Description
This is a Silvertone 1446L made by Harmony of Chicago circa 1963. It is a black, single cutaway, thinline, maple, semi-hollow body electric guitar with two Gibson Mini-P90 pickups, an ebonized fingerboard with rectangular mother-of-pearl inlays, a Bigsby vibrato tailpiece, an adjustable rosewood bridge, white binding with a stripe inlay, raised white plastic pickguard, two f-holes and two plastic strap pins, white on the bottom and black on the upper bass bout. This instrument plays very nicely and sounds great. It is such a classy and beautiful looking guitar, that even, the ever stylish, Chris Isaak plays one of these. There is a rumor that Harmony made guitars for Gibson for a while in the mid-1960’s and it’s believed this is the same guitar. Apparently, Gibson traded pickups for guitar bodies with Harmony so that is how this came to have the mini-P90’s. Whatever the situation, this particular guitar looks fanstastic for a sixty-ish year old guitar. It comes with an original, two tone, hard shell case.These guitars are nearly impossible to find now. Get it before it’s gone.Description from VintageSilvertones.com
CONDITION:
It is in very good condition and clean for its age. The guitar appears to be all original, although there’s one extra screw below the neck pickup. We don’t know what it does but assume it’s a ground. The pickguard a small ding near the neck. As is the case with most of these guitars, the black finish is slightly dulled from years of use and cleaning. Overall, there’s 60 years worth of wear with minor blemishes if you look closely. Otherwise, it’s super clean.
TUNERS:
The tuners, opened-back, individual chrome machine-heads with silver metal buttons are in good working condition.Description from VintageSilvertones.com
NECK:
The neck is in good shape. It is a bound, straight, bolted-on neck with rectangular mother-of-pearl inlays on an ebonized fretboard, 20 frets, and a 24″ scale. The frets are in good shape with minimal wear. There is minor playing wear on the back of the neck but nothing significant. The headstock features a white silkscreened Silvertone logo and has some minor wear along the edges. The slim neck is kept straight with a steel reinforcing rod. The action is fast and the neck and the frets feel fantastic under your fingers. Description from VintageSilvertones.com
PICKUPS:
The two mini P90 humbucker pickups with unique, white, pentagonal surrounds are very clean, strong and smooth. The neck pickup has a smooth, warm, deep, tight jazzy sound. The bridge pickup is more edgy with a bridge twang. There is a volume and a tone knob for each pickup and a three way selector on a white diamond shaped mount to choose the neck, bridge or both pickups. Using the tone and volume for each pickup and the selector you can access a wide variety of sounds suitable for a myriad of musical styles ranging from jazz to surf punk and everything in between. The pots and toggle sound very clean. Description from VintageSilvertones.com
The Dimensions are:
Overall length: 42″
Body width: 16″Description from VintageSilvertones.com
Body thickness: 2″ with neck 2.25″
Scale: 24″Description from VintageSilvertones.com
Width of the nut: 1.45″ (depth: 1″ approximately)
String height at 12th fret: 0.07″
Weight: 7.2 poundsDescription from VintageSilvertones.com
Here’s the original description from the 1966 Sears catalog:
Maple from Canada and Wisconsin for the tops and backs for Sears Hollow-body Electrics..produces a special, mellow resonance on low tones
Yet, thanks to this maple, you still get all the brilliant highs electrics are famous for.
Truly professional-quality guitars. Slimmest possible neck makes every chord easy to reach. Strings only 1/18 in. above the fingerboard make fingering a snap. Famous Bigsby vibrato add Hawaiian-guitar effect.Description from VintageSilvertones.com
Tone and volume controls for each pickup. Adjustable bridge and steel rod neck reinforcing. Celluloid edge binding; inlaid positiion markers. About 41x16x2 in. deep. With 10-ft cord and advanced instruction book.
Dual-pickup. . three pickup combinations. Hand-rubbed black finish; ebonized fingerboard.
Shipping weight 12 pounds.Description from VintageSilvertones.com
57 W 1446L…….$154.95Case for hollow-body electric guitars. Leather-grained black vinyl on chipboard. Thick, red rayon-plus lining. About 43x17x4 inches deep
57 W 738L–Shipping weight 10 pounds…..$14.95 Description from VintageSilvertones.com
