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Up for sale, a 1960 Silvertone model H1429 in excellent condition and in perfect working order. Produced for Sears under their in-house "Silvertone" banner by Harmony in the USA, this model is analogous to the H75-78 series of instruments which were the flagship guitars in the Harmony catalog.
This guitar features all maple, full hollowbody construction with a smooth, natural acoustic tone and articulate note attack. And unlike the vast majority of Silvertone-branded Harmony models, this 1429 features a genuine slab Brazilian rosewood fretboard in lieu of the typical dyed maple used as a fretboard substitute. Each pickup has its own on/off two-way toggle and dedicated Volume and Tone knobs for a particularly broad tonal palette. The pickups have strong output and the clear, percussive quality unique to the DeArmond gold foil design (this particular iteration of the gold foil has silver diamond covers). These pickups can deliver everything from spanky twang in the bridge position to warm, bell-like tones at the neck. Full and dynamically responsive, the pickups offer a distinctive woody bite when picked with authority, and a glassy clarity in every pickup position. Featherweight at 4lbs 6oz, we've had this Silvertone professionally setup here at Mike & Mike's Guitar Bar and strung with 11-49 roundwound strings.
The neck has a notably chunky C-shaped profile carve, fretting very easily and measuring .955" deep at the 1st fret and .975" at the 9th. Setting the 1429 apart from lower tiered Silvertone and Harmony models, the guitar features a bound Brazilian rosewood fingerboard. The fretboard is a dark, tight-grained cut of this hallowed tonewood with pearloid small block inlay and original slender fretwire. The frets have their full factory height and well-rounded crowns, showing only light wear beneath the plain strings on frets 1-2, playing cleanly in every register with a straight neck and responsive, optimally adjusted truss rod. The scale length is 24 1/4", and the original carved bone nut measures 1 3/4" in width. On the headstock, the original Silvertone raised metal logo is extremely clean, and the stock open back Waverly tuners turn smoothly and hold pitch well.
On the body, all of the electronics function as intended, with dedicated Volume and Tone controls for each pickup paired with individual on/off pickup selector switches. The DeArmond pickups each retain their clean Rowe Industries (the parent company of DeArmond) foil stickers on the baseplates, and the silver diamond covers are positively gleaming. The original trio of Brazilian rosewood pickup risers are intact too. The hardware includes the original carved Brazilian rosewood bridge and trapeze tailpiece with pristine chrome plating. The sextet of mini DeArmond bell knobs are lightly ambered, and the guitar features the original red nitrate tortoise pickguard and switch plate, crafted from the same material as Fender's early tortoise pickguards. Visible through the F hole, the 1960 date is cleanly stamped on the back of the body adjacent to the H1429 model stamp.
The original two-tone Sunburst nitro lacquer finish is vibrant and unfaded, with very tight, faint lacquer checking on the body, and more prominent checking along the center seam on the back. The body does exhibit a very common split along the treble-side rim, extending from both sides of the input jack. This crack has been repaired, structurally sound with targeted lacquer touchup. Cosmetic wear on the body is otherwise limited to just a few small dings. The neck profile also retains its smooth nitro gloss, and there are only a few minor marks on the profile length, and similarly light finish loss on the top headstock edge.
A gigbag is included.
This guitar features all maple, full hollowbody construction with a smooth, natural acoustic tone and articulate note attack. And unlike the vast majority of Silvertone-branded Harmony models, this 1429 features a genuine slab Brazilian rosewood fretboard in lieu of the typical dyed maple used as a fretboard substitute. Each pickup has its own on/off two-way toggle and dedicated Volume and Tone knobs for a particularly broad tonal palette. The pickups have strong output and the clear, percussive quality unique to the DeArmond gold foil design (this particular iteration of the gold foil has silver diamond covers). These pickups can deliver everything from spanky twang in the bridge position to warm, bell-like tones at the neck. Full and dynamically responsive, the pickups offer a distinctive woody bite when picked with authority, and a glassy clarity in every pickup position. Featherweight at 4lbs 6oz, we've had this Silvertone professionally setup here at Mike & Mike's Guitar Bar and strung with 11-49 roundwound strings.
The neck has a notably chunky C-shaped profile carve, fretting very easily and measuring .955" deep at the 1st fret and .975" at the 9th. Setting the 1429 apart from lower tiered Silvertone and Harmony models, the guitar features a bound Brazilian rosewood fingerboard. The fretboard is a dark, tight-grained cut of this hallowed tonewood with pearloid small block inlay and original slender fretwire. The frets have their full factory height and well-rounded crowns, showing only light wear beneath the plain strings on frets 1-2, playing cleanly in every register with a straight neck and responsive, optimally adjusted truss rod. The scale length is 24 1/4", and the original carved bone nut measures 1 3/4" in width. On the headstock, the original Silvertone raised metal logo is extremely clean, and the stock open back Waverly tuners turn smoothly and hold pitch well.
On the body, all of the electronics function as intended, with dedicated Volume and Tone controls for each pickup paired with individual on/off pickup selector switches. The DeArmond pickups each retain their clean Rowe Industries (the parent company of DeArmond) foil stickers on the baseplates, and the silver diamond covers are positively gleaming. The original trio of Brazilian rosewood pickup risers are intact too. The hardware includes the original carved Brazilian rosewood bridge and trapeze tailpiece with pristine chrome plating. The sextet of mini DeArmond bell knobs are lightly ambered, and the guitar features the original red nitrate tortoise pickguard and switch plate, crafted from the same material as Fender's early tortoise pickguards. Visible through the F hole, the 1960 date is cleanly stamped on the back of the body adjacent to the H1429 model stamp.
The original two-tone Sunburst nitro lacquer finish is vibrant and unfaded, with very tight, faint lacquer checking on the body, and more prominent checking along the center seam on the back. The body does exhibit a very common split along the treble-side rim, extending from both sides of the input jack. This crack has been repaired, structurally sound with targeted lacquer touchup. Cosmetic wear on the body is otherwise limited to just a few small dings. The neck profile also retains its smooth nitro gloss, and there are only a few minor marks on the profile length, and similarly light finish loss on the top headstock edge.
A gigbag is included.
