H929 - Stella
Acoustic flatop - Sunburst, vertical faux flame
Production year(s) : 1945-1970 (other years possible, not verified)

Other brands : H929 Stella was also sold as Airline 7076 | Airline 8286/7026 | Alden 9935 | Barclay H929 | Fender F-1000 | Holiday AL9238 | Regal R200 | Silvertone 605 | SR Sears & Roebuck 1294

Floating bridge and metal tailpiece. It was a very popular model, sold under various brand name (Sivertone, Regal, Airline, Fender..). The H929 Stella was also available as 3/4 size and tenor, but each with classic glued bridge. In 1959 a "Hawaiian" model exists, with a square neck and metal bridge, for slide playing.

Show text from the catalogs (3)

| Show original prices (6)

54 images in database
mouse over image for file name - click to enlarge

Top wood	Birch
Body wood	Birch
All solid woods (as were all Harmony acoustic guitars before the seventies)

Width	13"1/4	337 mm
Length	35"3/4	908 mm
Body depth	3"3/4	95 mm
Scale	24"1/4	615 mm

Related to this model

• Video
  • Garret Revels plays his H929

• GuitarDude - 2006-11-18
  Ok, this is a sad case. I found one of these excellent guitars on the wall at an AppleBee's. I was very disapointed to see it there, screwed to the wall. It had a sunburst finish and the metal tailpiece. It appeared to be the H929 1959 model, like in the picture six rows down and five collumns to the right, and the picture directly to the right of that one. It is sad to see this guitar collecting dust.
• dan - 2007-03-04
  I recently purchased on Ebay a 929 model-black & orange tiger burst with white pick guard ,floating bridge w/nickeled tailpiece, stamped inside f-67-? ,made in usa.. The guitar came with the original chipboard case which is med. gray with salmon pink inside. The guitar was listed as non-playable or restorable since it was warped and cracked from the sound hole almost to the bridge . I really wanted the case for my other 929 stella and i thought I might be able to use the parts from the guitar or use it as a wallhanger. Well the seller was right it could not be repaired, but i discovered that even though it could not be played fingering the fretboard ,it is a fantastic slide guitar !!! It just goes to show that these old Stella's can " take a shockin and keep on rockin"
• LilBob - 2007-05-07
  I only paid 30 dollars for my H929, which I believe is either a 66 or 67 (the stamp is very faded and I can't read it all that well.) Compared to the budget acoustics you see in guitar shops nowadays its a top notch instrument. The American made H929 definitely beats out any of the $99 dollar foreign-made budget flat-top acoustics that I've seen.
• Scott - 2007-05-29
  I have a Stella guitar that has been in our family for a long time. As the story goes, my uncle, who was a L.A. Police officer, bought this guitar off a drunk who was in the L.A. county jail for $2 back in the early 70's. It was given to me in the late 80's and I used it for lessons. I was not sure about its history until my parents gave it back to me when they were cleaning out the basement a few days ago. It is still in very good condition for its age and it is still an excellent guitar to play. I am so glad that I finally was able to identify it as a H929 model. The only difference from the one in these pic's is that that the top of mine just says "Stella" and nothing else. Aside from a few chips to the white highlights and a little paint wear, it is in great shape and still has an awesome sound. I was thrilled to finally identify the model and learn the Stella story.
• Scott Nieman - 2007-06-01
  I have just found in a thrift store a Harmony Stella tenor four string guitar for $8. Its serial number is 7906H929. Could this 1959 vintage based on the catalog entry? Is there a place to determine based on the internal marking the age of this guitar? Its gears are bent but still very solid. I will be tuning it as a tenor banjo and recording traditional Irish music with it.
• Kevin - 2007-07-09
  I found a beautiful H8286(929) at the Salvation Army store, VERY mint condition with a period Geib case. What a great little guitar. Gonna have my tech go through it and make any necessary touch ups. I have a '58 Silvertone U1 as well. These guitars are super easy to play and sound amazing! Thanks for the GREAT website!!!!
• agibson - 2007-07-30
  My first guitar was the silvertone (stella 929)sunburst, as I referred to it. If I remember correctly, in 1964 it cost $15 +-. I always thought it was a Harmony made instrument. Many years ago I made a studid decision - to strip the finish and refinish in a natural finish. I never completed the work and now the top and sides have come free from the glue. I am talking with a local luthier about restoring it.
• Unclenny - 2007-09-05
  Found an old Stella in the attic of a friend's house....'66 929. Used it on two tracks of my current project....great authentic blues sound!
