Hi Bro's & Sisters I'm Lucky enough to Have a Guitarist in the House my Bro, Style Delts Blues on Parlor Guitars, 1 steel 1 Minolin Dobro,and a Australian Mini Maton,
i convinced him in his quest for that old school sound to try buying some vintage acoustic Guitars,
So He allso has 2 Vintage Parlor Guitars REGAL R210, Mint STELLA S-72,
we have been all over the Harmony Dats Base site and are only interested in Harmony Guitars Made In USA,
So im allso interested in the guitars as a Harp Player i like the Tone Of the guitars but especialy like the tone of the Harmony Guitars,
i Know there made in Chicago Illinois but by who, who where the poeple not the Owners i mean the working class people, Did you have relatives who may have worked there, what part of town was the factory,
We all know of the many great Harmonica Guitar Duo's Sonny Terry Brownie Mc Gee,
i know today we may think these are cheap guitars these two guitars cost $30 & $70, but infact worth more than a weeks wages back in the Day
So who of the Great Blues Guitar Players could afford these guitars,
Did the Likes of Brownie Mc gee,Sun House,Robert Johnson ect ect play these guitars,or just what Brands of guitars did they Play,
so as i say as a Harmonica Player i like the sound of these Guitars and my Bro's Playing i need to make the conection,
i dragged my Bro out to a Local Jam Night up the country well 45 ks away up the road,
Nastyolddog and White cloud did there thing as NASTYCLOUD, we where payed the best compliment we could hope for after a slot 17-mins Long People comeing up shaking our hands
But one Bro i hold in the most respect,a friend of mine who hasn't had the chance to see me Play with my Bro,came over with his Country friends, said to us that was the most authentic sound they have heard when are we comeing Back,
So we are very pleased and i need to Know more about the Guitars just to get a Little Bit closer the that spirite and sound,give me the spirite of the People that made these Guitars the good the bad the Ugly i need to Know:)
Well, Nasty--I have had a lot of guitars in my time--one Stella--one Harmony--a Gretch--a couple of Fenders--a couple of Dobros--a Martin--an Epiphone--a Recording King--shit--I just can't remember all of them. And that's just regular guitars--I didn't get into the lap steels.
I believe that one of the reasons the concept of slide guitar got invented is because those old Stellas and Harmony's were just too damn hard to finger any other way--let the glass or the pocket knife take the beating.
I have also studied most of the old timer bluesmen guitarists for over 50 years--and I don't remember half of what I once knew about the guitars they played. I know, in the only existing pic of Blind Lemon Jefferson (one of my heroes)--he seems to be playing a Stella--almost in a lap position.
One thing I'm pretty sure of is that, as soon as any of the greats were able (if ever) to afford a Gibson or a Dobro (National) or a Martin--they shit-canned the Stellas and the Harmony's.
Mississippi John Hurt played an old-time American built Guild. Brownie McGhee played several guitars, but I'm pretty sure his main one was a Martin D28. Robert Johnson, I read somewhere, played a few different ones--primarily a Kalimazoo. In the only footage I ever saw of Son House, he was too drunk to play a National he was holding--I think it was a biscuit reso.
I once saw Elizabeth Cotton and she was playing an upside-down D18 Martin, as best I remember--I had a lesson with her the next day and I walked around upside down for a day or two to figure out how to play like her.
Congratulations on doing so well with the NastyCloud--that is very cool to hear. I think there is a grass-roots resurgence of this old Delta and Piedmont stuff these days--I find that more and more people seem to like it. For a long time--I thought it might be better to just enjoy it in my woodshed. . .
Nastyolddog, If you haven't already, check this site out. Its a pretty good history of Harmony, Stella and Silvertone guitars and the involvement of Sears Roebuck and JC Penny.
http://www.broadwaymusicco.com/Harmony.htm
Know lots of people that have started collecting these. Paying handsomely for them off of e-bay too. They have a vintage sound but as oldwailer mentioned, are horrible to play. I have to agree that this could have been the reason slide started up. Fingering the fret boards on these old monsters with any precision or speed is a difficult task.
Thanks for the info Bro's hear is my Bro Playing His Regal R210 Yo Xman yeh they are becoming collectable guitars Downunder, Like Ya say Bro's great sound great Slide Guitars:)
Iv got a Harmony Bobcat. I haven't tried slide on it yet but im not good at all on guitar so i couldn't tell you how nice they really are. i do like the sounds it makes with its old pickup.
I've got a '62 & '63 Strats and a 1934 National Tricone. I think that was the first year they came out. I've had these since I was in high school in the '70s. Also, a more recent Guild acoustic. Fun stuff to play.
the best stellas made were the parlor guitars made by oscar schmidt they were available in the 1920s and sold for something like $3.50 at sears roebuck. these were the guitars that most of the blues musicians of that period used not the later stellas made by harmonythey had rose wood sides and spruce top . theses guitars sound killer for slide with a vintage round hole dearmond pickup. thats the pickup that elmore james and lightning hopkins used the later stellas made by harmony were plywood guitars without much sound. harmony guitars with the gold dearmond pickups are great and you can find them on ebay from 350 to 700. the best sivertone for blues was the 1446 model that hubert sumlin used that had special gibson mini humbucker pickups the sivertones with the lipstick pickups are also cool blues guitars especially for slide
