Airline guitar (made by Harmony) fitted with a vintage DeArmond soundhole pickup.

I've got quite a few of these little guitars, all made by Harmony but with different brands on the headstock. They need refurbishment and and a fair bit of repair work. This is one that I've had for ages, but just recently sorted out, fitting a 1960s DeArmond sound hole pickup and replacement machineheads. It's badged as an "Airline", but these were also sold as Stella, Oahu and Regal, as well as Harmony.
I usually re-set the neck on these old guitars, but in this case I just got away without having to do that. The bridge is right on the limit in terms of being high enough to get some minimal break angle over the saddle, and the guitar had quite a few cracks in the all-birch body. I decided to keep this one for myself, after selling an almost identical, but better condition one a few weeks back, so did some repairs and upgrades, and here it is.
I used it the other day to play a gig, and was very pleased with the sound...it may well be taking the place of my old favourite, a well -worn Chinese Stella re-issue fitted with a Bill Lawrence sound hole pickup. It's a close call, and the Stella''s neck is easier to play, but I'll be trying this one out again in the near future for live work.
www.chickenbon...

[@zaum2002]

Sounds cool. I have a similar setup with a Harmony guitar.

[@aljohnson3010]

Great video John......

[@Thallishman]

doesnt sound badd at all. Quite nice, maybe more of an Jazz pickup than blues, or at least to my taste. What do you think of the currently produced gretsch deltoluxe soundhole pickup?

[@ChickenboneJohn]

It's into a PA rather than a guitar amp, so there's no no chance of an overdriven bluesy sound, but put it into a guitar amp and its a diferent story. ElmoreJames used the same pickup on a Kay guitar and he had a monster amplified sound. Check this out if you aren't familiar with his sound...ua-cam.com/video/aKo80b-QfK0/v-deo.htmlsi=f341O0iZj8dySaMa

[@adammono1839]

Love this video john! More of these would be really great. Also would love some numbers like action height, neck relief, bridge height etc. Love these old guitars though