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Family : Sovereign Jumbo

Other brands : H1260 Sovereign was also sold as Airline 7032 | Alden 9955 | Fender F-1060 | Holiday AL9243 | Opus X (Ten) | Regal R235 | Silvertone S633 | SR Sears & Roebuck S1221 | Vega FTJ

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Original catalog description

[1966 catalog]
HARMONY SOVEREIGN -JUMBO MODEL
The rich deep sustained bass and clear treble tones so desirable for folk and Country and Western music are "built-in" this specially designed Sovereign Jumbo model. The large deep body has selected mahogany back and sides, resonant spruce top, white edge bindings, with inlays. The Torque-Lok reinforced mahogany "Slim-Line" neck, with ovalled rosewood fingerboard, makes chording and playing fast and easy. Beautifully finished, highly polished.
No. 1260 - Size 16 x 4 5/16 x 40 3/4 in : $85.00
No. C-550 - Carrying Case, extra : $16.00

Original price

  1958 : $69.50
  1959 : $69.50
  1962 : $72.50
  1967 : $85.00
  1969 : $95.00
  1972 : $122.50

Verified production year(s) : 1958-1971
others years possible, not verified.

22 comments | Add your comment !

• rlspt - 2005-08-02
  This is my favorite Harmony model. It seems to have the boomiest bass of any Harmony. I've had them with the Harmony brand, also Regal, Airline and Silvertone, in various configurations. If i were limited to choosing one Harmony to own, this would be it.
• nfodgr - 2005-11-10
  The opening notes of Stairway to Heaven were recorded with a Harmony H1260 Sovereign...
• clayton peacock - 2006-01-14
  I love this guitar !! i've owned it for about 11 or 12 years now ? and it has just sounded better and better the more i play it !!.
  i believe it dates from around 62-65 ? and when i got it it was virtually mint. i've played and played it and never had any problems. lovely rich tones, strong bottom end and clear, sharp high end.
  i play mostly a style like john fahey's mid 60's stuff and it's ideal for that....a fingerpickers dream.
• René van den Belt - 2006-08-04
  Got a fine 1963 H1260 on ebay. It's in great original condition and doesn't need the neck reset you always read about. Huge bass response, bright and tight highs, excellent balance; fat and wide neck, just like an old J-45. This guitar has all the character of a fine solid wood vintage steelstring. And it's louder than my D-35. The serial number is the strangest part of this jumbo Sovereign, it says H7032 instead of H1260.... Does anyone know why??
• Jeff Irion - 2006-08-05
  Mr.VanDemBelt, My sovereign has the model No.4515W7032 (no H). I purchased it new in 1969 or 1970 with the help of a neighbor who was in the Dallas Symphony. Its tone has only improved. I was told that it was made with excess inventory Fender jumbo bodies usually found on Guitars costing much more. I paid about $170.00. I have not been able to find anything more as to identification.
• François (webmaster) - 2006-08-06
  There is always a rumour about Harmony guitars with Gibson bodies... That's the first time I read the story with Fender bodies... I'm sure this is untrue. At this time Harmony made guitars for Fender, not the reverse. Fender was not an acoustic guitar maker. As you can check on this page, some H1260 were branded and sold by Fender (many H1260 are disguised with Regal, Silvertone, Holiday, Airline brands..).
  For René's H1260, Harmony may have used a back prepared for one other brand, and already stamped H7032 (7032 is the model number of the Montgomery Ward same guitar, sold under the Airline brand). We saw this glitch in numbers on many other samples.
• Pine - 2006-11-15
  In 1969 and 1970, a number of Harmony guitars were marketed by Fender, using both the Regal name as well as Fender's name. I had a Sovereign H-1270 12-string which had "Fender" written on the headstock, and a Fender-style floating bridge, obviously a Harmony product. Someone mentioned the date-stamp bearing the "country of origin" as being illegible on a Sovereign; Sovereigns and all other "real" Harmony's were built only in Chicago... Later, non-Chicago-built imports will say "SINCE 1892" on the label or on the headstock... Pine
• Boogie Bruce - 2006-12-07
  I had the pleasure of owning the H1260 Harmony Sovereign Jumbo model guitar in 1964 and '65. Though in those days it was known as the "poor man's Martin", it's quality and sound deserved a much better reputation. It made a terrific blues guitar and I bought it for $40.00 at a music store in Van Nuys. CA. after having seen bluesmen Mance Lipscomb and Lightnin' Hopkins play them onstage or in photos. Later, I added a DeArmond-type pickup.
