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Topic: Sears - you could buy most anything - and lap steels |
Andy Volk
From:
Boston, MA
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Posted 10 May 2022 5:09 am |
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No idea how these sound but the design sure is elegant.
_________________
Steel Guitar Books! Website: www.volkmediabooks.com |
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Noah Miller
From:
Rocky Hill, CT
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Posted 10 May 2022 8:07 am
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The sound is... underwhelming, to put it kindly.
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Glenn Wilde
From:
California, USA
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Posted 10 May 2022 11:48 am
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| Love that amp!👍 |
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Jack Hanson
From:
San Luis Valley, USA
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Posted 10 May 2022 2:50 pm
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| I believe at one time the Harmony Company was owned by Sears. Alas, how far those once mighty names have fallen... |
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David Ball
From:
North Carolina High Country
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Posted 10 May 2022 3:38 pm
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| Noah Miller wrote: |
The sound is... underwhelming, to put it kindly.
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Mine actually sounds pretty nice. It's no hot rod--pickup is pretty weak, but the tone is pleasant for the style of music it was made for. And it does have way cool looks...
Dave |
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JB Bobbitt
From:
California, USA
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Posted 11 May 2022 5:51 am
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I heard that Harmony guitars are great guitars after some modifications. Like J.J. Cale's "$50 Harmony".
_________________
"Time is an enemy"
-Bob Dylan |
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Samuel Phillippe
From:
Douglas Michigan, USA
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Posted 11 May 2022 6:37 am
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My daughter still has my OLD Harmony.....still sounds good after all these years. Replaced it with a Martin because the Martin Tone sounded as good as the Harmony.....No it is not for sale
Sam |
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Bill Groner
From:
QUAKERTOWN, PA
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Posted 11 May 2022 7:22 am
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You are right, you could buy most anything from Sears. They even sold "kit houses". There are several in the town I live in that were built in the 20'/30's and they still look very good today. The kits would arrive in town by train and it was up to you to get it to the job site.
_________________
Currently own, 6 Groner-tone lap steels, one 1953 Alamo Lap steel, Roland Cube, Fender Champion 40 |
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Erv Niehaus
From:
Litchfield, MN, USA
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Posted 11 May 2022 7:42 am
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I ordered a bee hive, complete with bees from Sears.
The mail man hired another person to deliver it! 
Erv |
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Tim Toberer
From:
Nebraska, USA
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Posted 11 May 2022 8:02 am
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Thanks for posting that picture of jj cales guitar, I have never seen that one. I'm a HUGE harmony fan! Those old lap guitars are 11 out of 10 on the cool scale in my book. Beautiful style not seen often today.
https://www.vintageguitar.com/33140/big-joe-williams/
The list of classic blues musicians to play the humble Harmony (and all its offshoots) is way too long to list. Notice the extra tuners on the headstock of Big Joes 9 string beauty. I own a jumbo 6 and a jumbo 12. I put them next to Martin or Gibson any day. Ladder bracing is wonderful but they all need a little something to get them going.
Next on my list is a Silvertone H-621 or similar like JJs but a sunburst. I won't be butchering it, however will probably need a new bridge and a neck reset, fret dress etc. I see them all the time for under $200. Solid wood 60 year old guitar. |
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Tim Toberer
From:
Nebraska, USA
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C. E. Jackson
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Mike Neer
From:
NJ
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Posted 12 May 2022 10:59 am
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| When I was a kid, we had a stack of 1960s Sears catalogs that I loved perusing, especially for musical instruments. Never once do I recall seeing a lap steel. I guess it really was dead in the 60s. |
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C. E. Jackson
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Posted 12 May 2022 12:15 pm
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| Mike Neer wrote: |
| When I was a kid, we had a stack of 1960s Sears catalogs that I loved perusing, especially for musical instruments. Never once do I recall seeing a lap steel. I guess it really was dead in the 60s. |
Mike, I don't remember when Sears stopped offering steels in the Sears catalog.
Being a country family, we made quite a few purchases from the catalog.
My Father purchased a Silvertone Deluxe Black at Christmas 1949 when I got
my Silvertone.
SILVERTONE DELUXE BLACK: 1949
I have a copy of the last Sears catalogue and no steels are listed. I really don't
know when they stopped selling steel guitars.
Friend to all,
C. E. Jackson 
_________________
My Vintage Steel Guitars
My YouTube Steel Guitar Playlists
My YouTube Steel Guitar Songs
A6 tuning for steels |
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Noah Miller
From:
Rocky Hill, CT
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Posted 12 May 2022 1:22 pm
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| 1961 was the last year that the Sears catalogs contained lap steels. Even in the '50s they never offered more than two models at a time. |
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