Oh, my.  This is the one you’ve been waiting for.

This is a stunning example of a Harmony Sovereign H1270 12 String in Excellent, restored condition.  It has had a fresh neck reset, has a super fast action, plays easily and sounds fantastic. This 12 frets to the body 12 string is free of any cracks, splits or open seams, and is made of quality tone woods, throughout.  And, as part of its restoration, we set it up for Fingerstyle players.

Here is the most exciting piece of the restoration: the action sits at 1/16th of an inch, both sides, at the twelfth fret, and the guitar plays up and down the fretboard without buzzing or fretting out (check out the video!).  She is blazingly fast!

Harmony made the H1270 from 1964 to 1971, this example from what looks like the late 1960s, early 70s.  It features a floating bridge and a trapeze tailpiece, which transfers a lot of the stress of the tension of the strings away from the top and to the tail block of the guitar.  The bridge is also unusual in that it has two saddles.  The rear saddle really serves the function of establishing the string spacing, while the front saddle sets the height of the strings.

On its arrival to the shop, this H1270 needed a neck reset. The neck was removed and the heel profile corrected. The neck was then properly shimmed and reset.  A new set of saddles were made, as was a new nut.  We decided to set it up for Fingerstyle playing. If you have ever tried to play a 12-string, Fingerstyle, you find that your thumb hits the octave strings first and they sound louder than the companion string below them. So, we cut the new saddles and nut to reverse those strings, so you hit the heavier gauge string first.  Big Bill Broonzy played his twelve string this way, and I believe that Leo Kottke does as well. The frets were leveled and crowned, a new pick guard was attached, a new heel cap was added, and the fretboard and bridge were cleaned and treated with lemon oil. This H1270 plays cleanly up and down the neck with no buzzing or fretting out.

The tuners, bridge and tailpiece are original. 

Some important Specs:

Top: Sitka Spruce

Back and Sides: Quarter Sawn Honduran Mahogany

Body Width: 16”

Body Depth: 4 3/8”

Neck: Honduran Mahogany (with a chunky profile)

Fretboard and Bridge: Brazilian Rosewood

Front Saddle: Unbleached Bone

Action at Twelfth Fret: 1/16th “, both Low and High E’s

Scale Length: 25 1/4” on Low E, 25 3/16” on High E

Strings: Martin 80/20 Bronze Extra Lights (10-47)

The guitar does have a number of minor scratches, minimal finish crazing, and some small dings.  All are minor and most disappear from a viewing distance of a few feet.  

Many folks tune their twelve strings down a step (or even more), and you could elect to do so with this one.  Tension on the neck is one reason to do so.  The other is that the octave G string is really just another E, tuned up to the point where it snaps easily. Tuning it up only to F is much easier on that string.  We started with the guitar tuned to D Standard (D-G-C-F-A-D), but have also brought it back up to E, where the increased string tension created a much bigger, better articulated tone.  If you prefer to leave it in D standard, you can always get back to E standard by placing a capo at the second fret.  We recommend that you store the guitar, detuned, but encourage you to bring it back up to E standard, if you’d like, for playing (just bring that high G up slowly!).

Please be sure to study the photo’s carefully, as I have tried to capture the guitar from all angles, and follow the accompanying link for a video demonstration of this guitar.  Feel free to ask any questions that you’d like; we’re always happy to talk shop!

Serial Number: 9198H1270

The guitar comes in a brand new, Onstage Hybrid Padded Gig Bag.

This Harmony Sovereign H1270 is sold AS IS and is not returnable unless it arrives in a condition other than as described or photographed, here.

Price: $1600 plus $125 shipping (Lower 48 USA, only)

For a Video Demo of this guitar, please follow this YouTube link: