Anyone know about the Harmony H-19 Silhouette De Luxe Double 1965?

[jthomas]

They were not sold in the toy section of the department stores. I know because I used to lust over them back in the day. They were sold in the electronic entertainment section. They were made by the Harmony Company (not a toy company) up till sometime in the 70s when the Japanese factories hit the US market hard.

[mgeek]

No I mean they were literally sold as toys .

Oh, i didn't know that, thought they were sold as guitars.

Would you view a First Act in the same light as an actual Stratocaster? Come on you know what I meant. It’s not like Sears had a guitar center section of the store - these guitars were sold right next to the GI Joes and Barbies and board games, etc.

You said 'literally sold as toys'... Thats pretty clear, and simply not correct, so I don't know why you're persisting?

I'm sorry but my thing is old and weird guitars (I don't own one Fender or Gibson and don't really want to) and I stand by what I said. They have good bones and with a bit of tweaking can be great guitars. Plenty of cool sixties acts used Harmony guitars, I've seen them in fancy recording studios alongside Dano's and Japanese oddities that are a bit ropey even for me. They aren't toys

[RiffRider]

I know this thread is a bit dated, but...

It's interesting how polarizing the Silhouette is. So many players think of them as cheapo instruments, or hideous looking. Then there are those who appreciate them for their unique attributes. I'm in that second group.

I have an all original '63 with the Hagstrom trem, a Samick reissue Silvertone, and, just recently, one of the new Harmony Silhouette reissues. The '63 with its original case was $700. I looked long and hard to find one as good as this one. A lot for an old, second tier guitar, but it's in excellent condition and all original...and it has a killer sound. The Samick reissue is kind of meh. Neck is too thin and the trem is only good for very light warbles. The new Harmony is a very high quality homage to the Silhouette. Austere in its aesthetics, with exceptional build quality and tone that goes from warm and wooly to hot 'n nasty.

My '63 has a very stiff trem. I've looked online for info on how to adjust it and have found nothing. If anyone has any insights on how to adjust it for a lighter feel, please advise.

[akpasta]

Great pickups. The neck is fine. All the hardware is shit so they play terribly. You can't really intonate them because the bridge isn't mounted and isn't adjustable except for height. If you put a different bridge on there like a tune-o-matic or something, it would probably play much better. The trem version is great because you can push down on the trem cover with your palm while playing.

Depends what you're going for, but if being in tune perfectly and all that doesn't matter then you could rock it stock. Makes a great racket. You could probably improve the bridge, tuners, maybe a re-fret and you'd have a very very fun interesting and useful guitar. Like a more interesting mustang.