harmony bobcat

[arbolista]

this thing's offset right? and has anyone played one? looks purrrdy.


http://eugene.craigslist.org/msg/1637659134.html

[scrondle]

I've been GASing for one of those since I saw Annie Clark playing one. I don't know how it plays but it sounded like the second coming.

[devnulljp]

Those DeArmond gold foils are great pickups. They're so-so guitars, but I'd still like one. That seems expensive, but these things are getting more expensive now anyway.

[Orang Goreng]

I used to have a slightly different one (Silvertone-branded). Sounded awesome, played like an aging monkey's ass due to icky construction. These days cheapo guitars are all CNC made, so pretty much the same as expenso guitars, but from cheaper parts. Back then, they weren't.

[ukfuzz]

Great for slide, Rock or Blues.

Sounds like the action might be high, ie, the neck is bowed. Some of those entry-level Harmony models don't have a truss rod - I know the one I picked up didn't. Half the time you'd be better off throwing a set of those pickups into a parts guitar.

[scrondle]

They've reissued these guitars with some updates, that might be a better bet. Google found me this:

http://tulsa.craigslist.org/msg/1598281778.html

The fact that the reissue lists the truss rod as an improvement might be a clue.

[devnulljp]

They've reissued these guitars with some updates, that might be a better bet. Google found me this:

http://tulsa.craigslist.org/msg/1598281778.html

The fact that the reissue lists the truss rod as an improvement might be a clue.

Depending on the condition, the older one is almost certainly a better bet -- certainly the RIs aren't going to have those pickups.
See if you can get him to come down in price...

[timberic]

I had a nice clean one; a two pup model like that. Sold it recently for $245 on ebay to raise cash for my Jag.

As mentioned above, the DeArmond pups are awesome and are probaby worth the price of admission alone. Mine had a nice chunky neck that was pretty comfortable. Action a bit high. Would have been good for slide. Mine was noisy and may have needed to have the pots sprayed, but I never got around to it.

[E Baxter Put]

Yes... I've owned a Bobkat and a Silhouette. Great guitars! Some do have problems, but some play very nicely. I think they sounds amazing. That price isn't too bad if it is in great shape with good action and frets.

[Echo Ranch]

I had a nice clean one; a two pup model like that. Sold it recently for $245 on ebay to raise cash for my Jag.

As mentioned above, the DeArmond pups are awesome and are probaby worth the price of admission alone. Mine had a nice chunky neck that was pretty comfortable. Action a bit high. Would have been good for slide. Mine was noisy and may have needed to have the pots sprayed, but I never got around to it.

this is the very first guitar i ever owned. when i was younger i was embarassed by it. now i want one for fun. the neck is pretty brutal. not easy to play at all

[Orang Goreng]

Chris, I can't make out enough detail to see what's going on at the bridge of that one... Mine just had a piece of fretwire on the rosewood, with no indents at all. Hit a string, knockt it a few mm out of whack. I ended up filing little indentations in the wire so they'd stay put. But of course, occasionally the whole bridge would shift after a good hit.

It may be a nice guitar for really controlled playing, but that and the icky neck made me love it less than at first sight.

But yeah, those pickups. I'm sure they cannot possibly sound as good as they do in my memory (or they'd be the best pickups ever), but still.

[Tycho]

I had one of these as my first electric. Bought it used for $50 in 1969 (with amp!), sold it for $25 in '74 when I got my Jag, because in those days I thought, why would you need two guitars? Oh well. It was a great little guitar. Mine was branded Holiday rather than Harmony, but it was the same guitar.

[Kilgore Trout]

I've played both bobcats and silhouettes, and I own an old Silhouette. The Harmony H19 Silhouette is a more functional guitar than the Bobcat, and mine is a lot of fun to play: Hagstrom vibrato and bridge, and the dearmond pickups have adjustable poles. Really thick neck though, and the original tuners were rather flimsy, I had to replace them. Nevertheless, I like it.

[MAGE]

I don't think they are offset though... same idea, they've moved the cutaway down to better balance on your leg but they've moved the top cutaway down as well, presumably to avoid infringing Fender's patent. the Supro S-555 was the same kind of shape.