# What's a Harmony Meteor worth?



## Hublocker (May 14, 2009)

The first electric guitar I played in a band was a borrowed Harmony Meteor in 1969.

I lost touch with the guitar's owner and I've wanted one of my own ever since.

I can't afford it 'cause i just bought a baritone guitar, but I've found one for sale for $700.

Is that about the right ballpark price for these guitars?

I just want to torture myself.


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## jimihendrix (Jun 27, 2009)

$4700.00....???...that's insane...here is a harmony rocket for $649.00....this guy regularly gets harmony guitars in for "cheap"...

Paul's Boutique // Harmony Rocket 2 Pickup

also...the harmony company has been resurrected...you can buy any new reissue cheap...

http://harmonyguitars.com/


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## Hublocker (May 14, 2009)

*Sorry*

Misspelling.

$700 for a 1962.

And the local guitar shop charges $950 for the reissue Rockets with no case, so after looking at Paul's boutique Rocket for $649, the $700 Meteor sounds about right.


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## eric_b (Dec 6, 2008)

Blue Book value is $650 American in MINT condition... $425 Exc... $150 Good...


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## garretrevels (Mar 9, 2007)

price seems about right to me. good starting point. perhaps make an offer.

that being said, with some patience you'd find one cheaper on ebay, but by the time you pay shipping and duties.....and the fact if you buy locally you know what you're getting, assuming you try it first, which is always worth paying a little more for with these old budget guitars IMO


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## dwagar (Mar 6, 2006)

my first decent guitar, about '66, was a Meteor. Didn't Keef play one for awhile?


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## whammybar (May 7, 2008)

Gotta go with *eric_b* on this one. I had a '59 Harmony Meteor I bought in 62 and it needed work to be playable again but they are worth nothing so I said forget it. I wouldn't pay anywhere near $700 for one. Just be patient and one will turn up for $150 in playable condition. People want everything to be a collectors item but Harmony guitars just aren't (k there's a Stella froum but don't get me started). Not to mention you had better love feedback because those suckers were hard to control. Now there was a 1977 (with dings) Gibson SG standard at my local L&M for sale and they wanted $1100. THAT is a collectors item. And everybody stop drooling it sold in like 12 seconds. (no not to me)


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## traktor pull (Jul 16, 2012)

whammybar said:


> People want everything to be a collectors item but Harmony guitars just aren't


Wow. Couldn't disagree with you more.
The old Harmony's (especially the rockets, meteors (H61) and the 3 pickup H78's) are AMAZING guitars (i own an early 60's rocket and a beloved, higher end, 70's sunburst Meteor with Bigsby). They have more groovy sonic character (soul) than any other guitars I've ever played. Yeah, they're hollowbody's and want to feedback like all hollowbody's do, but that's easily fixed with some soft foam in the cavity.
I'm old enough to remember when early 60's Jazzmasters ("uncool" and unloved at the time!) could be had for about $400 in the mid 90's (i own a '64)...what do you suppose changed between then and now? They got re-discovered.
I think that the "Black Keys" will end up doing for Harmony's what Cobain/Sonic Youth/Kevin Shields did for JM's in the 90's....
They sound "different" more expressive to me and I say that as an owner of a a Strat, Tele and a Les Paul (i like guitars, what can I say .
These old guitars have unique voices compared to the usual "radio" suspects and THAT'S what makes them so appealing to many of us.


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## bluzfish (Mar 12, 2011)

I've said it before in this forum and I will say it again. Although whammybar's comments were made several years ago, I have to agree.

In the 60s, Harmonys, Stellas, Silvertones, etc. were considered very low end instruments, if not untouchable junk. So what did we miss back then? Why are they now collectable as playable instruments? Even Mosrites, Hagstroms and others now considered "classic" were never seen in the hands of credible musicians and back then I went out to see any band that was playing (that actually used to be affordable).

Around 1966, my first band bass was a Harmony hollowbody and I cringed with embarassment every time I had to go on stage with it. One of the local music stores sold Hagstroms and Mosrites. It had very little business. Did ANYONE besides The Ventures ever play Mosrite guitars and Standel amps?.

Certainly by the late 70s punks were buying up cheap-ass guitars no one else wanted, hence making them popular. And I admit I haven't revisited any of the old pariah guitars of the 60s and 70s. Am I really missing something - anything?


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## traktor pull (Jul 16, 2012)

jimihendrix said:


> the harmony company has been resurrected...you can buy any new reissue cheap...
> 
> http://harmonyguitars.com/


I've played one of the Rocket re-issues...
They play alright but the magic is in the old DeArmond pickups the originals had....THAT is something they didn't come close to recreating.
I've never looked but does anybody (Lollar, Novak, Duncan etc) make a knockoff of the old Dearmonds?


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## Guest (Jul 16, 2012)

I own a '66 rocket. The dearmonds definitely have their own sound.
What I didn't like about mine was the neck. Too narrow/short. It was
a student guitar after all. Did a resto-mod on it with a 22 fret epi neck.
Had to take a little wood out of the neck to fit the body pocket and 
off-set the tail piece. Plays nice now. Missing the pick gaurd and tremolo arm.


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