blindboygrunt Posted October 9, 2014 Share Posted October 9, 2014 What's the thoughts on this fellow ? being a ryan adams fan I have a fetish for a harmony guitar h1260 i believe ,that he plays. very very similar , in looks , to this one . but this one is an 'eko'. rare things here in Ireland. is this eko a poor copy ? or worth checking ? thanks for any knowledge Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zombywoof Posted October 9, 2014 Share Posted October 9, 2014 Based on the picture I assume you are talking about the Harmony Sovereign 1264. These came along pretty late in the game, around 1970. I do not have a clue how the EKO guitar compares but the originals are not hard to find and not terribly expensive so you might check them out before buying a clone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blindboygrunt Posted October 10, 2014 Author Share Posted October 10, 2014 originals are not hard to find in the same way that stetson hats are not hard to find. I'm in Ireland though. Thanks zomby ! appreciate your thoughts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zombywoof Posted October 10, 2014 Share Posted October 10, 2014 I'm in Ireland though. Your landsmann Rory Gallagher played a Harmony Sovereign 1270 - the 12 string version. If you just want the sound a 1260 will do you fine. Pretty much any Sovereign other than the 1203 (which has a different body shape) will work. You can also snag Silvertone and Airline badged versions of the Sovereign. Just make sure you check the necks. Harmony cut their dovetails loosely and filled the gap with glue. As glue lost its staying power the necks went south real quickly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jayyj Posted October 10, 2014 Share Posted October 10, 2014 If there's ever a nuclear holocaust in Europe the only thing to survive other than the cockroaches will be Eko Rangers from the 70s. I don't know if I'd choose one for its tonal merits though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
onewilyfool Posted October 10, 2014 Share Posted October 10, 2014 I think Zomby may have some information on this….but around 1970, maybe second half of that year…..Harmony stopped production of American Made guitars and for a few years Harmonies were made in Japan. HOWEVER, they were far inferior to the USA made Harmonies. Even used doweled necks instead of Dovetail that the earlier Harmonies used. I think Eko is a Japanese brand? I'm with Zomby…..best to wait for the real thing rather than a clone. If that guitar you are showing us has a solid top, it probably has laminate sides and back. Most Japanese guitars had laminate tops too in the 70's, so who knows….if it sounds good, and doesn't' need a neck reset and fretboard leveling, etc….might be a good one???!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zombywoof Posted October 10, 2014 Share Posted October 10, 2014 I think Zomby may have some information on this….but around 1970, maybe second half of that year…..Harmony stopped production of American Made guitars and for a few years Harmonies were made in Japan. HOWEVER, they were far inferior to the USA made Harmonies. Harmony closed the Chicago factory in 1975. Some company named Global Trading bought the Harmony name and started producing guitars in Asia. If you see "est. 1892" or "since 1892" under the Harmony logo on the headstock it is an Asian-built guitar. Not sure if you recall these but in 1974 Harmony started a line called Opus. With the Asian-built guitars kicking Harmony's butt on the entry level instruments, the guys in Chicago tried to reinvigorate the Harmony name and move into the higher end market. The Opus guitars were pretty much hand built with the best lumber you could buy. Problem was Harmonys association with bottom of the food chain guitars was so entrenched nobody would accept these higher dollar guitars. Reason I bring them up is they did make a Sovereign type Opus. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jayyj Posted October 10, 2014 Share Posted October 10, 2014 Eko acoustics were Italian made, heavily built laminate guitars with bolt on necks. There's a modern Eko who make Chinese reissues of the originals. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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