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Family : Grand concert size

Other brands : H165 was also sold as Fender F-1030 | Montgomery Wards 8354

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Original catalog descriptions

[1957 catalog]
SPANISH SOLO GUITARS
GRAND CONCERT MAHOGANY Body of selected quality mahogany, with neatly rounded edges, in a natural color eggshell lacquer finish. Ovaled fingerboard, of Brazilian rosewood. 1•t frets clear of body. "Pinless" type bridge. Hardwood neck. Applied shell celluloid guardplate. Resonant tone quality.
No.165 - $40.00

[1966 catalog]
MAHOGANY GRAND CONCERT SIZE
Body of selected quality mahogany, with neatly rounded edges, in a natural color eggshell lacquer finish. Ovalled rosewood fingerboard, 14 frets clear of body. "Pinless" type bridge. Steel reinforced hardwood neck. Shell celluloid pick guard. Resonant tone quality for solo playing or accompaniment of songs.
No. 165-Size 15 1/8 x 39 in. : $47.50

Original price

  1951 : $30.00
  1957 : $40.00
  1958 : $40.00
  1959 : $40.00
  1962 : $42.00
  1967 : $47.50
  1969 : $54.50
  1972 : $67.50

Verified production year(s) : 1947-1971
others years possible, not verified.

17 comments | Add your comment !

