Nathaniel Rateliff’s ‘30s Harmony Conversion Gene Autry Round-Up

This 1930s Chicago-made Harmony Round-Up was restored and converted to scalloped X-bracing in 2020 by luthier Matt McGibney for well-known musician Nathaniel Rateliff. McGibney also serves as Rateliff’s guitar tech on tour.

I purchased the guitar from Carter Vintage while Rateliff was consigning several instruments through the shop. McGibney is an acquaintance of mine, so I reached out to ask him about it. He told me that Rateliff used the guitar on a few things during the COVID period, and he can be seen playing it in the “Falling Rain” video on YouTube.

McGibney replaced the bracing, bridge, nut, fingerboard, and saddle. He also fixed a couple of cracks on the top and back. The fingerboard and bridge are both Brazilian rosewood. The original tuners remain and work smoothly.

I later had the guitar set up by well-respected Chicago-area luthier Rick Cremer. I also had him remove the vintage DeArmond soundhole pickup. The pickup is fully functional, is included in the case, and would be easy to reinstall. The jack fits into the endpin hole.

It’s a great little guitar with a ton of character. Because it’s a 12-fret, the bridge sits closer to the middle of the top, giving it much more power and volume than you would expect from such a small instrument. It’s louder than my ‘44 0-18 and Custom Shop 0-28VS. It’s extremely lightweight, has a comfortable shallow-V neck, and has notably strong natural reverb and overtones.

The guitar needs nothing and plays very comfortably. The frets are in excellent shape. It has been kept at a monitored 50% RH in a smoke-free home.

Specs:

• Spruce top
• Birch back and sides
• 12-fret neck joint
• Shallow-V neck profile
• 1.74" nut width
• 2 1/8" string spacing
• Approximately 24 1/8" scale length
• Strung with 12s
• A hair over 3/32" low-E action at the 12th fret
• A hair over 2/32" high-E action at the 12th fret
• ~.008” neck relief
• Brazilian rosewood fingerboard and bridge
• Original tuners
• Fully functioning vintage DeArmond soundhole pickup included
• ProRockGear arched-top hardshell case

It’s incredibly cool to own a guitar that Nathaniel Rateliff owned and actually spent time playing, but the connection is only part of the appeal. This is also a great-sounding, powerful, comfortable, and genuinely distinctive guitar in its own right.

Not interested in trades.