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Post new topic Sears - you could buy most anything - and lap steels
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Author Topic:  Sears - you could buy most anything - and lap steels
Andy Volk


From:
Boston, MA
Post  Posted 10 May 2022 5:09 am    
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No idea how these sound but the design sure is elegant.




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Noah Miller


From:
Rocky Hill, CT
Post  Posted 10 May 2022 8:07 am    
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The sound is... underwhelming, to put it kindly.

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Glenn Wilde

 

From:
California, USA
Post  Posted 10 May 2022 11:48 am    
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Love that amp!👍
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Jack Hanson


From:
San Luis Valley, USA
Post  Posted 10 May 2022 2:50 pm    
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I believe at one time the Harmony Company was owned by Sears. Alas, how far those once mighty names have fallen...
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David Ball


From:
North Carolina High Country
Post  Posted 10 May 2022 3:38 pm    
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Noah Miller wrote:
The sound is... underwhelming, to put it kindly.



Mine actually sounds pretty nice. It's no hot rod--pickup is pretty weak, but the tone is pleasant for the style of music it was made for. And it does have way cool looks...

Dave
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JB Bobbitt


From:
California, USA
Post  Posted 11 May 2022 5:51 am    
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I heard that Harmony guitars are great guitars after some modifications. Like J.J. Cale's "$50 Harmony".


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Samuel Phillippe


From:
Douglas Michigan, USA
Post  Posted 11 May 2022 6:37 am    
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My daughter still has my OLD Harmony.....still sounds good after all these years. Replaced it with a Martin because the Martin Tone sounded as good as the Harmony.....No it is not for sale

Sam
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Bill Groner


From:
QUAKERTOWN, PA
Post  Posted 11 May 2022 7:22 am    
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You are right, you could buy most anything from Sears. They even sold "kit houses". There are several in the town I live in that were built in the 20'/30's and they still look very good today. The kits would arrive in town by train and it was up to you to get it to the job site.
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Erv Niehaus


From:
Litchfield, MN, USA
Post  Posted 11 May 2022 7:42 am    
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I ordered a bee hive, complete with bees from Sears.
The mail man hired another person to deliver it! Whoa!
Erv
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Tim Toberer


From:
Nebraska, USA
Post  Posted 11 May 2022 8:02 am    
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Thanks for posting that picture of jj cales guitar, I have never seen that one. I'm a HUGE harmony fan! Those old lap guitars are 11 out of 10 on the cool scale in my book. Beautiful style not seen often today.

https://www.vintageguitar.com/33140/big-joe-williams/
The list of classic blues musicians to play the humble Harmony (and all its offshoots) is way too long to list. Notice the extra tuners on the headstock of Big Joes 9 string beauty. I own a jumbo 6 and a jumbo 12. I put them next to Martin or Gibson any day. Ladder bracing is wonderful but they all need a little something to get them going.

Next on my list is a Silvertone H-621 or similar like JJs but a sunburst. I won't be butchering it, however will probably need a new bridge and a neck reset, fret dress etc. I see them all the time for under $200. Solid wood 60 year old guitar.
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Tim Toberer


From:
Nebraska, USA
Post  Posted 11 May 2022 9:08 am    
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Just stumbled across this. That name looks familiar!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_FNL7gEnGJo
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C. E. Jackson


Post  Posted 12 May 2022 9:31 am    
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My Silvertone was purchased from the Sears catalog for Christmas in 1949.
Still plays good, and is my most valuable steel.

SILVERTONE: 1949


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C. E. Jackson Very Happy

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Mike Neer


From:
NJ
Post  Posted 12 May 2022 10:59 am    
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When I was a kid, we had a stack of 1960s Sears catalogs that I loved perusing, especially for musical instruments. Never once do I recall seeing a lap steel. I guess it really was dead in the 60s.
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C. E. Jackson


Post  Posted 12 May 2022 12:15 pm    
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Mike Neer wrote:
When I was a kid, we had a stack of 1960s Sears catalogs that I loved perusing, especially for musical instruments. Never once do I recall seeing a lap steel. I guess it really was dead in the 60s.


Mike, I don't remember when Sears stopped offering steels in the Sears catalog.
Being a country family, we made quite a few purchases from the catalog.

My Father purchased a Silvertone Deluxe Black at Christmas 1949 when I got
my Silvertone.

SILVERTONE DELUXE BLACK: 1949


I have a copy of the last Sears catalogue and no steels are listed. I really don't
know when they stopped selling steel guitars.

Friend to all,

C. E. Jackson Very Happy

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Noah Miller


From:
Rocky Hill, CT
Post  Posted 12 May 2022 1:22 pm    
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1961 was the last year that the Sears catalogs contained lap steels. Even in the '50s they never offered more than two models at a time.
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