------------------------------------------------------------
NEW LISTING! - Restoration to be Completed Listing.
WORK IN PROGRESS! - already reserved for a local customer pending completion, for his second VTG Stella 12-String purchase!
COMPLETED, SOLD & COLLECTED!
------------------------------------------------------------
Buyer's Feedback on the last H912 referred to above! - "Looks fantastic. Now all I have to do is master playing it. That could take a lot longer."....I know the buyer was very pleased, but appreciate his modesty!
____________________________________________________________
Harmony Stella 12 strings, have become something of a crusade....for a hard-to-come-by guitar, I have done quite a few now. In addition to the several othe examples of the same model H912 I previously restoring for Perry Foster and others, another previous notable restoration was the one completed and sold on "Pre-order" to Mark Braidner in Belfast - https://markbraidner.bandcamp.com/releases - "Mark Braidner specialises in finger style blues and slide playing"....
--------------------------------------------------------
*** See "Mark Braidner's Feedback" in page VTG 9 above! ***
--------------------------------------------------------
_______________________________________________________
I regularly "pre-sell" many of my guitars, at the stage where I am still working on them....some are listed on the website, but others are not yet appearing, and I welcome further enquiries.
I have two other Harmony Stella 12-string models "in the workshop", another H912 and an H913....exactly the same construction guitar, but with natural finish top....if you may be interested in one of these please contact me.
Stock Number: VTG1556.
The model identifier ink stamps is clearly readable, but the usual factory date stamp is not visible, so we are not able to give it a precise year dating, within the production period of 1964 to 1968.
-----------------------------------------------------------
*** IN ORDER TO SIMPLIFY AND REDUCE EXCESSIVE WEBSITE CONTENT, I HAVE CREATED SECTION "INFORMATION DATA" PAGES. PLEASE REFER TO PAGE VTG 9 ABOVE FOR THE LENGTHY DETAILS AND DISCUSSION OF THE HARMONY-MADE STELLA 12-STRINGS.
-----------------------------------------------------------
Although the Harmony Guitars Database is no longer active or updated, what remains of it is still accessible via Archive link. Unfortuneatly the details page for the Stella H912 does not seem to be accessible. The links for details of the very similar Stella H922, which preceded the H912, and the H913, which followed it can be found on pages VTG 9C and VTG 9A.
----------------------------------------------------------
The guitar is original, except where work detailed below has been done a part of this restoration. I would say that the cosmetic condition is generally as good as can be expected for a 60 year old Stella, with the finish & colour as good as you are likely to find on a guitar of this type & age - inevitably there is some natural edge wear, marking & localised finish loss to the painted bindings and other edges and minor surface chips/scratches...in the main, really the minimum for one of this type and age
At the commencement of the restoration, the guitar was fully checked-over in conjunction with the very well-respected professional luthier I work with, and much of the work is being completed in his workshop and all under his supervision.
Brief work schedule summary...
Neck reset...fingerboard removed, neck joint extracted, tenon and socket cleaned thoroughly to remove all old glue residues, and adjusted to give both a secure and correctly angled joint reset.
Re-installation of neck completed and fingerboard glued back on. Old frets removed, the flat profile fingerboard re-levelled, new frets installed, stoned/levelled, re-profiled & polished.
Original nut adjusted & refitted. Original floating bridge sound and correct height for new neck angle, so no alteration required. Original tailpiece also in good order, refitted. Original tuners, cleaned, but retain a fair amount of age related discolouration. Some non-original parts replaced with correct original fittings and machines lubricated and refitted, working fine.
Martin Retro Monel Extra-Light 10-47 strings fitted as requested by the buyer and, pending final tweaks, set-up gives low action around 2.5mm./2.75mm., again in accordance with buyer's wishes.
