Post by CTGull on May 17, 2023 4:21:42 GMT -5
The Story – The Silvertone model 633 is basically the Harmony Sovereign H1260, but with a sunburst finish, made for the Sears Fall 1965 thru Fall 1968 catalogs. It was replaced by the 1220 (Spring 1969 thru Fall 1970), and then the 1221 (Spring 1971 thru Spring 1973). It is fairly rare, probably because it was far more expensive than any other 6 string acoustic guitars Sears offered.
I had been looking for a 1220 for a while, which is the same as the 633, but with a funky shaped pickguard (there may have been some overlap, with the earlier 1220’s having the normal shape pickguard), and is slightly more common, but they rarely come up for sale. The 1221 is the same as the 1220, except it has the "space dot" on the headstock instead of the Silvertone logo. I've seen a few of those, but I have resisted, wanting the Silvertone logo to match my rare model 623 (basically the 000 size all solid mahogany Harmony H165), which was only made for the Christmas 1966 catalog.
The bridge has some funky grain Brazilian rosewood. I asked for a better picture and if it had been sanded. He said it hadn't been sanded, and would send a picture soon. I waited for an hour for the picture, but I was afraid of losing it! So, I pulled the trigger!! I hope it's as beautiful in person as this picture!!!!
I wasn't even looking for the 633 because it is so rare, I had only found 3 or 4 previously sold. Doing a search for it is difficult because they did a reissue, with "e" and "AVS" versions, which must be filtered out in the search. Eventually I found 10 previously sold on Reverb. That’s still pretty rare, and many of them were beat up.
INITIAL OBSERVATIONS – I opened the case and it looked OK, a bit dirty, some fingerprints and arm sweat mark on the top at the lower bout. Until I tried to take it out of the case and felt something sharp on the side of the upper part of the lower bout. I pulled the guitar out of the case and found a HUGE 15 inch long CRACK!! It was stopped by the internal side support and the end block. There are also small finish chips missing along the crack. There was no packing in the case on that end, and some end to end movement. I took some pics of the damage and sent a message to the seller. I found all the strings were slacked EXCEPT the low E, which was tuned up to almost F! There is some drop damage on one of the bottom corners of the box, but there was plenty of packing in the box, and the damage to the box isn’t bad. I think it’s possible the crack was cause by a combination of the drop, the lack of packing on the end in the case, and 5 strings slacked but the low E tuned up to F (causing an asymmetrical loading on the top). I don’t think any combination of two of them would have caused it. It’s almost like a “Perfect Storm”.
He got back to me. He said the Reverb Resolution Center will get back to us within 5 days.
INSPECTION - There looks to be a faded F-67 date stamp. The pickguard may have fallen off and been restuck, it isn’t in the original shadow. It is the lightest H1260 I’ve seen at 3.94 lbs. The bridge is .35” high, the saddle barely sticks out .045”. The neck is nearly flat and projects about .22” below the top of the bridge, WITHOUT string tension. It needs a neck reset badly! The action and nut action can’t be checked. I can’t do a full internal inspection since I don’t want to remove the strings, yet. With a mirror, I see a non-full width bridge plate, and no obvious brace damage, but it’s hard to see in there. The heel cap has many cracks but looks well stuck. There are a few fine cracks in the top behind the bridge, in a small cluster. The frets are oxidized but look pretty good, and as usual the fretboard is very rough. There are some dings and scratches here and there, but nothing bad. Overall, it looks pretty good, except for the big crack on the side.
THE PLAN – WAIT until the Reverb resolution is done before doing anything to it!! I plan on keeping and fixing it. Even though I'll repair it myself, I looked up the cost of crack repairs. I found $25 to $30 per inch + $10 per cleat. Most places were quoting a minimum of $100+ and would need to be quoted. Another one said $200 for a major crack with a splint. $25 x 15" + $40 for cleats = $415!!!! That's insane!!! I think $300 would be more reasonable.
I loosened the strings and found the upper part of the crack moves freely, but the part closer to the endpin is overlapped and stuck. I think I can clamp the body at both ends and use a scissors jack to open the crack slightly to release the overlap and get the parts lined up again, but I won’t do that until this is resolved. Then use fish glue, magnets, and squeeze clamps to align and glue it up. Then glue in some cleats. The finish repair is the hardest part, something I'm not good at. Yet...
Personally, I'd like to see a substantial refund, for the value of the repair and the reduction of the value of the guitar. I paid over $700 with tax & shipping. I’m hoping for $400 back, although I'd expect $300. We shall see.
So, assuming I get to keep it and a partial refund, the plan would be to first remove the neck to make the body easier to work with. Then clamp & spread the crack to release the overlap. Then figure out the clamping (magnets & squeeze clamps), glue with fish glue, add 2-3 cleats (made from tongue depressors), and add one on the other side of the lower bout (just in case). Wait on the finish repair. Do the neck reset & level the frets, make the guitar playable. I don’t think this will be playable by my birthday if there are (2) guitar probably coming to work on, and I can’t do anything with this guitar until this is resolved, which I doubt will happen this week, since today is Wednesday.
