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Restoration to be Completed Listing - fully restored the price will be £649.00 - meantime, showing photos of the guitar, prior to restoration, as it came to me.
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Over the years I have sold a good number of examples of the Harmony "Grand Concert" models, OM size to most of us, mainly the both the All Solid Mahogany H165, and the H162....the Spruce topped equivalent....a while ago an H162 went to Dave Beckett - Acoustic Blues & Roots - http://www.deebeeblues.com/....who came all the way up here from Surrey to try it out, and went back with the H162 and also a nice little 1930s Harmony parlor. He was very happy with the H162, and last I heard had fitted an L R Baggs pickup & was gigging with it.I am always keen to be able to offer examples of either model....two of my favourite guitars.

This model, the H623 under the Sears Silvertone brand name, is the same construction as the All Mahogany Harmony H165, which was at one time one of the weapons of choice for Lightnin' Hopkins......see the embedded YouTube video clip of him playing one!....but with the H162 style faux-Tortoiseshell bindings. Indeed an earlier buyer of one of my restored H165s left the following feedback - "Without doubt the best guitar I've ever played and Oh boy have I played some"!

I regularly "pre-sell" my guitars, at the stage where I am still working on them, or even before starting, so I list some, not all, of the guitars waiting to come through the workshop, and welcome further enquiries, if you don't see what you are looking for.

Stock Number: VTG1334.

A Silvertone (Sears) branded version of the iconic Harmony H165 Flattop Acoustic Guitar, made in Chicago, from All Solid Mahogany, Top, Back and Sides. The usual inside ink date stamp is visible, showing S-66, therefore made in one of the 1966 production runs. This is a rare Silvertone branded version of the iconic, all Mahogany, "Lightnin' Hopkins Model", H165, but as mentioned, with H162 style faux-Tort bindings.....one of Harmony's longest running iconic models, first made as far back as 1944, and part of the "family" of Harmony models which also includes the Spruce/Mahogany H162, OM size or "Grand Concert", as Harmony labeled them, beloved of many bluesmen of the time, for there sound quality and sheer playability, including Lightnin' Hopkins on a similar H165.....see YouTube clips!

The usual Harmony model number is clear...only the last 4 digits ****H623 are significant, and I only mention this as I have long been aware of confusion, as there is also a Harmony-made, Silvertone branded acoustic archtop from the same era, also designated H623....I'm not aware of any other instances of apparent duplication between contemporaneous models....other cases where model numbers have been re-used have to best of my knowledge only otherwise occurred when there is considerable time span, i.e. decades of separation.

Suffice to say, this is a rare model, which appears to have only been produced in small numbers.

With it's all solid Mahogany, ladder braced body, with the original eggshell finish, the components all appear original. The Solid Mahogany top has some very nice grain and figured markings, as do the Solid Mahogany back and sides, and original dark tortoiseshell pattern scratchplate is intact, with typical light play wear marking.

I am very enthusiastic about this family of Harmony guitars, which I think rival many far more exalted and expensive USA made acoustics in terms of tone, volume and sheer playability - an ideal addition to any collection of blues/vintage guitars!

Believe that the neck has been previously reset, but the re-attachment of the fingerboard has been poorly executed, and is therefore misaligned, with excess relief, and neck angle is not ideal, therefore high 12th. fret action at around 3.5mm./4mm. Original nut also ill-fitted, and frets old/original, worn & low.

Bridge & saddle original, intact, may have also been previously reset, and is secure, with original factory fitted bridge bolts in place. Body top retains slight arching, both in front and behind the bridge, which continues to the outer parts of the rear bout, indicating the original factory slight arching of the "flattop". Internal ladder bracing and bridge patch all appears secure.

3-on-a-plate tuners have been confirmed as the originals, factory fitted, but are not the usual Harmony Waverley type, and stamped Japan on the underside. They are clearly original to the guitar, quite clean, and appear to work fine, but I have spare original Waverly sets, which of course are a direct drop in replacement. E

Brief restoration work schedule to include:

Remove fingerboard, check the neck joint, expecting to confirm joint is secure, thoroughly clean off all old glue residues, to ensure effective re-gluing, and level surfaces to both the underside of the fingerboard and the neck seating, both to ensure good adhesion on re-fixing....if necessary line the underside of the fingerboard with Rosewood fillet if required in order to correct fingerboard alignment, and re-fix/glue.

Remove old frets, re-level the re-fixed fingerboard, again ensuring correct alignment and action/string height, before installing new frets. Adjust and reset the nut.

Fit vintage style bootlace ferrules/bushings to the tuner posts, which Harmony routinely did not fit until later production years.

When properly set-up these guitars always play very well, with a comfortable "C" profile neck and following the neck reset, I will be looking for a good action of around 2.5mm./3mm. at the 12th fret. This should give scope for both fretted and Bottleneck playing, although a nut riser can be bought for a few pounds, if you wish to use the guitar for lap/slide playing at times.

It will be strung with a set of Martin Bronze Light or Retro Monel 12-54 strings.

There is no case included, but I may be able to offer additional options of period or modern hardshell cases (including Hiscox Liteflite), or a gigbag, and the guitar will be packed securely for postage.