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Family : Bass

Other brands : H22 Bass was also sold as Alden 9983 | Holiday AL9224

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Original catalog descriptions

[1962 catalog]
Harmony's Hi-value electric bass
Golden Tone pickup, DeArmond built - Bass and Baritone registers - Outstanding response

Designed for the guitar player would like to "double" on a second instrument. Designed, too, for the bass player who would like to shed the back-breaking chore of carrying a massive string-bass from job to job. Designed for all the players who seek "different" effects. The value built into it is unsurpassed.
Comfortable Auditorium size - Ultra-thin hollow tone chamber body - laminated maple top and back - celluloid bound edges. Satin-smooth walnut shaded sunburst eggshell finish.
Slim torque-lok reinforced neck - straight line for uniform feel - 15 frets clear of the body. The ebonized fingerboard is comfortably narrow for easy fingering. 1 3/4 wide at the nut. Full scale, 30 inches from nut to adjustable bridge.
The new golden tone bass pickup was especially designed in cooperation with De Armond for dual tone and fine response. Finger tip switch provides a choice of full bass or lighter baritone registers. Separate tone and volume conrols. A conveniently located rosewood finger rest facilitates easy plucking of the strings. Size overall 15 3/4 x 44 1/4 in. Rim 2 in. deep. $95.00. C22 carrying cae, keratol, plush lined, $16.50

[1966 catalog]
HI-VALUE ELECTRIC BASS-Golden Tone Pickup, De Armond Built ... Bass and Baritone Registers
Comfortable Auditorium size Ultra-Thin hollow Tone Chamber body, laminated maple top and back, celluloid bound edges. Satin-smooth walnut shaded eggshell finish. Slim Torque-Lok reinforced neck. 15 frets clear of the body. The rosewood fingerboard is comfortably narrow, 13/4 in. wide at the nut. Full scale, 30 inches from nut to adjustable bridge. Fine quality flat wound strings.
The pickup was especially designed in cooperation with De Armond for dual tone and fine response. Finger tip switch provides a choice of full bass or lighter baritone registers. A rosewood finger rest facilitates plucking of the strings.
No. H22-Electric Bass. Size overall 153/4 x 441/4 in. Rim 2 in. deep : $109.50
No. C22-Carrying Case, extra : $18.00

Original price

  1962 : $95.00
  1967 : $109.50

Verified production year(s) : 1961-1968
others years possible, not verified.

21 comments | Add your comment !

