A woman named Joyce came in on Monday last with a very dirty, very old no-name guitar. Since i'm basically the in-house repair man, the guitar was called to my attention, and she expressed that the guitar was of great importance to her. As best i can recall, the guitar was owned by her father, with her mother also owning one of similar brand. He played it for her when she was just a child, but since his passing it's been kept in the attic, collecting dust until now. She needed it cleaned, re-strung, and assessed for worth/damage.

When it comes to guitars, i love a good mystery. She was nice enough that i was compelled to research this instrument's origins on the interwebs. After a deep clean, a polishing, a bit of lemon oil and a string change, I poured over site after site of vintage instruments. Because it was her father's guitar, i figured it had to be older than 50's- especially because the neck has no truss rod. (essentially, an adjustable steel rod that runs the length of the neck to reinforce as well as counter any bow in the neck)

When she came to pick it up today, I was all too excited to give her a bit of history with her newly cleaned and warm-sounding guitar. 1940 Harmony H1001. One of the first models Harmony produced- and it's numbered 124. Pretty nice. It's not worth a great deal, but I think its intrinsic sentimental value is much more valuable to her. So, we took some photos, had some laughs, and I played a last chord or two on a guitar that's more than 40 years my senior. And for the record, it sounded surprisingly good. Woody and that perfect combination of boxy and springy. *Sniff*