Harmony H80

There seems to be several variations of the Harmony H80. Mine is a 21 fret Strat copy with 3 single coil pups, 1 volume control, 2 tone controls, and a trem. Your basic Strat copy.

The neck is solid maple with the truss rod inserted from the back and the route covered with a strip of what appears to be mahogany. The truss rod is adjusted from the body end, and the neck end has no access hole, it is filled with the darker wood.

The finish is poly over a laminated body. Mine is in candy apple red. the pickguard is 1-ply white plastic.

I give it a 10 on features because it has every feature a Strat is suppose to have...nothing lacking.

I play classic rock, blues, and jazz. I believe the pickups are stock, and it sounds awesome to my ears. Out of my 6 current guitars, this one is in the top 2 for tone depending on which pickup configuration I'm using. It's very full, not weak at all. The noise level is minimum, no more than you'd expect from a Strat with standard single coil pickups installed. I can switch pickup configurations to get the chimey signature Strat sound, down to a rich, thick jazz sound, and even a heavy metal tone through a rectifier.

The bridge/middle pickups were swapped with no change in the wiring so the configuration is a little different than normal. Instead of a neck/middle setting, I have a neck/bridge setting that blends very well together. I haven't measured the pickup outputs to see how they vary.

The guitar was trashed when I got it. It's about 25 years old and shows its age. The dings had been slopped up with nail polish (I removed this with acetone), the pickguard is warped (I'll flatten this during the next string change), there's rust and oxidation on the metal parts, the tuners were replaced at some point, knobs and switch tip were missing, and the neck is shimmed with a guitar pick. All of that is aftermarket though, I have no idea what it looked like when new.

The neck was unplayable and required a fret leveling. Every screw needed tightening, and some replaced with similar style as original...someone used non-matching flathead screws on the guard for a couple of replacements.

This guitar is built like a tank. It's been abused and I'm sure it will remain useful longer than I will.

Never dealt with Harmony.

I got this as a project guitar after ordering some fret tools from Stew-Mac. What a deal I got. This thing has turned out to be a great player and sounds fantastic. I was planning to flip it once I got the work done, but it's a keeper. It's a natural relic with about 25 years of play on it. The body may be laminate, but I can't hear any sonic difference between it and my solid bodies. If your ears can tell the difference, your hearing is keener than mine.

The neck is dinged up, but extremely comfortable to play. I love maple boards and this one is great. I'll definitely gig this guitar as well as record with it, there's plenty of tasty tone in this thing.

This was my first guitar,Bought in the late 1980's and it still looks brand new.It is a strat copy two tone sunburst with a maple neck with a 5-way selector switch and has a 21 fret neck. This guitar still sounds the same way it did the day I bought it. I still play this guitar every chance I get even though I now own a fender strat.

I love the sound of this guitar, I put fender bullet strings on it and also use a fender bullet amp. It has a great sound to it and I can play about any type of music on it.

This guitar is light weight and easy to play and has a beautiful finish to it, for a first guitar this one was the best one for me.

I have had this guitar for about 15 years now and it is still in perfect shape.I keep it wiped down and keep the strings changed and the selector switch cleaned.

This was the first guitar I learned to play on thats why I keep this guitar around, I just can't seem to let go of it. But I now own a fender strat. and I switch back and fourth on them.

Very basic guitar. Tone volume and two large chrome pickups. There are several versions of this. The one I'm describing is from the mid to late 70s version. It has no switch, but it does have a cool bigsby type tremelo.

The pickups are amazingly warm for a cheapo. They give a full deep sound.

The wood is made of quality laminted wood with around 20 thin layers.

The action is very high, not because it wasn't well built. I think harmony made a mistake choosing the choice of wood for the neck. They used splinters for the neck and it will eventually warp a bow. This is the model that made harmony notorious for their high action as a result. Harmony later corrected it in the 80s by using solid maple for the neck material, but used splinters for the bodies. These aren't laminated wood, these are very cheap splinters.

The 70s version has a neck that bows at will with a good body. The late 80s version has a good neck, but with a splintered body that flakes paint. I guess the mid 80s version is the one to get.

I actually tried to bent the neck back in place, but it snaped in half like a twing. Afterwards, I've realised that it was made of splinter under a verry heavy clear coat. There's no way that thin piece of thrust rod is going to keep that neck straight.

Harmony doesn't have a customer support department. I think they are made in sweatshop conditions.