  But....the top came un-glued after about two weeks of heavy play (while my Martin and Gibson sat idle).
  No problem.....a new 929 is on the way ('69) from eBay.
  What a classic old school tone!!
• KJChapmansr@yahoo.com - 2007-09-10
  My Sweetie was driving down the street in Norfolk,Va. and a guy was bulk loading trash to the curb. She saw the guitar and asked if she could have it and he said yes. She brought it to me and the rest is history. I like it,I have not had the chance to clean it up yet but I will. It is serial number 2756H929. I got a pretty heads-up sweetie, huh? Thanks For the help ID'ing it. KJ in Va.
• rtw - 2007-09-15
  i have just picked up a harmony stella, # 3199h930. looks just like the one in the picture but with-out the pick gaurd. the neck is in perfect condition as if it was never played, but the body has damage so i know it was played alot ( scratches on the back as if they were sitting in an armchair). a have just recorded it with my sure mike to see how it sound. let me tell you, it will be recorded a lot more!!!!!!!!. i can almost feel the past when playing it. thanks for reading these words.
• mynewredshoes - 2007-11-02
  I have a Stella tenor H929 (made in USA!). The date stamp is hard to read -- I think it says 1975, but it could be '73. I used to play this as a kid and then it sat under the bed for years. Recently I picked it up again. Had to replace the 3 & 4 tuners -- got lucky and took it to a music store that happened to have one set of Harmony tenor tuners (proably lying there for 30 years waiting for me!). I looked at a new tenor that was in the same shop, but the woman who repaired mine said that I would most likely get better sound out of my Harmony -- she was right!
• gpall - 2007-11-18
  I rescued my Stella 929 ( 1966 ) from a garbage can. Put on new deluxe machine heads, a used pyramid style rosewood floating bridge and new set of Martin Light strings. Wow was I suprised that the neck was straight and the fret board was actually playable. This little guitar has a neat high treble tone...sounds like a mandoline if you capo up to fret 6 or 7. I own eight guitars counting this one and everyone has its own personality. This little guitar is quickly become a favorite.
• wende - 2008-01-19
  back in the 70's I bought a '57 tenor Stella at a yard sale thinking it to be a baritone uke. It sat in a closet for many years as someone had probably sat on it and had caved the top in. I'm a singer who had never learned to play guitar, so i learned on this one cracked face and all. I talked a master harp luthier into doing the repairs years later(his dad is a fan), and it inspired me to learn six string. I found the 929 6 string in a thrift shop,and now have 2 of those,(1 nylon,1 steel),a Harmony archtop tenor,a Harmony tenor banjo, and a chinese 1/2 size. love the sound,and occasionally play the stellas on blues gigs for that old timey sound. Guess i became a collector, and still keep an eye out for different models.
• David - 2008-04-07
  Mine is a '57 3/4. Clearly market H929. I got it for a travel guitar, complete with original case. Very pretty, but the neck is shaped like a ski jump, quite unplayable. I am actually having the neck reset and the bent and warped bolt-on bridge replaced with a glued-on compensated bridge. It will then spend its next life as a travel and child's guitar. Can't wait!
• Jessica of The Bowties - 2008-07-20
  This guitar has captured me from the first day I laid eyes on it laying in my aunts house. Its not this model thought its a brother model of it (its the blond wood one I didn't see it on this site though (maybe i missed it)) It was my great uncle Herman's guitar :) I've been playing for almost 4 years now. I really wanted an acoustic since I have been using my dad's electric.You just can't get that tone as you can with an acoustic. I shall fix it up as much as I can (though i suspect I'll have to take it to some sort of shop as well) It's just a really beautiful guitar.
• Gareth - 2008-07-29
  I now have a trio of these lovely guitars. I have a '64 parlour; a '64 Tenor and the matching mandolin, model H331. Make a great family group.
  Very nice to play with a lovely rounded sound.
• Scott R. - 2008-08-09
  I picked up a 1965 H929. It's an awesome guitar! I paid less than $100 including shipping. It's in pristine condition and really grinds it out. I'm so stoked on this guitar!
• Doc Nugent - 2008-08-12
  I just bought a nice Stella that I believe is a 1957 H929 - it looks just like the 10th through 13th pictures above (black tuner knobs) but it has a solid metal tailpiece (versus the ones on this page with the "D" and heart cutouts). After 50 years, it still sounds good, is straight and flat, and has very little fret wear! I'll see if I can post pix of it soon.
• tintin6363 - 2008-08-21
