Pipe Dream Special Order Guilds from New Hartford, CT Plant

[Darryl Hattenhauer]

Chaz,

They must have figured that they couldn't make $ on it. So I'm wondering if players didn't like them, or if Guild figured too many would come back for repairs, or what.

 

[chazmo]

The F612 is a seroiusly huge, honkin' axe, Darryl. Probably most folks wouldn't go for it, especially since Guild's 17" jumbos are so awesome, and frankly are already a bit big to gig with.

That's an interesting thought about repairs, etc., though. One guy posted that he'd seen several 18" jumbos over the years and several had tops that had problems... Certainly, the F612 with a scale of 26.5" was not meant to be tuned to standard pitch. That'd almost certainly cause long-term neck and bridge damage. A guy on the UMGF just had an 18" 12 built for him with a 25.5" scale (standard)... This should be an outrageous guitar.

Dunno. All I know is I'd love to get my hands on an F612. Probably never happen.

 

[William63]

I want one of these... 8)

I want one of those too!

Maybe we should get a massive letter writing campaign going for them to reissue this guitar.

 

[Darryl Hattenhauer]

Chaz,

With a guitar that big, the extra cost would be offset because you'd never have to pay for a sound system, microphone, or pickup--except for a huge pickup to haul it with.

Seriously though, the sound would be great, and the scale length might not be too hard to get used to. I don't think John Denver had long fingers, did he?

 

[William63]

Chaz,

With a guitar that big, the extra cost would be offset because you'd never have to pay for a sound system, microphone, or pickup--except for a huge pickup to haul it with.

Seriously though, the sound would be great, and the scale length might not be too hard to get used to. I don't think John Denver had long fingers, did he?

I met John Denver and had a nice chat with him and shook his hands. He had one strong grip!!! I am 6 feet tall I would have put him at about 5 foot 8 or 5 foot 9, but he didn't have long fingers.

So if he could play a F612 then I'm sure many of us could handle it.

 

[West R Lee]

Doyle Dykes has the smallest, shortest fingers and hand I've ever seen on a grown man. Has't hurt his playing too much.

West

 

[Darryl Hattenhauer]

Wester,

Good point. I've seen piano players like that too. And SRV's hands looked to me like they flopped around like a seal's flippers.

hf

 

[West R Lee]

I don't think size matters.....I think precision and speed are everything :wink: .

West

 

[chazmo]

Chaz,

With a guitar that big, the extra cost would be offset because you'd never have to pay for a sound system, microphone, or pickup--except for a huge pickup to haul it with.

Seriously though, the sound would be great, and the scale length might not be too hard to get used to. I don't think John Denver had long fingers, did he?

I met John Denver and had a nice chat with him and shook his hands. He had one strong grip!!! I am 6 feet tall I would have put him at about 5 foot 8 or 5 foot 9, but he didn't have long fingers.

So if he could play a F612 then I'm sure many of us could handle it.

I agree. In any case, I'd certainly like to find out.

Darryl, as for the scale... I do think one could get used to it, but a whole inch longer than most would be a weird transition (I think). Most of the time I think John Denver used a capo to the second fret, and I believe he tuned the instrument down a whole step from standard tuning. He even dropped the low E course down another whole step (to concert C, that is, most of the time). Thing about the size of the beastie... if you watch him play it, you can see him shifting it around quite a bit. I would suspect that with an instrument this big, it's something of a love/hate relationship when we're talking about live performance.

 

[Darryl Hattenhauer]

Chazman,

Yes, it's remarkable that he would use something else easier to play for his live performances.

 

[Metalman]

Wester,

Good point. I've seen piano players like that too. And SRV's hands looked to me like they flopped around like a seal's flippers.

hf

Did you all know that SRV played on a Strat that was tuned down just 1/2 step, but the strings he used was a .012 on the E string! Nobody could play his guitar, he said in an interview!

Those of us who have been playing for a while, especially on acoustic guitars, don't realize how much our left hand is getting a good workout. And that means more strength in that hand.
I was being examined for a frozen shoulder last year, and the chiropracter grabbed both of my hands in his, told me to grip them hard. I did, and he immediately noticed that my left hand was much stronger than the right.

 

[Darryl Hattenhauer]

MM,

I heard that SRV's high E string was even heavier than that. Any other Guild geezers know?

MM, who made the '32 Sears archie? When I was a kid in the 60s, a lot of us had banjos an acoustic flat tops sold by Sears named Silvertone, which were made by whoever it was that also made Kay.

 

[Metalman]

MM,

I heard that SRV's high E string was even heavier than that. Any other Guild geezers know?

MM, who made the '32 Sears archie? When I was a kid in the 60s, a lot of us had banjos an acoustic flat tops sold by Sears named Silvertone, which were made by whoever it was that also made Kay.

Darryl,

I'm glad you asked that.

According to my Aunt Mary, who passed away a few years back, and the info I got from my dad before he passed away back in '79, it was a Sears/Silvertone guitar.

Harmony made these guitars for different companies, and had the labels made up for them according to the individual businesses.

After much research, mostly looking in Vintage Guitar Magazine, I found my guitar. It was indeed made by Harmony Guitars. The Harmony model was the Cremona model, but my dad bought it through a Sears catalogue sometime around '32 or 34. Probably had a different name for it, but is was a Silvertone guitar. He paid $12 dollars for it, brand new.

And, like yourself and many others like us, it was my first guitar. My second was a $38 electric with one pickup, also from Sears, built by Harmony.

Here's a cool link to Harmony Guitars:

http://www.broadwaymusicco.com/harmony26.htm

 

[kostask]

MM:

Many of the pre-war Harmony Cremona archtops have integral tone bars. By this, I mean that the top of the guitar is hand carved (if you can see inside, you can see the chisel/plane marks), and the tone bars are one piece with the top, not added in later. Another way to look at it, is that they carved away, by hand, the only the wood that did not make the top plate or the tone bars.

I don't know if any other archtop builders, at any price, ever did that. I don't have the foggiest idea if it is better for tone, worse, or doesn't make any real difference, but it is true for more than one Cremona that I have seen.

A good site for the entire Harmony line is at: http://harmony.demont.net/

If you look under the high end archtop link, you can probably find your guitar.

Kostas

P.S. I own two Harmony Archtops, both Patricians, one is a 1414, and the other is a 1415.

 

[Darryl Hattenhauer]

Metal and Kostas,

I think this is a Harmony being played by Rick Holmstrom, who also plays a Guild. Here, he's stealing my licks while the singer is stealing Coastie's moves.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r5py0nZd6YE

Harmony also made good banjo necks, so their guitar necks are probably good too.

Also Robert Johnson played one, so they must have been durable.

I hope somebody tells us something about integral tone bars.

hf