• Sean - 2005-09-30
  The best bass ever built.
• Chris - 2005-10-23
  I bought this bass in 1974 and have just handed it over to my 16 yr old son who is learning how to play it.
• Bob - 2006-01-20
  The best bass I've ever owned. I've had them all.
• Bob - 2006-01-27
  The Harmony H22 is one of the best basses I ever owned. I got it from ebay and it needed a lot of work. Had the repairs done by Halifax's note worthy Tom Dorward, the results were amaizing. I play this bass every day. I won't gig the bass brcause I don't have a case for it yet. Gonna get a custom road case built for it.Buy these basses guys and keep the bass alive,the bass is worthy of this.
  Bob Young
  Nova Scotia, Canada
• johnny b - 2006-02-13
  two words...killer tone...best bass I have ever owned or played, just bought another as a back-up. Plays great-sounds great, bought my first one in 2002 and have used it on over 500+ gigs as well as some recording and am always asked about it, sounds like an upright without having to lug the ol' doghouse around. Do yourself a favor and get one, you will not be disappointed, you can find some in great condition and some that need a little work, but well worth it.
• big daddy bass 51 - 2006-09-26
  I acquired an H22/1 with the original strings! The sound when i first tried it out is amazing.I can not stop playing this BABY.it has 5-65w or m on the inside.The first 2 serial no's have faded ,the rest I can read.I have been looking for this bass for over 9 months. The condition of the bass was immaculate it had been hardly played' the frets are in great shape.I don't know what could top this sound coming from this jewel!God bless HARMONY for making a true classic.For those of you who haveone you know what Imean. Now to find a H27!GROVE ON!
• JW - 2006-11-18
  1966 Harmony H-22 has a nice woody tone with a full bass sound. Any ideas on replacement tuners or a nice fitting hardshell case?
• Johnnyp - 2006-11-20
  The H22 the best sounding electric bass ever built.
  Howdy from Ft Worth Texas !!!!!
• Skidd - 2006-12-27
  In the early '70s a friend of mine had a guitar and an amp in his basement that would make noise,so I picked it up, played along with the records (Grand Funk, Sabbath et al) and eventually learned a bit about how to play. (30 years and some bands later I hope I'm a player, but you know...) The guitar was a Harmony H-22. Don't know what the amp was. 20 watts of some junk or another,long since mercifly gone to the dump. But the guitar! This bass hung on my friend's wall unplayed (he would never let me play it because I'm a heavy handed 5 string rock player, among other things) for all these years and then lo and behold! he gave me the guitar! How fabulous is that? This thing is the ultimate RnB, country, rock whatever tool through a 100 watt tube amp of most any variety (done have played it through several, so far. The Hammond Rnb dude I'm playing with at the moment loves it.) So! The point being it's my fave axe and is going to change my playing (nothing could hurt) but I have some questions. What kind of strings should I put on it? Modern strings have way too much tension for the neck, they warp it, so I've been playing it in a D flat tuning because the neck will take it. Where can I find technical info on this guitar? And other questions later. This thing is not in pristine condition.The original sunburst finish was sanded off and taken down to the blond wood (which looks great) the knobs are other than orignal, tho acceptable, and the small tuning pegs were replaced with bigger,cheap pegs, which I'm going to replace with Schallers or something. The big pegs look and work better, so. One last thing. Somebody on this site was wanting the bat wing pick guard for the H-22. I've got it and don't want it on this guitar, so I'de be willing to give it up. Love to all, lots of fun with the cheap(Ha!) and beautiful guitars!
• The ThumpMeister ! - 2007-01-12
  Got a '66 H22 and it's spanking! Has flatwounds fitted which I think are the original strings!
  How do you go back to a P-Bass when you've played one of these awesome woof monsters! This bass can remove a bars' optics in two notes!
  The great Ronnie Lane used one of these throughout his stint with the Small Faces which made me lust for one. Many years of searching finally came to fruition and I nabbed one on e-bay...Ye Gods what an awesome bass! This is one of those great lost treasures that Indiana Jones strives to discover for posterity...totally original including the oft removed scratchplate , she just booms a woody yet melodic undertone that really is so earthy and mellow I swear you will be convinced she's speaking! OK...OK....so I love this bass... Yeah I admit it... Just grab one and ignore any other bass review....believe me...the H22 IS the ULTIMATE Bass !
• rackhunter - 2007-02-13
  Hey guys I have a 63 H22, I've had it since I was 16. I noticed mine have dark brown knobs instead of the white ones I see on the ones in the pictures. I'm sure mine are original. Have you ever seen that before? The toilet flusher as someone called it is white.
• david michael - 2007-03-18
  I received this bass as Christmas present in 1985, it was used. It has heavy duty gear box type tuning pegs[they were on it when I got it], it doesn't have any #'s on it. It also has black nobs[one is clear with #s on it]. It also has only 3 screws on the back. It has sound that is so deep and vibrating! I have a Gibson tube type amp. Have not seen any pics that match mine exactly.
• Bird Stevens - 2007-06-30
  I have a Harmony 1961 H22 bass it sounds like a Big train
  The best i ever had "highly recommended"
  I'm searching for the pefect case for it to get on the road
  any suggestions ?
• jsohn - 2007-08-30
  I have seen H22 fit Epiphone 335 guitar cases. It's a bit tight but it it works!
• Jerry J - 2007-10-31
  Has anyone been able to confirm the Epi 335 case as a fit? I wonder if the ES175 case would work better? I just don't have a source locally where I could try it out. So I would have to order the case and hope that it fits.
• DaveC - 2007-11-15
  I bought an H22 back in 1965 from 8th Street Music in Philly, and played it for a number of years. It eventually got stolen. I replaced it with a Gibson EBO (no comparison there), and then a Rickenbacker 4001 (totally different animal). To this day I still remember the tone of that H22. I played it with the original flat wound strings (never replaced) through an Ampeg B15, and it thumped!
• Izdovrcr - 2007-12-05
  I was given this bass a gift from my mom back in 1964. She bought it from Montgomery Ward resale shop for about $30.00. It has a crack on the bottom side but still sounds and plays fantastically
• Reggie - 2007-12-28
  I am a Saxophone Player who recieved this bass as a Christmas present from my parents back in the 60's. Loved it then Love it now its my first and most valued instrument and I have many, so that says a lot. I can play it tirelessly with the nice small neck and smooth feel. Be it through an amp, or sitting on the side of the bed, the tone is killer. Yes Harmony got it right on this instrument.
• Biff the Bass - 2008-01-22
  I have owned my H22 since 1968. I bought it for £30 second hand. I'm still gigging a couple of times a week, although these days I mainly use my P bass. I also have a Jazz bass. However, occasionally the Harmony still goes out. It never fails to amaze me how much bottom end it has, & it's considerably lighter than the fenders!
  Wiltshire England
• phrenology - 2008-03-30
  I love Harmony Guitars. I have a 68' H54/1 Double cutaway and I love it, but I'm more of a bass player. I'm anxious to give the H22 a shot. I just finished building up a P-bass 57' reissue with a fretless Jazz neck. I strung it up with Rotosound RS 88 LD nylon coated black flatwounds. I bet Rotos would be good on the H22, as they have a lower tension. Hey Bassmelon you wanna sell me that H22??? What shape is it in...email me phrenology@yahoo.com
• New2H22 - 2008-04-07
  I recently was asked by my pastor's father in law if I wanted to learn to play bass. Oh boy do I! So he broke out this well used '67 H-22. He said I could have it if I stayed with it, and traded a nice medium size Yamaha accoustic for it.
  I just about fell over, for months I've been looking for a hollow body, but never dreamed of owning one. A friend tried talking me into a Carvin... but they do not build hollow bodies and I simply didn't have his kind of money.
  After a season of just plunking on it and learning some chords, I just love it. At home it is being run through a Fender Rumble, which is OK for practice. But at church it runs through a Fender 150 Bassman and it shakes the floor. At home with the 150, it used to rattle the wife's nick gnacks on her curio shelf... and run the dogs out the back door! The tone is awesome and it is very easy to play. I had no idea how different and way neater the sound quality was on a hollow body until this H-22 came along.
  The fellow who had it plays it like a lead guitar, and says he loved it better than his '57 Gibson.