Stella H-922 12 String Flat Top Acoustic Guitar, made by Harmony (1967)

 Stella H-922 12 String Flat Top Acoustic Guitar, made by Harmony  (1967)
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Item # 9216
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Stella H-922 Model 12 String Flat Top Acoustic Guitar, made by Harmony (1967), made in Chicago, sunburst lacquer finish, birch back and sides, poplar neck with ebonized fingerboard, black hard shell case.

This late 1960s Harmony Stella is a surprisingly good 12-string guitar considering its budget status, and is considered something of a classic in its own right. This slimmer-waisted Harmony-Stella H-912 was a direct descendant of the older, rounder-bout Model H-922 that had been in production since 1940. Through the 1950s into the early '60s this was the only 12-string guitar commercially available and one of the few "Stella" products that still carried a stylistic link to the brand's pre-war origins. They were most popular in the early 1960s before Gibson, Martin, and Guild brought out 12-string flat-top instruments to meet the demand in 1962-5.

This 1967 example has a somewhat slimmer flatter-profile neck compared to the old huge V-profile neck used up until the mid '60s. This is equipped with an adjustable truss rod making for a big increase in playability. It is set up with a traditional tailpiece and floating bridge used since the 1910s. Cosmetically the H-912 features less than deluxe trim with painted binding and a screwed-on pickguard on the all-birch, ladder braced body. This 1967 example is rather more carefully and cleanly made than earlier 912s and 922s and plays very well with a big and powerful, if somewhat dry, sound. Always a distinctive instrument, the H-912 is also associated with Kurt Cobain, who used one on a number of sessions for Nirvana recordings.
 
Overall length is 39 1/2 in. (100.3 cm.), 15 in. (38.1 cm.) wide at lower bout, and 3 7/8 in. (9.8 cm.) in depth at side, taken at the end block. Scale length is 25 in. (635 mm.). Width of nut is 2 1/8 in. (54 mm.).

This Stella is overall quite clean with very little playwear evident. There is some typical light chipping to the edges -- the top's "binding" is actually painted on! There is one very small top crack just below the tailpiece, well-sealed up but evident. No other cracks are visible on the instrument. The top is quite clean with no notable distortion, often an problem on these. There are a couple of old tape marks on the lower quarter and one small screw hole patched in the pickguard, and another in the bridge.

Just emerged from a neckset and requisite fret work, this is easily one of the best sounding and playing examples of a Stella/Harmony we have ever had. While obviously a fairly low-budget model, this is a very nice solid-wood 12 string with its own distinctive sound. Excellent - Condition.