The Chetboard

This is a REAL NICE H-177 Harmony/Baldwin clone for sale on ebay. Just slap one of Sam's pickups on there.....and ya got yourself a Baldwin.

http://cgi.ebay.com/Vintage-Harmony-H17 ... 484099e720

The H177 is actually an upgrade to the H174 (better wood, perhaps). But you're right, Phil - except for the rosette, it's virtually the same guitar as the Baldwin. Scale, neck size, body dimensions, headstock design - all identical.
I'd be careful on this particular one, though - appears to have pretty high action and it MAY have a crack below the headstock (hard to tell in photo). But for 25 bucks, you can't go wrong!

Yeah I saw that action with the quarter sitting on the neck. That saddle looks like it's at least an inch high!! Oh well, if I got that sucker I'd be pulling that bridge off anyway and slapping one of my Baldwin bridges and a Prismatone.
I've been meaning to ask you how that Barbero plays not that you got the Prismatone on it.

Yeah, that saddle is way up there. Could be to compensate for a bad neck angle too, and that's a more expensive repair. Most every one I've seen could use a neck re-set to get the action down low enough.

PhilHunt wrote:I've been meaning to ask you how that Barbero plays now that you got the Prismatone on it.

I really like the Barbero flamenco - the Prismatone sounds great in it. Keith Adams left the action a little higher than my Baldwin, so it gets a thicker note.

Keith builds some of nicest guitars I've seen in a long time. He had a couple at CAAS last year. They looked like Studio Classics but had Prismatones mounted on them. The necks felt like a CE. The actions were a little high for my taste but otherwise they played and sounded great. If I was going to have someone build me a classical electric it would be either him or Roger Stuckless in Canada. Now you talk about someone who can build a guitar!!! Hoo-wee!! Roger can build one hell of a guitar. If I ever get someone to build me one...I want the neck exactly built like the neck on my Baldwin. I had mine shaved down. I've gotten so use to playing it I just can't hardly play any other guitar. The other day I went into a music store and played a Godin multiac classical (like Busters only black). That was the worst playing piece of crap....the action was so high. I honestly don't know how people can play those things.....the neck feels like it's a mile long. When you go from playing a short scale Baldwin to a long scale like a Godin.....you're sure to makes mistakes left and right.

Phil, I own a Godin Multiac and understand some of what you're saying but now you have me curious about what playing a Baldwin would be like? I can't imagine enjoying a short scale though. However, I'd prefer lower action but haven't really experience that on a nylon string guitar. I do just OK with my Godin but really miss my Kirk Sand that I had to sell a few years back. I'll have to get my hands on a Baldwin or similar just to try it out.

Hi Rande.. Further to your comments about the Godin Multiac. I have a Multiac Nylon.. not the Grand Concert Multiac.. I believe your multiac is like mine. I have a love hate relationship with it. One thing I love about it is the ability to set the action as low as you might like it (without buzzing of course)... When I first got mine, the action was a bit high for my liking, so I just took off the neck and shimmed it. Try that on a Baldwin!!! As to Phil's comment about the long neck. I agree with him. In order to get the neck joined at the 12th fret on a multiac, you need to buy the Grand Concert model, which comes with a 2 inch nut width. The ideal Multiac for me would be a Grand Concert (join at the 12th fret) with a 1 7/8th inch nut width. But alas... they don't make them. I talked with Bobby Gibson about that and he put me in touch with a Godin rep that was more than willing to custom build one, but I'm just not a good enough player to warrant spending that kind of money on a custom build. One of my dislikes (not quite hate!) is the neck profile of the multiac. it is just too thin (ala Taylor guitar). I much prefer a fuller neck profile... similar to a Gibson CE neck, but again.. Multiacs only come with a thin neck profile. Overall there is much more to like about the Godin Multiacs than to dislike, but I guess that could be said about many a guitar ... Sorry about this somewhat off topic long winded post.