could be S or B or other). Anybody have thoughts on the vintage and details about this instrument? It definitely needs to be re-strung but otherwise seems in decent shape. It's got a unique sunburst coloring, and I can't wait to hear it with proper strings (any suggestions?). Thanks UU

Looks a lot like a Harmony arch top tenor guitar. This one is from the 60's.

Very cool looking.



Bluesy.

 

[EDW]

It is an arch top tenor guitar. You can see pics of some others here https://jakewildwood.blogspot.com/p/museum-harmony.html

 

[DavidGuitar95010]

Thanks Bluesy and EDW! That's super helpful. Now I gotta figure out chords for CGDA. Ugh. Would it be sacrilege if I had it strung as a standard GCEA ukulele?

 

[rustydusty]

Personally, I would tune it DGBE with steel strings and play it like a guitar.
I would love to have that...

 

[DavidGuitar95010]

Personally, I would tune it DGBE with steel strings and play it like a guitar.
I would love to have that...

I tuned it to DGBE, and it sounds great. Thanks for pointing me in the right direction. My feeble ukulele skills dwarf my guitar skills, so I've got some practicing to do.

 

[Canada Jim]

DGBE is a legitimate tenor guitar tuning called "Chicago tuning". Standard tenor strings are gauged for CGDA tuning, so you should replace the strings with the top 4 strings of a six string set.
Nick Reynolds of the Kingston Trio used Chicago tuning, as did jazz guitarist Tiny Grimes. It has become as common as standard tuning.

 

[EDW]

You can see some options and string choices (including uke tuning) on this page

https://www.rycooder.nl/pages/tenor_gauges.htm

 

[Bluesy]

DGBE tuning is no big deal. Play the instrument just like a uke. The chords are the same, just named differently. No problem. Have fun!

Bluesy.

 

[don_b]

That thing looks crazy. I love it!

 

[DavidGuitar95010]

DGBE tuning is no big deal. Play the instrument just like a uke. The chords are the same, just named differently. No problem. Have fun!

Bluesy.

Wow! Thanks for the tip