Harmony H15 Silhouette

1966 Harmony H15 Silhouette, 2 pickups, jaundicey 2 tone sunburst. Has that kind of Jag/Mustang hybrid body style, made of walnut(?) I think. Rosewood bridge, not a lot of room for adjustment here but oh well. Nice short-scale neck, pretty fat too. Really gives you something to grip onto. Hands-down, the most comfortable neck I've ever played, beats even a nice thin strat neck. It takes a little getting used to, but feels great once you do. Mine has some junky Dano tuners for some reason, but they do their job all right. Two DeArmond/Rowe Industries goldfoil singlecoil monsters. No phase switching or any of that newfangled BS.

I play loud noisy garage-trash, 'shit-rock,' a little twang a la link wray just for fun, etc and this thing is a godsend. Goes from a warm, woody, wooly sound on the neck pup to a bright yet still full on the bridge. Combining them gives you major sustain. It sounds great with some old tube amp heating up behind it. When i throw my Tone Bender into the mix, it turns into a snarling fuzz beast straight out of some square's worst nightmare circa 1965. The pickups can handle as much fuzz as i can pile on and then some. It sounds TOUGH as hell.

Well, i can't vouch for how it came off the line, but after 40 years it still plays better than any other guitar I've ever owned. Can't adjust the pickups any, at least on this version (it's a lower end one) but hasn't caused me any problems.

For a such a small, light guitar, this thing is built to last. It is tough. I have smashed it against stuff, wrenched it around, had people fall on it, spilled beer on it, you name it and it plays as good as the day I got it. The neck is, by virtue of its shortness and fatness, extremely sturdy. I use it all the time without a backup and never worry about it.

I have been playing for a few years, own an Eastwood Hi-Flyer (Nice guitar,) Teisco Vox Phantom copy (Really Cool guitar,) and a '62 Ibanez 883 (POS guitar.) The harmony is by far the superior instrument. Anyone who plays it immediately loves it. If you aren't willing to bay big bucks for a Gibson or Fender logo, or whatever, then Harmony is one of the best values in vintage guitars. Their slogan from back then still rings true today: "the best guitar you can buy for the money you spend!" All in all a great sounding, great playing guitar.

Mine's a modded 1965 H15 Silouhette. The scratch plate is stamped ''9 Sept 1965'' on the back. It has a Jaguar-style body, sunburst finish (wich Harmony called a Mod finish), stop tailpiece with a wooden bridge. The original tuners on each and every harmony i've played were total pieces of shit. I replaced mine with some tuners from a Yamaha neck that was collecting dust in the corner of a closet. It has a fat short-scale neck wich is perfect. Pickups are good old Dearmond Golden Tone, really warm single coils, and the previous owner fitted a strat style pup in the middle of the Dearmonds. The controls consists of a 2 volumes and 2 tones for the Dearmonds, plus a 3 way switch to go like bridge, bridge + neck or just neck. The strat pup is directly connected to the output with an on/off switch. I don't know about the wood, it's very light but super loud when unplugged, way more than any guitar I've tried, even my Fender Jag. I'm giving it a 9 because the switching of the pickups the way the previous owner did it gives me a broad palette of tones, much like my Jag, but i'm thinking of ways to ameliorate it.

Well I play garage rock mostly, some punk here, some surf there. This guitar rules. I've been looking for a 60's style short-scale guitar as a backup for my Jag for a long while, and this was the closest thing. I'm using a 1975 Traynor YBA 2B with it, and for effects I use a Big Muff USA and a Fender Blender reissue. It sounds dark. I'm the type of guy who plays with the volume and the tone always full on, on the bridge pup only and I only play with single coils. I like my tone bright. But this guitar sounds darker and woolier than my Jag. It makes a good backup anyways, and I really enjoy playing it for the fun of it. I think the dark sound is due to the wooden bridge, I'm thinking of installing a tune-o-matic. I'd get more stabality too, as the bridge is fixed to the guitar merely by the strings, no posts, nothing. And well, I didn't care for that until the day that I was rocking it real hard and bending the hell of the strings, suddendly I wasn't in tune no more, cos the bridge had slid a little. I'm sure with a tune-o-matic both problems will be solved.

Well, It's 41 years old. There are some dents and dings, but nothing unnatural for something so old. I'd even say it's in pretty good shape for a guitar of this age. The pickguard wobbles quite a bit, and there is some rust on the bridge pup, the tailpiece, etc, but it contributes to its character. The pickups cannot be adjusted hehe but they sound right. The action is low and easy, wich is mendatory when you have to play a neck so thick.

The only flaw in the design that I found was that the strings were not grounded. I had to run a wire from the tailpiece to the output ground. That took away a lot of noise. It looks like it had been tinkered a lot but I love the DIY vibe that it has.

Looks like it will last another 40 years, at least. It's rock solid. Would I gig without a backup? Hell, it is the backup!

