 H1320 - Monterey
Acoustic archtop - Wine-red sunburst
Production year(s) : 1938-1940 (other years possible, not verified)
Spruce top - Grand Auditorium 16 1/2 in. B&W checkered bindings on top - B&W pickguard
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12 comments | Add your comment ! - Jon Metts Vancouver Washington - 2010-08-22
Found this guitar without bridge for ten bucks at a flea market. I had a bridge from another archtop that got smashed that fit this ax. Has a great sound have had it for thirty years now and will never let it go. Great for blues and jazz - boltlight - 2011-07-06
I have the same guitar no bridge no nut no tuners fixed it up and it plays incredible - leroy - 2011-08-15
Elvis played a custom version of this guitar and model in the movie "Roustabout"
sorta interesting how he widdle's his name in the back of the neck of his guitar's very crudely with a knife while he's sitting around in his trailer between set's .
He ended up giving away a guitar that looked very similar to this one year's ago that had custom ebony tuners and trim with both names on the upper neck
"Harmony Monterey " - Mary - 2011-12-31
I have an original that my mother played on live radio in the late 30's early 40's. It still has a great sound. Really enjoy playing. - Randall (New Zealand) - 2014-10-07
This is a sweet guitar- these pics were posted here by the previous owner, it's now mine, and I've spent some time putting a few things right. This guitar had one owner from new up until the previous owner, who had it only a short time before selling it to me. It was in great condition, original right down to every screw, but there were some issues- the main one being a severely bowed neck, it's now straightened, has some carbon fibre reinforcing rods as well, fretboard levelled and re-radiused, and new frets. A new bone nut and a one-piece bridge as well, and a 1950 DeArmond FHC pickup. It's come up really well and is a pleasure to play and look at, worth all the effort! - Guitar_Mike_69 - 2014-12-05
I just restored a Harmony Monterey H-1320 that has an F-42 stamp and a wooden "wartime" tailpiece. With the neck reset and some light fret work, it sounds and plays great. Fortunately, it has a very straight neck so the action is just fantastic. It has the original big "bound" black guardplate (pickguard!), which is rare. Interesting that the original 1940 ad describes this as having "matchedgrain rosewood finish back and sides" when it's clearly a flame maple faux finish. Great guitar, wish I could determine whether the back and sides are maple or birch. Looks like they made these into at least 1942! - fogrider - 2015-04-09
I just purchased a 1320 with a wooden tailpiece, marked F45. So, they were made until at least the first half of 1945. - Jack - 2015-08-16
I just pulled one out of someone's trash; it's in pretty rough shape with some cracks; looks like it's had an electric pick up installed where the bridge used to be; has a bare ended wire leading from that pickup and out of the guitar under the bridge which I'm guessing used to be connected to a volume/tone control unit - Squee Hammer - 2016-03-17
Just picked one of these up in Melbourne, Australia. Has no paper inside or stamps so unsure of date, but it's definitely this model. The case it came with is from an instrument importer that was only in business from 1920 until 1929, so the case pre-dates the guitar, but fits perfectly (old pressed cardboard style). I put a set of extra-light bronze Thomastik strings on it and the guitar plays great and sounds great too. Slight buzz at first fret on low e-string, so I might need to up the gauge of the low end a touch or fill the nut, but at some point I'll get the neck and bridge reset (the poles for the bridge have dug into the wood and the bridge is leaning towards the neck slightly). Very happy with this guitar! - Ebby47 - 2016-06-17
I have my mom's H1320 stamped S44 so foghammer's likely right about the H1320 being in production well into the 1940's. It's batch number 1414 (1414H1320) - Doug Douglas - 2018-05-18
I just picked up one like this but blonde. 1987H1320 is the serial number. - Mark Spiegel - 2019-12-09
Bought this model in Berkeley, CA for $300 about 2000. I didn't know it's history, just thought it looked amazing and I bought it for the sound; bright lively and warm, and at the time I thought there must be a lot of songs in it because it was so worn. My guess at the time that it was from the Forties and it turns out to be true. No pick guard and the 5 of the 6 tuning knobs are not original.
Still my favorite guitar because it is so unusual and still a beautiful sound after 75 or so years!
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