• Robert Armendariz - 2005-10-10
  I have a h165. I love it. For a smallerguitarit is very bright and loud. A little hintfor those who don't know the date is on the inside stamped. Sometimes it is very faint. Its two numbers with a letter and has made in usa under it. Stamp is 1 in by 1/2 in
• John - 2005-12-28
  I bought one at a garage sale and really like it. The action is high, but it's fine for strumming open chords and has a really nice sound. I'm glad I got it!
• honda - 2005-12-30
  I just bought it on ebay because I saw Lightnin' Hopkins playing this guitar on his DVD. It must be a good guitar!
• honda - 2006-01-13
  I finally got the guitar. $99 plus shipping on ebay. Wow! This guitar sounds incredible! Clear, articulate and loud! I'm selling my Martin D-15! I thought the D-15 was a great guitar, and perhaps it is. However, after this Harmony H 165, I just don't need it!
• felixedo - 2006-07-22
  I have had my H165 for more than fifteen years. It has gone through travels, moves from west of the Continental Divide to the Great Lakes. It has been a great companion in all moods, great sound, faithful tunning, stumming or picking, an awsome sound. Don't know the year it was made. A "wednesday" guitar for sure.
• DOCINFINITI - 2006-10-01
  MY GUITAR, PURCHASED NEW THE YEAR SHE WAS MADE, YES 47.50, MY COMPANION FOR ALL THESE YEARS. TRAVELED WITH ME TO 3 CONTINENTS, THROUGH THICK AND THIN.
• Riffe - 2007-01-16
  Serial number 9319H165 since 1966. Given to me by my father for Christmas about a week before I was seven. Today, it is getting restrung for my seven year old. The condition is very good for a forty year old piece of history.
• Amy Treuvey - 2007-02-26
  I got my Harmony in 1969 as a birthday present from my father. It is right here next to me in the kitchen and though the action is high from having too heavy strings on it for too many years, it still has that clear, bright tone. My younger brother took his first lessons on it and so did our friend Jesse. Everyone who played it, loves it, but not as much as I do.
  I have read that holding the mahogany next to the skin, with the combo of the finish can be toxic, however, and so anyone getting one of these old beauties may want to always wear long sleeves when playing for more than a few and not let it rest on the legs while wearing shorts. This guitar has been a joy and remains so. The model is H165.
• TIOK - 2007-05-14
  I never knew the model number or anything else about this guitar until I found this site. I've had this one well over 30 years, cost $15 at a garage sale. The tone always has been awesome in a very unique way. Love it, could never part with it. Use light, bright strings for a clear yet twangy tone. Actually have two: found another at a garage sale a few years later and got it for $10. It never sounded as good or played as well.
• rileykill - 2007-09-13
  Just received a '62 H165 through a trade. What an awesome instrument - I can't believe these great solid mahogany guitars are so inexpensive! The action is good but will be even better with a little tweaking. Plays great even with mediums (which will be coming off very soon). If I can find another vintage, solid wood Harmony for such a low price I will definitely be picking it up.
• handsoffmyharmony! - 2007-12-02
  This guitar used to be my father's. He bought it brand new in the early '70's at the guitar shop where he used to work. He played it occasionally though the 70's and then stopped playing soon afterwards. I learned to play on this guitar, and have since bought much more expensive guitars, but I keep coming back to this thing for more. This is now my dedicated slide guitar. It has that woody and boxy delta blues sound that is so coveted, and so hard to reproduce. If you've ever heard John Lee Hokker's Hobo Blues, that is the sound that comes out of this thing, and this guitar absolutely nails that tone! It plays old blues like Bukka White, Blind Willie McTell, Blind Lemon Jefferson, Furry Lewis and Robert Johnson real well too. And holy crap is this thing loud! My decible meter reads a 96db rating at 6" from the sound hole! This is also the lightest guitar mankind will ever see. On my digital hand scale it weighs 2Lbs. 11 Oz.!!! It's as if it were made of balsa wood! It's not of course, it's all mahogany. This guitar for me is the Pearly Gates of the delta blues. Lord have mercy!
• pixtaker - 2007-12-13
  I have two of these; one is in excellent condition save for a long-ago repaired side crack that runs from mid-upper to mid-lower bout. The repair is solid as a rock, though could be a bit better done cosmetically. My daughter, who uses this as her everyday acoustic, says it is like a scar on the face of a good-looking person - character! We have lots of guitars in the house and this one get the most use asisde from her archtop.
  My second one I picked up on eBay because she wanted to give one to a friend. It has many ills - needs a neck set, dips and buldges in the top, needs a new nut and saddle, a few really ugly cosmetic repairs to the edge, etc. Amazingly, the neck is still very good, the frets are not bad and the top and back are crack free. Some day I will probably take this thing apart and rebuild it with the help of a luthier friend as I've heard a couple of these rebuilt with lighter bracing in X-style rather than ladder-style that were even better than my good condition stock one! These are so light and so resonant when in good shape and set up right that it makes many other and more expensive guitars seem like heavy cardboard boxes by comparison.
• kelly Smith - 2008-02-08
  i have a H165 with black pick guard, mahogany body with rounded edge where top and back meets sides.
  my dilemma: is it a 1965, 66' or 67'?
  from the pics, the 67' looks like it has a harder edge (where top meets sides) than the 65' (65' looks rounder at joint). but the 65' shown has tortoise like pick guard -not black...
  thanks,
  k
• René van den Belt - 2008-02-19
  Bought an H162 ('63) and an H165 ('69) on ebay for playing slide. The H165 came with two cracks in the thin mahogany top. Luckily a fine guitar builder in Holland did a good repairjob. The action is high, bur for slide that's just fine. Very thin, breakable guitars, these H62-H165's. But that's also the secret of these magical small Harmony's: the thinner the woods, the better the sound! The H165 is the darker, woody sounding one with lots of bluesy warmth and sustain. I tuned it in open D (D-A-D-F#-A-D) and it sounds unbelievable.
• muzak - 2008-02-26
  Just bought a h165 today from a shop in Copenhagen. This one has an adjustable truss rod, so I guess this is from '70 or '71. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I've read somewhere that they started to install adjustable truss rods in 71, but I really have no idea. It has no stambs. I just love the sound of this baby. She may not look like the prom queen, but don't get fooled...
• François (webmaster) - 2008-02-27
  Musak, H162 and H165 got the trussrod (and loose the golden clef logo) in about 1968
• muzak - 2008-02-27
  Thank you, François. I thought it was only a reinforce truss rod until '70.
  I now believe mine is a '70 model, since I think I can just dimly see "70" inside the case. I think the number says 8767H165.