It has a cool bigsby type vibrato, but you'll have to get a new neck for it because the old types are made of splinters that bows. The only way to solve the problem is to buy a neck from the newer versions. They got it right in the mid 80s, but took out the bigsby. In the late 80s, they began using splintered wood for the body to further cut cost.

First of all, let me stress the type of guitar that this was designed to be-this is a beginner guitar all the way, and even at that, most would want something nicer to learn on. Anyways this guitar needs to be admired for what cheepness (also a form of character) can bring to music and sound production. This was my first guitar bought back in the mid 1980's and I still have it, go figure. SPECS: 21 very small
fets that fall out at will, solid plywood 1" body with what must be the thickest shell of white paint-because she has been abused and doesn't look all that bad. Plastic and metal tuning machines, Pickguard with two P-90 style chrome single coil pickups, 1 tone and volume control, a little piece of metal called a bridge and this ash try looking string anchor. The neck appears to be hickory with a maple fret board-but not real sure. The components are cheep (NO name brand parts), but what do you expect for $85.00. Love it or leave it, all in all it is still one of my favorites after some of the self upgrades. A new nut for $6.00 (which is the cause for most tuning problems-not your tuning machines). I added a pickup selector switch for $1.25, a new bridge for $26.00, and a lot of time setting up the neck. For $120.00 I am still happy.This guitar requiers a little more effort and a non tone-freak additude.Be happy that you have something that sounds more unique.

Style? well today I am on the adventure of noise mayhem/rock and roll dude...thanks to the band the Dead C. (If you ever find a copy of there work - GET IT!, it will show you how original and how far out a rock band can really go-trust me.) Yes it works great, microphonic feedback sessions till sunrise, slight tuning flop, the sound that 1950's rock and roll is based on. I usually run it into An old 50 watt Silvertone tube amp, or a 50 watt Fender Bassman. I perfer my homemade effects but if I use a commercial pedal it is my old Big Muff and Boss Overdrive. Noisy-Yes after tearing out the ground. I like the sound, These older p-90 stlyes they used about 10 yrs. ago are pretty cool- I adjusted the height to find the warmth I wanted- A little thin but listen to the bridge on a strat. I am a happy consumer with this one.

Set up needed a some work, atleast the frets on this one didn't hang off the sides of the fret board like little knives. I pulled the neck off and added a thin 1/16" inch shim in the pocket nearest to the bridge. Tuned it up and adjusted the neck, It has decent action but not that good up high if your a soloing freak. I adjusted the pick-up height like one must do with all guitars to find my sweet spot. The nut was replaced, opting for a tighter cut for 9-42's and a slightly wider string spread. I also replaced the bridge, it is very janky (Check out StewartMacDonald for parts-great prices and selection). Great paint Job, 15 yrs. plus of dropping, and dings she still looks pretty good. Seasonal neck and tuning machine adjustments. Shes a real player now.

I Love This Guitar. It has character, a tone not found else where and it makes you work for its playability. I have used it daily for almost 20 years and probably will for another 20. I have a Fender Strat and I still come back to my Harmony H80, its like that scrawny little dog that you have to pet out of pitty then learn to love. MY OPINION: Unless your a guitar god, pick one of these up, put a little time into and enjoy it for all the money you saved.

You'll love this, It's you. A high score just because it makes you learn how to deal with it.

As far as features go, this guitar is set up just like a Fender Strat. It has three sigle coil pickups, passive of course, one volume and two tone controls. It has a tremlo (or vibrato) system that looks a lot like a cheap fender, nothing to brag about but you can bend notes, you just have to sacrifice your tuning for it. The body is made from plywood, what kind of wood they put in the plywood is beyond me. The neck is maple as is the fingerboard. The frets are about average size, certainly not jumbo. I think this guitar was made somewhere in the late 80's. I've read that some of the cheaper Harmony's are made in eastern country's so this is most likely the case. My guitar came with a chip board case, cord and picks. But that's only because of the guy who sold it to me.

