Silvertone Three Pickup Archtop Hollowbody

1965 Semi-hollowbody I'm the original owner. Changed the pickups from the three to two Carvin humbuckers in the 80's. Installed a brass saddle, Schaller machines, new volume controls. My first guitar. This my BABY. Refinished it with a cream top and the natural sides and back. It stays in tune as I use heavy gauge strings 56-12

This guitar is at its best recording. Preamp straight into computer using old recording technology. Cakewalk 6 Wonderful rythmn guitar

In 1965 this was an excellent guitar. I also owned a 1965 Strat that was nice but wouldn't stay in tune

I've played it live but would not use it as my main guitar.

My first guitar which I still play to this day. It's not collectible as I've totally altered it. Guitars made 40 years ago were made with something that is lacking today. PRIDE. A guitar doesn't have to cost alot of money to be good. It just has to feel right

Made by Harmony for Sears (Mine is dated '64). 20 frets, thin neck (think Ric thin 1 11/16ths) 3 Dearmond single coils, Maple body, beatiful black to red burst, subtle flame on the back & front, black-white-black binding.
You'll have to replace the stock tuners & wood/bone bridge if you want this thing to sing.
Nitpicking: The 3 pickup selectors work fine (7 possible tone positions) but are hard to switch on the fly. The small tone & volume knobs are not really 'swell' friendly.

I play dirty blues, garage rock and trashed out boogie. The Silvertone is perfect for all three. The 3 Dearmonds have a warm but bright sound. Sort of like a less harsh P-90. Lots of possibilities with 3 pickups and 3 switches and 6 (!) tone & volume knobs.

You'll need to invest a bit of time and money ($100.00) to get these set up properly (unless the previous already done it).
I installed a tunamatic roller brige and locking tuners from StewMac.com.
I also had someone fabricate some wood shims to raise the pickups a bit. They're non-adjustable and you'll need to add to the blocks to raise them. This was easy enough and cost only a few buck. Some experimentation is required so I suggest you get a variety of shims made with different thicknesses.

This guitar is solid, but will require some work (see above). Definitely replace the plastic strap buttons if you gig live.

Harmony (who made this guitar for Sears) is gearing back up. Check out http://www.broadwaymusicco.com/HARMONY.htm for parts and info. I've written them a couple of times and they were quick to respond and helpful (If they're not away gigging...).

This is a GREAT guitar just waiting to happen. Evidence is in it's rising cost on ebay. These once went for 175 to 200 buck on ebay. Now they're up to 500 -600.
You WILL have to invest in a bridge and tuners to make this guitar gig worthy. But that's money well spent. Harmony did an amazing job putting these guitars together. If you're like me and can't afford to plunk down 2 grand on a vintage Gretsch, Gibson or Guild, find one of these. You will be amazed at the sound and quality.

so many knobs!! three dearmond sigle coils, seperate volume and tone and switch for each pickup, bigsby tremelo, probably made out of plywood, nice red sunbust. buncha features on this one!!

this thing sounds like a 335 and a strat put together!! these pickups are fantastic. the seperate volume and tone knobs allow for a huge variety of tone. I play jazz on most gigs, but we broke out some TOP tunes, and I got a great outa-phase strat quack that was super funk.
I play it through a trace elliot velocette 1X12 combo (with a Pharoah Amps boost pedal) and it is a beautiful sound. I don't need my gretsch-vox dream combo anymore because this guitar nails it. It sounds better than my gretsch superchet and better than my buddy's new 135 w/p90s.

well, when I got it in the mail (EBAY buy) I took it to my luthier friend that does all my repair work and he tells me the truss rod is broken!! So he just happens to have a custom made neck of his laying around. The new neck is maple with an ebony fretboard and new locking tuners. The scale is longer than the original neck (that one was kinda puny). The locking tuners and graphite nut help the bigsby out a lot, it stays in tune great. My friend and brilliant luthier Chris Forshage really hooked me up and turned this ebay clunker into a beautiful instrument.

I use it on 2 or 3 gigs a week and take it to my school big band rehearsals 3 times a week and rehearse a couple more bands a week, so I'm basically playing it all day and night. I haven't had a problem in the 3 months I've had it. I'll bring my gretsch for a backup every once in a while, but more for breaking string worries(haven't broken one yet). Oh, the strap buttons suck, but big deal, right.

did I mention it's really old?

the guy who sold it to me on ebay didn't know the truss rod was broken, but I'm glad it was. this new neck really made this a professional guitar that sounds better (has more character as well) than any thin hollowbody I've ever played (besides Forshage's custom guitars). shit, will ray likes it!!

Everything you need and more -- three pickups, seperate vol/tone and on/off switch for each, Bigsy, plenty 'o binding, etc. Single cutaway. Can't think of any feature it's lacking, except the tuners maybe could have been better (I replaced mine w/ Schallers).

Through a '72 Twin, hard to beat. Any sound you'd want to make with a semi-hollowbody, this guitar can do it, and do it well. FAT to BITING. Huge tonal range. Blues and jazz I'm sure it would be great for, but I use it for raw, primitive garage rock, and it is perfect. Looks cool as hell too.

Pickups are permanently set up (non-adjustable), but none needed. Solidly mounted on blocks of wood. Great red-to-black sunburst unlike anything else out there. Craftsmanship is outstanding -- pickguard/pu/toggle switch layout is quite fancy, yet it all fits perfectly. As far as action goes -- I've never been picky. Had this one set up a while ago and it's great.

