 H6600 - Regal Deluxe
Acoustic flatop - Natural
Production year(s) : 1972-1975 (other years possible, not verified)
Dreadnought seventies model - Top is X-braced - Headstock wears "Regal" in 1972 then "Harmony" in 1974 - bound then unbound neck/headstock. Narrow fretboard, 20 frets.
 32 images in database
mouse over image for file name - click to enlarge 
| Top wood | Spruce
| | Body wood | Mahogany
| Solid spruce top, but back or/and sides are laminated on some models.
|
31 comments | Add your comment ! - Darrell - 2006-02-09
It took me a while but I have a H6600. The name ont the head for some reason had been removed I actually thought I had come across a Martin since it play's as good as one. My serial number is 7215H6600 but what is the stamp that looks like a leaf on the X member meen. - C, White - 2006-06-25
My Dad, Jack White, bought me a H6600 in the early '70's. I liked it a lot, but it always was a little hard to note. When my son Brad, of "It's Like Love" fame, starting playing, we decided to modify the bridge a little. We lowered the strings to about half the height they were originally. Man, now what a sweet guitar. - Pine - 2006-08-02
The H6600 dreadnought appears to have gone thru some modifications during its short production run: The shape of the body appears to have been altered three times; the first editions having a "long-waisted" dreadnought design, the second run having slightly "sloped shoulders" like a Gibson J45, and the last run having a "true Martin-dreadnought shape". Some of the first-run H6600's have a laminated back with solid sides, and the middle and later ones (the ones I've seen) have a solid back and laminate sides. Solid sides have three hardwood reinforcing-strips per side, laminate sides do not have these strips. The last run have the dual dots at the 12th fret, and the "true Martin-dreadnought" shape. Pine - RdF - 2006-09-03
Mine is most probably a cross-over model. Bound headstock overlay with the Harmony name on it. F-73 and the back has the serialnumber of a 12 string Sovereign, 0374H1269. Gold sticker stating it's an H-6600. Really don't understand what Pine is talking about. As far as I know all the bound necks have 2 dots at the 12th fret. Sidemarkers maybe?
The H6600 is a mighty fine guitar with a vintage, well balanced sound. If you can buy one, don't hesitate!
Greetz, Rob de Fries, bluestrainfm@hotmail.com - Pine - 2006-10-16
My H-6600 dreadnought has a bound fingerboard with single black side-dots, and six SINGLE pearloid dots along the fingerboard's center. There is only ONE dot at the twelth fret of this particular H-6600. The body shape is of the "long-waisted" dreadnought form, rather than the later form which looks more like a Martin with a slightly more "abrupt" waist. Pine - Pine - 2006-10-16
Some further details of my H-6600... No date stamp, and the headstock is unbound. No dot at seventeenth fret as seen on later models with two dots at twelfth fret. Later-style red-and-white "scroll" label with model number and serial number in gold characters, rather than gold label with black script. "Harmony" rather than "Regal" designation. Possible late-1972 or early-1973 production run... Pine - robdefries - 2006-12-01
Pine, I really think you've got something weird, an H6659 or so. No H1260, 6650 or 6600 has had a single dot on the 12th fret, ever. Only the cheaper models had less markers.
The white sticker came after the gold sticker, so it's end 73 till '75ish. If the sticker says H6600, someone ripped you off.
If the catalog says the H6600 has mahogany sides and back, they HAVE mahogany sides and back. If they were to have laminated sides, the catalog would either mention it or mention nothing at all. I'm sure were talking different guitars here.
