We have real trouble keeping anything by Harmony in stock these days, as more and more Australian players discover the brilliant quality and tone of these superbly built guitars from the glory days of American instrument building, which were, sadly, never marketed here. This 1963 thinline Rocket is no exception – quality all the way, including a killer pair of gold-foil DeArmond pickups. These pickups are nothing short of spectacular – warm & punchy, sweet & dark, well-tempered & nasty – just dial in whatever you want, and the DeArmonds will deliver.

Harmony’s Rocket line debuted in 1959, with one, two and three pickup versions, and was one of the company’s most successful electric models, remaining in production until 1973. This two-pickup model has been played, but is still in very good condition, with the odd touched-up small ding here and there, but really, it’s only light playwear for pushing five decades of use. There was an old, (late sixties), injury on the lower treble side edge, (either side of the jack), where the guitar collided with the edge of a drum riser as it was being carried off stage after a gig. It’s never been a problem, however, when we acquired it recently – from one of our favorite Seattle area guitar stores – our in-house luthier decided to invest some of his spare time in repairing the damage. A 25cm long strip of Maple, the exact width of the inside edge, was steam bent, then hide-glued in place, creating a rock-solid repair that’s now likely to outlast the rest of the guitar! As shown in photo # 7, the repair work is all but invisible – especially being on the lower edge – and considering the work was done for love, including re-varnishing and sealing of the edge, the quality of the job is astounding!

Celluloid bound, front & back, the vibrant Cherry Red sunburst finish seems to flow right into the dark Rosewood fretboard, (so dark it could easily be mistaken for Ebony). The board, with Pearl dot markers, sits on one of Harmony’s famous “Ultra-Slim” necks – even a shade slimmer than today’s standard ‘C’ profile – making it super easy to play. This may have been a custom order, as most H-54 Rockets were shorter scale, 19-fret models, whereas this is a more standard 20-fret/24” scale. Only slightly smaller than a Chet Atkins ‘Country Gent’, the Rocket has a big 16” body, (the Country Gentleman was 17”), which couples with the DeArmond pickups for pure, electric thinline tone that can’t be beat!

Original Rosewood bridge & saddle, original Kluson Deluxe tuners, original CentraLab pots, (dated the fourth week of 1963) – other than what appears to be an early seventies replacement pickguard, (and replacement bracket), the guitar is all original, and plays extra great. And as mentioned above, the tone from those DeArmond pickups is to die for!

Your 1963 Harmony Rocket ships in a non-original hard case, which, while not terribly stylish, does the job

Price: AUD$1775.00 GST Included