The Harmony Company 1892-1975

The Harmony Company was more successful than any of their competitors, manufacturing mandolins, guitars, and other stringed instruments to high quality standards. While prices and costs were lower, the instruments were of high quality and were affordable to common and avocational players.

Very little information is known about the earliest Harmony-made guitars. Probably not too many survived, but likely they were small acoustics that used with gut strings, and glued-on bridges. Very likely they would also have had three dots at the fifth, seventh, and 10th frets. Basically, markers at the 10th fret, versus the ninth (found on a few guitars and banjos before the 1880s), was a strategy employed by guitar makers who intended to sell their instruments into the immensely popular mandolin orchestras at the time. Mandolins had position markers at the 10th fret. The guitar of the 1890s was either used primarily for vocal accompaniment or as a continuo instrument in mandolin and banjo orchestras of the time. Harmony and its early main competitor, Oscar Schmidt, of New Jersey, continued to favor use of the 10th fret long after most other major manufacturers settled on the ninth fret (some, like the Larson Brothers, also continued to use 10th-fret markers).

This is Model 910, the Stella Classic Guitar.

From the 1965 Harmony Catalog: "Provides the beginning Classic student of folk music player with a dependable nylon string instrument at a moderate price. Made with traditional Classic style slotted headpiece; wide fingerboard, correctly fretted, well regulated; pinless bridge; nylon and wound strings. Hardwood construction, nicely finished. Size 13-1/8 x 37-3/4 in."

Special Notice inside says, "This guitar is designed for use only with Nylon or Gut strings. Do not use steel strings."