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Family : Bobkat, Silhouette line

Other brands : H17 Bobkat was also sold as Heath or Heathkit TG26

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Original catalog description

[1966 catalog]
Solid body electric guitar
- Profile styled for beauty and ease of playing.
- Modern design and DeArmond electronics for speed and response, to give you what you want for today's music and playing style !
- With famous "Slim Line" neck, "Ultra Slim" fingerboards, and Torque Lok adjustable dual reinforcing rods. Short scale for easy chording.
Model H17, double pickup with polished finish and Vibrato Tailpiece
The snug comfort of playing on this gleaming Silhouette electric must be tried to be fully appreciated. The hardwood body with its highly polished Cherry Red shaded finish fits comfortably under the arm. The "uniform feel" Slim Line neck and narrow bound fingerboard - 15 frets clear off body - are Torque-Lok reinforced. DeArmond designed the dual unit pickup, with each unit mounted at a slight angle for enhanced tonal effect. Full controls. The smartly designed Type W chrome plated Vibrato-Tailpiece is positive in action - smoothly changing tone above or below pitch. Try one soon, for real playing pleasure.
H17, Size 12 3/4 x 36 3/4 x 1 1/2 in. : $127.50.
HC14 Carrying case for either model : $12.00

Verified production year(s) : 1964-1966
others years possible, not verified.

5 comments | Add your comment !

• X-3H2 - 2006-01-10
  I got his guitar on a trade-in in 1996 thrown in for $20 at Bob's Music (closed down)in Croydon, PA. The stamped date is Dec 28 1966 this baby plays like a champ!! The Bobkat has better tone than my Kramer American Pacer which was $700 back in 1985!!!
• Mark - 2006-02-22
  I bought one of these off ebay last year for £120 because I love guitars of this period, but I wasn't expecting it to be this good.
  It is so nice to play I rarely pick up any of my other guitars anymore.
  The narrow but deep neck feels totally natural, and is probably the reason that the sustain is so good.
  The sound from both pick-ups is fantastic. No gouat it has ever shared a room with has come close.
  I think the DeArmond Goldentones must be one of the best pick-ups ever made.
  The only criticism I have is that I have to screw the tremolo down if I want it to stay in tune for long period, but that doesn't take much effort.
  This guitar is an absolute gem. Few guitars come close at any of price.
• Mark - 2006-02-23
  A couple of other comments (and I'll proof read my submission this time):
  Firstly, when you play it accousticly, it's the loudest solidbody I've ever come across. I've no idea why because it's so small, but it just is.
  Secondly, you don't have to worry about whether to buy a hard tail or tremelo version, because you can screw down the tremelo and effectively turn it into a hard tail if you want, which is a pretty rare feature (and quite handy as I don't believe they made a hardtail version of this guitar).
• wesly duckett - 2006-10-04
  i just foundmy dads old harmony by heath guitar in our basement but unfortunatly the amp had caught fire and burned i cant play but it must be good when i took it to the music store to see about getting it fixxed up they offered to buy it from me
• Scott Becker - 2007-07-04
  This was my first guitar. (still have it!) I bought it at 15 in 1975, blew up the Harmony amp in short order. The action was always horrible, I used it as a slide guitar tuned to open E... until I lent it to a guitar tech when he was recuperating from an accident as he had no guitar at the time, and he set up as a favor and now it plays like a Les Paul (I couldn't believe it myself) The tone has always been unbelievably beefy .. I love it. There's a date stamped in the body cavity when you remove the pick guard that states it was manufactured in 1965.