Harmony Company
This article needs additional citations for verification. (October 2017) |
Company type | Private |
---|---|
Industry | Musical instrument |
Founded | 1892 |
Founder | Wilhelm Schultz |
Fate | Company ceased in 1975; "Harmony" brand relaunched in 2018 |
Headquarters | |
Products |
|
Owner | BandLab Technologies |
Website | harmony.co |
The Harmony Company is a former
.The company ceased in 1975, with the "Harmony" brand being relaunched by BandLab in 2018 to produce electric guitars and amplifiers.[1]
History
Harmony was founded in 1892 by Wilhelm Schultz. In 1916,
In 1928, Harmony introduced the first of many
.In the late 1930s, the firm began making
Between 1945 and 1975, the Chicago firm mass-produced about ten million guitars. The company reduced their output over the years, later focusing on student models sold through JCPenney. The Harmony brand peaked in 1964–1965, selling 350,000 instruments, but low-end foreign competition led to the company's demise 10 years later.
The pickups on almost all electric guitars and basses that Harmony produced were manufactured by Rowe Industries Inc. (later known as H.N. Rowe & Company, Rowe DeArmond Inc., and DeArmond Inc.) of Toledo, Ohio. Many of the instrument amplifiers badged with the Harmony name were manufactured by "Sound Projects Company" of Cicero, Illinois.[3]
The Harmony Guitar Company ceased in 1975,[4] and sold the Harmony name. In the early 2000s, an unrelated company, the Westheimer Corp., based in Lake Barrington, Illinois briefly imported "reissue" Harmony guitars.
In 2018, BandLab Technologies claimed to be "relaunching" the Harmony brand with a new series of electric guitars and guitar amps.
Since being bought by BandLab, USA made Harmony Guitars are built in Kalamazoo, Michigan by the Heritage Guitar Company. Heritage Guitars is also owned by BandLab. [5][6] The brand has since been relaunched with American-made models such as the Rebel and the Jupiter.[7]
Gallery
-
1963 Sovereign
(Syd Barrett's 1st guitar) -
Harmony acoustic
-
Silvertone model 1219 Buck Owens "American" (1971) by Harmony[8]
-
H1213 Archtone (c.1963)[9]
-
H15 Bobkat
-
H19 Silhouette
(Silvertone 1480) -
H88, H44 StratoTone, compared with travel guitar
-
H44 StratoTone (played by Per Ängkvist)
-
H49 StratoTone Jupiter (Silvertone1423)
-
H53 Rocket
-
H78 3-pickups with Bigsby
-
H82 Rebel
Further reading
- Acoustic Guitars: The Illustrated Encyclopedia. New York: Chartwell Books. 2011. ISBN 978-0-7858-3571-4.
References
- ^ Our Guitars on Harmony website, 14 Oct 2019
- ^ a b Kohman, Peter Stuart (June 2014). "Journey to the Stratotone! Harmony and the Early Solidbody". Vintage Guitar. pp. 54–60.
- ^ Lectrolab guitar amplifiers
- ^
"Harmony Guitar Page". Broadway Music Co. Archived from the original on 2012-09-23.
In 1975 the Harmony Guitar Co. in Chicago ceased operations and had a huge three-day auction. - ^ NAMM 2018: Harmony resurrected with new guitars and amps on Music Radar, 31 Jan 2018
- ^ BandLab to Reboot Teisco and Harmony Guitar Brands by Carly Smith on Reverb.com, 14 Dec 2017
- ^ "Review: Harmony Standard Series Jupiter and Rebel". Guitar.com | All Things Guitar. 2019-11-05. Retrieved 2021-04-02.
- ^ "Silvertone World - Acoustic Guitars - 1970s - Model 1219 - Buck Owens American".
- ^ Zachary Fjestad. "Harmony Archtone H1213". Premier Guitar (Dec 2011).
- ^ "The Black Keys - Dan Auerbach Guitar Gear Rig". UberProAudio.com.
Harmony Stratotone H47 (Lindy Fralin P-90 pickups)
- ^ Chris Kies (2014-09-11). "Rig Rundown: The Black Keys' Dan Auerbach (2014)". Premier Guitar.
Auerbach's '60s Harmony Stratotone has been a longtime member of his arsenal. Once he acquired it, the guitar had a its bridge P-90 re-wound by Lindy Fralin. It's kept in open-G tuning for "Run Right Back."
See also interview video and transcription:- Premier Guitar (2012-04-03). "Rig Rundown - The Black Keys' Dan Auerbach" (interview video). YouTube.
- "Dan Auerbach - Harmony Stratotone Electric Guitar". equipboard.com. 2014.
- ^ "1962 Harmony Roy Smeck Stratotone Model H7208". Traynor Tweaks (kilback.net).
Manufactured by Harmony in Chicago, USA, in mid-1962. Similar to Harmony Stratotone H49 Jupiter, but different pickups and controls.
External links
- Official website
- Harmony at National Music Museum