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LISTING UPDATE - Restoration to be Completed Listing - fully restored price to be confirmed & on request - meantime, showing photos of this guitar prior to restoration, as it came to me.
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More details to be added as restoration proceeds.
Stock Number: VTG1275.
Superb classic Harmony Archtop Acoustic Guitar, from their top-line professional "Cremona" range, originating from around 1935 through to the early '50s, and the "Family" of Harmony archtops, again commencing in the late 1930s, including the Broadway, Master and Monterey models.
All Cremona models are constructed from All Solid Woods, but particularly boasting a Carved Spruce Top and Maple Back and Sides. Having opened up the body it is seen that the tonebar top bracing is integral part of the Spruce carved top.
Clearly the Harmony Guitars Database listing (see link below), giving the production dates as 1935-1940, does not reflect the full span of production dates for the Cremona IV.....the photos there include a 1945 dated example with "Wartime" wooden tailpiece, although the 1946 dated example here may be about as late as the Cremona IV was produced.
On completion of restoration this will be a fully playable archtop guitars with the character that can only come from a true vintage guitar.
"Grand Auditorium" Size Body - nominally 16 1/2", but measures 16 3/8".
More details to be added as restoration proceeds.
In the case of this guitar, the originality is in terms of the fittings etc. as existed when it arrived, with some further necessary replacements of vintage parts or renewals.
Particularly it arrived with an unusual metal trapeze tailpiece, in place of the original wooden tailpiece, fitted to all Harmony archtops in the "wartime" 1944 to 1946 period of metal shortages. This in turn will be replaced with a Gibson style repro Nickel finish tailpiece.
Currently restoration work is continuing, the fingerboard removed for access and neck having been removed, ready for preparation for re-setting. The back seam joint was already coming apart, after previous re-gluing, following a previous opening up for repair and cleating of earlier cracks in the back. Incidentally this reveals that the back is solid timber, not laminate, as the example in Jake Wildwood's article.
The neck joint, and linings and seam were thoroughly cleaned off, particularly to remove old glue residue, and ensure secure re-gluing. Meantime, the previous crack repairs have been re-assessed, and further corrective work done as part of the work done in the luthier's workshop. The alignment following one crack re-gluing is probably as close as we could get, so has been left with previous cleating, whereas the second was not well aligned, and the fixed cleating has been removed to allow the application of gentle heat to soften the glue, and enable the joint to be re-clamped, resulting in much improved alignment across the join, which has then had new reinforcement glued on.
The back has been re-fitted and re-bound. The neck joint has been reset, the fingerboard re-attached, and found to be satisfactorily level, so re-levelling was not necessary, enabling the original brass frets to be retained, stoned/relevelled, reprofiled and polished, and the luthier is happy that these can be retained. Original pickguard has survived (a rarity in itself!), and will be refitted.
The original Kluson "Wartime" individual tuners, based on their 1943 Patent design, will be replaced with a set of StewMac "Golden Age" Restoration Tuners 3+3, Relic nickel (already obtained), which have the same plate design/footprint, and therefore a drop-in replacement, with the dedicated bushings....giving modern tuning precision, whilst maintaining vintage fittings style
The guitar is now with the luthier for finish restoration, working towards completing the restoration as a rare, but sound playable vintage archtop, of great character.
On completion we will be looking for a good action at 12th. fret, at around 2.5mm./3mm.
I will fit temporary string set initially for set-up purposes, prior to fitting new set to choice, or default option of Martin bronze Light/12 or Retro Monel 12s.
No case included, but I can offer a choice of vintage covered pressed fibreboard case...not original to the guitar, probably later '50s/'60s type, but similar to the type supplied with these guitars when new. Not exactly what we would regard as a fitted case now, naturally with some wear & tear commensurate with age, and offering limited protection to the guitar, or I should be able to supply an industry standard modern hardshell case, Hiscox Liteflite or PRO-11, at modest additional cost.
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**** YOUTUBE ****
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Embedded clip entitled "1940 Harmony Cremona IV carved-top archtop guitar", by Jake Wildwood, as ever excellent resource, accompanying his very informative Country Guitar Doctor Blogspot article on a little earlier example of the same model guitar, on the link below.
Further demo link....https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ewtw1vqUXZg
Harmony H1304 Cremona 1941 Con Dani Torre
Guitarras antiguas OLDGUITAR/ Miguel Angel, Luthier
