Airline H7032 Sovereign 1964 / Big and Bold

Here is a 1964 Airline Jumbo Sovereign, made in Chicago by Harmony, and in Excellent Condition.  It plays with a fast action and has that big, round sound of the classic Harmony Sovereigns.  The bass is warm and well defined, and the treble is clear and ringing without being shrill.  These are great guitars, made with fine tone woods, and were the apex of the Harmony line of flat top acoustics.

As a manufacturer of musical instruments, Harmony was the largest in the world.  They made a huge number of instruments under the Harmony brand name, but also manufactured instruments for other retailers (like Sears and Montgomery Ward), under more than fifty different brands, often more than 300,000 instruments in any given year.  Many were low-end student instruments, to be sure, but they also made top tier acoustic and electric guitars, which rivaled Gibsons, Guilds and Martins in sound and build quality.  This particular guitar was originally branded as an Airline, sold through Montgomery Wards, and represented the Wards version of the iconic Harmony H1260 Sovereign, made famous as the acoustic played by Jimmy Page on “Stairway To Heaven.” It is identical to that Harmony H1260 Sovereign with the one exception of the shape of the bridge.  This aesthetic consideration would have been made in order to let this Airline to look different from a Harmony or a Sears Silvertone, so you would not compare them, “apples to apples.”

We are all subject to falling into the trap of buying “Brand” when we should be buying quality.  Gibsons and Martins are great guitars…. mostly. Each has produced some of the finest guitars in the world, alongside its share of absolute duds.  When buying an acoustic guitar, you should be looking for three things: build quality, tone woods used, and a classic design.  If you get all three in one instrument, you’ll get a fine guitar.  If one of those elements is absent, you won’t.  This is why the Chinese made guitars, which often look so nice, sound so bad.  The design elements are there, but the build quality is sketchy and the tone woods are low quality.  What we love about these old Harmony made guitars is that the build quality is high, the tone woods are outstanding, and the designs are time tested, classic acoustic guitar styles.

The one element where the Harmony guitars have an issue, is with their neck joints.  During their initial manufacturing process, many Harmony guitars were not properly shimmed at the dove tail joint.  Instead, Harmony relied on copious amounts of hide glue to hold necks in place. Over time, hide glue shrinks and joints loosen. This is why nearly every vintage Harmony acoustic that you’ll find, needs a neck reset to make it perfect.  That’s where the luthier comes in.

This guitar, made in 1964, came to us in need of a neck reset.  It had needed one for a long time, and a prior owner had tried to deal with a high action by lowering the saddle to the point where he also had cut notches into the bridge.  There was a large hint there, that went unnoticed!  We’ve rectified the situation by resetting the neck, leveling and crowning the frets, filling in the slots cut into the bridge, making a new bone saddle and adjusting the nut slot depths.  In the process, we also cleaned and lubricated the tuners, reattached a loose pick guard, lemon oiled the fretboard and bridge, and set up the guitar with a fresh set of D’Addario Phosphor Bronze Light Gauge strings (.012-.053).  

Here are the Specs on the guitar:

Top: Solid Spruce / Ladder Braced

Back and Sides: Honduran Mahogany

Neck: Honduran Mahogany

Fretboard and Bridge: Brazilian Rosewood

Lower Bout: 16 1/8”

Upper Bout: 12 1/8”

Body Depth: 4 1/2”

Nut Width: 1 3/4”

String Spacing at Bridge: 2 5/16”

Action at 12th Fret: Low E - 5/64”, High E - 1/16”

Scale: 25 1/4”

The guitar looks and sounds fantastic!  The bass is big, round and commanding.  The treble rings angelically. The woods are all solid, with a tight grained Spruce top and a lovely, ribbon striped Mahogany back and sides (that back is one-piece and over 16” wide). The fast action allows for easy chording, up and down the fretboard.  The string spacing is wonderful for finger style and flat-picking alike.  Many like to set up the low end of the guitar with an action of 3/32nds at the twelfth, but we favor a slightly lower, 5/64ths.  As a result, while this guitar plays cleanly up and down the fretboard, the low E string is fretting out at the 14th fret (not a note most are ever likely to play).  

This Sovereign is very clean, but certainly not perfect.  There are a number of nicks and minor scratches, and more than a few smudges.  Check out the photos carefully, as we have tried to capture it from every angle.  It comes with a period correct chipboard case, which, while functional, we would suggest you upgrade to protect your investment.

Serial Number: 7607H7032  (the H7032 denotes a Montgomery Wards model)

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

Price:  $1200.00 + $145 shipping (Lower 48 USA, only)