Airline/Harmony Patrician Archtop, 1950's-1960's
RESTORED By Keith Holland Guitars
COMING SOON
This Airline acoustic model is getting a second life as a first-class Jazzbox at Keith Holland Guitars. This restoration represents the first-ever in-house neck reset and also a re-imagining of its spirit by Robert Witmeyer, TJ Flores, Ron LaFrance, and Jaxson Cottrell. Originally, this guitar was donated to the store as a basket case in desperate need of a major overhaul. The endgame will be a customized vintage instrument with serious street cred and a spec sheet to rival brand new jazzboxes.
This is a curious example, as our research has not discovered a comparable model on the secondary market. With its solid maple top and tortoiseshell binding, we have concluded that this may be what is known as a "floor sweeper" model from the Harmony/Kay/Airline/Silvertone family of guitars built in Chicago. We suspect that the body belongs to a higher-end Harmony model -most likely a Harmony Patrician- and was mated to an already-finished-&-less expensive Airline neck in order to produce something ready for sale right away.
Our modifications and upgrades will take this one to an entirely different level from its original configuration. Ron LaFrance has corrected the neck geometry with a dicey-but-successful neck reset. The fretwork will be completed by our human PLEK machine, Jaxson Cottrell. A custom tailpiece and period-correct tuning machines were mined from the KHG Secret-Stash of parts. A custom red tortoiseshell pickguard was shaped from the original provided in an effort to heighten the effect of the original tortoise binding. And our friendly contact at Guild, Mike Torres, was able to provide the engine of this soon-to-be-electrified Jazzbox with a classic-styled DeArmond Rhythm Chief 1000 floating pickup, complete with retro "Monkeybar" mounting system.
It won't be long until this Airline is flying high and Jazzing alongside our powerhouse lineup in the Woodshed.
Stay Tuned!!!
This is a curious example, as our research has not discovered a comparable model on the secondary market. With its solid maple top and tortoiseshell binding, we have concluded that this may be what is known as a "floor sweeper" model from the Harmony/Kay/Airline/Silvertone family of guitars built in Chicago. We suspect that the body belongs to a higher-end Harmony model -most likely a Harmony Patrician- and was mated to an already-finished-&-less expensive Airline neck in order to produce something ready for sale right away.
Our modifications and upgrades will take this one to an entirely different level from its original configuration. Ron LaFrance has corrected the neck geometry with a dicey-but-successful neck reset. The fretwork will be completed by our human PLEK machine, Jaxson Cottrell. A custom tailpiece and period-correct tuning machines were mined from the KHG Secret-Stash of parts. A custom red tortoiseshell pickguard was shaped from the original provided in an effort to heighten the effect of the original tortoise binding. And our friendly contact at Guild, Mike Torres, was able to provide the engine of this soon-to-be-electrified Jazzbox with a classic-styled DeArmond Rhythm Chief 1000 floating pickup, complete with retro "Monkeybar" mounting system.
It won't be long until this Airline is flying high and Jazzing alongside our powerhouse lineup in the Woodshed.
Stay Tuned!!!