Harmony Bobkat Professional Rebuild Handwound P90s Great Condition Player

This is a Harmony Bobkat from the mid 60s. It is in great condition structurally with all the normal scuffs, scratches, dings and dents you would expect from a guitar that is 60 years old.

This guitar doesn't seem to have been played a lot didn’t need much to get it going. The frets are original and had previously been leveled perfectly, I cleaned and polished them and they are good to go. I then added new Gotoh tuners and re-cut the original bone nut to fit @ 1-11/16”. The necks on these Bobkats are the same as other Harmony electrics like the Rocket and Stratotone with a medium C style neck carve- maybe a bit larger than a medium but not a big bat, it sits very comfortably in the palm of your hand. These necks also have very little taper from the nut to the body, which determines the bridge spread to be a rather narrow 1-7/8”. Originally they had a simple straight bar floating wooden bridge that did not intonate properly, I upgraded to a Rickenbacker bridge that fits and intonates perfectly and matches with an original Bobkat clam shell tailpiece. I also made a hansom new Lexan pickguard that features Ginko and Sweet gum leaves.

The pickups are my p90s, voiced for each position and RPRW to hum-cancel when played together. These pickups give this Bobkat a wicked growl and make it quite enjoyable to make some noise with. Included are new pots and a new toggle to make a clean and quiet running machine.

 The thing about Bobkats is they feel like a substantial guitar in the same sense as a Tele or Strat. Yes, they have a 24” scale and the body is shorter, but it’s a solid piece of wood, a full 1-1/2” and not a wafer thin or light weight plywood body found on so many “import” guitars… the Bobkat feels like a real guitar and not a toy.

Harmony made these guitars out of poplar and that’s big part of their sound and durability, they are very strong and stable- the necks never move- and the sound is rich and full. This burst model has maple veneer on the body front and back that you can see through the trans-yellow, which addresses the one problem with poplar… it’s boring to look at. Really, it’s about the blandest looking wood available, but it’s a dang good and stable guitar wood and Harmony used it a lot, including for most of the necks on their archtops and flattops.

You could buy an “original” Bobkat the same amount or more for the price I am asking for this one, but that “original” will need some work to get it playable because they needed work the day they came out of the factory, and now 60 years later… This guitar is running perfect right now, the action is low and easy, it plays and sounds fantastic.

No international shipping – lower US 48 only.

Set up with .010 - .046 strings

Gig bag included

C carve

24” scale

New 1-11/16” bone nut

Original leveled frets

New Gotoh tuners

New Ric intonatable bridge

Malinoski handwound p-90 pickups

New pots and switch

Weight 6 lbs 5 oz