Hello!

[29er]

A quick post to say hello and ask a couple of questions. I joined this forum in the spring of 2021 but have not been active. In my younger days I owned a foolishly sold 2 H-535's (early to mid 90's) I'm here because I plan on buying an H-530 sometime soon. I currently have a Kalamazoo made Harmony Comet which is a great guitar but I prefer a larger bodied instrument and the Harmony is not that. I plan on selling the Harmony and grabbing a 530.

It looks like the H-530 can be found at @ 2k or so on the used market which is where my budget falls. Now for a shopping question: Among the dealer sites I frequent is Dave's Guitar Shop in Wisconsin. I've done a fair amount of business with them over the years and have always been a happy customer. Dave's always has several used 530's, 535's and H-150's of very recent vintage in stock. It makes me wonder how they come to have these. Seems unlikely that there is that much turnover of high quality US made instruments and that one dealer always has a supply of them. I wonder how they get these guitars on a regular basis? Does anyone have any insight? Is Dave's buying stock from other dealers? Are they getting guitars directly from Heritage? I did ask this question directly via email but their answer was vague and not clear. At first I wondered if these recent used guitars were factory 2nd's or something but I don't get the feeling that's the case. Anyhoo, I've always wondered how they get that many nearly mint condition Heritage's.  Just for fun I've attached two shots of my Harmony. One with and one without the Duesenburg Les Trem.  TIA for any info!

[rwinking]

I think there is a 2023 H-530 here in our classifieds. If I needed one I would be all over that one!

[bolero]

That is a cool looking Harmony!

What are those pickups?

 Before he passed away Edwin Wilson told me he was working on designing gold foil pickups for the new Harmony models, I wonder if those are them?

[29er]

I don't know if these gold foils are made in house but I tend to think they might be since there are no markings or labels attached (See pic) They sound great, clean and bell like with a lot of chime.

[TalismanRich]

They were winding some gold foil pickups when we were there in August.   He was also playing with P90s.   There were lots of different magnets that they could use to test different configurations.  

The problem is that there are a lot of variations in "gold foil" pickups.   Single coil,  double coils,  with or without screw pole pieces and different magnets.   Under that little piece of gold plastic covering, there's not a typical style like there is with a PAF or Strat or Tele pickup.   GFS, Mojotone and Lollar all make different styles.

With the 4 screws on the base plate,  I'm thinking these might be a dual coil/humbucker style rather than a single coil.   To know for sure, you would probably need to disassemble one, or visit the factory and look at the parts.

[29er]

Harmony says these are humbuckers. I'm not sure I've ever heard a humbucking pup that sounds as much like a single coil than these. 

[nuke]

They would appear to be humbuckers, as there are two sets of retaining screws on the back for holding the two coil bobbins. Can't tell without measurement of the electrical properties, or opening them up, but I would presume unless they're not "bucking hum". 

Depending on the metal used in the "foil", they may have good clarity, same as regular humbucker covers. The wrong metal, even plating, can produce eddy currents, which reduce the highs a great deal.  That's often the case with import humbuckers, where brass is used, or even when an otherwise good nickel-silver cover is plated with copper under the finish plating. 

The Gretsch Filtertron is a great design, as the open area over the covers and the "notch" in the middle, break up eddy currents in the cover. 

 

 

[bolero]

That's a good note about the Filtertrons, I always wondered if that was just cosmetic.

[chico]

Well, as a happy Dave’s customer myself, I’d say you answered your own question. 
 

who knows his contacts, book of business? Dave does. Ask him. Press, ask for his reply, as a guitar nerd, his answer. 
 

I’ve bought a couple Heritage’s from Dave in the pre plaza days. I trust him. If he has your guitar stay with your own past history.

Dave is a guitar nerd like us. Press it. 
 

let us know how your adventure goes. I like your idea, the 530. I bought a Millie DC from him 2004, for one. 

[Alain]

Hi all,

 

I'm Alain, living in France (La Rochelle - Atlantic coast) and I am the happy owner of an Heritage guitar.

My brother gave it to me a couple of years ago, before he died suddenly. So...I can't ask him anything about my guitar !

But I love it so much.

One of my problem is to know exactly which model is my instrument :  I read the topic about decoding the serial numbers, but it didn't helped me.

The only serial number I can see is inside the guitar, I can't really read it, and there is no letter...

