Harmony Stratotone Mars H-46 Model Thinline Hollow Body Electric Guitar, c. 1959, made in Chicago, sunburst lacquer finish, laminated maple body, maple neck with ebonized fingerboard, black hard shell case.
Harmony's twin-pickup H-46 Mars was near the bottom of the new hollow Stratotone line introduced in 1958. It was designed to "Provide outstanding value in their price class" but still quite a decent little guitar for the time. With two DeArmond pickups, a non-adjustable "Steel reinforced" neck and a quite functional stacked-pot electronics rig this is a good sounding and playing instrument even considering its budget origins.
The Harmony catalog described it thus: "...made with all the features of the new hollow "Tone Chamber" construction. Ebonized maple fingerboard. Straight-line hardwood neck with built-in steel reinforcing rod. Finely finish in warm sunburst effect showing the grain of the wood. White celluloid bindings. Adjustable bridge. Hinged tailpiece. Dual built in pickups, each with tone and volume control. 3-position selector switch...for maximum tone variation. $97.50, C45 carrying case, $10.00."
While not as flashy as the more upscale H-49 Stratotone Jupiter (which cost $42.00 more!) this unpretentious little guitar is a garage band classic, offering a very good value in a light and handy twin-pickup electric. This one has no visible date marks but the headstock logo is the "long tail" version used in 1958-9, the first years the model was offered. In England in 1962-3 Brian Jones used a nearly identical H-46 (made a couple of years later) for all the early Rolling Stones gigs and recordings; his actual guitar was sold recently for a goodly sum. While not intended as a professional-grade instrument -- even by Harmony Standards -- the H-46 is a very cool and friendly little guitar to play, with a great sound and cool vintage vibe at a comparatively still-budget price.
Overall length is 38 1/4 in. (97.2 cm.), 13 1/8 in. (33.3 cm.) wide at lower bout, and 1 7/8 in. (4.8 cm.) in depth, measured at side of rim. Scale length is 24 in. (610 mm.). Width of nut is 1 11/16 in. (43 mm.).
This is a slightly scruffy but good playing early example of this cool if little-celebrated Stratotone variant. The finish is all original with a decent amount of wear and tear overall including dings, dents and scrapes, with some finish flaked away especially to the lower part of the top where it looks like someone with a sweaty hand turned the knobs a lot! The back has some "curly cord burn" marks while the back of the neck has some dings and dents but no really heavy wear.
The hardware is mostly original including the DeArmond pickups and cool stacked pots and knobs. The 3-way switch is a replacement, the bridge is a correct style vintage Harmony piece but not original to the guitar and the tuners are Japanese strips from the 1970s. The original plastic strap buttons have been replaced with metal ones. The neck is straighter than most and the frets have only minor wear. If not the cleanest this Stratotone still sounds and plays as it should, a nice funky little Harmony with a cool vibe in a later 1970s Japanese hard case with a particularly bright orange lining. Overall Very Good Condition.
