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New Listing Details - restoration work already commenced and already reserved for a local customer pending completion!
COMPLETED, SOLD & COLLECTED: Feedback! - ....."The 922 plays and sounds great by the way. Just what I was after to go on some tracks and videos later this year"....at then two months later in an email regarding another guitar...."the Stella 922 you did is great." ____________________________________________________________
The last but one example of this very scarce & difficult to locate model I sold went to Perry Foster, Bluesman, Guitarist/Singer - "Big Daddy of British Blues"; "The Old Maestro" - http://www.perryfoster.co.uk.....restoration having been completed in February, 2015 from Perry's pre-order reservation just a couple of months earlier in the December....I have both Harmony Stella H912 & H913 12-string models, which are the successors to the H922, "in the workshop"....if you may be interested in one of these please contact me - Photos showing this actual guitar were taken before Repair/Restoration work commenced.
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Apart from being in the ownership of one of this country's foremost & long-established Blues figureheads, the previously restored & sold H922 Stella had some other interesting recent history. In October 2014 I was approached by the prominent London based, Eagle Rock Productions, seeking the loan of that Stella 12-string for filming use in connection with their production in progress and titled "Legend of Lead Belly" film, aired on the 23rd February, 2015 on the Smithsonian Channel in America, and now available on their subscription channel.
Although with the longest production period, the H922 is not only the oldest, but the hardest to find of the three Stella 12-string models that Harmony made in Chicago in the years from 1940 through to 1971....during this period of over 30 years nothing really changed...size, construction, etc. stayed the same...just the paint job changed...but of course the H922 was the only Harmony made 12-String with the pedigree of having been used by Blind Willie McTell, in his later years!
Stock Number: VTG1561.
The model identifier & production date ink stamps are visible, but rather indistinct. I feel sure that the date stamp reads S-64 indicating that it was made in one of the 1964 production runs, which would make it one of the last of the long, but seemingly not at all numerous model production period from all the way back in 1940.
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*** 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.
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Although the Harmony Guitars Database is no longer active or updated, what remains of it is still accessible via Archive link, with the brief details page for the Stella H922 as follows....
https://web.archive.org/web/20160817131058/http://harmony.demont.net/model/236.htm
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The guitar is original, except where work detailed below has been done a part of his 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 a little 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.
Restoration...brief work schedule summary...
The fingerboard has been removed to enable us to take the top off for access to work on the bracing to stabilise the uneven areas of the top. The original, inadequate, bridge patch, which seemed to be contributing to a dip on the bass side of the bridge area, has been removed. This has been replaced with an "H" pattern of standard size bracing pieces, across & in between two of the ladder braces, front & rear of the bridge position, to luthier's design to give better support and alignment to that area. The very rearmost brace (of doubtful usefulness) had detached, and has been cleaned off, and re-glued/clamped.
Two further partial cross reinforcements have been made for the area forward of the soundhole, now likewise glued in place, to counteract the unevenness there, and similarly two more shaped/angled timber patch pieces have been made and glued across the rearward diagonals of the soundhole, where again there is some distortion. All in accordance with the luthier's design to stabilise the top, and make good the deficiencies in the original ladder-bracing, without altering the character if the construction. Following preparation work, including thoroughly cleaning off all old glue residues, the top has been glued back on...spectacular multi-clamp operation!
On completing that the fingerboard was glued back on in turn, and then re-levelled, maintaining the original flat profile re-fretted. New frets have been installed, stoned/levelled, re-profiled and polished. Original nut has been re-fitted and adjusted.
Original tuners were removed during work, lightly cleaned, lubricated & refitted, showing only a little minimal age-related discolouration, and appear to work fine. Original tailpiece and dyed/Ebonised Maple floating bridge also in clean/sound order, and have been re-fitted.
On completion of the work, the guitar will be strung with a string set of Martin Retro Monel Extra-Light gauge 10-47 strings, requested by the customer, and set-up adjustments will be completed, now looking like being at the very low end of low acoustic action at approx. 2mm./2.5mm., at the 12th. fret, again to the customer's wishes.
For other information please refer to page VTG 9 for general data.
