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Harmony H172 - arrived in germany

PostPosted: Tue Mar 29, 2011 6:19 am
by Mattes1981
Hello all,
very nice to be here.
First let me introduce myself. Ma Name is Matthias and i´m a guitar player from germany. Im 30 Years old :cry:
I am a big Jerry Reed Fan - i came to his music about 3 years ago. I remember sitting in front of my computer and search youtube for some guitar-songs.
Suddenly i noticed the title "Jerrys Breakdown" ´. I only knew him from Smokey and the bandit.
This day changed my life as a musician.
I got in touch with Chet Atkins and also Tommy Emmanuel.
I like Chet Atkins style but i prefer Jerry because he is very extroverted.
If i am able i listen and wathc Jerrys Music and Videos every day.
From this day i try to play some easy tunes like "babys coming home" or "Windy and warm"
I have learned a lot through watching youtube videos. The hardest thing for me was to got my thumb independent from the rest of my hand:)
Sometimes he is still doing things i dont want him to do :-)
I got in contact with Craig Dobbins - a very kind person. He is very nice an helpful to me. --- thanks for that
So i tried to get some kind of Reed-Sound. At one point i saw that the only option is to get THE guitar he played.
i realized very quickly that it would be very hard to find the "Baldwin 801" So i start to research the internet and found informations about the harmony-company. They made the H174 -and later i found out that the baldwin is basically a Harmony Guitar.
But it was nearly impossible to get the H174. 3 Weeks ago i found an offer on a website in Michigan. The guy sold a Harmony H172 - it looked very close to the baldwin to me.
Again i start research the internet for the H-172 - and many people said, that this guitars are good for getting the REED-Sound and REED-Feeling.
So i ask the man if he would ship to germany - and he did it. I bought it for 150 §
Yesterday i picked it up at my Hometown-customs.
The first look was god.
Okay, there are some little scratches - but i guess my repair guy can fix it.
I read a lot about the clubby neck - but i have to say - its not that clubby as i thought.
The first thing i said to myself : It feels like a cheap japanese guitar :D
Very Very light in weight. But then i play the first chord - and maaaaaan ;) - what a deep and rich sound.
It sounds fantastic. i play a little REED-Lick - and it sounds close to the Reed-Sound.
Its hard to describe - maybe you all know what i mean. The base and especially the high strings. they dont sound too
brilliant - cant discribe it - but it sounds like i want it :D

I stay in contact with Mr Sam Kennedy - he will sent me a prismatone2. Mr Dobbins told me alot about the pickup.
I also get a Bridge for the Pickup from Mr McCullough. Then i am ready to pick :-)
Im very exited about this guitar.

The only thing my guitar have to fix builder are the frets. They stand a little bit outside the fingerboard - so it scratches my index-finger on the left hand.

So - i hope it was not too boring to read - and please excuse my bad english - my german is much better :D

Here are some pictures of my new fella :P


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Bye
Matthias

Re: Harmony H172 - arrived in germany

PostPosted: Tue Mar 29, 2011 6:51 am
by Tony Enamel
Hallo Matthias,

wer so ausdauernd nach einer Gitarre sucht, der muss wirklich von dieser Musik fasziniert sein. Und die Axt sieht der Bauform nach tatsächlich 1:1 so aus wie Jerrys.

Willkommen im Chetboard - und viel Spaß mit deiner Neuerwerbung!

Viele Grüße,

Ingo

Re: Harmony H172 - arrived in germany

PostPosted: Tue Mar 29, 2011 7:28 am
by Mattes1981
Hallo ! Ein Deutscher - das ist ja schön :-)
Danke für deinen Beitrag. Es ist wirklich Faszination - ich habe bis vor 3 Jahren ausschließlich Punkrock gehört und gespielt. Als ich das erste mal diese Musik hörte, wars vorbei - kein Spass. Wobei ich nie mit meinen Gitarren an den Sound von Jerrys Stücken gekommen bin.
Und es scheint tatsächlich so zu sein, dass es nicht nur um den Preis geht. Ich habe schon Konzertgitarren jenseits der 2000 Euro gespielt - gepasst hats trotzdem nicht zu mir und meiner Musik.

Na ja - die Gitarre hat schon rund 40 Jahre auf dem Buckel - und dann noch eine zu finden , die ohne kratzer und Macken ist - na - da kann man wahrscheinlich lange suchen.

Mein Gitarrenbauer wird die wieder auf Vordermann bringen.

LG aus Aachen
Matthias

Re: Harmony H172 - arrived in germany

PostPosted: Tue Mar 29, 2011 7:17 pm
by bill park
Meine Deutsche ist nicht so gut, so.....

Congratulations, Matthias, on getting the Harmony. The H-172 is very close in design to the H-174 and the Baldwin 801, so I think you'll be happy with it - it is a perfect guitar for playing the Reed-licks (especially after getting a Prismatone installed).
Welcome to the ChetBoard!

Re: Harmony H172 - arrived in germany

PostPosted: Tue Mar 29, 2011 7:57 pm
by Mattes1981
Hi Bill - your German is quiet good :-)
I am very happy with it. As i said - there's a Little work to do on the Guitar.
I read some threads here where some people said that this guitar
match and nails the Reed-Sound !
Thats what i thought yesterday when i play the first
Chords. It sounds a lot like Jerry. Unfortunatly i can't play like him.:-)
Now i will order the prismatone - it will arrive in about 4 weeks. I try to record some Short links Tomorrow - than i will post it here. I'm so happy - even its not the same
that Jerry used - but its close to it. Now its 2 am in Germany. I played on the guitar for the last 2 hours. I knew i haf to go to bed - but it keeps me awake.
Crazy - isn't it ???

Best wishes
Matthias

Re: Harmony H172 - arrived in germany

PostPosted: Thu Mar 31, 2011 11:23 am
by Tony Enamel
Sorry, Bill, but I hope it's tolerable to welcome in a fellow countryman in our native language ... I basically said the same as you did.

Ingo

Re: Harmony H172 - arrived in germany

PostPosted: Thu Mar 31, 2011 9:04 pm
by bill park
Tony Enamel wrote:Sorry, Bill, but I hope it's tolerable to welcome in a fellow countryman in our native language... Ingo

Absolutely, Ingo, I'm glad Chet's music is global!
I learned some German in high school many (MANY) years ago. I don't remember hardly any of it except "nicht so gut" and "ausgezeichnet" -
My German? Nicht so gut.
Chet and Jerry fans around the world? Ausgezeichnet!
:D

Re: Harmony H172 - arrived in germany

PostPosted: Fri Apr 01, 2011 5:56 am
by Tony Enamel
Sehr gut, Bill!

By the way, Pat B. loves all sorts of German words like "Klimaanlage", "gemütlich" and "Käsekuchen". ;-)