Junior Watson - Harmony Stratotone

L.A. Bluesman and Canned Heat alumni Junior Watson's guitar of choice is a customized Harmony Stratotone H-44, which were in production from 1952 to 1957.  Junior's guitar is customized with an extra pickup, a tremelo tail piece and the mother of pearl top.

Harmony was owned by Sears, and also produced Silvertone models for the iconic retailer.  The company peaked in 1964-1965, selling 350,000 instruments, but low-end foreign competition led to the end of the road for Harmony in 1975.  Between 1945 and 1975, the Chicago firm had mass produced about ten million guitars.

Early 1960's Harmony Stratotone - Mother of "Pearl"

3 comments:

  1. This is inaccurate. H-44 Stratotone's were in production from 1952 to 57. I know because mine is from 1956. All Stratotone H-44's (what Watson plays) had the atomic logo- in copper only (as well as the H-42 Newport from the same time- in green and yellow only). It was the Yellow 8379 Montgomery Wards version of the H-44 that had a different logo. The other Stratotone is an H88 with two pick ups in black only. Watson's is custom with the second pick up, mother of pearl pick guard and tremolo tail piece. Just wanted to clarify... Check it out. http://harmony.demont.net/guitars/H44/131.htm
    http://www.flickr.com/photos/backwoodsguitarrepair/4710432137/in/photostream/

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  2. Thanks Henry. Have updated the post with your information.

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  3. It's great to discover these modern Jump Blues gurus usin vintage gear. Harmony guitars...! Rick Holmstrom, Jr. Watson, Ian Seigel (even John Hiatt's lead guitarist on "Perfectly Good Guitar") playing Harmony guitarss. My first ever guitar was a brand new 1961 Harmony acoustic, and in 2016 I was inspired to acquire the mighty Harmony Stratotone Jupiter, 1960 vintage. The Cadillac of the Harmony line. And I cherish it's woody DeArmond Gold Foils 10.5 ohms tone; light-weight playability; multi-tone-controls; and the space-age West Memphis aesthetic. Excelsior Harmony! -Doug Pratt, Atlanta, Georgia, USA

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