A quietly hidden treasure

[horax]

I've been married to my wife for 8 years.
My parents knew her parents before either of them had kids.
My grandparents were friends with her grandparents.

Just the other day, my father in law tells me (for the first time) that he used to play guitar in a traveling band. I take it with a grain of salt, but when he offers to show me his guitar, I get intrigued.

We go to the closet and he gets it out. The case is a little messed up from the years, so I think nothing special out of what I'm about to see.

He opens it up...and I'm skeptical. But then I play it. Then I do some googling. I realize that what I'm now playing almost every day is something quite special.

My father in law has a Vintage 1964 Harmony Bobkat H15 in PURE MINT CONDITION!!!

I've never heard a guitar with this level of tone! It is SOOOO LOUD that it really is quite amazing.

It is a smaller frame as it was made for the beach music of the 60's.

I hope he wills it to me, cause he is not selling it. He hopes to play again in his retirement which is only a year or two away.

It's still a little dusty (as you can see in the last photo), but I will ensure it gets a proper cleaning some day soon.

The best thing about this guitar (aside from it's classic and very distinct look) is the gold foil pickups. These early humbucking pickups are AMAZING! They get every little bit of sound they hear. They are the jewel that make this mine profitable.

In the pictures, you may think you see some rough edges on the head, nope, that's the reflection of the flash from the camera. It is 100% MINT!

Without further ado, here are some pictures:

[ghostwolf]

those pickups aren't humbuckers, they're single coils, made by Rowe-DeArmond, in toledo, ohio, of all places. sweet guitar, treasure it if you end up with it. a friend of mine had one of those when i was in high school. i used to borrow it on occasion. not fancy, but they do get the job done. toby's was some hideous mustard yellow-green sunburst... your father in law's looks much better.

[horax]

My bad on the PUPS...they sure sound like humbuckers..very deep and throaty.

It is 100% mint, and I really, really, really hope he gives it to me one day. At least he lets me play it with no complaining. It is very loud! Amazing it still feels so brand new.

[GukkanGwnarkill]

Sharp axe, man.

[itsallintheblues]

great treasure.. My grandfather is a musician too.. but yeah.. he uses wind instruments so no vintage guitars for me.. the only vintage guitar is the one I have now 50-80 years from now which I hope my grandson will inherit..

[YeahDoIt]

Looks like the bridge is made of wood. How unusual. Nice guitar.

[pictoratus]

That is indeed a treasure! Just being able to hold and play that guitar would be priceless.

[wickedtools]

That is very cool

[horax]

The coolest thing about the wooden bridge is the fact that it has two adjustable screw-like devices on each side that lets you adjust the action as needed. You don't need to replace the nut or anything to raise or lower the string height. If you wanted to change the action in between songs, you could do it in literally seconds.

My mother in law said I could have it if he doesn't will it to me, so hopefully he'll give it to me way before then. If he does, I plan on keeping it in perfect shape so I can pass it on down the road. Who knows, in 100 years it may be worth quite a bit.

I've seen some of these on ebay go for well over $1000 in horrible condition. Some are cheaper than that, but that's the nature of the 'bay. But for this to be in mint, playable condition, tha'ts gotta be worth something.

[Bullitt]

Those oddball guitars can be real treasures.

[edandis]

Nice, very nice. I do hope he wills it to you. Just for funzies P-90's are single coils also, although they look like humbuckers.

[AllroyPA]

Look what just came up on my craigslist, very similar
http://philadelphia.craigslist.org/msg/1893683146.html

[S. Rock]

that truly is a treasure. has your father-in-law played it for you ? is he still playing after all of these years ?