HARMONY ROCKET SOFTWARE
The Origin StoryĪccording to a popular software algorithm that translates the handwriting from old U.S. Harmony officials say that some of its jobs will never be replaced by machinery.”Īnd they weren’t, but the machines won anyway. Some are so skilled that not even the top feats of engineering have been able to approach their touch. More than half of Harmony’s nearly 150 employees, including the many women, are skilled workers. “Perhaps the greatest note of pride about the company,” according to a 1952 article in the Central Manufacturing District Magazine, “may be struck in the fact that modern production methods have been applied to an age-old product while retaining the artistic touch of the master craftsman. A whole team of dedicated employees helped bring this little mahogany uke to life at Harmony’s old Racine Avenue plant in Bridgeport, and they did so with pride-even if they knew it would end up selling to some snot-nosed kid for 10 bucks. We’re not going to compare it to a Stradivarius or anything, but hey, it’s no cookie cutter, either. In more recent years, noted garage rockers Jack White (Rocket electric) and Dan Auerbach (H78 and StratoTone) have championed vintage Harmony axes, as well, drawing a new audience to the long defunct brand.Įven a less “rockin” Harmony artifact- like the 1950s Roy Smeck ukulele in our museum collection-can age quite gracefully into its golden years. The technology for using pre-set automation to clone guitars and other fretted instruments had existed since at least the 1940s, but Harmony president Jay Kraus-who led the firm for the better part of 50 years-firmly believed that even a low-cost beginner’s instrument deserved a closer attention to detail.Īs a result, many budget-priced Harmonies became the unlikely tools of the trade for some of the biggest names in popular music-from blues legends like Howlin’ Wolf (Sovereign Flat-Top acoustic) to rock gods like Keith Richards (Meteor electric) and Jimmy Page (Sovereign H1260 acoustic). Up through its final years, the company was still touting: “We’ve produced millions of instruments, but we make them one at a time,” and it wasn’t just a slogan. In reality, it was Harmony’s stubborn dedication to genuine craftsmanship that eventually got them overrun by foreign competition in the 1970s. But to reduce the company’s output down to the single adjective of “cheap”-or to equate them to the auto-machined Asian imports of the modern day-would be hitting a mighty discordant note. Sure, Harmony was always the unashamed brand of the common man, and their affordably priced products were churned out en masse and sold predominantly through the pages of mail order catalogs. Unfortunately, when we’re talking about “the arts,” such a legacy of quantity can often presume a deficiency in quality-warranted or not. Racine Ave., Chicago, IL įor about 80 years, Chicago’s Harmony Company consistently ranked among the largest producers of stringed instruments in the world. Thinning the herd due to my age so this is going up for sale.Museum Artifact: Roy Smeck Soprano Ukulele, c.
(As noted above the pots are clean and work fine.) I’m This has been primarily a wall-hanger in my collection for the last 15+ years and hasn’t been played much. This is in much better condition than most that are over 50 years If you’re looking at this, you no-doubt know about these guitars and theirĭesirability by players and collectors alike. (I will remove the arm for shipping and put it in the case.) Some point, but the vibrato tailpiece works perfectly and is fully functional. Lacquer chips around tailpiece that would indicate it has been worked on at Little fret wear and no buzzing anywhere. The two gold-foil single-coil pickups work Of dings for being over 50 years old! The selector switch and all four pots work fine. There is some very light checking and only a minimal number Due to the lacquer shining in the lights, it was difficult I have a vintage Harmony H54 in really nice shape! It is stamped 1968 as seen in the pics.
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