Help! Harmony H15V Bobkat?

diceman1000

cheap gear whore
I found one at a local pawn shop with hard case for $50. It's not mint by any means, but it's in goog shape none the less... should I bite?

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They were made from 63 to 71-72. They seem to bring 150 to 300 most times, depending on condition. I used to see them at yard sales for like 25 bucks, and I passed on them. I guess the value depends on if it is a good player. These "b" brand guitars can be great, and they can be real dogs, so the value is mostly in how it plays. I wouldn't expect a significant collector market interest. These were the guitars kids who wanted to play guitar got for Christmas, not the guitars they WANTED to get, so the value is always going to be pretty low compared to the higher end stuff from the same vintage. 60's and 70's big store catalog fodder, really, but if they play well, they often have a unique sound, and can be pretty cool. The models with the gold foil pickups are the 'best' to get, as the pickups seem to be popular for a loFi kind of sound. I think Ry Cooder had a guitar with these pickups, so they are often worth more than the price of the whole guitar.
 
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But you gotta watch the gold foils. They aren't all the same.

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This is the good one. They can sound really good in a trashy kinda way. They're also fairly microphonic. Some moreso than others. If it has this pickup, I'd buy it and junk the guitar and put the pickup in a decent one. Lol.
 
The price is OK, BUT I'd take it for a spin first. The quality of the lower end Harmonys vary a lot. Some of them are real sweethearts, whereas other ones aren't even good enough to use for firewood. Also, IIRC, not only is it a smaller bodied guitar, but it is shorter scaled (around 24"), which some players find kind of offputting playing-wise. Playing it will give you an idea as to whether or not you might have issues with a shorter scaled guitar.
 
I played it, it was actually almost in tune, lol. It sounded pretty good through a little Drive solid state amp. My intention is to clean it up and flip it.

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I decided to pass, cool little axe, but I have no room nor do I need another project

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