| HOME OF THE HARMONY MARQUIS OWNERS GROUP |
| THE OLD KAZOO MAKER'S VINTAGE 1970's HARMONY MARQUIS I have owned this guitar for quite a few years and have never been able to find out much about it. In fact I had only found one other person that owned one until recently. A couple other Marquis owners came across pictures of mine online and sent me some pics and info. I bought mine at a yard sale for $100.00 and would not trade it for a Gibson Les Paul. If you come across one for sale I would recommend you buy it. These first five pics are my Marquis. If you own a Marquis you are invited to join this exclusive group. Send any info and pictures to the link at the bottom of this page. |
| MY MARQUIS |
| THE MAP DUDE'S MARQUIS COLLECTION amd COMMENTS |
| BOB'S MARQUIS amd COMMENTS |
| Just wanted to let you know that I have 3 Harmony LPs. The body is not mahogany. It is Alder. The model you have came in 3 versions, wine red, black, and blond. Here is a picture. I bought my first one at Service Merchandise, and paid $169 for it in 1974. Also, of my 2 wine red guitars, one has a rosewood fretboard and the other is ebony. |
| BILL'S VINTAGE MARQUIS This guitar has been sold and now belongs to Gord. |
| The Harmony Les Paul that you have is one of the best playing and sounding Les Pauls ever made. They where sold in the late 70's to very early 80's they are very, very rare in the mahogany color and with the routing around the body. Aldens catalog had them listed and they were also sold thru Service Merchandise catalogs. They were probably the most expensive guitars made by Harmony at the time, this is why they were named Harmony Marquis, and were listed between $499 and $599. This was a time when Gibson Les Pauls were selling for under $900, and Fender American Stratocasters were around $500 and both included cases but the Harmony did not. To tell the truth the quality of the Harmony is much better than a Gibson Les Paul. In fact I have 2 Gibson Les Pauls and the fit of the covers and binding is much better on the Harmony. The Harmony Les Paul that you have, came with Dimarzio Humbucker pickups that is why they don't have the chrome covers over them, the Dimarzio's were expensive pickups and would have cost you over $200 just for the pair by themselves. The neck on the Harmony is a bit fatter than a normal Les Paul and would be compare to a 50's style neck by today's standards. In fact I remember having a hard time finding a case to fit it because it didn't fit Les Paul copy cases so I had to buy one for a real Les Paul for it to fit. The only bad thing that I ever found on the guitar was that they came out with cheap tuners on the head stock for some reason and because of them it had a hard time staying in tune. After I put a set of Schaller tuners on it would stay in tune for weeks it seemed. This was one of the first guitars that Harmony made in Japan and for the most part they really set out to build it with quality components so it could compete with the American companies like Fender and Gibson. This included the Dimarzio pickups and the Tune-a-Matic adjustable bridge and even the mahogany body, but because of this it was too expensive to make and they soon discontinued it and made cheaper versions of it, like the sunburst ones that you have seen with all the chrome. Soon other companies came out with cheaper versions that were junk but because they were made in Asia they were soon looked down at and very few people even know about how good this guitar really is. I have had mine a little over 30 years and have only seen one other in person and yours is the 2nd I have seen online. The 1st one I saw the guy had taken out the pickups to put in his other guitar before he listed it for sale. Says something about the rarity doesn't it? This was my first guitar and over the years I have had well over 40 guitars and I still own this one. Here is a picture of mine it has held up pretty well over 30 years and I still play it. Bob |
| Hello, I have one of these. It looks just like a Les Paul. It is all original and in near mint condition. Notice the neck is different than your guitar. |
| OLD KAZOO MAKER COMMENT ON BILL'S MARQUIS Bill's Marquis appears to be a very early Asian model. There is a sticker on the pick guard that indicates American Dimarzio Humbucker pickups are installed. The bridge also appears to be a Tune-a-Matic. This would have only been on the first few Asian models as most have cheaper humbuckers and bridge. The traditional Les Paul shape also indicates an early model as this was changed to a more rounded shape to avoid a Gibson lawsuit on later Asian models. Bill also reports that the neck of this instrument is true and plays fantastic. Looks like he hight have picked up one of the better Asian models that were made before they started cutting manufacturing cost by using cheaper parts. |
| IF YOU OWN A HARMONY MARQUIS PLEASE SEND ME AN EMAIL AND PICTURE If you have information on the Marquis let me know that too! |
| EDDYMAC'S HARMONY Here are a few pics of my Harmony I acquired from a pawn shop in 1982. It plays like a dream and I don't think I could ever part with it. I don't know it's exact age, but from it's wear at the time I figured about mid to late 70's. If you have any info, send me an e-mail, it would be much appreciated. Thanks. |
| POPCLUTCH'S HARMONY Hey Butch, Heres some pictures of the Harmony I purchased. It DOES have a small sticker identifying it as an H7000WA. I'm not sure if that is a serial number or model number. The guy I bought it from stated this one was actually manufactured in Kalamazoo, Mi. I have no idea if this is really the case. Anyway, thought you would enjoy the pics, so here ya go! |
| GIP'S VINTAGE MARQUIS Here is a photo of one of mine - Everyone who plays this guitar is amazed at how nice it plays and sounds - I have a wine colored one around here someplace. |
| I just got this picture of Gip's Marquis. What a beautiful guitar. This is the first one of this style I have seen and to hear he as another around somewhere! Thanks Gip I am so happy to add this one to the collection The Old Kazoo Maker |
| THE OLD KAZOO MAKER Central Florida Folk Artist Instrument Maker/Folk Musician Genuine Handmade American Wood Instruments Unique Handcrafting At The AsWeGo Homestead Kazoo, Cajon, Guiro, Box Drum, Diddle Bow, Tapper, and one of a kind folk instruments. |
| Thanks for sharing your pictures and information about this exceptional but little known Harmony guitar! |
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| THE HARMONY MARQUIS OWNER GROUP HAS MOVED This webpage will no longer be updated. Future updates to the Harmony Marquis Owners Group can now be found on the NEW Harmony Marquis Owners Group Blog at: http://harmonymarquis.blogspot.com/2013/11/harmony-marquis-owners-group.html |