Supertone E-2294 Model Hollow Body Electric Guitar, made in Chicago by Harmony circa 1940. This rare and unusual guitar is one of the very earliest Harmony-made electric archtops sold through Sears under the "Supertone" brand.
The guitar is made of all solid woods, with Maple back and sides, a Spruce top and a poplar neck with a Rosewood fretboard. The sunburst finish is fairly typical of Harmony guitars of that period and has a tiger stripe finish to the maple that was painted on in the factory to give the impression of a quilted Maple being used. The neck has a soft V shape that is very comfortable to play.
The most striking feature of the guitar is the large pickup situated above the bridge. This heavy pickup is mounted to an internal block attached to a centre brace running through the body. Unfortunately, the pickup was missing when the guitar arrived with us so we have had the talented Alan Exley at Project Guitar Parts make a replica one for this guitar. The original pickup had 3 separate single coils and produced quite a low output. Instead, we have gone for a large single coil, with the 3 pole pieces on the face of the pickup being just for show. The rest of the electrics are not original with a tone pot being added to the guitar that only had a volume control when built. The result is a superb sounding guitar that now really comes to life when plugged in. The fretboard is still in great shape – the guitar has been re-fretted at some point and there is only light wear visible on the frets – setup with a new set of Thomastik flat wound 12s on board. The rest of the guitar is original including the tail piece, tuners, bridge, scratch plate and hard case.
So after some light restoration we now have a really nice example of a bit of American guitar building history - comes complete with its original hard case, which is showing its age but it is still in one piece and has all it catches/latches working.
Shipping within mainland UK using fully insured 24-hour courier service @ £35.00.
Shipping to US/Canada, using UPS, is £185.00. Shipping to EU is £65.00
Customers outside of UK/EU/US/Canada should contact Vintage Rare & Retro Guitars for a shipping quotation. Free pick-up is always available at our Gullane shop.
