Help: Valuing an old Harmony Catalina Archtop

[Rmcali2]

What would you personally pay for this guitar, based on the pictures? :
Harmony Catalina Guitar

(Disregard the price listed in the ad, the owner is now taking highest bidder)

I have only emailed the owner, who doesnt know much about guitars, but said this:

"The neck seems good. Looks mostly like water damage on the upper left and a little on the lower right. Not too deep of damage though."

I realize it probably needs new tailpiece, bridge and a thorough cleaning, but im not sure how much structural issues there are. Thoughts?

Thanks

[SamBooka]

There is soooo much that could be wrong with the older budget guitars that I wouldnt make an offer without a full visual inspection (loose braces, neck reset, how staight is the neck) etc etc.

Unless is is uber collectible i wouldnt spend more than I could afford to loose (i.e 40$)

[stevedenver]

agreed-the neck , the top,
the finish, the glue and seams
i too would presume it is more likely than not unplayable or not nice to play especially with water damage

think about this-once you commit-regardless of what you decide to offer-it becomes a potential "polishing a ()*&"-it can be expensive adn hugely time consuming chasing down rare parts, refinishing, repairing, ad infinatum

unless you get it for a price wher you can easily walk away-it could be a potential money pit-and then it still may not please you to play it

if on the other hand you simply like the looks and will 'fix it up' cosmetically and use it for a decoration-then it IS an intriguing looking guitar indeed

as sam said-its hard to tell-budget guitars , often ,tended to be rather heavily built, and used what would now be ok wood plain grade -but REAL wood-
so ......mebbee

[Rmcali2]

More information from the Catalina on the Harmony Database - Catalina H1220 guitar - made by Harmony

This pink one is in clearly better shape, but shows the potential

[kambor]

Yep, 50 bucks max is what I would pay for that. It makes no sense to pay more than that when you have modern godins that you can get cheap second hand.

[bigdaddyguitar]

Million dollar question . No truss rod , really poor shape . How much you willing to spend for wall art ???

[oldskoolchop]

Originally Posted by stevedenver

if on the other hand you simply like the looks and will 'fix it up' cosmetically and use it for a decoration-then it IS an intriguing looking guitar indeed

40 bucks, i got pictures on my wall that cost more, if nothing else it would make a nice decoration piece with a little work, that is all i would count on

[Banksia]

I'd pay $40 just to hang it on my wall.

[Rmcali2]

Thank you all for the input. I would have bought it for $40 as a collectible - this version was only made in '56 and '57 and is pretty rare.

However, the seller turned a craigslist ad into an auction and said "email me your highest price." At that point I backed out for a number of reasons, but mostly because the play-ability of the guitar was questionable for more than $50.

Thanks again for the input folks.

[oldane]

$0.00 .

As I don't go for guitars on the wall (well, my wife don't go for it ...) but for guitars to play, I wouldn't even take it if it was given to me. Besides the problems others have described, these old low budget guitars (you could mention Kay and others too) usually doesn't have good playability and sound even if perfect shape. The necks are often very thick, tops are crudely cut and/or pressed in shape (if solid at all) etc.

I think there's a tendency to talk the value of such old low end archtops up these days, but the fact is they were never high quality instruments. They were mass produced with the open-string-three-chord-campfire-player in mind. As early photos shows, Keith Richards of the Rolling Stones used an electric Harmony, but only until they got famous and he could afford a Gibson Kalamazoo made Epiphone and we never saw the Harmony again on photos.

[SamBooka]

Originally Posted by Rmcali2

However, the seller turned a craigslist ad into an auction and said "email me your highest price." At that point I backed out for a number of reasons, but mostly because the play-ability of the guitar was questionable for more than $50.

I think at the end of the day .. you won.

Now THIS on the other hand...

http://montreal.en.craigslist.ca/msg/2707027286.html

Aria Pro II - PE180 Jazz Guitar - $1200 (Montreal)

[cosmic gumbo]

I'd throw some heavy Black Diamonds on it and use it for bottlenecking in a heartbeat. Paint it green and call it Gumby.