Old Harmony Hollow-bodies

In spite of my being extra naughty this year, Santa still came through with a couple of funky old hollow-bodied Harmony basses. I am hoping that these babies will see some real use and not simply take up space at home as curiosities while other "serious" basses get played.

First up is a Harmony H-22 from 1966. Here's pics, but it's still en route from The North Pole.

This one is already here...a 1971 Harmony H-27. Here's some pics of that one.



I got into hollow-bodies last year via the obscure Yamaha SA-70 model from the same period. Like the Yamaha, this Harmony is engineered and built to a reasonably high standard of quality. More importantly, it is endowed with a pair of magical DeArmond Golden Tone pickups which sound fantastic.

I don't hear a lot about either of these Harmony basses. Clearly, when new, they were for the budget minded or beginning player. Today, they remain, in my opinion, an excellent value when compared to the new or nearly-new Asian mass produced hollow-bodied basses in their price range.

 

Sent both of these back to the North Pole. Cool, but not for me.

 

I am really picky about setup and action. If a bass can't be adjusted to my admittedly high standard, no matter how unique and cool and funky it is, I wont end up playing it. Fortunately, there are plenty of alternatives out there...and I do love my old Yamaha hollowbodies.