When it comes to sound it depends on how you want to rate it. I'm going to rate it for a beginer looking for a guitar or for an expeirienced player looking for something they can mess around with in this price range.
For a cheap guitar, it has a very warm sound, I have another strat copy that is much tinnier (is that a word?) than this guitar. If I replaced the pickups and made some other hardware upgrades I would most likely have a good sounding guitar. I just don't want to spend that much monney on it. I'd rather buy a new guitar and keep this one for messing around with. But getting back to the current sound, I think it's rather good, it seems to be a lot better than the low end Squier Strats. I'm using this guitar through a Boss DS-1 distortion pedal, a Crybaby Limited Edition wah wah and an Arion flanger, finally ending up at my Fender Champion 110 amp. It sounds pretty good through all of the effects, te distortion sound is really warm and powerful. I play mostly rock and blues and I can get by with this guitar.
I have made some modifications to this guitar. I shielded and rewired the guitar and added a capacitor to it, to make the middle tone control also work for the bridge pickup. With these mods. I made, the guitar it quiet as can be. I feel that shielding is something that should be done to any guitar with single coils be cause there is no reason for them to make any humming noise. It's just that the guitar maker's are to cheap and lazy to do it themselves. Without the mods. I would give this guitar a 6 according to it's price range, the rating above is including my mods.

Of course I bought this guitar used so i don't know how the factory set up was but when I got it the action was really low. I was getting a buzzing on the low E string but I raised the saddle and that fixed the problem. I also widened the nut slots a little becuase the strings were binding and it made tuning dificult. The finish is a bit rufed up and it doesn't seem very thick. The tuner's are not that great but at least they're covered. They work very well as far as turning them goes. It's just that they don't always stay in tune.

As far as playing live with this guitar I don't really know. I've had it for almost four years and there is a small problem with the pickup selector, it cuts out sometimes. It's been a lot better since I was working on the guitar so maybe it got cleaned out a little. I'm sure I could replace it eaisly but I haven't gotten around to it. The strap button came off once but I glued it in there and I hasn't dared to show it's ugly face again. I think I can depend on it though, If I were at a gig I would use a backup because you never know what might happen. But then again, if I were going to be gigging a lot I'd most likely buy a better guitar and use this guitar as my backup.

I have no idea!

I've been playing for almost four years and this was my second guitar. If it were stolen I would buy a differant guitar because I feel I'm ready for something more. I think I want to get a Fender Stratocaster. If it were lost I would be stupid becaue how do you lose a guitar? Overall I think it was a good guitar for the money and if you're just learning it's a decent guitar for a low price.

The tuning pegs are plastic and when you tap on the pick guard it looks as if its gonna fall off. It's got 2 knob controls volume and tone and putting on strings could make you cry. The bridge is pretty easy to move so I guess thats all right.

Its got a pretty cool sound. I play alternative and it matches pretty well. The only thing is if you turn the tone all the way up you get a loud buzzing noise on the amp with distortion.

It's supposed to look like a strat but the pick guard doesnt. It's got good wood and heavy wich is good. frets good sized and even and the fret board is lined up well

Its pretty durable and finish is good. and you dont need a backup

its pretty cool great beginners guitar but i think ill stick with a fender fat strat

22 frets aquaburst color 1 volume and tone knob

For my first guitar it does me well but i would recomend it to someone who has been playing for awhile with the right amp and pedals you can get the sound you want the switches for the pickups i don't like you get alot of feedback when using a good amp it could use better pickups

the guitar was buiolt nice and had no flaws except for when putting on the strings it is a pain in the ass to get them on

I would not use it on a live gig because it is not that great if you want a guitar that you wanna test out things on and screw around with this is what this guitar is for if they made it better it might be worthy of a live gig

3 months

Made c. late '80s, probably somewhere in Asia. I think it originally had 21 frets, maple neck, ultra-cheapo tuners, standard Strat-type pickups, control layout, etc. Nice 3-tone sunburst finish; unknown body material, but it feels pretty light. Basically a very cheap Strat copy, little more. It came with a few goodies, like a cord (BZZT after a few months) and an allen key for the truss rod (which was stupidly placed under an unnotched pickguard! I actually chopped out a hole in the pickguard so I could get to it.) but no case of any kind.

I still have the original pickups on there. I guess it's a single coil type of sound, but VERY harsh and trebley, and often noisy, especially through any kind of distortion box. But depending on which ones you're using, and whether it's clean or dirty, I kinda like it. It's not a very refined sound, but good and trashy and definitely different than a real strat... great DIY sound. Kind of temperamental, though... it has its good days and bad days. Maybe the fact that I play through a God-awful Gorilla amp makes a difference...

