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Harmony/Silvertone Jupiter Guitar - thoughts?

Posted: Mon Aug 06, 2012 6:34 pm
by stripes

Re: Harmony/Silvertone Jupiter Guitar - thoughts?

Posted: Mon Aug 06, 2012 8:57 pm
by Chankgeez
Yes. They do.

I wouldn't buy it at that BIN price though. I'd shop around, you may be able to find something like that a little cheaper.

Those guitars are very light and I'm not really a fan of those wooden bridges. If I were a heavy handed player, I'd look for something more substantial.

I'm kinda partial to old Harmonys and Kays though.

Re: Harmony/Silvertone Jupiter Guitar - thoughts?

Posted: Tue Aug 07, 2012 12:05 am
by transients
Chankgeez's right.

i've repaired a good amount of these because they did terrible gluing jobs back in the day and the wood warps a lot on them, so they're always splitting and the backs are usually bending outward and falling apart. i would not buy one unseen unless they have a good return policy, and i would definitely not buy that one because of the huge crack in the side and the price is ridiculous. The wood bridge usually needs to get replaced too. They do sound pretty awesome if you can find a minty one that actually intonates, but otherwise it's not worth the price because of all the fix-up involved. i'd recommend going for a solid-body guitar with those pickups (since the pickups themselves already very mellow/dark/"warm" the hollow body isn't really necessary) like the silvertone silhouette:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-Silvertone-Silhouette-Electric-Guitar-/130743507387?pt=Guitar&hash=item1e70eb99bb#ht_500wt_1414

i had one of these for years, it was the most solid guitar i've ever owned and would hold tune for months straight. this guy's price is a little high, but considering it comes with the original case i guess it seems about right.

Re: Harmony/Silvertone Jupiter Guitar - thoughts?

Posted: Tue Aug 07, 2012 12:46 am
by Chankgeez
Nice find, transients. Some good advice too. (It always helps to be able to try a guitar out before buying. Craigslist can turn up some possible candidates.)

Some of those Harmony built Silvertones are great guitars.

Recent Psyre thread about a Harmony Bobkat:
viewtopic.php?f=188&t=27269

Re: Harmony/Silvertone Jupiter Guitar - thoughts?

Posted: Tue Aug 07, 2012 1:11 am
by Chankgeez
I've never seen a Bobkat this color before. Looks like it might've been stripped. Might be worth looking into:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-1960s-H ... 500wt_1204

Re: Harmony/Silvertone Jupiter Guitar - thoughts?

Posted: Tue Aug 07, 2012 1:29 am
by transients
Chankgeez wrote:I've never seen a Bobkat this color before. Looks like it might've been stripped. Might be worth looking into:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-1960s-H ... 500wt_1204



whoa man that one is awesome :love: replace the tailpiece with a bigsby or maestro vibrola and it would be :!!!: :drool: :!!!:

Re: Harmony/Silvertone Jupiter Guitar - thoughts?

Posted: Tue Aug 07, 2012 4:40 pm
by stripes
yeah, i wasn't planning on buying that one, just wanted to show a picture of it. what about the reissue ones?

Re: Harmony/Silvertone Jupiter Guitar - thoughts?

Posted: Tue Aug 07, 2012 4:46 pm
by stripes
dos other two tho :drool: :drool:

Re: Harmony/Silvertone Jupiter Guitar - thoughts?

Posted: Tue Aug 07, 2012 4:53 pm
by stripes
also this:

Image

Re: Harmony/Silvertone Jupiter Guitar - thoughts?

Posted: Tue Aug 07, 2012 9:12 pm
by Chankgeez
Yeah, St. Vincent. She likes those. With good reason, they're fun guitars.

I've no experience with the reissues, but generally steer clear of reissued anything.