  After I moved to San Francisco in '65, its neck was run over by a car after letting me off after a gig and the peg head broke off. I was never able to successfully re-attach it and finally gave it away to some kids. I've been looking for another one ever since but they're rarely seen in good condition; at least around the Central Coast of California.
• Larry Heagle - 2007-04-04
  My first really good guitar was a 1260 that I owned in the early 1960's. Lately, even though I have two really nice Martins, I have the urge to find another one! I just had one shipped in, but the top was too bellied to save the neck. Even so, it was difficult to ship it back as it sounded just as wonderful as my first! So I continue my quest to find a 1260 that is in decent shape!
• Larry (again) - 2007-04-27
  I finally found a 1260 in average to good condition. Cleaned it up with Murphy's Wood Soap, put on D'Addario phosphor bronze strings and I am stunned with the beautiful voice of this aged beauty! I can't put it down.
• Paul Nelson - 2007-05-14
  I have owned a H1260 since 1971 when I bought it from a friend who says his parents purchased it for him in 1958. I paid $ 75.00 for it and find it to be all I ever needed. Every time I consider looking at a Martin or Gibson I choose to stay with this excellent old guitar. My wife had the top refinished and refretted for my 50th birthday. I am now 61 and my adult childlren all guitar players just have to sit down and play it for hours when visiting. It has these strange numbers 7599H703 which doesn't match anything. Any ideas??
• carvalho - 2007-06-03
  Just given a Sovereign H1260 - serial number 3259H1260 - beautiful, old guitar - can't wait to get the bridge repaired - looks like a bad repair job failed to glue it down properly - ANY WAY to determine what year this guitar was made ??
• Jim Sutton - 2007-06-21
  Bought my 1260 new in 1960 or 61 S# 1111H1260. Played Country & Western 57 through 64. Put the guitar under the bed so to speak untill early fall of 2005. Was moved to get it out and play for the Lord after the 41 year lay-off. Had to adjust the neck a mite but the guitar is as good as it ever was. Don't have any clue as to its worth, it is in excellant original condition.
• steve - 2007-08-13
  I have a Sovereign 1260 which is missing two of the screws on the string winders on the back of the machine head.
  Does anyone know where I can some more.
  Guitar is in very good condition and I feel lucky to own such an instrument.
• Stratocaster - 2007-09-29
  I came across my Sovereign 1260 and fell in love. I ended up pestering the owner until he finally sold it to me. Mine is really beat up and has some nasty cracks on the sides, but it sounds just fine. I've played some pretty nice guitars, but you have to go with what you feel. This one feels right for me.
• Kurt - 2007-10-05
  I have a 1260 that has no serial number or headstock logo but has the rectangular bridge of the Airline 7032. I picked it up two years ago for $225, and after a year of playing it, I sold my Martin and my Seagull because I had stopped playing them. The neck is perfect; I put in an ivory saddle which seemed to brighten it up a bit. It sounds wonderful and plays beautifully.
• handsoffmyharmony! - 2007-12-02
  I bought this guitar at a garage sale this past summer for $25. The elderly, original owner played the hell out of this thing (he said he played it nearly every day for 40 years), and after listening to it, you can see why. This guitar flat out sings! There is a dry, organic, woody texture to the sound, almost as if you can hear the wood of the guitar singing to you, the kind of sound that only 40 years of constant playing can produce. The top is well worn, with heavy finger wear on the top by the bridge and on the pickguard, it has minor scars, nicks and scratches in all the right places, the finish has aged to an amber honey color, and it is all astoundingly beautiful. I usually use light .046 mm picks for acoustic work, but for whatever reason, one day I decided to use a quarter for a pick. Low and behold, I think I've found Nirvana. Used this way it has an even more woody sound with a slight amount of deep boxiness that is deliciously percussive. Finger picking is blissful, just sit back in your favorite rocking chair and play yourself to sleep. Whenever I play this guitar, most people comment about how good it sounds, regardless of their age, or playng experience. The only downside to this guitar is that for whatever reason the lower E-string, and only the lower E-string sounds wooly and anemic, which is out of character with all the other strings which are gloriously clear, balanced and proportionate in sound.
• lowbrass - 2007-12-28
  I have a 1260 I bought from a college friend in about 1969. Paid $75 for it. It's in near new condition although a neck reset is in its future. The sound is still super. Who'd have thought that that purchase, which at the time was only a way to get a guitar upgrade in my budget, would have turned out so well. I still play it, although I had to get a Seagull for amplified playing.
