In April I started recounting the guitars I have owned and or possessed long enough to claim ownership to. It has been awhile since the last guitar post so I thought I should start again. I guess the idea of recounting the first acoustic guitars seemed daunting or boring. Meh! Here you go. By the way check out the previous guitars here: 1 2 3 4.
Number 5 & 6
60's Stella H929
60's Silvertone Archtop
60's Stella H929
60's Silvertone Archtop
I am going to start with the sixties Stella H929. This guitar was also sold under the Airline 7076, Airline 8286/7026, Alden 9935, Barclay H929, Fender F-1000, Holiday AL9238, Regal R200, Silvertone S605 and SR (Sears & Roebuck) S1294 names and were manufactured by Harmony Guitar Company of Chicago. They were manufactured from the late fifties till the early seventies. You will find the majority of the these guitars from the mid sixties due to the boom the acoustic guitar had after the Beatles hit America. According to one Harmony history site over fifty percent of all acoustic guitars made during that period were manufactured by Harmony. I believe it because I see a lot of these things at thrift stores and hanging on walls everywhere I go.
My Stella had solid birch top and body wood with a deep tobacco burst paint scheme with faux flamed maple top. It also had the trapeze style metal tailpiece as in the photo above but I recollect mine had the pick guard as well. Mine did not have the fancy deco fret markers as pictured but I swore it had something. Perhaps dots or blocks.
I can't really recall where this guitar came from or where it is now but there was a time during high school when it never was out of my sight. It had a place in the back seat of my Plymouth Duster and made so many appearances at parties, school events and the beach.
It was brutal to play with razors for strings and action so high a medium sized carrot could pass under the strings at the 18th fret. I am lucky I learned to play guitar in the first position ala Bob Mould so I easily ripped through tunes like "Raspberry Beret", "Tainted Love" and David Bowies "Heroes" that had simple chords.
As I said this guitar went everywhere with me and I recall being pelted with movie theater candy while playing it on stage at the Marc Cinemas while ripping through "Substitute" or some other punk anthem at an un-chaperoned high school event.
I also remember ripping off songs in a friends bedroom. The Jesus and Mary Chain, The Cure, The Smiths, Husker Du, Black Flag and the likes. The guitar really helped me learn how to play guitar I think.
Now to the Silvertone Archtop guitar. I didn't really own this guitar but I did possess it for the better part of two years covering two entire summers. It wasn't really that much better a guitar than the Stella but it defiantly looked cooler. Played a little easier because the action was lower and it was a longer scale guitar which meant less string tension. It sounded flat and wasn't much louder than the Stella.
It also had a cardboard case so it really didn't see the inside of the car, the beach or school functions much. I treated the Silvertone so differently than the Stella out of respect. I cried a bit when my friend asked if he could have it back. Sob!
So there you have it. That wasn't too bad now was it? And I can finally talk about my first true love. Stay tuned!
