The Chetboard

A little while back (May to be precise), I sought advice from board members on a Harmony H173 I acquired on ebay. I finally have the guitar back from the luthier, with a Prismatone II from Sam Kennedy installed, complete with three band eq. I'm delighted to report the action is lower and easier than I could possibly have hoped for, and it sounds great. Certainly cost me a good deal less than the recent 801CP that I watched sail up and beyond $3,000 on ebay with increasing exasperation and increasingly redundant female shopping logic....

Alas I can't let you hear it (a combination of insufficient equipment, appalling stagefright and an irksome lack of techique despite my neighbour-bothering efforts), but the pictures below should give you an idea. And if there's anyone in the north of England on the look-out for a really good luthier, I know just the man...

Man that looks great Angus!! Enjoy it my friend, you don't have to impress anyone but yourself.

Hi!
I found a H174 this week. I will get it in 2 weeks.
I already have a bridge for the prismatone 2 but i need to order the pickup.

Is there anything special my luthier needs to know for installing bridge and prismatone ?

I also have a H173 and a H172. In my opinion the H172 has a warmer sound than the H173.

Could you post some soundfiles ?

Thanks

Matthias

Hi Matthias,

Good luck with the H174 - I was on the look-out for one but the H173 popped up first and looked worth a gamble. You may be right about the sound - it's quite a light, slight and slender little guitar, and certainly doesn't have the fat, clubby neck that some have talked about on the Baldwin. It's not a narrow neck, and it doesn't have a radius, but it feels very comfortable to me. (I can fret the sixth string with my thumb, something I'd struggle to do on a conventional classical neck.)

I think a good luthier should be able to install the bridge and pickup without any problems. My guy said he encountered an issue with intonation, forcing him to move the bridge slightly forwards, and the Prismatone as far forward within it as it would go.

I think Sam has pictures of installations should you need them, but I think it should be fairly self-explanatory.

Can't do soundfiles I'm afraid - I've only recently become able to plug my guitars into a Roland Cube, and I certainly don't possess any recording equipment.

I'd love to hear how you get on with the H174 though - keep us posted.

Hi Angus,
i have a good friend here on the Chetboard - he finds Harmonys every week. Yesterday evening i start a little research and found 5 active sites with a H173 for sale. The are between 85 and 300 USD. My H174 costs 125 $
Only problem is the seller dont have a paypal-account. And transferring from my bank account could be a bit expensive.
If i would know someone who lives in the usa. Maybe he can help me.Anyway the H174´s are a it rarer to find than the other models.
To be serious: It´s not my biggest dream to own the Baldwin - even though Jerry played one.
More important is the player. If you are not able to play this style or not willing to learn - for what reason i should buy a Baldwin.
The last auction on ebay went more than 3000 USD. Thats crazy.
If you can find a good H174 and the prismatone - that would be a good compromise. If i am up to date the Prismatone costs 450 $ including preamp.

I am starting a little project, if i will get the H174. It will begin with the prismatone.
To be continued

At the moment i would say, the prismatone would be grat on the H172. The tone is much more rich and deep.

The Neck on the H173 seems to be straight - but i have intonations-problems if i use a capo.
I think if i decide which guitar gets the P-Tone i will let my luthier do fix this.
And the - step by step - i will let him fix the other two guitars.

I´ll keep you informed

bye
Matthias

Funny!
I´m at work at the moment. But my iphone plays "Twitchy" - love that one

Angus.....that is rad dude!!!! Sure looks slick. I'm in the process of doing that myself....hope it turns out to look as nice as yours. Upload a sound clip...let us hear that thing son...haha!!!! I dont think it matters what kind of Harmony classical...or any kind of classical for that matter, you put that pick-up on...it'll sound good as long as you play it all the time. I've got a killer 173 that was dead when I got it a few years ago....ZERO volume, ZERO tone, sounded like a turd. I've been playing it everyday for a few years now and it sounds way better than the 174 I have and a lot of other classical guitars. Later dude,


Dow