iKokomo - Posted - 03/23/2018:  20:41:26

Just got this sweet Vintage Harmony H35 (Batwing) Mandolin at a thrift store and I was wondering if you had any information on this.

I brought it into my local guitar shop and the tech said that it is weird because there are holes for a pickup (which I know they had models with one) but there are no screw holes where the pickup mounting ring screws in, also on the headstock there is no truss rod cover screw holes.

There is a number inside the F-Hole and it is 5725H35.

There is no other number anywhere in this unit as I have checked, even under the neck.

Do you have any information on this neat mandolin? Especially what year it is? Thanks!!

Just got this sweet Vintage Harmony H35 (Batwing) Mandolin at a thrift store and I was wondering if you had any information on this.

I brought it into my local guitar shop and the tech said that it is weird because there are holes for a pickup (which I know they had models with one) but there are no screw holes where the pickup mounting ring screws in, also on the headstock there is no truss rod cover screw holes.

There is a number inside the F-Hole and it is 5725H35.

There is no other number anywhere in this unit as I have checked, even under the neck.

Do you have any information on this neat mandolin? Especially what year it is? Thanks!!

 

Mandodennis - Posted - 03/25/2018:  14:40:00

Congrats. Nice find! Shame about the pickup being gone.

I'll give you my take on the batwings. I own two of them. One is the H35 with the DeArmond single coil "golden voice" pickup found on so many Harmony Rockets and Bobkats back in the day. The other is the H8025, which is the same design but strictly acoustic. These were made throughout the '60's and '70's until Harmony bottomed out and imported mandolins took over in the "affordable" price category.

Harmony made three types of mandolins in that period. The least expensive one was a Stella flat top. They play well enough and lots of them survive to this day. They were the real bargain priced beginner mandolin back then. Next step up was the Monterey. This was an arch top A style mandolin. While a few came with a pickup the vast majority I remember were acoustic models. These were good players and had enough volume to get by in a folk jam.

The Baroque model, now affectionately called the Batwing, was the top of the line model. Both of mine were purchased new. The acoustic model cost me under $150 with a case as I recall. I bought the electric for a little over $100 with the chipboard case a few years later. Prices nowadays can vary. I think most are overpriced in "vintage" retail settings. But they are a neat item to own and play.

These are very playable mandolins. And as you can attest, they are also very durable in most cases. They suffer from a lack of volume for acoustic playing though compared to mandos from most other makers of that time period. I was playing folk rock and used them as stage instruments to protect the Martin 2-20 and Gibson A2Z I preferred to play at the time. They were workhorses.

Other than the plastic binding and peghead overlay tending to shrink over time they do hold up well. The tuners are somewhat unique having an 18:1 gear ratio. These can wear over time and begin to bind up. I have replaced the tuners on mine which worked out fine.

If you look around you will find these were used by a couple notable players - none of which were bluegrass players per se. The well regarded roots musician Yank Rachell played one for many years. I also recall both Jimmy Page and John Paul Jones using them with Led Zep for some period. There are plenty of videos to attest to that. I would think they played better instruments in the studio. Certainly Page is on videos playing a Gibson during sessions. The H35 worked well on the big stage since it was electric.

As for dates. There should be two stamps inside your mandolin. The one you show is the serial and model number. The serials are confusing because Harmony reset the counter periodically. There should be a second date stamp which will have two number and a letter. Something like 68-M would be for March of 1968. These can fade or be lightly marked so take a close look around inside.

If the head plate brand of Harmony is engraved through the multi layered overlay then it is prior to the 1970's. Later ones had the Harmony brand silkscreened on the headplate. I have no good idea of the cutoff date between the two styles.

These mandolins do come up for discussion here and over in the Mandolin Cafe so do some searches to find out more. Lots of these were made. Lots of them were bought. And a lot of them survived.

I have a bunch of mandolins but I still like playing the Batwing when I can. Enjoy it.

Mandodennis - Posted - 03/25/2018:  14:48:15

Oh, the underside of the pickup would have had a date stamp too. Bummer.

Mandodennis - Posted - 03/25/2018:  18:04:49

Fyi, from 1973 Harmony catalog.

MandoTom2 - Posted - 03/27/2018:  01:22:08

Excellent response Dennis!

Very interesting...

MandoTom2

kimmattis123 - Posted - 01/08/2019:  05:16:55

MandoDennis Thanks for the Harmony pix. Great to see these old mandos with their original sheen. Ya mine has a little shrinkage around the plastic binding. [ I've glued it back at some time] . Plenty of nicks and dings, too. And to reply to the other thread- I do now use my Batwing only for bluegrass for the last 25 years. {Although I do have a handmade "A" model for big gigs] These were the best you could get with built in pickups. My brother damaged the pickguard trying to put on an old DeArmond contact pickup [ I still have it-but its obsl. tech. - hard to use-- lots of feedback] Mine is still non-electric.

Jim Yates - Posted - 03/10/2021:  20:57:02

There was one for sale in a music store where I taught. I phoned my buddy Jim Bowskill and told him about it and the next time I went in the store it was gone. Jim had bought it.
He once left it at my place for a while and I loved it,. Here it is on my couch.

Jim Bowskill's Yank mando on our couch