Exactly Like His Brother's

I bought this guitar many years ago at an estate sale in Milwaukee’s most affluent lakefront neighborhood. The woman I bought it from told me that she had special ordered it for one of her sons back in 1970. She claimed her son wanted a guitar exactly like his brother’s Silvertone. (I assume he had a S1454 or S1485 / basically the Silvertone version of the Harmony H78) When she contacted Sears they informed her that they no longer offered the model she was looking for and she would have to choose one of the newer models Sears offered. Being the persistent woman she was (believe me, this woman had more attitude than money - and she had a lot of money), and willing to do anything for her little precious, she made several phone calls to the Sears executive offices in Chicago. After a few days she received a call from someone at Sears corporate informing her that they would be willing to special order the guitar from their previous manufacturer (Harmony) as long as she was willing to be patient. She gladly agreed. According to her, when the guitar finally arrived her son wanted nothing to do with it. Why? Because it wasn’t exactly like his brother’s guitar.

The differences obviously were:
This guitar is a double cutaway, and almost all of the Silvertone branded H78 models are single cutaway.
The knobs on the guitar are WHITE (!) and not amber or clear.
And lastly, the headstock didn’t have the Silvertone logo but instead bears the “SR” moniker.

Here’s where it gets really interesting:

SEARS NEVER OFFERED HARMONY MADE ELECTRIC GUITARS BEARING THE “SR” LOGO!

The last “Silvertone” branded, Harmony made guitars produced for Sears were offered in 1969. By 1970, Sears was exclusively offering electric guitars manufactured offshore by Teisco and perhaps other companies in Japan.

 Starting in 1970 Sears retired the “Silvertone” logo and began branding all of their electric Guitars “SR” (Sears and Roebuck). The only American/Harmony made guitars Sears ever offered with the “SR” logo were acoustics produced between 1969 and 1971.

There’s more:

As I mentioned above, the knobs on this guitar are white and I’ve NEVER seen white knobs on a H77 – 78 Harmony produced guitar. I realize that someone recently began manufacturing new replacement knobs based on the old school Harmony molds so I have also included a photo of the underside of the knob, which shows the metal liner, which is not included on the new replacements. These white knobs are positively original to the guitar. There is no doubt in my mind that Harmony assembled this guitar using whatever leftover parts they had in the plant and installed them in a guitar body destined to be a Harmony. The Rowe DeArmond Silverfoil pickups were last offered in 69, so this was probably the most challenging hardware for Harmony to include to satisfy the customer. The pickups on this guitar for some strange reason are double stamped (sort of like two-headed penny). All three pickupss show the first Rowe stamped date as, May 17 1967. Below this date, all three are stamped, Aug 9 1968. Why? I haven’t the slightest idea. But for some reason (probably the double stamp) these pickups had been put aside. With that said, they are not “seconds.” They have strong output and sound just like the Silverfoils on several Silvertone guitars I currently own.

Lastly, anyone familiar with establishing a manufacture date on Harmony produced guitars is familiar with the Letter “S” or “F” (Long thought to signify Spring or Fall, but now believed to identify the shift that assembled the instrument, F = First, S= Second) followed by two numerals indicating the year. Well, this guitar is quite clearly stamped, "S-70"... 1970!

Of all the Harmony produced guitars I’ve owned, this is the only guitar I’ve ever considered “one of a kind.”



A little bit about me: I’ve been playing and collecting Harmony guitars for almost 30 years. I’ve owned several hundred over that span and still have wayyy more than I should. I’ve corresponded with people all over the world regarding Harmony guitars, and for a while there, I was known as one of the more knowledgeable Harmony historians (maybe I still am, I’ve been out of touch for a while!). I am the individual responsible for researching and positively identifying the Gibson P13 produced pickups found in the Harmony H62 “Artist Jazz” and “Espanada” guitars. Before my research, these pups had no name and were only rumored to be Gibson produced… Today the “P13” pickup is widely recognized and referenced in numerous Vintage guitar magazine articles and on every Harmony Guitar site, blog and yes, constantly on eBay. Why am I telling you this? Not to ‘blow my own horn’ so to speak, only to give some credibility to my claims about this guitar.

Note from Randy, September 2010: Strange as it may seems, we've seen at least two more examples of this rare guitar. Research continues into their origins.