But who am I to say something like that? - Pine - 2006-12-06
My H6600 must be a "wierd animal" then, because I own three different H6659 birch ply dreadnoughts, each with a slightly different finish, and the "spruce-grain" photo-finish top. Each has a slightly different dreadnought shape, the earliest being the handsome "long-waisted" shape like the fancy Harmony Opus series, and my H6600. I rebraced one of those with scalloped X-bracing, and it sounds like "solid wood"... My H6600 has solid mahogany sides sides and came with a three-ply back(middle veneer of birch or poplar), which I replaced with a solid mahogany one. I copied the Harmony pattern of five transverse spruce braces, and I added a spruce cross-grain brace down the one-piece mahogany back's center, to accomodate a center inlay. I scalloped the Harmony X-bracing, and replaced the spruce bridgeplate with a maple one, as the bridge was beginning to split between the string holes. It could be that my H6600 has an early-production body paired with a late-production neck, as the neck is bound, but has only one dot at the twelth fret in the rosewood fretboard(H6659's all have a dyed maple fingerboard and no binding)...My H6600 was rejected by a working musician because he did not wish to deal with the terrible set of the neck, which is why I got it; it is now one of my favorite guitars... Pine - Pine - 2006-12-06
My H6600 is a real Harmony, as the serial number and model number were stamped in blue Harmony ink, and the number under the Sovereign-rosette-inlaid top matched the number on the back. About twenty years ago I owned another H6600 which had a solid, one-piece Sovereign back and PLY mahogany sides; I regret selling this one, as the one I have now took more work to get the sound I want. I put on a new solid back on my current H6600, thus the guitar is no longer "original". I kept the original "last generation" white-and red label and put it on the new back, along with my own label stating my alterations to the instrument...I have a 1968 Harmony catalog which states that Harmony used only "single-thickness" wood in their acoustic instruments...I'm certain that by the mid-1970's, they let a number of their better instruments "get away" with some plywood to cut costs...I've had a '70's-era H-1233 folk-size 14-fret 12-string with a plywood back, while I currently own one that has a solid back... Pine - jJerry Cox - 2007-10-07
I have an H6600. Believe it or not I swapped it for a Mongolian fur hat from a Scottish bank robber!!...the hat cost me 50 pence at a car bppt sale in England...true. I have had the guitar for nearly 20 years now and it is truly a superb instrument.A bit curvy on top but still keeps exellent tune and the tone seems to get better....Mahogany back and sides...just lovely. - Pine - 2007-11-18
My H6600, like nearly all of them from the era, had a Spruce bridgeplate; I removed this when I had the back off, and replaced it with a Maple one, which prevents the bridge from splitting further. To those other proud owners of H6600's, a "quick and dirty" method of strengthening your Spruce bridgeplate, is to add a 2-inch-wide 3/32-inch Maple or Birch overlay, centered on the bridge-pin holes (make sure that the new bridgeplate extends as far as the center "belly" portion of the bridge base)...you can make a cardboard or paper template to fit carefully between the legs of your X-brace, then cut your bridgeplate to fit...it will not take away from the sound, and your Rosewood bridge will be permanently stabilized. I added this overlay in the earlier H6600 which came with the solid back; and I added one in my '75 Harmony Opus V last year, both without taking out the original Spruce bridgeplate. You can get more sound by replacing the chromed-steel adjustable saddle assembly in the bridge base with a large, single bone saddle which you can "compensate" for the varying string thicknesses to get "perfect" intonation; this requires no alteration to your Rosewood bridge base, to those wishing to keep the guitar "original"... Sincerely, Pine - Sonny Vivo - 2007-12-21
I have an original H6600....I bought it in 1973 for $ 120.00...it was my first guitar. I have since put grovers on it, replaced the bridge about 20 yrs ago.. It plays and sounds as good as my Taylor 614....It is a jewl and I love to play it. great value at the time. It has bound head stock and double dots at the 12th fret...great amreican guitar... - jt - 2008-08-31
We have an H6600, SN 037?H6600, gold label with black lettering, says Regal on the headstock, bound fretboard and headstock, two dots at the 12th fret. The ? in the SN looks like 3 or 8, but it's partial. I take it from previous comments that this is probably from the early production run. I think my wife's parents bought it for her new. Looks like solid top and mahogany back and sides. There's even some nice bear-claw figure in the top when you look at the right angle. Quite a decent guitar, especially for the price. - jt - 2008-08-31
Just noticed on another page someone said the stamp with an S followed by a number indicates the year of manufacture. Ours says S-72, which I take it means it was made in 1972. - CHEFTREX - 2009-09-28
My harmony was my xmas present in '72, from a dept. store. The # stamped in blue inside is 3007H6659. It has the gold and black label, and is just like the pictures. It's gotta be from the first of the changes, a really nice guitar. - Bill - 2010-04-29
I have an H6600 with Harmony on the head stock with Regal on the label. Can't find a serial number?? - Rick - 2010-05-10
