1965-66 Harptone-made Supreme A-6N dreadnought guitar

Be sure to Google "antebellum instruments harptone supreme a-6n" to check out the full blog post and writeup/info on this instrument. This is also a CONSIGNED guitar. Now back to the listing...

A quick note: the only difference between the pics here and the guitar as it is right now is that I've replaced the adjustment thumbwheels with simple screw adjusters to cut down on weight and give more adjustment room for the saddle. The originals are stashed in the case.

Supreme guitars (like this one) are directly related (same products) to the US-made Harptone/Standel line which ran from 1965 and into the 70s. The Supreme guitars were made only in 65 and 66. Harptone guitars were made in Newark, New Jersey and the lead builders were ex-Guild employees. That's no surprise as this has features similar to Guilds: lightweight build and thin solid spruce top, arched laminate back, solid sides, and a feature similar to their 12-strings -- a neck with twotruss rods. On a six string that means super stable.
This guitar also features a few other interesting quirks: a Gibson-ish shorter 24 5/8" scale length, adjustable saddle, and a thin satin finish. The nut width is 1 3/4" and the neck is quite quick and has a flattish radius to the board and a non-bulky C profile to the rear (like, hah hah, a Guild). These features add up to a sort-of "Gibson" experience in terms of tone and playability, though the slightly wider string spacing makes complex chords a little more convenient. Tonally this sounds like a superb Gibson Hummingbird or other square-shouldered Gibson that was built "right." It has that big, warm, open and airy bottom end and a nice "diggy" top end (rather than apathetic). I think you can hear all of this in the soundclip.

My work included a fret level/dress, light cleaning, and modification of the adjustable saddle for better intonation. The adjustable saddle originally had a plastic saddle slotted in the middle of it, but the bridge placement was a little off from the factory so I recut the metal adjustable unit into a compensated saddle itself, moving the breaking point of the strings back by 1/16" or so to let it play in tune up the neck. Having an adjustable saddle is a nice thing for a working musician as setup can be dialed-in on the fly.

The big truss rod cover hides two truss rods (both functional). The neck, of course, is perfectly straight. The zero fret is also a nice addition -- as it was installed at the same height as the other frets and works as a "perfectly adjusted" nut. I'm a big fan of zero frets when they're done correctly as they ease setup work tremendously.

The board is a flatter-radius Brazilian rosewood one and has pearl dots and medium frets.

Both the top and back are bound. This back is a press-arched, laminate mahogany piece. The sides are solid mahogany, though. Generally -- just like on a Guild -- you get a bit more punch with the arched back.

A flattened heel (like the one on this guitar) is also always nice in my book. It makes upper-fret access just that much easier.
Apparently there are only a handful of "Supreme" guitars and the A-6N model isn't a known thing -- not surprising as there are so few Supremes, anyhow.

This guitar comes with a vintage HARD CASE.