• GNParent - 2008-02-04
  I Bought a brand new Soverign at Uncle Sam's Pawn shop in Oklahoma City back in 1965. In those days it was said that if you played 20 Soverigns you'd find one that stands out. (Apparently quality control left something to be desired in the Chicago factory.) That one stood out among all the otherwise identical copies in town. I think I paid a little over 60 bucks and have never played a Martin I'd trade it for.
  The neck and body warped back in the early 80's and I had Don Teeter rebuild it for me. Now it sounds better than it ever did and the action is unbelieveable.
  Don is a big believer in pin bridges, so he replaced the original bridge with one he carved as only he can do. (I also have an almost identical harmony with the 'Fender' label on the headstock and it has a pin bridge from the factory-so I guess Fender demanded a pin bridge too.) Along the way I fitted mine with Schaller tuners and replaced the broken pick guard.
  There are two features of the Soverigns that I think might contribute to their remarkable sound. One is the ladder bracing under the soundboard. They are built in some ways more like a classical guitar than the X-braced dreadnaughts they resemble. The other feature is the old-growth sitka spruce they used in the soundboards. The annual rings are small and close together when compared to anything produced recently. I understand that the 'better' manufacturers rejected these boards because they felt they could control the top better with bracing. I have my doubts.
  In any case, I have no desire for a better all-around folk singer's guitar.
  -Gary
• FolkHouse - 2008-02-28
  I recently purchased a near-mint Harmony Sovereign Jumbo H1260 for $225. Plays great, nice action, straight neck, etc. This guitar has a pin type bridge instead of the string-through bridge, which I've not seen in photos. Anybody know a little history on this? Personally, I much prefer a pin bridge anyway, so this is definitely not a bad thing!. Thanks!
• Gentle Giant - 2008-03-03
  I stumbled across my 1260 in a second hand music shop in Birmingham UK in 1980. I was in the shop armed with a stack of cash and my eye on something famous. I only picked up the Harmony because none of the other guitars did it for me. As soon as I sat down with it, I knew it felt right. One chord was enough to quicken my heartbeat, and I was not leaving the shop without it!
  It sounds best with Ernie Ball Earthwood Extra Lights, and my heart still beats faster every time I put new strings on the ol' girl.
  One tip: if, like me you do not use a pick and the scratchplate falls off - leave it off!! It will sound even fuller and richer. I fingerpick and frail, so the top is now showing signs of wear, but I love my Harmony and if the house were to catch fire it would be the first thing I would rescue (as my wife once ruefully remarked).
  Phil H., Hereford UK
• alfsboy - 2008-03-09
  I have owned my 1260 (I think) since new in about 64. The pecking order was Martin, Gibson Epiphone, then the Harmony Sovereign, no other Harmonys, just the Sovereign. It always sounded best with Epiphone heavy strings. They lasted 2 weeks and then the tone went. It accompanied me round most London Folk clubs playing mainly Bluegrass style New Lost City Ramblers and folk stuff. It also got very wet, very cold, very hot, very filled with beer, used to hide gear (police soon got wise to that one) and then kicked downstairs by a drunken but probably discriminating music lover at a Party. The side split and splintered and when the police finally allowed me back in (it was that kind of party !)I picked all the tiny broken bits of mahogany off the floor and went home and glued it all together again using cascemite and compressing the top and bottom together. Amazingly it worked, no tone loss. It's all a bit worn out now and I last played it in the eighties when I went back to electrics. The fret board is worn out as are the frets. I found a new fret board on Ebay, Original Harmony old stock unbelievably, and I will perhaps get a luthier to install it. In the meantime I am looking for new tuners but I may fit Grovers as I have some around. I will get it all fired up and then judge whether to go ahead and get it refurbished. I am sure it will sound better than the 500 quid guitar I played recently. I am now removing 42 years of Tobacco crud . YUK!!!!! sure glad I gave up. I really should have polished it at least once. It is a good indication of just how well built it was. Most of the time I didn't even have a case or even a bag most of the time. Great times, great guitar yes I would have preferred a Martin though its value would have made life far less fun.