TRASH OR TREASURE
Zachary r. fjestad
Enhance Your Décor With A Harmony-built Fender Acoustic
Hey Zach,
Is there anything you can tell me about this
old Fender 3/4-sized acoustic guitar? I have
been around guitars for more than 40 years
and have never run across one of these.
There is a number stamped inside: 3235
1000. It looks like a cheap children’s guitar
from the 1950s.
Thanks!
Bob in Auburn, CA
Hi Bob,
I know I’ve seen your guitar somewhere,
but I just can’t put my finger on it! There
seems to be a reason why you don’t run
across many of these Fender guitars, and
why you can’t find much information about
them. Aside from current ownership/man-agement, Fender hasn’t had much luck with
acoustic guitars. Subsequently, not much
information exists about their acoustic guitars, making it difficult to do any research,
and it leads me to believe that Fender
would be perfectly happy simply forgetting this chapter of their history. However,
I uncovered some information about your
guitar and the history of Fender acoustics.
Let’s not fool ourselves here—Fender is first
and foremost an electric guitar and guitar
amplifier company that entered the acoustic
guitar market much later than many other
manufacturers. To offer an acoustic alternative,
a student Spanish guitar called the No. 150
started appearing in Fender’s catalogs in the
late 1950s. It is unknown who built these, and
the Fender trademark does not seem to appear
anywhere on the guitar. By 1963, Fender was
serious about offering a full acoustic guitar line
and they had ex-Rickenbacker employee Roger
Rossmeisel design a full series of acoustic
guitars. The new Fender acoustics debuted in
1963, but they employed several electric features, including bolt-on necks, Stratocaster-style
headstocks and white-colored pickguards. The
first full line of Fender acoustics was produced
through 1970 or early 1971.
The Concert, King, Malibu, Newporter and
other 1960s-era Fender acoustics were really
never well received and were considerably
expensive. Fender wanted to offer a line of
more affordable acoustics to compete with
the increasing number of cheap imports, so
they went to Harmony, who was well known
for building quality budget acoustic guitars.
Harmony was a large guitar manufacturer
from Chicago that built guitars under the
Harmony trademark, as well as over 50 other
brands, making them a “house brand” in
the guitar industry. In the late 1960s, Fender
asked Harmony to build a line of Fender-branded, Harmony-built acoustic guitars.
The resulting instruments became known
as the first F Series, and nearly 10 different
guitars were available. The numbers on the
inside of your guitar indicate that it is the
Model F-1000, which was the standard size
flat top acoustic offered. It has an all-birch
body, 12/18-fret fingerboard, metal trapeze
tailpiece and a white pickguard. The headstock has a bright white Fender logo with a
“Uni-Bar Reinforced Neck” inscription indicative of the steel truss rod. The F-1000 retailed
for $32.95 in 1969 and the entire F Series was
produced through the early 1970s. Harmony
enthusiasts will note that this guitar is nearly
identical to the Harmony Model H929.
Today, this is a $50–$100 guitar in excellent condition, and these F-Series acoustics
can be very good players if you can find
one that has a straight neck and low action.
Interestingly enough, these F-Series of acoustics never appeared in Fender’s catalogs, and
were only available through their price lists.
It may have been Fender’s way of offering an
acoustic guitar without having to jeopardize
their pride by showing them in a catalog.
Regardless, these guitars exist and people
still play them. While it is a step above a
1950s children’s guitar, it still is a budget
acoustic guitar. Now I remember! I’ve seen
the same guitar mounted on the wall of my
local Applebee’s as part of their décor!
Zachary R. Fjestad
Zachary is the author of the Blue Book of Acoustic
Guitars, Blue Book of Electric Guitars, and the Blue
Book of Guitar Amplifiers.
Questions can be submitted to:
Blue Book Publications
Attn: Guitar Trash or Treasure
8009 34th Ave. S. Ste #175
Minneapolis, MN 55425
800-877-4867
bluebookinc.com
guitars@bluebookinc.com