The packing in the case. Nothing on the end.
And nothing against the upper bout. And about 1" of travel.
THE CRACK!!
The dent on the end of the box.
I had been looking for a 1220 for a while, which is the same as the 633, but with a funky shaped pickguard (there may have been some overlap, with the earlier 1220’s having the normal shape pickguard), and is slightly more common, but they rarely come up for sale. The 1221 is the same as the 1220, except it has the "space dot" on the headstock instead of the Silvertone logo. I've seen a few of those, but I have resisted, wanting the Silvertone logo to match my rare model 623 (basically the 000 size all solid mahogany Harmony H165), which was only made for the Christmas 1966 catalog.
The bridge has some funky grain Brazilian rosewood. I asked for a better picture and if it had been sanded. He said it hadn't been sanded, and would send a picture soon. I waited for an hour for the picture, but I was afraid of losing it! So, I pulled the trigger!! I hope it's as beautiful in person as this picture!!!!
I wasn't even looking for the 633 because it is so rare, I had only found 3 or 4 previously sold. Doing a search for it is difficult because they did a reissue, with "e" and "AVS" versions, which must be filtered out in the search. Eventually I found 10 previously sold on Reverb. That’s still pretty rare, and many of them were beat up.
INITIAL OBSERVATIONS – I opened the case and it looked OK, a bit dirty, some fingerprints and arm sweat mark on the top at the lower bout. Until I tried to take it out of the case and felt something sharp on the side of the upper part of the lower bout. I pulled the guitar out of the case and found a HUGE 15 inch long CRACK!! It was stopped by the internal side support and the end block. There are also small finish chips missing along the crack. There was no packing in the case on that end, and some end to end movement. I took some pics of the damage and sent a message to the seller. I found all the strings were slacked EXCEPT the low E, which was tuned up to almost F! There is some drop damage on one of the bottom corners of the box, but there was plenty of packing in the box, and the damage to the box isn’t bad. I think it’s possible the crack was cause by a combination of the drop, the lack of packing on the end in the case, and 5 strings slacked but the low E tuned up to F (causing an asymmetrical loading on the top). I don’t think any combination of two of them would have caused it. It’s almost like a “Perfect Storm”.
He got back to me. He said the Reverb Resolution Center will get back to us within 5 days.
INSPECTION - There looks to be a faded F-67 date stamp. The pickguard may have fallen off and been restuck, it isn’t in the original shadow. It is the lightest H1260 I’ve seen at 3.94 lbs. The bridge is .35” high, the saddle barely sticks out .045”. The neck is nearly flat and projects about .22” below the top of the bridge, WITHOUT string tension. It needs a neck reset badly! The action and nut action can’t be checked. I can’t do a full internal inspection since I don’t want to remove the strings, yet. With a mirror, I see a non-full width bridge plate, and no obvious brace damage, but it’s hard to see in there. The heel cap has many cracks but looks well stuck. There are a few fine cracks in the top behind the bridge, in a small cluster. The frets are oxidized but look pretty good, and as usual the fretboard is very rough. There are some dings and scratches here and there, but nothing bad. Overall, it looks pretty good, except for the big crack on the side.
THE PLAN – WAIT until the Reverb resolution is done before doing anything to it!! I plan on keeping and fixing it. Even though I'll repair it myself, I looked up the cost of crack repairs. I found $25 to $30 per inch + $10 per cleat. Most places were quoting a minimum of $100+ and would need to be quoted. Another one said $200 for a major crack with a splint. $25 x 15" + $40 for cleats = $415!!!! That's insane!!! I think $300 would be more reasonable.
I loosened the strings and found the upper part of the crack moves freely, but the part closer to the endpin is overlapped and stuck. I think I can clamp the body at both ends and use a scissors jack to open the crack slightly to release the overlap and get the parts lined up again, but I won’t do that until this is resolved. Then use fish glue, magnets, and squeeze clamps to align and glue it up. Then glue in some cleats. The finish repair is the hardest part, something I'm not good at. Yet...
Personally, I'd like to see a substantial refund, for the value of the repair and the reduction of the value of the guitar. I paid over $700 with tax & shipping. I’m hoping for $400 back, although I'd expect $300. We shall see.
So, assuming I get to keep it and a partial refund, the plan would be to first remove the neck to make the body easier to work with. Then clamp & spread the crack to release the overlap. Then figure out the clamping (magnets & squeeze clamps), glue with fish glue, add 2-3 cleats (made from tongue depressors), and add one on the other side of the lower bout (just in case). Wait on the finish repair. Do the neck reset & level the frets, make the guitar playable. I don’t think this will be playable by my birthday if there are (2) guitar probably coming to work on, and I can’t do anything with this guitar until this is resolved, which I doubt will happen this week, since today is Wednesday.
The packing in the case. Nothing on the end.
And nothing against the upper bout. And about 1" of travel.
THE CRACK!!
The dent on the end of the box.
