 H974 - Ridgeway
Acoustic archtop - Sunburst, painted tiger flame
Production year(s) : 1940-1945 (other years possible, not verified)
Early fourties low cost model - Grained to ressemble curly maple - "Idento" nameplate tailpiece. From a 1943 model, stamped H974 but a bit different, it looks like the H974 was the ancestor of the very popular H1215 Archtone.
 38 images in database
mouse over image for file name - click to enlarge 
| Top wood | Birch
| | Body wood | Birch
| All solid woods
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14 comments | Add your comment ! - indexingservices@yahoo.com - 2007-04-25
According to my research, a stamp on the inside of my H974 Ridgeway refers to the season and year of production. Specifically, "S43" would denote that my particular guitar was made in the Spring of 1943. Thusly, if my research is correct, we CAN verify that this model was made in 1943 as well. - Doug Dunbar - 2007-05-22
I have a Harmony H974 with the date stamp S45 - Spring 1945. The wooden tail piece is screwed to the body, not sure if this is original. - Todd - 2007-08-17
I have the Gaylord version of this guitar. It's date stamped S42. - Fireweed music - 2008-02-19
I also have a Harmony with the Tailpiece screwed into the tail block and it is stamped s45 on the inside. Must be original. - WIL WRIGHT - 2008-04-04
I TO HAVE A 1941 H974
BOUGHT IN ALABAMA IN 1941 FOR THE PRICE OF 14.00 DOLLOR'S
THE HEAD SEAM'S TO BE MADE OF EBONY AND THAT KILL'S THE TONE I THINK
WWDIXIEDUST@YAHOO.COM
DALLAS,TEXAS - Dave - 2008-07-09
That's my guitar in the last five photographs. It is stamped F42 for the fall of 1942. Excellent guitar, great for solos as well as chords, sweet full sound with great intonation. The neck has that baseball bat type of feel. - lewis@classharlan.com - 2008-09-14
I have a guitar that is identical to the first one pictured. It was purchased by my father who played "hillbilly" music. The headstock says "Biltmore State"; all other details are absolutely identical. Inside is stamped S43 and the serial number 43559954. It is a pretty nice guitar for fourteen dollars! - cojamk - 2011-01-09
I have a H974 dated F43. With the letters REX on the top. - Colin - Harmony Collector UK - 2011-03-15
Mine has no model or serial numbers but can only be a 974. It’s dated F44 and has the wartime wooden tailpiece, thin frets on a flat board, spray-stencilled diamond shape markers, tiger stripes and painted top binding. It also a single painted line around the top, exactly like my F’49 Archtone H1215, which followed the Ridgeway in 1944. Could it be the ‘missing link’?
It’s never been played – all the fret markers are unworn, it has the original sanding marks on the board and the ends of the original flat top frets are sharp. I also have a S40 nut brown Ridgeway H973. They sound pretty good but the flat fingerboards are uncomfortable to play. - small craft hawaii - 2011-07-09
Awesome site! Mahalo everyone for lovin' up these old twangers. Recently my Mom sent a really beat (in a beautiful way) H974 to Hawaii for me to fix up and play. She picked up at a junk shop for $25 in Spokane Washington, home to lots of great old Americana. Tiger spray, narrow, single pin line inset from the painted "binding". Wood tailpiece as in some if the photos, screwed to the top. Pronounced "V" in the neck that I love. One weird thing tough.... the first part of the stamp reads F151 before the H974. I could be wrong about the F -it's pretty light. So.... leftovers assembled in '51? Oops "no questions please". Thanks for sharing your stories and Keep on Pluckin' ! - Torrey - 2011-08-21
I have a 974 sold under the Vibratone brand. The date stamp says 39 with the preceding letter illegible. I absolutely love it. - Grandstick - 2013-09-13
I picked up a Gaylord Artistic tonight that, other than the tailpiece, is identical to these pictures. It will need some attention to the top and back (they are separating from the sides at points), but I think it will be a fun guitar to play when all is said and done. - don ferguson - 2016-01-14
I have a 1945 harmony h974 con u tell me who I can get a hold of to find out info on this - Bill Eyer - 2018-02-06
I picked one of these up on ebay last year for 60 bucks. It's labeled "Buckaroo" but inside it's clearly Harmony. The neck was off and will need some carving to get the angle right and the bridge is missing, but I love the patina and the fingerboard shows that it had lots of playing time. Truly this is someone's well-loved guitar and I look forward to restoring it. I'm not going to make it like new, I'm going to keep it's character, just make it playable again.
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