  Who knew? Thanks to the website and a called from my grandma i now know what my "Stella" is. I have a (H929) 1951. Its in mint condition original case and everything, I Love the sound! So ya lets find some older ones...
• antonio - 2008-08-26
  hey ive got a h929 but it hasnt got the white around the outside like the ones in the pics the my old man rekons its about 52 anyone no anything about it cheers
• great buyer - 2008-11-22
  i was out at garage sales and was able to pic up a stella for $15. it is in great shape and only needs strings! thanks to this web site i was able to figure out that it's a h929 and it's a 64 model. i think i made a great buy today and am very happy with the guitar.
• Fletcher - 2009-01-28
  I have recently been given a '57 H929 for christmas. my great-grandmother bought it in a pawn shop in the '60s she taught herself how to play for a traveling church. she passed away before i was born and since it has set in a closet until now. i am trying to learn too this is my first guitar as it was hers.
• Jimmy_Page_freek - 2009-03-07
  I found one trashed in my grandma's basement. its been badly chiped and the steel hardware is rusted.I'm restoering it for my aunt. It brought alot of memories when i found it for her because she always wanted to learn to play on it when she wasyoung.
• OP13 - 2009-05-31
  Found one of these in my grandma's basement with only three strings left on it. I restrung it myself and it plays nicely! I'll have to get some nice strings instead of the cheap ones I have on it, but it's an awesome guitar to play when I wanna get a different sound then my ESP LTD F-50 electric.
• M. - 2009-06-29
  A tip for anyone refinishing one of these Harmony guitars - be patient. The finish is THICK.
  My Dad had purchased a Stella (H929) when he was younger from Sears and Roebuck for about $20 before he went into the service; It has seen some tough wear, and is now desperate for repair. My dad gave it to me for a "wall hangin' or somethin'."
  Though I may be lynched by the purists for this, I am currently repairing and refinishing this guitar to give back to him as a playable instrument.
  I have been slowly putting this little trooper back on its musical feet over the past two years, replacing some frets, repairing the neck, cracks in the top, refinishing and copper-plating the tuning machines as well as the tailpiece.
  I still need to repair the tuning keys with a dense polymer clay (I'm thinking Sculpey) and make the pickguard (two-tone Copperplate on hand-hammered silver sheet; 22g so it won't deaden the sound).
  It is a work in progress, but a labor of love.
  I remember learning to play on this old guitar, and the sound it produced came in second only to my vintage Songbird (garage sale find in the early 70s).
  They may have been the forgotten "Attic Guitar" for many, but for me, the Stella is, and always will be, close to my heart.
• Damien Marcello - 2009-07-21
  My neighbor who is in his late 80s and I were talking one day and he found out that I played guitar but didn't have an acoustic so he pulled out of his basement and it is of course an 3/4 H929. The serial number is badly faded but appears to say 605H929. The tailpiece has a little rust, the tuners are very hard to turn, and the body has a large warp outward at the sound hole and it has caused the end of the neck to curve, making it unplayable when you get around the 12th+ frets. I was also told by a guy at a music store that it is an unusual color being what looks like a faded dark yellow.***** Correction, my Stella is actually a H928.****
• woostybrains - 2009-08-09
  Got my Stella in June 1964. I wanted to play "Hard Day's Night," but my teacher could only teach me "Red River Valley" on it. So, I dropped the teacher, but still have the Stella in its original chipboard case.
  Drilled and glued a classical bridge on it back in the 1970's and put on LaBella nylon strings. Sounds like a real classical guitar when I use it on project studio recordings today.
• alex - 2009-10-05
  bought my '65 at Pawn America for $30!
• lizardsville - 2009-11-01
  hi ,just some info on the stella range of guitars that interest me( i live in the South West of France Europe)
  the first 3 stella's on your photo range are around the 1940/45. if you look closely, the printing of "stella" on the headstock is completly different than later guitars, later guitars( 55/65+) had the reinforced neck' stamp and different action .These were typical of the late 50s and early 60s so called progress in strengthing the neck of the old neck 'wandering' guitars.( this the first time luthiers forget the sound of early guitars)
  all those (irrespective of country) interested in the early range of stella's know that although he stella was a cheap range guitar, with a set of extra/light strings could make it sound very respectful indeed, it's not a gibson but who wants a gibson, normally people who cant play the guitar but rely on the name( that should get a few comments)