I put a photo above, and I will attach some more later but I need to resize the pictures before (to heavy).

I have a lot of others questions !

I hope someone could help me.

 

Thanks.

20250114_122653.heic

[LK155]

Alain,

Your guitar is a Roy Clark model, relatively rare.  The ASB on the label, I believe, means Antique SunBurst finish.  No serial number is visible in your photo, but it should be on the back of the headstock.

 

[Alain]

Hi LK155,

 

yes, I forgot to precise it was a Roy Clark guitar.

Thank for your answer.

ASB ! I thouht it was something like 1713 !

I get it !

You're right, it's on the back of the headstock, and I didn't notice : I read H08903 or may be h08905.

Actually, I need to change the microphones and the volume and tonality controllers buttons (potentiometers ?) full of dust and making crr...crr...crr... when I wanna  play.

So, the guitar appears like being totally destroyed...But no, it's not  !

What kind of micros would you take ?

 

Thank you very much.

 

20250114_125231.heic 20250114_125635.heic 20250114_125213.heic

[LK155]

Alain,

If by 'micros', you mean smaller photographs, this site prefers .jpg images.  So if your phone can be set to create .jpg files instead of (or in addition to) .heic, try that.

[Alain]

Oups...I didn't pay attention, sorry.

above are the photos in JPG, of course  !

I meant microphones, you will understand by viewing the pic... 

[TalismanRich]

Welcome Alain,

OK, by microphones,  I'm assuming you're talking about the pickups.   They should be fine,   The ones installed are standard Schaller pickups from Germany.   I would keep them unless you have a preference for a particular type.   Many people use Seymour Duncan Seth Lovers.  Bare Knuckles,  Throbak, and DiMarzio.  You'll want the gold covers to match the rest of the hardware, of course.

 

It is very possible that the potentiometers have become dirty, but can often be cleaned with some contact cleaner.  You might try cleaning them and the testing while they are still out of the guitar.    Or, you can replace the  pots.  Most people like CTS pots, and those are most likely 500K audio taper.   You can check them with a VOM. 

Heritage used Vishay polyester capacitors, which are good.  

The Roy Clark is a very nice guitar.   Your H serial number means a 1991 model.    It looks to be well care for.   Enjoy it!

Edited yesterday at 03:44 PM by TalismanRich

[Alain]

Thanks so much for your answer, it's exactly what I needed.

Yes, I mean pick-up  I didn't know this Word in english.

I gonna try just to clean all the stuff first, but I asked for a new hardware just in case...

I'll let you know.

Thanks again,

Alain.

[bolero]

That is a beautiful guitar, congratulations!

They are not common. Roy Clark was an amazing gtr player too. Play it in good health

Salut!

[TalismanRich]

Here's a bit of Roy playing his signature guitar. 

 

Edited 14 hours ago by TalismanRich

[DetroitBlues]

Going back to the OP., the Harmony guitars look great.  While I've seen them in person several times, I have never played their semi-hollow models.  I think its a great in-between from a H150 and a H535.  Smaller body, but still that woody semi-hollow tone I'd imagine.  Sort of like Gibson's ES-336.

A 535 is simply an amazing guitar, very well crafted and a beautiful guitar to look at.  I love mine but seldom take it out.  I stand too close to my amp it feeds back because its so resonate.

As to the second new member with the Roy Clarke, those are so cool!  No longer in production, very few made, but essentially I believe its a single-cut version of a H535/555.  Stunning guitar all around, I'd imagine it has a slim, fast neck.  The microphones (pickups) can be changed to taste, but I sure would want to swap them.  Semi-hollow guitars are crazy to work on with no access covers.

 

[Spectrum13]

What I find unique about the Roy C is the neck joins the body around the 17th fret. Notice the bridge lies high up between the f holes. Assume?  More comfortable to play with less of a reach to the nut? Thoughts?

 

[MartyGrass]

58 minutes ago, Spectrum13 said:

What I find unique about the Roy C is the neck joins the body around the 17th fret. Notice the bridge lies high up between the f holes. Assume?  More comfortable to play with less of a reach to the nut? Thoughts?

 

It's a bit of a trade off.  The nut area is an easier reach.  The high frets are not difficult to get, but you may bump into your belly!

I have the Heritage semi-hollows of both persusions.  It's easy to go back and forth.