Wednesday, September 28, 2011

Happy Ending to my Texas Guitar Ripoff

Here are the pics of my latest cherished posession - 1956 Harmony H44 Stratotone - 100% original including case and original ultra-skinny neck strap.



And the pic at the bottom is the original pic That the initial seller emailed to me of the guitar after he posted it on Craigslist in Texas.




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Well, I thought it was a lost cause but thanks to an honorable "guitar reseller" in Texas I eventually got the Guitar I was scammed out of - my 1956 Harmony H44 Stratotone neck thru electric in Copper.

The identical guitar showed up on eBay and I contacted the seller and after explaining that I'd paid the owner for it and he never sent it to me he boxed it up and shipped it to me - all I had to do was reimburse him for the money he lost.

Yippee! It arrived today and it is unbelievable! They are everything they are rumored to be (if you like fat necks and awesome tone).

I will post pics when i get the chance. - Jim C

13 comments:

  1. So how can you go about getting your money back from the original seller?

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  2. how'd you know it was the same guitar?
    how did the ebay seller get a hold of it?

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  3. Great news for you. I am still missing my early 50's ES 175 sunburst that went gone from a repair shop years ago near Atl. Like an old love it always hurts a bit.Sad but true.

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  4. So glad to hear of the outcome. Definitely pics!

    How did another person end up with it & attempt to ebay it? Very nice of him to do the right thing.

    Congratulations.

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  5. The "honorable guitar reseller" was a guitar shop in Texas that was selling the guitar on consignment for the original creep who ripped me off. When they confronted him with the information and the copy of my Cashier's check made out to him he admitted that he'd done it and the guitar shop then sent me the guitar. I agreed to pay them the shipping cost and to reimburse them for their eBay and Paypal fees. It was only about a hundred bucks. I still ended up getting the guitar for well less than it's current market value so I am very happy.

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  6. Nice ending to this story. I just picked up a '66 K300 Kay. Having used mostly modern guitars, the neck on this thing feels like a baseball bat.

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  7. Ah, that's great! What a jerk. I'm really glad it worked out.

    I really enjoy your posts, Jim. Thanks for doing it.

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  8. As you can see from the pics the fact it is a 1956 with the less common "toaster pickup" and the green oxidized patina on the specific areas of the body were both dead giveaways that it was the identical guitar. I also did a Google Maps search for the eBay sellers location and the address I had sent the Cashier's check and saw that they were only 18 miles apart. That's when I knew it was the same guitar. - JC

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  9. Nice work, Jim! And I'm thrilled that you snagged it!

    Thanks for your blog - really great.

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  10. Great news - looking fwd to hearing more about this gtr, and good luck on sorting it out with the store - I got an earlier H44 this year and it's pretty much my fave guitar now. Are the toaater pickups hotter (about 8K?), like the 60s Dearmonds?

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  11. From all that I have read and heard the toaster pickup is identical in output to the standard Hershey bar style DeArmond that came on these H44's. I would not describe it as a hot pickup - just nice and round and tonally complex. It does overdrive well - no harsh overtones - but i think it sounds best when simply driving a pair of warmed up 6V6's through a 12 inch Alnico. Mostly sweet - with a little grit. - JC

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  12. Sorry to bug but I'm interested in a 1962 Silvertone 1420 Stratotone & don't know what the market value for this type of Silvertone. What do they go for? I'm glad karma came back your way with this Stratatone & I enjoy this blog a whole lot. It's taught me a lot about guitars that I believe are under appreciated. Thanks for the help if any, Luis.

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  13. Hey JC....post the name of this reseller...he did the right thing and deserves some karma points....will look for him on eBay

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I appreciate your comments but please no commercial links or non guitar related conversations. Thank you. - JC

IMPORTANT NOTE TO ALL READERS

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