1957 Harmony H44 Refin'd Stratotone

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Today Lawman Guitars is Presenting…
An incredible find… A beautiful 1957 Harmony H44 Stratotone Guitar with the original soft shell Case. We have had lots of these cool Harmony H44's...Sold in the Sears Catalogs and these guitars ROCK!!
This guitar is in incredible shape and is all original except for the refinish and replaced Headstock Logo...The refin is very old. It has a lot of finish crazing to indicate it was done long ago. These cool guitars were made from 1954 thru 1957. This would be one of the last. It has a different DeArmond Pickup than all the others we have had. Typically its the plain top case Hersey Bar DeArmond. This one has a Model 40 DeArmond which we have never seen before. Did they run out of the standard Pickup? Were they trying something different for the last ones? Hard to tell but no indication that the pickup has been replaced. The pots are from 1947...see pic 6. However, the DeArmond pickup is clearly dated Oct 1957 so we know what year this guitar is.
These cool Stratotones were availiable in Gold, Copper and Black. The only color Harmony catalog shows these guitars in a color not offered. Weird. Its a slightly red orange color. Exactly as this refinished guitar is. Hmmm. Do you think the owner handed the paint tech a catalog and said paint it the original color? The only reason I can think of to refin this color... It does looks great and only a scratch on the back keeps the guitar from being almost perfect. See pic 10.
All original from the refin and headstock logo to include the awesome sounding DeArmond Single coil pickup, original Wavery tuners, Harmony Cup Cake knobs, Pickguard, Tailpiece, end pin...
These guitar have awesome baseball bat rounded necks that are big, but feel incredible in the hand. I have small hands but love playing this guitar. The nut measures 1 3/4 inches and is also original. Neck is nice and straight..the action measures 1/16 inch at the first fret then only 1/8 inch at the 12th fret. It has a 25 1/4 inch scale neck... Excellent playing action. A lot of these don't . This one is a player!! Our Tech did a great job with this one. These guitars are a neck thru design with added wings to form the body. The necks are either straight and good, or, as we have found, not good. Hard to fix them with that design. Happily, this neck is awesome! One of the best we have had. Love playing this one!
The Pickup sounds incredible. Very dark and bluesy…. Slide players love these but these guitars handle all styles. Richie Valens played on just like it when he was still around in the 1950’s!
Don’t forget the awesome original Harmony Soft Shell Case. You never find these with the guitar. I was thrilled that the previous owner of this guitar still had the case. All latches and hinges are still with it as well as the accessory box.. The handle is a replacement. We had to add some backing to the case to hold it back together but happy we were able to save it. We are so lucky to have the original case with this guitar. J What a great guitar combo to have!
Sold as-is no returns as its vintage and used.. Thanks for respecting that!
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[@Paul_Lenard_Ewing]

It came out before 56. I believe it was 52. In 54 you could buy the H88 which had 2 PU'S and a bigger pickguard. You could get more colors with the H88 too. One was a very bright sun yellow. There is a picture of the first Les Paul in a store window with an H44 displayed beside it and the Les Paul came out in 52 which further verifies the date. I suspect you are dead right about the color. I have an old Airline that is the H88 rebranded. It never needs a setup because the neck won't move, LOL.

[@thomastommy1192]

How much is this guitar? Please don't tell me to go to your website, lol.