1940 Harmony Round Up Conversion

Harmony Round Up Conversion 1940 | $2350 | (c2402) Players love guitars like this because they have 'mojo', 'soul', 'stories to tell' ...pick a descriptor... and, they play great, sound great and look the part, too! The Round Up skewed towards the upper end of the Harmony line and produced in limited quantities by Harmony in Chicago from 1939 to 1941. It was sold through the Sears & Roebuck catalog for $9.95. The fingerboard features cowboy mega-star Gene Autry's signature in a stylized lasso font. Autry, aka the Singing Cowboy, was a huge media star at the time and he surely sold scads of merchandise throughout his era.

The grand concert-size body features maple back and sides, a 'selected' spruce top with bearclaw figure and is finished in a deep red/mahogany faux tigerstripe effect with a pickguard to match. The body edge and sound hole are bound in white celluloid. The neck is carved in a 'V' shape common to the period. The fingerboard is dyed hardwood and features Gene Autry in rope-styled script, and various inlaid pearl position markers. The slotted head stock sports a buckaroo on a bronc with his lariat extending to spell out Round Up. The blue Supertone label is missing from inside the body, but there is a visible Harmony date stamp.

The body measures 14 3/4" across at the lower bout. Scale length is 25 1/4". The neck measures 1 3/4" across at the nut with string spacing 2 1/8" at the saddle. Action is set at ~ 6/64".

The guitar has undergone quite a restoration. James Burkett pulled the back, removed the original ladder bracing and installed a delicate X-bracing system complete with new maple bridge plate, sound hole reinforcement and popcicle brace for support. Burkett also replaced an oversized replacement bridge with a smaller rosewood bridge. Other modifications inclued: refret; reinforcement bolt in the neck block; modern replacement tuners; various back, side and top cracks glued. The original finish shows nicks, dings and scratches from age and use.

It's an old guitar now brought back to life better than ever, with its tone described by one player as, "..percussive bass, clean midrange and crisp, treble chime!" A true vintage survivor able to carry on the legend of the Singing Cowboy, Gene Autry.

Comes with a newer hard case in excellent condition.

Check the sound clip!