CONVERSION OF 1954 HARMONY STRATOTONE
The conversion of Matt Daniels’ 1954 Harmony Stratotone H-44 to a two pickup instrument was inspired by our good friend Rick Holmstrom, one of the West Coast’s foremost blues and swing guitarists. Rick has been largely credited with fostering the re-emergence of the Stratotone almost three decades ago. The modifications to Rick's H-44 were closely related to the H-88 Stratotone DUO (two pickup model), but we decided to pull out all the stops on the Matt Daniels project. The H-44 pickups were usually permanently fastened to the instrument’s pickguard, and therefore non-height adjustable. I designed and made special brackets for the pickup base plates, making them fully adjustable. I routed the body for the two pickups, the switch and potentiometers, and was able to match the original Harmony copper paint color for the new pickup and control cavities. Guitar wiring guru Emmett Brown, AKA “Deaf Eddie” devised a unique wiring configuration for the five position super switch that renders all the usual two pickup combinations, plus In-Series, and In-Series out-of-phase options which recreate the archtop guitar sounds of the 40's and 50's and the famous T-Bone Walker tone. Brett Brubaker of Foggy Mountain Guitars provided us with two 1950’s vintage “Hershey Bar” pickups modified for use with the "Super Switch." Prior to re-fretting, the neck was straightened with heat to relieve decades of warping. The fretboard was leveled, and then planed to a three degree back angle in order to render low action, more accurate intonation, and improved playability. I used Dunlop 6105 fret wire for the refret and applied custom binding, new fretboard dot markers, and a custom bone nut. I performed the "Holmstrom" modification to the tailpiece which added height adjustable screws to both ends, allowing the player to control string break angle behind the bridge. The instrument now plays effortlessly with action set at just about 1/8” over the entire length of the neck. The tone and response from the pickups are spectacular on T-Bone Walker and West Coast jump and swing arrangements, and a full compliment of 40's ‘50s and ‘60s vintage guitar tones are readily available at the flip of the switch. I really hated to give the guitar back to Matt !!