I own what I believe may be an H6600. It has the long-waisted shape described by Pine - an exact match to the shape of my Opus V. It has the large dot fretboard, 2 at the 12th and one at the 17th. It has silver tuners (no plastic) and is X-braced. It has some oddities though...first, it is black. Second, it has a solid mahogany back, but the back is two-piece with a center seam. The truss rod cover is the same one as my Opus V. No ink stamp of any kind, no sticker. I have done a reset and the neck is solid mahogany with a standard dovetail, and no "est 1892" on the headstock, so I don't believe it is an Asian model. Perhaps some nonstandard end-of-production hybrid? Whatever, it is the sweetest guitar I have played, better than Martins, better than Sovereigns or even the Opus. This guitar proves Harmony made some matchless instruments that stand up to any other maker. - Pine - 2010-05-13
Harmony sometimes did "odd" things in their assembly process... Recently I came across an all-mahogany H165, and upon looking inside on the back, its serial number and model number was for an H1203 small Sovereign. The single dot at the 12th fret on the fingerboard of my H6600, certainly represents the somewhat "erratic" nature of Harmony's building stages, which is part of why we all love our Harmony's! The fact that some H6600's have a solid back and ply sides, and the reverse in the case of mine, plus the subtle modifications in the "dreadnought" shape, further underscore the "split-second" production changes made seemingly "on the fly" at Harmony... I have never seen an H6600 in a black finish, but given their record near the end, any finish is possible in the mid-1970's. Harmony guitars built in Chicago never had the "Since 1892" written anywhere on the instrument. Pine - Eddie - 2010-12-04
I bought my Regal in 1971 or 1972 I think. Somehow my Regal Plate came off too. I hope I still have it. I sounds better every year. What a great guitar it has been. - Correction.. - 2011-11-15
Correction for Pine's first comment... not all guitars with solid sides have these reinforcing strips. I have a Harmony Opus XX with solid maple sides that have no reinforced bracing. Additionally, Gibson does not use bracing on the sides and many other guitar makers don't use them. This is not a good way to identify whether sides are solid or not--the only way I've found that works is to match the grain on the outside to the inside. If its a match, its solid. - Pine - 2012-01-08
I was mainly referring to certain Harmony guitars when I mentioned the side-reinforcing strips... Many guitars with solid sides had the strips, and many did not. I think that during the later production, i.e., mid-1960's onward, more Harmony's with solid sides had those strips than did not have them. It appears that most earlier guitars were built without the strips, particularly the pre-'56 "figure-eight" models. Most of the 1958-and-onward jumbo Sovereigns seem to have had the strips, three to a side. Many H-162's either have them or do not have them; there is no "rhyme or reason"... Pine - Jim - 2012-09-18
I have owned this guitar since new in 1973 or 1974. It is just as pictured, except there is a stamp inside reading "H1269", but the guitar is a six string. It bears a "Regal" label on the headstock. - Rob F - 2013-01-08
I just purchased what appears to be a Regal H6600, however it also has the numbers 8516H1269 stamped inside in dark blue ink. Has S72 inside also, so summer of 72 production. There is also some numbers and a letter on the inside brace that look to be pen ink but I can't decipher them. the Regal label on the headstock is gone but you can still see the image. In really nice condition for a 40 year old guitar and a nice original case too. - Pine - 2013-02-21
This is another example of Harmony using a back for one model, but already stamped for another, they seemed to have used whatever backs were available at the time. It would make sense to use an H1269 12-string back on an H6600 if a certain production run of backs ran out, as the guitars used the exact same dreadnought body. I once had an H165 all-mahogany, but with a back stamped for an H1203 Sovereign, which used the same back. I have also had 12-fret Stellas with a Silvertone model number, such as the H604, but with H929, etc, stamped on the underside of the top by the neck block. This was done using the same blue Harmony ink. More "Harmony quirks" which give us reason to love our Harmony's! Pine - J. Phillips - 2013-03-24
I have an H6600 that I bought around 1974 and I also lowered the strings so the action is better and the instrument is easier to play. I like the sound of this model. - Pispo - 2013-08-01
I have a H6600 since one week ago. It is in mint condition and sounds incredible. If you close your eyes and it sounds, you can imagine a martin. With slide it sounds great. I Love it - - 2014-06-13
My H6600 has the J45 body shape, ebony fingerboard and bridge, 4 1/4 x 16 x40 7/8, says 7 S20 235 inside, two dots at 12 fret and 1 dot at 15th, solid mahogany sides, maybe mahogany laminate back, 1 5/8 at nut, Regal on headstock, bound fingerboard and body (top & bottom), and brownish saddle. - Pete - 2015-02-12
I actually have a Harmony H6600 that was
once owned by Herb Ellis and passed on to
me by Herb and I's very good friend Terry
Holmes. I did not know Herb, but Terry and I were
very good friends when he lived up here in Seattle.
He left the guitar with me when he moved back to Little Rock in the early 90's. - sam - 2015-11-04
I have a H6600 with the Regal name on it,72 model.the neck broke at the bottom of the headstock,by the truss rod..where can you find an original neck,, any suggestions? - Fitz - 2017-09-02
I have a 6600 with the Regal headstock. This guitar plays awesome. I'm serious. I have a bunch of guitars and I'm always picking up this one. It really booms and holds the tuning very well. I wish the top had more of a darker wood and it is all crazed out but playability is very good especially for a guitar that was inexpensive. Mine is x-braced. Probably can use a reset as it is just at that point. I think I will do one and also swap out the nylon adjustable bridge, should make it even better. - Daniel Holmes - 2019-06-26
I played my dad's when I was a kid and it was so rich. I reckon it may be the very one that PETE has now... my dad was Terry Holmes, and I lived with Herb as a teenager.
|
