What fun!  Here is a killer, 1972 Harmony H35 Electric Batwing Mandolin, in Very Good to Excellent Minus condition, all set up and ready to cut loose.  While these are not rare, per se, they are uncommon and they are uncommonly good.  This one has had some minor repairs, a shimming of the neck, a good cleaning and a better set-up.  It plays comfortably up and down the fretboard, with no buzzing or fretting out, and the DeArmond Gold Foil Pickup is powerful and clear.


To be precise, this IS an electric mandolin, and really does not sound like much, played acoustically.  The reason is that Harmony chose to block out a good portion of the upper chamber of the instrument, most likely to reduce feedback in the way that a Gibson ES-335’s center block does the same.  You can use it acoustically as a practice instruments and in that regard, it won’t disturb anyone.  


But this baby really needs to be plugged in.  


In that respect, you can opt to plug it into an amp made for acoustic guitars and get more of an acoustic balance out of it, or plug it into an electric guitar amp and have a right little screamer.  Remember, you can treat this electric mandolin the same as you would an electric guitar.  That means that it will respond to all manner of signal processing.  So, on stage or in the studio, this will add wonderful textures and lead lines in frequency registers that won’t compete with your guitar, but will set off a vocal or guitar accompaniment.  


When this Harmony H35 came into the shop, it was in need of a neck shim to bring the action down, a repair to a crack on the back of the upper horn, and the reattachment of a loose piece of binding.  After shimming, we have the action at a very comfortable 1/16th of an inch, both sides, at the 12th fret.  There is plenty of room to lower it further at the bridge, should you desire, but here it responds very well to a more aggressive comping style.  Once the action was set, we adjusted the height of the pickup for an optimal balance. The frets were leveled and crowned, and the tuners were disassembled, cleaned and lubricated.  These tuners have a very high ratio, so fine tuning is a breeze.  A small detail to be sure, but we also added a strap lug at the tailpiece.


Aesthetically, it does show some wear and tear, with a few nicks and dings in the lacquer, the scar of the repaired crack in the horn, and a couple of minor, surface cracks.  There are some long, shallow gouges on the bass side of the top, that may appear as cracks in the photos.   They are not.  The pots work smoothly, without any hiss or crackle, and the jack is in perfect working order.


Please be sure to check out the photos carefully, as we have tried to capture this mandolin from all sides.


This Harmony H35 comes in its original, lined chipboard case, which is in very good condition.


Serial Number: 6201H35


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


Price: $1100.00 plus $70 shipping (Lower 48 USA, only)

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Listed4 months ago
ConditionVery Good (Used)
Very Good items may show a few slight marks or scratches but are fully functional and in overall great shape.Learn more
Brand
Model
  • H35 Electric Batwing Mandolin
Categories
Year
  • 1972
Made In
  • United States

Product safety information may be available here.

Gees Gear

ABINGTON, PA, United States
Sales:305
Joined Reverb:2017

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