Out of biz since 1975.

I've been playing for 10 years or so, owned countless things. Every piece of gear that I owned/own is listed in a lil book I have at home. Sometimes i look at it and shake my head in sorrow. Thousands and thousands of dollars spent on music and I still don't have a car lol. Well if it was stolen I guess I'd try to buy another one on ebay, but it would piss me off big time, cos this one's special, with the modded look. I love it.

This is an old and well misused guitar, black with red burst. Body is more like a Fender Jaguar. Bridge was missing, tuners were missing all the posts, neck is nice, not a baseball bat like others have reported. body is solid plank. One volume and one tone for each of the 2 pickups which are DeArmond gold foil.

I play old rock, blues and praise and worship, I can get most any sound I want. Smooth and mellow on the neck pickup or sharp and twangy on the bridge or really overdriven cranked up and plugged into a Epi valve Jr with 2/12 cab. I had to run a wire from the tailpeice to the input jack for grounding and that took away a lot of noise, now it's pretty good. The pickups are high output and sound great. It plays great sounds great and what I like most, it's small and light.

Others have reported a baseball like neck, I think this guitar was used as a baseball bat, it's beat and was very dirty. I couldn't find an original bridge for it or a flat bridge for a solid body, so I made one using an archtop bridge and cutting it down. The tuners were missing all the post, I bought a cheap 6 in-line set and put the gear and posts on the existing tuners, a little stiff but stays in tune quite good. I did a lot of cleaning and it still looks pretty rough but it is 40 years old. I had to take the bridge down about 1/2 inch, a lot of grinding and sanding, but it's where it should be, plays very easy, stays in tune and intonation is very good.

Harmony went out of business in 1975. As bad as this guitar was beat and being able to make a good sounding and good playing guitar with it is amazing to me. It's built for a life time.
Here's some good history on Harmonys
http://www.broadwaymusicco.com/harmony.htm
good pictures
http://harmony.demont.net/links.php
I always take a backup, but I plan on using this as my main guitar for awhile along with a Strat.

I've been playing over 40 years, my first electric guitar was a $39.00 silvertone from sears, the H15's sold for 64.95 brand new. If you can find one of these cheap, get it, most I've seen are going for 200 and up, depending on what kind of shape they are in. These guitars are just a real joy to have and play, it's not just a cool or novel thing, it's a
good guitar.

1967 - 2 DeArmond Gold Tone Pickup - 3-Position Toggle Switch - 2 Volume Knobs & 2 Tone Knobs - Whammy Bar - Floating Bridge - An a neck so thick you could hit homeruns out of the park with it.

A wide variety of tones from Jazzy, Blues, Garage, Surf & Punk.

These were cheap Department Store & Catalogue guitars, but great players for the money. I had one as a first guitar without the tremolo that didn't seem as good as this one, but that may have been my youthful ignorance in setting actions. Overdriving it for distortion can make it noise, but if you turn down the tone it rus silent and runs deep.

Will it last? Well, it's nearly 40 years old now, so I would have to say that's a yes.

None at all.

I bought this as a backup, but it's so fun to play I've hardly touched my Paul in a year. Like I said I had one as a first guitar back in the day. And there's a great feeling of nostalgia in playing one again. And this one plays better than I remember or maybe it's just that I've gotten better. But I can play almost anything on it. It has such a wide range of tone. But it soulds best on anything that needs that '60s Sound. Obviously I'm biased, but other budget guitars of the day like Electra and Hondo can't touch these things.

The Pickups (DeArmonds by the Rowe Co.) date June 30th, 1965. 20 frets, floating bridge, open back tuners. 2 pickups with a 3 way toggle. Pretty basic, but any more nobs or switches, and i tend to have trouble playing them live, anyway...

Great garage, punk, bluws, which is pretty much what I do. Use it qith a late 60's Estey T-32 Amp (a magnatone tube amo, essentially...made by Magnatone)...Has a full bottom on the neck...nice grit on the 2 coupled, and a great garage Dave Davies kind of vibe on teh lead. Surprising tonal adjustments in the knobs. Really affect the sound...Nothing wrong with the tone at all...Great guitar...

No idea about the factory, but I re-set it, and the action and intonation are great. Pickups are non-adjustable on this model, which might be a drag, if the sound wern't so good...Bridge is simple, but great.

I've used it live. I'd never play live without a backup if I could help it (strings break, after all), but this one is tough as nails...it's almost 40 years old and sounds and plays better than most current new guitars in the $300-500 range...

Harmony went belly up in the early 70's.

Been playing 21, 22 years. Have a late 60's Tele, a newer Danelectro Hodad, a mid 60's Danelectro, and three other Harmonys (solid body, Stratotone and Rocket semi-hollow). I'd get another one, sure. Especially if they stay in the 125.00-200.00 range. What a great guitar.

1965 Harmony H-15, silhouette body style. 21 frets, short scale neck (24 inches) gibson style controls. Mod finish. pickups are those Dearmonds. walnut body + neck. hard tail, with a TOM type bridge. i payed $99 for it.

my band plays post-punk rock. think lou reed writing for nirvana, with thurston moore on lead guitar. lots of blues and "pushed" clean sounds. the pickups are incredably good. very full, very clean, very beautiful. as much variety of sounds as a les paul. maybe more.

everything's average on this guitar. the frets needed to be sanded in a couple of places. but after i did that, it played wonderfully.

it's a tank.

i love everything about this guitar. except the tuners. and i can change those without too much trouble.

This is a mid 60's Harmony Jag style solid body with two DeArmond pickups. Adjustable floating bridge, 6 on a side tuners, nice sunburst finish, big fat baseball bat neck. This has volume and tone controls for each pickup and a switch that allows you to use either p/up separately or both at the same time. Body looks like one solid slab of some kind of wood, maple maybe. Nice frets, good solid construction throughout. This thing is totally utilitarian in design, no frills, just a simple, well-made machine. Made in the USA.

These pickups seem pretty low output. I have a Harmony H-77 (335 style) with 3 of the higher end deArmonds w/adjustable polepieces and the pickups on that seem a lot louder than these. I plugged this into a low watt tube amp that sounds great (and loud) with my H-77 and I can barely hear this thing through it. HOWEVER, I plugged this into my monstrous old peavey deuce (solid state preamp, 4 6L6 output tubes) that sounds slightly better than crap with the H-77 and oh my god, this thing sounded amazing. I'm not much into Hendrix but you can totally dial in that early Hendrix sound a la "Hey Joe", etc. Snappy, bluesy + will SUSTAIN like you wouldn't believe. I guess it's that solid chunk of wood and fat neck but DAMN, this thing has some good lead tones. Forget about pedals, you won't even want 'em. Great for blues (sounds super w/ slide too). I really prefer the neck pickup, sounds really fat and the bass notes have some great spank to them. Sounds good w/ both p/ups too but the treble by itself is a little harsh, maybe good for some nasty, primitive garage rock solos or something. W/ the two pickups & volume and control knobs you can tweak it for all kinds of sounds. I can't believe how good this thing sounds with that crappy old amp. Very vintage, spunky in a strat kind of way, but like I say, it's got that thick bluesy sustain that is just too good. I'd like to try this w/ different amps but I don't really have any. I wish the pickups were hotter but then again, that might be part of the reason they sound so good. Pickups are reasonably quiet for old single coils, a little noisy but not bad. THIS IS A BLUES MACHINE!!

I'm really impressed by the quality of these old low end Harmony's. I have several and they really are good, solid guitars for the money. I have big hands so I really like these fat necks, those wimpy little things they make nowadays just don't cut it. The finish on this looks great, fretwork is solid and everything is clean. This one is in practically time capsule condition, tuners are stiff (I've tried lubricating them but still takes some muscle to tune this up to pitch), neck could probably use a bit of truss rod tweaking but action is quite playable if not ideal. This thing looks great for a 35 year old guitar. Pickups work perfect, volume and tone knobs work perfect with no scratchy noises.

I think this thing could withstand abuses that would turn newer guitars into kindling. EVERYTHING on this is made to last. These were designed as lower end instruments but that doesn't mean they weren't well made. I would definitely gig with this, no backups. When everything else fails, this is what you turn to.

forget about it.

I've been playing for about 10 years and one thing I've learned is that these old 50's and 60's Harmony's are the way to go if you're into blues/r & b/rockabilly/garage rock, etc. You can spend all the money you want trying to get those vintage sounds or you can get one of these baby's for next to nothing and plug into a half fried tube amp and it's Boogie Chillun! I've been wanting one of these Harmony/Kay/Silvertone solidbodies for a bit and lo and behold, a really great one came my way. I've played all kinds of guitars and I haven't played many that sounded this good. Strats and pauls are for chumps, this is the real deal.

Manufactured in about 1966, solid body of inexpensive wood, sunburst finish. This guitar has 2 dimarzo pickups, 3 way switch, 2 volume and 2 tone controls. Adjustable wooden bridge, fixed tail. The neck is wide and round, rosewood with 20 usable jumbo frets. Cardboard case.

Amazing sound from this old inexpensive little guitar. It has a deep rich tone. I play it thru a variety of amps, tube and electronic, and through a pod and various other effect devices.

Since it is 35 years old and still has great action, there are no complaints. It was a cheap guitar when new but has withstood the test of time. The rating is based on the original quality of the body and tuners; the pickups are amazing.

You could play this all night.

Been out of business for 30 years in USA; the current Harmony company only bought the name.

Have been playing for 35 years, own 16 other guitars and 4 amps. I also have a single pickup Harmony H14 which sounds wonderful despite the limitation of a single pickup.

This is one of the best vintage guitars you can get for the price!