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There's a really nice one being sold locally. He knows what he has so it's no bargain but $900 Canadian is only about $750 US and that's still a pretty reasonably priced guitar if the size and specs are right. I'm also curious about the gold foils. How noisy are they? Can they do a decent jazz tone? etc. All comments appreciated.
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02-18-2021 04:29 PM
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harmony dearmond gold foils (different from teisco gf's) are great pups..they have a very broad range...loud and relatively clean ..but great pushed as well...have high resistance due to very thin wire used...in the p-90 area as far as single coil noise
i just posted (in another thread) this vid with jimmy james using one...he has a humbucker in the bridge spot..but looks like he plays in middle position
harmonys are also nice for fingerpickers since the necks don't taper too much...stays fairly the same width from nut to body joint
nice guitar!
cheers
ps- just found this very thorough write up by pup maestro dave hunter
Classic Gear: Gold-Foil Pickups | GuitarPlayer
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I tried one once. That was enough. The pickups were incredibly noisy, much more so than any other single coil I've played, and they had this very raucus/dirty sound even at low gain/volume settings. Can't hurt to try one, but I would never buy one without trying with the intention of playing clean-tone jazz on it.
JohnLast edited by John A.; 02-18-2021 at 05:25 PM.
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Originally Posted by neatomic
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she's playing the new harmony line...made in the heritage factory!!!...pups are not quite the same as the vintage s goldfoils!..tho tone is in ballpark
cheers
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Originally Posted by neatomic
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I also found this on the modern Harmony site. I think this sounds fabulous.
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My only experience of gold-foil pups is the guitar I found for my great-granddaughter - a rather elderly Teisco-type with one pickup. In setting it up I got to get to know the instrument a bit. The sound was very articulate, with a complex upper-midrange edge - not harsh, just clear - the type of tone a nice spring reverb really enhances. As far as "jazz tone" goes, that's ear of the hearer territory, but I was able to dial in a nice mellow tone with a bit of knob-twirling on the instrument and amp. I've found long, cheap cords, preferably cloth-covered (or better yet, coiled!) tone-suck the harshness away, as well.
I've always craved a Harmony/Silvertone Rocket or such with about four or five pickups and a dozen switches and knobs, preferably in that rouge et noir splatburst.
Or just Black with Ivory appointments. Or green sparkle.
With my wide-panel tweed Deluxe and my El Pescadoro pedal I think I'd be set.
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I had a h54 with the moustache gold foils for a bit . The are mounted to the top of the guitar so there is no pickup hole. The run the wire in to the f hole and can be fairly muddy good for blues or Indy rock . But really they are a one trick pony and they get boring after a while. People seem to forget they are just a cheap guitar . They where made cheaply , play like a cheap guitar and sound just as cheap . But nevertheless they are cool.
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I've got the H59, an early 60s model with the three Rowe/DeArmond gold foil pickups and with six knobs. Other than that and the tobacco sunburst, it looks to be the same as the one you're considering. As noted above, the pickups are mounted on the top, though the wires are usually covered by a pickguard, which seems to have been removed based on the photo you provided. The H59 has a rotary pickup switch, enabling each individually or all at once. I just played mine with the bridge and neck pickups engaged. It's not a Gibson tone, not a Fender tone, something between perhaps. Personally, I like these pickups, they are not noisy at all and can be quite clear to my ears. Oddly, they seem to run "hot," for lack of a better term, in that the tone has a bit of "hair" on it going into the amp. However, they clean up on an amp with more headroom. I'm not a technician and so don't know how to describe their output in more accurate terms. The neck is narrow and thick, perhaps what is usually described as D shaped. Your photo doesn't show the headstock, but mine says "steel reinforced neck." I think some later models will have a truss rod. There's some attention given to Harmony Rockets, they seem to have a niche, so a little search around can probably yield more info than I have been able to provide, but I hope this is helpful.
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I used to play with a buddy who had one of the 2 pickup rockets. Pickups sounded great. On the noisy side. Took a lot of work to make that guitar more playable. I couldn't get used to the narrowness of the fretboard. Doesn't seem much wider up by the body than it is at the nut. So not for me, though I like the tones.
That narrow neck also put me off another Harmony (actually Silvertone, but Harmony made) guitar I've always liked. The 1446, with minihumbuckers. Love the sounds, just can't get comfortable with it.
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Originally Posted by silvertonebetty
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Originally Posted by citizenk74
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Originally Posted by mad dog
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I don't know about the new ones, but in the olden days you could pick up those guitars for $100 easy. They were very basic guitars that were decently constructed, but nothing special. I recommended them to my beginner guitar students. The action, intonation and sound were all acceptable, but nowhere close to a Gibson, and certainly not a Soloway. They stood out because they were inexpensive new guitars that were actually playable. In the pre-CNC days most cheap guitars were real dogs.
I don't know what Heritage has done with them. It could be a completely different animal now.
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Originally Posted by Jonathan0996
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Originally Posted by Jim Soloway
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Originally Posted by Jonathan0996
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How things have changed! When I had my retail store in the 70's and 80's, we'd have these hanging on the wall for $75 and couldn't sell them. Lots of things that used to be cheap are bringing big money nowadays - guess I shoulda kept some of that stuff. Had Bassman and Bandmaster heads stacked 12 high for $125 ea. The store I worked in before opening mine had a left handed '54 black LP Custom (fretless wonder) hanging there for $150 - couldn't sell it - also an ice tea L-4C finally sold for about $400 - this was '72-'73 era.
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Originally Posted by Jim Soloway
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Originally Posted by oldane
Grant Green, What is This Thing
Yesterday, 01:59 PM in Ear Training, Transcribing & Reading