Beautiful Harmony semi acoustic guitar with very COOL black + sparkle original finish + HSC.The neck is as straight as an arrow and has had a complete professional refret. It plays wonderfully acoustically without an amp.Alden H-45 Stratotone Mars Model Semi-Hollow Body Electric Guitar, made by Harmony, c. 1962, made in Chicago.
Harmony's H-45 Mars was introduced in 1958 with a single pickup, non-adjustable truss rod and simple electronics. The catalog described it thus:
"...Provide(s) outstanding value in its price class. Hollow 'tone chamber' construction. Ebonized maple fingerboard. Straight-line hardwood neck with built-in steel reinforcing rod. White celluloid bindings. Adjustable bridge. Hinged tailpiece. Single pickup built into body, highly responsive. Tone and volume control. Special slide-switch on mounting plate permits quick change from bass emphasis used for rhythm to treble emphasis used for take-off or solo playing.
This unpretentious little "tuxedo finish" guitar is an interesting variation, with a different, more dramatic look than the standard sunburst model Harmony sold themselves. It is specially branded for the Aldens company, a mail-order retailer that by the 1950s was the fourth largest of its kind. Like Sears and Wards, Aldens sourced guitars from Harmony to sell in their catalogs. These can be identified by the "A" logo in a crest stenciled on the headstock. Several different models were offered in the '50s and '60s; the H-45 was given a "black-with-sparkles" finish treatment also favored by Sears for some of their Silvertone models, with "the kids like sparkles" seeming to have been the operative philosophy.
In any guise the H-45 is a bit of a garage band classic, offering a very good value in a light and handy electric guitar for the price. This one was built sometime in or after 1962, the year the pinstripe and "atomic note" graphic was added to the pickguard. This guitar is actually surprisingly great-sounding -- there is a lot more acoustic response than one might expect and the single DeArmond pickup is chunky without losing definition. It seems built to play "Gloria" in the garage all night!
Brian Jones did use the two-pickup version for the earliest Rolling Stones gigs and recordings. The H-45 is a very cool and friendly little guitar, with a great vintage vibe.
Overall length is 38 in. (96.5 cm.), 13 1/4 in. (33.7 cm.) wide at lower bout, and 1 7/8 in. (4.8 cm.) in depth, measured at side of rim. Scale length is 24 in. (610 mm.). Width of nut is 1 11/16 in. (43 mm.).
This Harmony has some dings and light wear and tear but remains a nice all-original example. Very Good Condition.It certainly kicks out a whole lot of cool and a deep, thick, wonderful blues/rock tone suitable for rock, punk and Jazz.