This particular instrument has a floral decal applied to the upper bass bout which I inspected closely and determined to be quite old. Whoever placed it there did so a very long time ago and must've lacquered over it because it exhibits checking. Was it a special order from the factory? Can't really know but its definitely not a recent addition. Unfortunately the instrument was oversprayed and polished so its glossy but there are some visible drips on the sides and the original nitro lacquer is hiding beneath. It was done adequately so I have no intention of trying to remove it.
Age
This instrument does not have a visible date stamp within the body so any dating will have to be done through what I can observe and what I can compare against.
The tuning machines are Waverly and I have the exact set on a 1936 Harmony I own (confirmed via date stamp).
The fretboard has two slots cut in it which are visible from the dovetail and the nut which I believe are to accommodate two steel reinforcing rods running parallel down the neck. The neck is also extremely responsive to magnets, more so than my other guitars that I know have a single bar. My theory is also supported by a 193(6 or 8) Harmony Supertone, which I owned, that had two parallel steel reinforcing rods.
1940 B&J catalog scan showing a similar model Harmony instrument removed
after threat of legal action by VintAxe.com who claim to be the owners of the copyright to
this B&J catalog.
The tuning machines are Waverly and I have the exact set on a 1936 Harmony I own (confirmed via date stamp).
The fretboard has two slots cut in it which are visible from the dovetail and the nut which I believe are to accommodate two steel reinforcing rods running parallel down the neck. The neck is also extremely responsive to magnets, more so than my other guitars that I know have a single bar. My theory is also supported by a 193(6 or 8) Harmony Supertone, which I owned, that had two parallel steel reinforcing rods.
Construction
The neck is very light colored mahogany, steel reinforced, and with grafted headstock wings. The fretboard is a slab of gorgeous Brazilian Rosewood with the typical 1-2-1-2 inlay dot pattern. The frets were small, vintage-style and terribly worn so I replaced them for my restoration.
The back and sides are solid Mahogany and the top is also solid Mahogany. A typical, winning combination for a pre-war archtop from Harmony.
The top has the typical parallel tone bar bracing that you'd expect to find on an archtop from this era but the back has ladder bracing like a flat top. I've seen that back bracing on a 1930s Kay-built Old Kraftsman and believe it indicates a solid wood back.
The back and sides are solid Mahogany and the top is also solid Mahogany. A typical, winning combination for a pre-war archtop from Harmony.
The top has the typical parallel tone bar bracing that you'd expect to find on an archtop from this era but the back has ladder bracing like a flat top. I've seen that back bracing on a 1930s Kay-built Old Kraftsman and believe it indicates a solid wood back.
Markings
Model No 7004
Serial No 2633
4187H1422
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