In Praise of Harmonia Basses

[Quentin Hunt]

I bought a Harmonia 6-string fretless electric-acoustic bass guitar for $200 on reverb from this place in Ontario, CA that has a pretty good stock of these Harmonia instruments.
My only disappointment is that there are no fret dots, lines, or indicators on the bass and that the tension is pretty high on the G and C strings. I also believe the fingerboard is rosewood, so the longevity may not be so great with how aggressive I am.
The strap placement is pretty unusual to me, and the electronics are better than I thought they would be.
If any of you want one of these and you have a good ear for notes, it's probably the best $200 I've spent. They're tonally awesome.

 

[Watchootognbout]

Harmonia Six String Acoustic Bass
Horror Review of a Bad Fretless Post #21

 

[BBox Bass]

OP, you got luckier than I did. The used Harmonia Curbow copy I bought on Ebay had a neck that was warped beyond repair. I gave it to my guitar tech to use as a wall hanger. He's making me a new one to go with the sparkly copper body, which is really neat.

 

[Quentin Hunt]

It seems the experience is hit-and-miss then, but I will at least appraise this Harmonia bass in particular.
My expectations are reasonable and you still can't beat this one for $200. I got mine on Reverb and I discovered 5 dings on the headstock yesterday, but it has a newer guitar smell and it was packed very well in two boxes and a gig bag with some wrapping material inside.

 

[joenoone]

OP, you got luckier than I did. The used Harmonia Curbow copy I bought on Ebay had a neck that was warped beyond repair. I gave it to my guitar tech to use as a wall hanger. He's making me a new one to go with the sparkly copper body, which is really neat.

Aren't you comparing apples to oranges? Curbow basses I thought were solid-body basses whereas Quentin is talking about an acoustic electric (aka hollow-body).

Speaking for myself I just picked up a 5-string fretless Harmonia AEB from Ebay and like it a lot. It was only $100 because "the electronics didn't work" (it would of cost $200 if it was working). All I had to do was re-solder the battery wire that came loose.

Now - is it a $500-$1000 bass? No, but it sounds as good as those, seems quite solid, it looks great, and it comes with a gig-bag. For me it is a great starter AEB and one I'm not embarrassed to use. Also it has a similar tone to the more expensive ones (if not better - the low B sounds great!)

My complaints would be it isn't stained or lacquered, it wasn't sanded completely smooth, the [plastic] white binding are a bit marked up in places, the hole where the electronics were installed wasn't cut straight (but it's hidden by the electronics and I wouldn't of known that had I not removed it to fix it) . Otherwise, I'd say it's a good $100-$200 investment. Now I'm sure the quality control isn't perfect and someone else might get a lemon, but for myself I won't complain.

 

[DigitalMan]

I bought a Harmonia 6-string fretless electric-acoustic bass guitar for $200 on reverb from this place in Ontario, CA that has a pretty good stock of these Harmonia instruments.
My only disappointment is that there are no fret dots, lines, or indicators on the bass and that the tension is pretty high on the G and C strings. I also believe the fingerboard is rosewood, so the longevity may not be so great with how aggressive I am.
The strap placement is pretty unusual to me, and the electronics are better than I thought they would be.
If any of you want one of these and you have a good ear for notes, it's probably the best $200 I've spent. They're tonally awesome.

I'm a little confused. This is the start of a in praise of thread with three or four different things (depending on what you meant by unusual strap placement) that you have concerns over.

Ok.

 

[Quentin Hunt]

I'm a little confused. This is the start of a in praise of thread with three or four different things (depending on what you meant by unusual strap placement) that you have concerns over.

Ok.

Well, besides the strap button being placed retardedly under the neck and needing to be moved to a proper spot on my instrument, my other "concerns" are things that people should expect but they're not really problems. The action is higher on the G & C strings, but dealing with it has given me stronger hands so far after an hour or two of practice each day; I feel the difference on my other instruments. Fret indicators are a lazier way to play fretless, and I find that playing without that has greatly increased my perception of a fingerboard. Lastly, you shouldn't expect an ebony fingerboard from a $200 instrument, so that's a no-brainer.

Mine actually sounds great acoustically and on an amplifier. Without a demo, there's not much I can say, but it's a great buy for how cheap they are.

 

[ed morgan]

I just ordered a 5 string fretless Harmonia from Amazon and am hoping for the best

 

[Steve Dallman]

I realize this is an old thread. I picked up one of these things cheap. I had to reset the neck. Since the string spacing was too tight for a 6 string, I changed it to a 5 string, plugging one tuner hole, making a new nut and redrilling the bridge. I changed the 6 element piezo to a rope piezo. I leveled the fingerboard and put a couple of coats of super glue on the board and polished it.

Dang if it didn't turn out really nice. I'm stoked. String balance is good. Action is exceptional. I have a set of Labella tapes on it, but will change to flatwound EB cobalts. (hums slightly and I need the strings grounded to get rid of it.)

No feedback problems either. Not bad for under $100.

 

[Atsc]

I have just bought one of these off alliexpress. They had trouble shipping it and it has been delayed. They didn't sell it branded as Harmonia but you could catch the logo through the soundhole. Supposedly different wood to the older ones including a mahogony neck. Um yeah ok. Will report observations after it arrives.

 

[ed morgan]

I have a 5 string with GHS flats. I think it sounds really good but the action is WAY too high. I've sanded the nut and bridge insert down as far as I can and it's still too high. That neck reset sounds like it would work but it would probably cost almost as much as the bass did ($199 new). I hope your action is a lot better. Let us know how it goes. Good luck!

 

[Atsc]

Well if they ever send it. It keeps getting returned to the chinese company as it seems to be marked as a scooter and they can't be imported to Australia due to lithium batteries!