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A friend came over this past weekend and he brought along 4 of his guitars, one of which, a Fender 12 string, he wanted to have rebuffed. I put my new buffer to work and the results came out great. As a thank you for buffing up his guitar, he gave me an old Harmony Archtone H1213 built in 1963. It was buried behind his furnace and his wife said it was finally time to go. I'm the proud new owner! lol. These baby's retailed for around $40 in 1963 and I think they're worth even less today.

I'm thinking about having some fun with this guitar and trying my hand at some repair work and spraying a sunburst among other things.

Here are the problems with this guitar :
- section of the back has lifted from the lining
- section of the top has lifted from the lining
- missing archtop pick guard
- it's dried out - the side of the f hole facing the rim of the guitar has sunk on both sides. Despite that, there are no cracks in the top, back or sides.
- the bridge is really worn out.
- needs a fret job badly
- original tuners need replacing and the headstock needs a facelift.

So here's what I thought I'd do to spruce this baby up - rehydrate the guitar, remove the neck, re-glue the lifting top and back, install proper purfling and binding (there are no bindings on this guitar and the purfling is painted on), sand down the neck, refret the neck, install headstock veneer, install new tuners, replace the tailpiece, install modern archtop fretboard, try my hand at spraying a sunburst for the first time with my new spray gun.

But even before I can begin, I'm already stumped. How the heck do I remove the neck? I have no idea. Are any of you archtop guys familiar with this guitar and how the neck is attached? And how do I remove the fretboard extension and wedge without destroying the top. After I get this part figured out, I'm off to the races. It could be a fun rebuild to tinker around with.

When I think of it, this would be a great challenge build - everyone has to acquire a beat up Harmony Archtone H1213 and bring it back from the ashes. Could be a lot of fun!

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Rob Flindall
Flindall Guitars
http://www.flindallguitars.com
https://www.facebook.com/FlindallGuitars

Nice nail job, Rob.

First up, the bridge is not worn. It's been fully lowered then the string slots deepened to get the action down. If you look at the upper bout reflections on the first pic, you can see that it looks as if the head block has rotated. I overhauled a similar SS Stewart archtop years ago and that was in similar condition. The Stewart had a dovetail neck joint and I would suspect this one has too. So it's the standard procedure for a dovetail neck removal: pull the 15th fret, drill in the fret slot to find the pocket behind the dovetail, inject steam, etc. etc. Have a careful look at the fingerboard extension. If you're lucky, the glueline between it and the top may have failed already (if indeed it was ever glued), and you might see some steam escaping. Otherwise its a case of heating the extension and using a palette knife or similar to separate the joint without detaching the fretboard. Patience is a virtue.

I think it would look good bound in ivoroid with a nice 'burst (which is how the Stewart was finished, being a cheap copy of a L5), but personally I like the retro vibe of the headstock and tail piece. If the tuners still work, they might work better with bushings. The finish is likely some sort of spirit varnish, so will probably have to be full removed before re-spraying. You'll also need to reset the neck to get the bridge height right, normally ~1" above the top, with some adjustment, when the action is right, but check that the head block is still glued in properly first.

I suspect that this instrument is ply all over, hence no cracks, so I doubt re-hydration will get you very far.

Have fun!

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Trevor Gore, Luthier. Australian hand made acoustic guitars, classical guitars; custom guitar design and build; guitar design instruction.

http://www.goreguitars.com.au

Got one of these I'm working on at the moment. The neck is indeed a dovetail.
Mine is in much worse shape than yours, as it was left out on a covered porch for several years, semi-exposed to the weather. I informed the owner that it wasn't really worth spending money on, that although it appeared sound that there's no telling what exposure of that type did to the wood or glue joints, and that it might explode when I bring the strings up to pitch anyway. He said "Do what you can cheaply".
Since the neck was loose, I went ahead and removed it. I'll sand the weathered finish down and give it a tuxedo look(Black finish, white trim), since the flamed veneer is pretty much trashed, replace the bridge and give it back to him, assuming I find no other problems as I get into it.

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Mike

The only thing nescessary for evil to thrive is for good men to do nothing.

I have one of these as well, but I don't do repairs It was my Mom's first guitar that she was given when she turned 8. I know there is next to zero monetary value to it, but the fact that it was her guitar and that all us kids (9 of us) played it extensively, makes it worth fixing up. The one you have there seems to be in much better condition! Mine has some cracking around the f-holes and a section of the fingerboard broke off. The head is extremely worn and will absolutely need a headstock applied. Removing the neck is the next step for me, I just don't know how to do the whole steam bit without purchasing more tools (to which my loving wife has put the kabosh on more tools till I get my office up and running).

Anyway, good luck with the guitar! Might not be worth much, but every time I see a Harmony arch-top I think of my Mother, so I love seeing them around!

*edit* Wow, just went back and re-read my post and it sounds like my Mother is dead, which is far from the truth. Alive and very healthy. Just wanted to add that in!

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"Never give in. Never give in. Never, never, never, never--in nothing, great or small, large or petty--never give in, except to convictions of honor and good sense. Never yield to force. Never yield to the apparently overwhelming might of the enemy." - Winston Churchill

IMO do a neck reset and refret only, as has been suggested. It'll be good practice. I learned a lot fixing old beaters. The fingerboard may need to be re-dyed. These were often beech or similar light wood. As for the rest, enjoy the funky old charm. You'll ruin it if you go rebinding, swapping parts, etc. Those old (waverly?) tuners work well enough. Maybe swap in a new floating bridge, but even that isn't necessary.

If you have such a hankering to try a bunch of new stuff, better to build a new guitar, or find something so trashed it really does need a rebuild.