Harmony Archtops have always been favorites. These fine guitars were a standard offering in the Harmony lineup.

Post WW2 Harmony archtop guitars are very popular. The Monterey, Master & Archtone were very popular, inexpensive models. Archtop guitars were more popular than their flat top cousins for many years.

The following are pictures of Harmony Archtop guitars.

HARMONY ARCHTONE GUITARS

This is a very nice blonde 1950's model 1214 Archtone

1960's Archtone model 1213

Technical Tip

Harmony Archtop guitars are starting to get up there in age. Wood, especially the thin wood used in guitars, dries out quickly. Dry thin wood tends to crack easily. Do not store your guitar near a heat source. It is a good plan to put a humidifier in its case. A water soaked sponge in a small plastic container with several small holes punched in the lid will do just fine. Replenish the water once a month. This will greatly reduce the risk of cracking.

This Guitar is Owned By John Flynn from Roslindale, MA U.S.A.

They are scattered throughout the site. See how many you can find! (Nice Pickguard)

I need help getting a positive I.D. on this model, can you help?

Technical Tip

Harmony Archtop guitars tend to sound pretty good, but are not as loud as a modern dreadnought design flat top guitar. It is not only a matter of volume, but a matter of what tones actually "cut through". Modern flat top acoustic guitars are primarily designed for "flat picking". They have a resonant bottom end and a bright top end. Archtop guitars cannot keep up with them for this purpose, but, if you know why archtop guitars are designed the way they are, you can optimize your instrument by using your guitar as it was designed.

In the early days of radio, the hertz spectrum reproduction was very limited, lots of mids, very little low or high end. These guitars were designed to rule the middle ground, and they do. When playing a heavy rhythm style, they have no equal in the midrange department. To optimize the low and high end, use a good bright phosphor bronze string. For better volume, use a heavy gauge string. The heavier the string, the better tone the string has. For lead guitar, these guitars like 11-52, for rhythm try 12-56 gauge strings.

Harmony Master Archtops varied widely through the years. Some were plain, others quite fancy for their low price. I do not know which were the best years.

This is a fairly fancy one. It has block inlay, but a non truss neck! It is near mint, minus only the pickguard.

This picture shows the size difference in a modern dreadnought flat top acoustic, with the old style archtop design. The case is for a dreadnought.

Great shot of the finish!

HARMONY MONTEREY ARCHTOPS

The Monterey "Leader" was a very popular mid priced (for Harmony) guitar. It has inlaid position markers and white celluloid binding.

This is a very nice Monterey with fancy stripes and deluxe inlay. I am not sure what year this was produced but would guess it to be in the late 1950's.

A winning combination!

Technical Tip

When trying to lower the action on your archtop guitar, follow these general rules.

1. Don't file the bottom of the bridge where it rests on the guitar, over the years it has pretty much "molded" to the shape of the top of your guitar.

2. Don't file the top of the bridge, you may lose your string spacing and will most likely lose your "bearing" edge.

3. Your bridge is in two pieces, file the bottom of the top piece. No Worries!

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