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The company produced low and mid-level stringed instruments such as guitars, mandolins, banjos and autoharps. Other Schmidt brands included "Sovereign" and "La Scala". Stella was one of several musical instrument brands made in Jersey City, New Jersey, by the Oscar Schmidt Company. International, which is the corporate parent of the Harmony Company. The brand was dissolved in 1974, and was later reintroduced by M.B.T.
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Stella was acquired by the Harmony Company in 1939. Kurt Cobain of Nirvana played an acoustic Stella on the recording of the song Polly, from the Nevermind album, and Mason Williams with Classical Gas. Stella guitars were played by notable artists, including Robert Johnson, Lead Belly, Charlie Patton, Doc Watson and Willie Nelson who learned to play on one.
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The Stella brand consists of low and mid-level stringed instruments. Excellent Condition.Stella was an American guitar brand owned by the Oscar Schmidt Company. While obviously a fairly low-budget model, this is a very nice solid-wood 12 string with its own distinctive sound. With a very clean neckset and low, comfortable action, this is easily one of the best sounding and playing examples of a Stella/Harmony we have ever had. Today most require major rebuilding work to be playable to the level of modern playing expectations this guitar has had it all neatly done and is ready to go. These Stellas were originally built of good materials but to a fairly loose standard. The pickguard (which is made of fairly brittle plastic and screwed to the top) has a couple of tiny stress cracks and the plastic heelcap has partially crumbled and had the lower half replaced. The finish has some minor dings and typical light rubbed-away spots and chipping to the edges-the top's "binding" is actually painted on! There are no cracks anywhere and the top is quite clean with a little typical bellying but no serious distortion. This is a super clean example of this humble but classic Stella, with just some light wear overall. (9.8 cm.) in depth at side, taken at the end block. (38.1 cm.) wide at lower bout, and 3 7/8 in. Always a distinctive instrument, the H-912 is also associated with Kurt Cobain, who used one on a number of sessions for Nirvana recordings. This late-'60's example is rather more carefully and cleanly made than earlier912's and 922's and plays very well with a big powerful if somewhat dry sound. Cosmetically the H-912 features less than deluxe trim with painted binding and a screwed-on pickguard on the all-birch, ladder braced body. It is set up with a traditional tailpiece and floating bridge used since the 1910's. This 1969 example has a relatively slim, flat profile neck with an adjustable truss rod making for a big difference in playability compared to the old huge V-profile neck used up until the mid '60's. They were most popular in the early 1960's before Gibson, Martin and Guild brought out 12-string flattop instruments to meet the demand in 1962-5. Through the 1950's into the early '60's this was the only 12-string guitar commercially available and one of the few "Stella" products that still carried a stylistic link to the brand's pre-war origins. This slimmer-waisted Harmony-Stella H-912 was a direct descendant of the older, rounder-bout Model H-922 that had been in production since 1940. This late 1960's Harmony Stella is a surprisingly good 12-string guitar considering its budget status, and is considered something of a classic in its own right.
STELLA HARMONY GUITAR IDENTIFICATION SERIAL
Stella H-912 Model 12 String Flat Top Acoustic Guitar, made by Harmony (1969), made in Chicago, serial # 8058H912, sunburst lacquer finish, birch back and sides, poplar neck with ebonized fingerboard, hard shell case.