H19 - Silhouette
Electric solid body - Redburst
Production year(s) : 1963-1967 (other years possible, not verified)

Other brands : H19 Silhouette was also sold as Alden 9213 | Holiday AL9213 | Silvertone 1478 | Silvertone 1478-1

The finest Harmony solid body. Hagstrom vibrato and bridge. Silvertone 1478 version has different pickups, bridge, vibrato. Holiday version has no vibrato. Note the body shape very different (larger) from the "Bobkat" H15 series. Production ended sooner than the smaller "bobkat" line, But late H16 (coloured) models also had the larger body of the H19.

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Scale

24"1/4

615 mm

18 comments | Add your comment !

• Ben - 2006-01-01
  I have one of these H19's, and they are some of the best sounding guitars i've ever heard! I found mine at a garage sale for $30, and i've restored it to it's origional condition, and kept everything original except the knobs, which i replaced with some knurled steel ones, and it still plays beautifully! One of the best made!!!
• Harpin Stevie B - 2006-02-12
  Hello,
  I just bought an H19, really beat up but I brought her back and replaced the tremelo arm with a Fender one. I tapped the hole where the original set screw was and it fit beautifully.Excellent guitar, dated March 1966. One month before I was born!
  Steve Brown
• John L. - 2006-03-28
  This guitar is also a very pro guitar! The Hagstrom tail vibrato stays in tune and the sustain is unreal! I am a rhythm guitar player though, and this does not work for me for rhythm playing. BUT if you are a lead guitarist this is your baby!! I have some friends who could not put it down-it is a great sounding instrament...John
• ricardo - 2006-11-21
  i loves my "new" h-19, got it all fixed up. shape and feel is so nice. some say the neck is overly thick but i like it, plays easy & sustains forever! right now i'm playing through an old noisey heath kit amp, but i'm gonna ditch it for a fender twin at some point.
• ricardo - 2006-12-09
  oh yeah, i should say that the tuners on mine were shot, so i had my local shop put a set of new grover deluxe tuners in (vintage-style ones w/ the closed box around the tuner). they said the spacing of the holes was not standard, and not just any set of tuners would fit. i would recomend this.
• sikkelee - 2007-05-08
  i found this guitar under the stairs at my grandpas house and pick it up and started to play it ..its awsome! its sounds so smoth it still has the original strings, knobs, pick ups , everything! and not 1 scrach on it im glad he gave it to me haha
• alex - 2007-07-02
  just bought this off of my friend for 200$. worth every cent in my book. the tone can be so sad at times, its really flawless. the pickups are great (but completely unsheilded). I wish sheilding them didnt mean taking out the rivets and thus ruining the collectability.
• cooley - 2007-07-04
  i had one of these in 1969 and sold it in the 70's. i would sure love to have it back :)
• Chris Christiansen - 2008-02-22
  This was my very first electric guitar. When my family moved to London, England in 1964, I acquired a Vox AC 30 combo amp that had been traded in by the Hollies at Jennings Musical Supply for a Vox AC 100 stage amp. Loved my little Harmony. Don't remember what I did with it over the years. I've since owned (and lost) many fine guitars, but will always remember that little solidbody. Too bad I didn't appreciate it more when I was younger. Now I have a Vox AC 100 (big amp), but no Harmony. Oh well............
• cjonesplay - 2008-04-01
  This was my first guitar, handed down to me by my father. I always hated the way the saddle pieces would never stay on the bridge (the screws fell out, too) and the pickups hummed horribly. It never stayed in tune and broke strings like crazy. The perfect guitar to pay your dues on! That being said, it's probably the reason I ended up becoming a musician (that, and Hendrix's Third Stone From the Sun). My dad always said he could have just spent $50 more and bought a Fender Mustang - he probably should have.
  A friend of mine "borrowed" this guitar, and I got it back 7 years later after his mom cleaned out their recently flooded basement. The fingerboard seperated from the neck completely, the tuners were rusted beyond repair, and the body suffered innumerable damages which I don't need to go into. I took the whole thing apart, and now it sits in my garage waiting for a miracle to happen. This guitar and I definitely have a love/hate relationship - thanks to this site for helping me bring back the memories.
• bassmann - 2008-06-15
  I got a BLACK H19 (factory finish) for 55$ at a hospital thrift store. It was made exactly one month after Kennedy's assasination (dec 22 63). I LOVE it!
• Firebrand - 2008-08-21
  I was given one of these almost 4 years ago, and it took some time to be able to ID it. I thought it to be "another knock off junk guitar" when it was presented...then I plugged it into my rig. wOw! My son HAD been playing it, but I bought him a Washburn to swap. I can't wait until this guitar is playable again! The strings slip out of place on the trem and the tuners are shot, but what a lovely find, especially since it found me!
• guitarpete - 2008-09-10
  My cousin Peter started my lifelong love of guitar with this instrument. We added a Silvertone amp and it was "Watch Out Ventures!" or anyone else with a cool sound. This was back in 1964 when the whole thing started taking off in garages, back rooms, friday night dances and every local party. Everyone seemed to be in a band or bandS. Farfisa organs, danelectro, vox, it was all happening. What a time to grow into. Miss you, Pete. Keep rockin' cool.
• Sam - 2009-02-04
  I just added one of these to my collection (I also have a H-64, the matching H-25 bass, H-56 Heathkit Rocket, and several old Harmony acoustics.)
  I was surprised at the build of this guitar after owning several hollowbodies. The neck, while not slim by today's standards, is much thinner than the others. I would say similar to a Les Paul contour. I believed these pickups to be the same kind as on the Rocket, but they sound much more bright and Fender-ish here (likely because of the solid body).
  But with the great amount of sustain here, this is definitely not an immitation Jaguar! This is a very high quality instrument.
• Rory - 2009-06-06
  One kick*ss guitar..sustains ( on high gain channels ) way longer than any tele or strat..sounds a hell of a lot better then a gibby or fender anyway you cut it. Intonation can be great, its all in how you set it. Pickups can be microphonic when distorted heavily, I recommend getting your's wax potted.Yea the pickups aren't shielded, but its not bad. Doesn't bother me.
  Sad part? Hard to find these anymore, and near impossible to find parts for. Luckly mine is complete ;). If anyone out there is associated with the current line of Harmony guitars, tell them to bring the H19 back! We don't need bobkats man, we need more of these gems.
• Benjamin Duke Larson - 2009-08-31
  Found a 64 up in the rafters of my dads quonset. I was looking for something else and spotted the end of a guitar cord hanging out. When I pulled on the cord, two guitars came falling down into my hands, a danelectro and a sunburst H19! Sat on this guitar for years with hopes of restoring it one day and finally got a round to it.
  Replaced the bridge with a newer one, as the old one was missing some saddles. Plugged it in and was amazed at the tone.
  My H19 still had the original Hagstrom tail piece with the vibrato arm attached!
  This is a great guitar.
  Currently doing sessions with it:)
• Jeff - 2009-12-11
  I have a 65' it was my dads first electric, and i have been restoring it back to good condition. Now that i have it working and playing good, i'm liking it more than my schecter hellraiser!
  Great guitar warm tone, even after all these years.
• simon G. - 2010-02-07
  It is my first guitar at 1965. My father buy for me in Mexico City. Tank you for let me remembre the early times.