Cuts out occasionally at the toggle switches. It's almost 40 years old...should have it taken in and serviced -- can't really hold that against it too much. B/c of that though I wouldn't gig without a backup. Nothing else ever to complain about.

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The ULTIMATE poor-man's Gretsch. I actually have a '64 6120, and between the two play this one exclusively. Less delicate, less to worry about, highr output pickups. I got a hardshell case (from a Guild jumbo) for this that it deserves.

My Silvertone has 3 DeArmond pickups dated Nov. 17, 1964. I would guess it was assembled in '65. This model was made by Harmony and sold through Sears stores. It has 20 frets (?) with binding on both sides of the fretboard. The body and neck are maple. When I got
mine , it was pretty beat up. I stripped it and refinished it natural in 1972. It has some of the most beautiful suble flame figuring I have ever seen, along with birdseye on the sides.
The three DeArmonds are amazing. With individual toggles for each pickup, the tonal variety is great. Separate volume and tone for each pickup, too. Everything from fat jazz to Strat quack is in here.
Mine had half a Bigsby when I got it, so I replaced it with a custom made brass tailpiece. Not original, but who cared in '72? Everything else is original, except the knobs, which I also made of brass.
The neck on these guitars is slim, with almost no taper. Everyone who played this guitar just loved it.

Sounds from this guitar are wonderful. Rockabilly? No problem. Blues? It's in there. Ted Nugent feedback rock? ABSOLUTELY! Especially through my son's 5150 combo.
It is over 35, so the pots can use an occasional cleaning, but I can live with that.
Tonally, more versatile than my 335 and Strat combined.

AS I said, the guitar was rough when I got it. The refin made it good as new, and even today it is in great condition.
The pickups seem well balanced, which is good, since there is NO adjustability.
A tune o matic bridge would allow for intonation precision, but I never found it necessary. I stuck with the original wood and bone bridge.
The thin neck seems pretty stable. But in Michigan, the weather gets
pretty weird, so thank goodness for truss rods. Frets are still original, but they have been dressed and leveled.

I have used this guitar in live situations, but when the playing gets hard, the bridge can be moved without too much effort. This is a real archtop, so the bridge is held in place by the strings, and light gage strings don't pull like the cables they used in '65.
Finish is hard and durable and new in 1972.
Strap buttons are the original plastic ones, and they are rock solid.
I would always have a back up guitar handy on a job.

Is Harmony still in business? Or Silvertone?
I mean the REAL companies, not just someone who's trying to cash in on the name!

I have been doing professonal guitar repair for over 30 years. I'll fix it.

I have been playing since 1960, and building guitars since 1968.
I have had over 100 guitars over the years, and currently have around 20. You can see this silvertone, and some of my other toys at
Collectguitars.com
The fact that I have had this guitar for almost 30 years should tell you how much I liked it!

But now it is time to spread the joy of old Silvertones. I just sold this guitar on Ebay last week. I am sure the new owner will bond with it the way I did.

My favorite thing about this guitar is people's reaction to it. They know my other guitars, but question why I would use an old Silvertone. Until they play it! Then all they can say is WOW! And if Will Ray likes them too, then I guess I am in good company. (I just wish I could play like him!)

This was made by Harmony for Sears around 1966, like their H-77. Cherry red archtop, single cutaway, 3 single coil DeArmond PU's, 3 switches - one for each PU (cool), block MOP inlays, Bigsby tailpiece, about 2 1/2 inches thick and 17" wide I believe. 19 or 20 frets, 3 vol & 3 tone controls, probably a maple front and back.

Ah, the sound! I play in a band called the Hellecasters and I LOVE old Kays, Harmony's, Silvertones, Dano's from the 50's and 60's. There's something about the woods they used back then - maybe they aged it more or something. But these are incredible sounding guitars. I have 2 that I just adore, have owned 2 others that I sold. Great for rockabilly, country, blues or jazz. Will feedback like most hollowbodies, but I love playing these either direct thru a mixer or thru a small amp.

These usually need refrets in my opinion. I like big frets and got the necks planed by my guitar tech prior to the refrets. That way the neck will be perfect with no fretting out or buzzing by the strings. The bridges are OK, but a tune-o-matic would improve intonation. But you're probably going to play these more for fun than in professional situations. But I have recorded with these and they can handle that fine for most leads. For straight rhythm I'd use a Fender. My action is GREAT on these with room to spare.

Yea, I'd play this live, but it wouldn't be my only guitar. This is around 35 years old and still cranking! But mind you, this is a guitar I'd use for fun first, professional gigs second. Like most old guitars, they do need babying a bit.

Forget it, you're on your own here. Even though some yay-hoos have brought back the Silvertone name for Korean made instruments (a mortal sin), the reissues are nothing like the originals. Think Sammick.

Been playing around 30 years. I own probably 75 guitars. Music is all I do and guitar is my main bag. I'm a Fender endorsee but really appreciate the cool guitars made in the USA during the 50's and 60's. Especially the rosewood for fingerboards. And this guitar is one reason Silvertones are collectible today.

If someone stole it, I'd hunt them down, tie them up, and play Rap music very loudly till they succumbed to a torturous death. Then I'd kidnap their famlies and play Spice Girls. So don't mess with my stuff.