I got the guitar as an Xmas present when I was about 15, back when I'd been playing for a while but really didn't know much about guitars, so I probably unknowingly trashed it out. But I always knew that there was something really screwy about the way the guitar felt. I finally discovered it was the neck--everything about it! Lousy action, cheap frets, a plastic nut that self destructed, and horrible 10? non-tuners. About a year ago I trashed that neck and stuck on one from my Squier Bullet, and it is now a KILLER! Excellent! Otherwise: very cheap Harmony hardware, almost every metal part save for the bridge is rusty, even the pickup pole pieces! I don't particularly like the tremolo bridge either; the height adjustment screws have slot heads, and the action is kinda stiff. It rubs against the pickguard, too... pretty poor fitting. The switch and jack have always had a bad scratchiness/contact problem, and the tone pots have a weird action where once you get past 2 the tone SUDDENLY pops from bassy to near full open. FInally, the trem springs used to boing VERY loudly, so I stuffed the cavity in back with cotton... no problems (I don't know if real strats have this problem). Of course I don't expect much from this thing, I plan on rewiring the thing and replacing all this cheapshit hardware. Rating is for the Harmony part of the guitar (ie the body and all its contents).

Assuming you replace the crappy electronic gear and put on some decent tuners at the minimum, a great guitar for taking on stage and banging up! Unless you're Hendrix-stature, you'll never treat an American Standard Strat this way and feel good about it... this of course looks the same and is much more expendable! Never done it, though... I'm 24 and I still haven't joined a band. :(

I don't even know where Harmony is! For all I know the name could be the Alan Smithee of the guitar world! :)

This has gradually become my main guitar,mainly because it combined the best features of two of my axes (Harmony H-80 body with a Squier neck). As it was, which is the way you'll probably find it, I'd say probably not. This is the strat you see advertised in JCPenney and Service Merchandise catalogs as the "classic-style electric guitar" for $139, and bought by parents to appease their 15-year old grunge-rocker son, so don't expect much. I think it's built with the assumption that it probably won't last more than a year or two before the owner grows out of it and dumps it. Fine for a beginner, a decent starting point for a project guitar, but as-is I'd say it's a joke for a serious player. (again, rating is for as-is)

I don't know what years it was made because I got it used and I'm not sure where it was made but I have seen harmonys for sale in stores. It's a basic strat copy but a good copy. It has 21 frets, one volume and two tone controls. There's also a 5-way switch that needs to be cleaned but still works. I have no idea what kind of pickups they are. The electronics are passive. The body style is strat like a fender. The bridge is a basic strat bridge. Non locking tuners but I must say that I don't have a problem with it going out of tune. I wouldn't bother upgrading the tuners simple because for the price I could save to buy a better guitar. the neck is pretty thin with a maple fingerboard. As I said I bought it used so the guy I bought it from gave me a case, picks, strap and a case. Not a bad deal. I'll give it an eight for features only because of the stuff I got with it, new It would get a 6 except for the brand new ones that have a very nice sunburst finish.

I play rock and alternative with a folk song here and there and this guitar is good for that. I like the differance between the back middle and bridge pickup. They all have a good sound. I've never really found it to be noisy except when I using a distorion pedal like my DS-1 and even then I only get a little hum. One thing I love about this guitar is the sustain I get out of it. The sound it pretty full and bright but not even close to my epiphone which is why I use this guitar, because I don't want to use an overly bright tone. It's not dark at all, My epi has differant strings on it, Dean Marley Blue Steels, that make it brighter and I think I'm going to put them on ths guitar next. For a cheap strat the guitar is pretty versitle.

Since it was used when I got it I can't say how the factory set up was but it was really bad when I got it. I had only been playing guitar for a few weeks when I got this guitar and I stil knew that something was wrong with it so I opened it up. I didn't even know what I was looking for but I saw that that the magnets were messed up so I put everything back and I adjusted the pickup hight. I was much better and the action was good but I kept getting a big buzz on the low E string. I though it was the nut and I took it to the store. They said it was fine. It took me about two years to figure out it was the bridge that needed to be raised. I don't get any buzz now and the action is great. As I said it was used so I don't know what it looked like new but it was well used by the first owner and is still in good shape.

This guitar is fine for live playing although as I said before the PU switch needs to be cleaned. The harware is stong and should last. The finish won't wear with playing but if it gets banged up it will chip. One of my strap buttons came off the other night while I was playing for a group of friends so I used my backup guitar. I only had a backup because I needed another guitar for some songs. I glued it back on and it's fine. The only reason I wouldn't use it withoutout a backup is because of the PU switch and that can be fixed and then I'd use it without one.

Eh?!

I've been playing for three years and this guitar has lasted so far and it was used when I got it some It will definitly last. If it were stolen I'd be mad but other than thet I'd just buy another guitar, maybe an epiphone LP. I think this is a good guitar for a beginer who wants something that's cheap and will last a long time.