  if you can play? a well strung stella(40/50s) will play as good as any guitar you will buy.
  In the 60s ive played with 'sonny boy williamson,long john bauldry etc when you were lucky to own a guitar. today it seems, not do you have a guitar? but what is your guitar? BIG MISTAKE GUYS and GALS
  i just sent this 'e' as i see all the time a knocking about older and cheap guitars stella/kay/richter etc, so lighten up everybody , the best blues i play ( some years on!!!!) is on my SS.Maxwell( Maxwell Street chicago) or my 470H929 Stella
  any comments welcome
  stephen
  ps, i did see somewhere a comment from a player that said " i'm collecting all the early Stellas, kay's etc i can get so one day i can retire( how smart is he?)
• Tap - 2009-11-25
  I have 3 of these older Stellas, all had sustained some blunt force/water damage and were perfect for "repurposing". The first one (neck and hardware were the only actual survivors) I sandwiched some wood to extend the neck and sunk it into a Telecaster-shaped body (Stellacaster; get it?), the second I cut a big hole in the top (water damaged), set a dog food dish in upside-down and made it into a slide resonator, which sounds pretty freakin' cool, BTW. The third is getting the same treatment, though with lower action so it can be fretted. I'm tempted to get one from my local trippy music store bargain box and keep it all wood, maybe go with nylon strings (?) The big name brands have totally lost their gloss on me; I love these old bits of history.
  -Steve
  PS: Youtube "Breakfast at Tiffany's Moon River" and you can see Audrey Hepburn (swoon!) playing her Stella.
• patrick - 2009-12-01
  Found a Stella lying against a trashcan. It was filthy, but the real problem was someone had moved the saddle way up to where it looked cool, but the intonation was completely shot. By the way, the basic rule for resetting your bridge saddle is that you tune the string, say the low E string, then check it again at the twelveth fret, where it should play an octave higher.
  If the string plays sharp at the 12th fret, move the saddle back a little, increasing the string's length.
  If the string plays flat at the 12th fret, move the saddle up, making the string shorter.
  In order to get the best intonation across all the strings,a lot of the time the saddle is tilted up on high E string side, making the skinny strings shorter than the low E (I hope this makes sense. Resetting your bridge saddle is kind of easy, especially with a tuner).
  Anyway, i reset the saddle, and cleaned everything with watered down ammonia (1$), which does a great job on painted surfaces, and then coated it down with lemon oil (3$), particularly soaking the old battle wounds (keep the wounds oiled (any type of oil is better than none). With a fresh set of John Pearse stings(7$)(spend the extra dollar, I like the Phosphor Bronze), and a (5$) strap (I tie it to the neck with a bowline knot, which is what old guys use on everything), I now have a new guitar.
  You know, I live in Minneapolis, which still has a huge guitar culture, and I brought the Stella into Twin Town, which is one of those old cool guitar stores (we still have five or six of them here). I brought it there to kind of show off a trash find, and I just kind of left it on the counter to go look at some other stuff, you know, whatever. And everybody there kind of looked at it, and kind of picked it up, and played around with it. Everyone wanted to try it out. And everyone kind of liked it. It sounds kind of cheap, true, but it's a cool kind of cheap. So I found a Stella in the trash, and it's an easy guitar to like. How cool is that.
• Emster - 2010-01-23
  I just got an H929 from craigslist for $30 (I have an H927 and am now a little bit more than hooked on Stellas despite knowing almost nothing about guitars) and It's all dirty and gross and I tuned it but it wouldn't play a chord properly. So i was poking around reading comments and I read Patrick's comment about some bananahead who moved the bridge up high for whatever reason and that made me notice that the bridge on myyyy guitar had been moved up! The whole thing was screwy so now I can fix it, restring it, and get to rockin'! Thanks! Oh, also, everyone includes their serial number and year...2598H929 and I believe it says S 50. The date stamp is pretty faded but I'm nearly certain taht's the year.
• Jacob - 2010-02-17
  Today while walking down the street with my guitar, a woman asked if i would like an old 3/4 acoustic she was throwing away. After cleaning it up and searching online it appears to me to be a 1952 H929 and although not in the best condition i am quite happy to hold a peice of the past.