Alden 9910 Tuxedo 1962 / Mars H46 Stratotone / Blues with a Bite!

Here is a 1962 Alden 9910 Stratotone, in Very Good condition, freshly set up and ready to prowl.  This is the same guitar as a Harmony Mars H46 Stratotone, branded for sale through Montgomery Ward. The 9910 is a chambered hollow body with two DeArmond Hershey Bar pickups, volume and tone controls for each, and a three way switch.  It plays with a very comfortable action and produces a tremendous range of tone, from dark blues to bright rock. It has a somewhat chunky, C-Profile neck, that I find irresistible.  The combination of the light, responsive body and a neck that you just want to wail on, makes these guitars hard to put down.  Let it break ups a bit through your favorite tube amp or a gritty overdrive, and you will have a blues monster that you’ll want to play all night!

Coming into the shop, the guitar needed a good bit of work.  The neck pickup was D.O.A. and was sent to Tom Brantley for a great rewind.  Now, reinstalled, it sounds deep and rich with the tone rolled off, and powerfully bluesy with the tone rolled back in.  For our part, we cleaned and lubricated the tuners, leveled and crowned the frets, adjusted the nut slot depths, replaced a missing switch cap, shimmed the neck for a better angle, and filled in some deep divots on the fretboard’s first two frets. We also treated the electronics with DeOxit, and cleaned the body, neck and chrome.

Here are some important specs:

Body - Chambered Hollowbody

Neck - most likely Poplar

Fretboard - ebonized Maple

Scale - 24 1/4”

Action - 5/64” on the Low E and 1/16” on the High E, at the twelfth fret

Pickups - Two DeArmond Hershey Bars, dated to 9/22/62

Nut Width - 1 3/4”

String Spacing at Bridge - 1 13/16”

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

The guitar does have a few nicks and dings, but no cracks, splits or open seams.  There is some finish worn away from the sides of the neck in the first position, but by and large, the finish is very good all over the body and neck.  The guitar has a steel non-adjustable truss rod, and a slight amount of relief.  It plays cleanly upon and down the fretboard.

This Alden 9910 comes with what’s left of its original case; it will get the guitar to you, safe and sound, but should be consigned to the nearest dumpster shortly thereafter.

No serial number on this one, but the pickups do date it to September 22, 1962.

This Alden 9910 is sold AS IS and is not returnable unless it arrives in a condition other than as described or photographed, here.

Price: $995.00 plus $145 shipping (Lower 48 USA, only)