H954 - Broadway
Acoustic archtop - Red/yellow sunbusrt
Production year(s) : 1947-1971 (other years possible, not verified)

A classic harmony archtop, one of the longest production time. They had a "two tone" sunburst (black) first, then later a "three tone" (black/red). They never had a trussrod if we trust the catalogs, but one late sample was seen with a trussrod.

Show text from the catalogs (3)

| Show original prices (9)

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Top wood	Birch
Body wood	Birch
All solid woods

Scale

25"1/4

642 mm

13 comments | Add your comment !

• Snapcase - 2006-02-21
  H954 seems to be an evolution of H955 Broadways. H954 have mostly all birch solid bodies. My '64 H954 has a nice and resonant one piece molded birch top. Birch is a great tone-wood. It gives a nice resonant high volume with a rich midrange projection and solid bottom. Is not as brilliant and janglier as spruce. In comparison spruce have less pronounced singing mids. The great birch drawback is dryness. It tends to crack while ageing if humidity is not controlled. This is the reason why many old Harmony guitars shows cracks in their bottom and tops. Specially in solid ones. I cannot say which model is better, each one have its partcularities. Don't be blinded by solid spruce, solid birch gives a terrific tone too, a different one but great and desirable anyway. The best deal is having one guitar of both models. Get both and you still save some money if comparing their prices to Gibsons. Trust me, these Harmony guitars hold comparions against mid-prized vintage Gibsons or Gretsches perfectly well.
• wallytarkington - 2006-08-26
  I got my Broadway for almost nothing when I traded an old tube amp my ex-stepdad left when he left my mom. I got it home and it wouldn't tune, so I put new tuners on it. After that it quickly became my favorite guitar. I added a "convertible" style humbucker, and then (gasp) drilled some holes in it to put the controls in. It is my main jazz box to this day. The fingerboard is a little rough, and I hate that there are no fret markers on the side, but if you see one, BUY IT! You won't be disappointed.
• nikspl - 2007-05-15
  great web-site thank you-i recently got one of these guitars for a very good price on ebay its darn near mint-only the tuners needed replacing-i love this guitar i have a harmony master as well & im always amazed at how different they sound.i play fingerstyle-& an always impressed at how evenly balanced the tone of these guitars is.something magical about harmonys it seems.
• Crosis - 2008-09-17
  I found one at a guitar show,and paid very little for it. After resetting the neck,I found the tone of this little beauty utterly fantastic! It's strung with Ernie Ball Light Top/Heavy Bottoms. And I can play anything on it,from bluegrass to delta blues,and get a fantastic sound.
• doggeblu - 2008-10-02
  I have played this guitar for two years as my back up. Set the action higher and use it for delta slide work. Love the tone. I found it the back of a pawn shop in Saint Louis and gave 75 bucks.
• mrjay - 2009-03-12
  I'm an old guitarist who also does some restoration. I'm just beginning work on an H954 that was rescued from a dumpster. (7479H954) This near mint guitar had been dropped or banged while leaning against something as the neck was off, neck extension and fingerboard extension was gone as well as pickguard. Happy to hear all the good comments about the 954. I actually use a Harmony baritone uke and a soprano uke in performance. Not Martins, but they sing like everything.
• Haap54 - 2009-10-11
  I had one of these as a kid...I think I may get another someday for nostalgic reasons...
• Guillermo Fuentes - 2010-02-18
  I found a sweet Broadway 954 made in 1962 on E-bay for $200. What a steal, still in the original case. With a little bridge work and fret dressing it has become my #1 instrument. It has a balance of tone and sweet musical sound that I've been looking for, for 40 years!If you're lucky enough to find one with no cracks and a true neck make sure to humidify it.
• Bobled - 2010-05-09
  Bought a Broadway 1n 1965 paid $60 had it for 25 years was ruined when it was crushed (so was I) accidently when i moved. Used by a number of professional musician friends of mine it was their favorite guitar when they needed an accoustic for some recordings. Recently found one on ebay paid 260 well worth it glad to own one again
• Grandson - 2010-08-19
  I found a harmoney in my grandmas basment after she past away. im thinking of restoring it. its a beautiful guitar. has gray and red case. im wondering how much its worth today. im not going to sell it if my mom lets me have it but it would be nice to know how much its worth. i like this sight it should tell me all about it.
• Dan - 2010-09-21
  I had a red and black H954 Harmony as a kid. It fell over and split the side at the neck joint. I finally sold it. I'd love to find another just for the memories.
• Our Souls, inc. - 2011-05-08
  I just received a 1956 Broadway as a 'tip' at work ! It does have some cracking, but for a 56 year old guitar with pre-historic strings on it, it sounds great ! The Birch does indeed have a great tone, very pronounced and clear. I absolutely love it.
• Gerald Hanson - 2011-07-26
  I bought a 954 when I was about 10 years old in a pawn shop, probably paid less than $50 for it. I'm 61 now. There is a stamp visable from the F hole that says F48. I'm assuming that means it was made in Fall of 1948. It's been in my basement for 40 years and not been played. I took it out the other day and cleaned it up and put new strings on it. It sounds great. I thought it wasn't any good, but now I'm going to start playing it again.