Six String Synopsis:
The Harmony Company has a long and successful history. It was originally founded in Chicago, Illinois in 1892 by German immigrant from Hamburg, ‘William’ Wilhelm J.F. Schultz (1857‑1911), after he left the harp manufacturing company Lyon & Healy. Harmony’s starting capital was $25,000 and initially employed only 4 staff. Chicago was a hub for many music industry names including Silvertone, Kay, Valco, Supro, Regal and National. Around 1897, Sears, Roebuck and Company started selling Harmony guitars through its popular catalogues. Sears eventually acquired Harmony Company in 1916 to supply ukuleles and guitars for their department stores and mail order business. Harmony guitars were not premium‑level guitars aimed at professional musicians; they were mass‑produced and aimed at the affordable budget to mid‑range end of the market. During the 1920s and 1930s, Harmony was the largest musical instrument manufacturer in America, with the focus on quantity rather than quality. In addition to guitars, Harmony also manufactured banjos, ukuleles, mandolins and violins. In 1939, Harmony acquired one of its competitors, the Oscar Schmidt Company. Following issues including unionisation, in late 1940, Harmony’s president, Jay Kraus (c.1893‑1968) stood down from Sears and purchased the equipment, machinery and inventory that led to a newly independent The Harmony Company based in a new factory in Chicago. In 1941, the ratio of instruments manufactured was 75% guitars, 15% mandolins and 10% ukuleles.
Keeping up with the times, Harmony started manufacturing electric guitars in the 1950s to cater for the explosion of public interest in the rock & roll and folk revival movements. In 1954, Harmony acquired Regal Musical Instrument Company. Many Harmony electric guitar pickups were designed by the legendary Harold ‘Harry’ DeArmond (1906‑1999) for Rowe Industries in Toledo, Ohio (NB. the DeArmond name is now owned by Fender). Some Harmony‑made guitars were re‑badged as Silvertone, which was Sears’ main guitar brand name. Reflecting the public infatuation with ambitious scientific advances of the time, Harmony gave its instruments names that were ‘out of this world’, such as Rocket, Jupiter, Comet, Stella and Meteor. Harmony also sold Silvertone guitars, basses and amplifiers, as well as other Sears‑owned brands. Sales peaked again in the mid‑1960s. Longstanding President, Jay Kraus died following a fire at the Harmony factory in 1968. Between the end of WWII in 1945 and 1975 it has been estimated that Harmony had produced approximately 10 million American‑made guitars. Over time, there were well over 50 discrete models with model numbers ranging from H1 to H956 to cater for changing popular demand. In response to Harmony’s ‘cheap’ reputation, Harmony’s slogan was, “We’ve produced millions of instruments, but we make them one at a time”.
Following a severe recession caused by the 1973 oil crisis and stiff competition from high‑quality low‑priced Japanese imports, Harmony was forced to withdraw from the budget of the market and its fortunes declined. After a period of selling cheap student guitars via the American department store chain, JCPenney, the Harmony Guitar Co. ceased all production in 1975, stock was auctioned in 1977 and the brand name was sold off. Between 1978 and c.2000, a number of guitars were manufactured in the Far East using the ‘Harmony “est.1892″’ brand and sold mainly through JCPenney department stores in the US. There were several failed attempts to re‑launch imported Harmony guitars in the 2000s, including one by Illinois‑based toys and games manufacturer Westheimer Corp. from c.2009 to c.2011.
Contemporary models – After a long hiatus, the Harmony brand was resurrected in 2018 by Singapore‑based parent company, Bandlab Technologies. The new Harmony Company introduced and marketed a range of modern reissues of classic electric and acoustic guitars, as well as amplifiers. Harmony Guitars is proud of the fact that it still makes its guitars in America, manufactured in Kalamazoo, Michigan alongside Heritage Guitars, which is also owned by Bandlab. Heritage and Harmony share manufacturing facilities in the building vacated by Gibson when the latter moved to Nashville, Tennessee in 1974.
Harmony’s official website is… Harmony Guitars
Check out the Harmony Company page on Wikipedia… Wikipedia
Some famous Harmony instruments include…
Electrics –Bobkat, Silhouette, Rocket, Stratotone, Rebel, Jupiter, Comet, Juno, Stella, Meteor, H62, H72, H77, H78, Espanada, Hollywood
Acoustics – Archtone, Catalina, Monterey, Montclair, Broadway, Sovereign, Patrician, Cremona
Some famous Harmony guitar players include…
Dan Auerbach (The Black Keys), Big Joe Williams, Dave Davies (The Kinks), Howlin’ Wolf, Elmore James, Buck Owens, Jimmy Page (Led Zeppelin), Elvis Presley, Keith Richards (Rolling Stones), Small Faces, Roy Smeck, Richie Valens, Jack White (White Stripes, The Raconteurs, The Dead Weather, solo)
Parent Company… Bandlab Technologies
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