1940's/Early 1950's Stella by Harmony H929 parlor guitar vintage 1951

LesbianWithAGun · January 2018

You could most probably pick one up for £300.00 or less before p+p on the internet depending on the condition but never pay more than £300.00 for a nice one retail value in today's market.

I did just that, bought a nice one.
American cheap guitar built in Chicago, Illinois after Harmony bought the Stella brand... Not as nice arguably as a Stella built in the 1930's when Oscar Schmidt Company were building Stellas out of Jersey City, New Jersey, but, still a popular guitar.
My one is a Stella by Harmony built before Harmony introduced their steel reinforced necks.
This is a review of a 1940's style one without the steel reinforced neck Harmony put in all the later H929s.
I have the basic more common Tiger Burst finish, and to be honest, the only artist I've seen with one of these was Elvis Presley; who had one strapped to him, and, when it's strapped to you, and you catch your reflection somewhere;
does look cool, I must admit.

It can be a little bit of a B-Word to work with with its high action, but it's nothing a capo won't fix.
My one is vintage, stock, original bridge and everything, which might not be to everyone's taste, but I don't love this guitar to want to start upgrading it, I got what I wanted, and that was stock, so rather than getting a set up on this 65yr old (at least) guitar.

I have very nice guitars laying around including another recent edition/a European (from Italy) guitar of the same age and guitar type (by chance) and... It's rarer, feels nicer, sounds nicer, the whole Nine Yards if I was into NFL so this Stella by Harmony is by no means my only 'new toy' so to speak.
I too have my not 1 but 2 nice Gibson Les Pauls (the guitar I lusted over through out puberty bought at first play and the guitar I fell in love with at first play)...
So why is this cheap Stella H929 my daily player????

It does your fretting hand and music ear and strumming pattern well. Plus it's fun and does have that cool sound/tone.
It's not deep and booming or crisp but, it is cool. (and fun to strum/hit on)... It's a tough sturdy guitar, people take these guitars to the woods and sit around camp fires with 'em since they don't have to worry about it because it's a tough little guitar that can take a knock fine - another quality I like about a guitar.

I'm having the most fun trying to replicate a song I heard on Instagram recorded with one and a capo on the 3rd fret in standard tuning and also my latest jam/learn on it that's got a capo on the 3rd fret but the guitar's/Stella H929's in D,A,D,G,A,D.

basically when I unboxed it/took out the issue of The New Yorker used as packing...
I tuned up and recorded this right away.

This is just me showing off my new edition.

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1940's/Early 1950's Stella by Harmony H929 parlor guitar vintage 1951