This budget priced bass proved very popular from the outset as it offered a pocket friendly alternative to the mighty Gibson EB2 and the Epiphone Rivoli basses, and it sounded good too!
Light in weight, it was big on sound thanks to the DeArmond pickup and the Bass/Baritone selector switch that gave it just a little more edge if you wanted. The tailpiece was set at the edge of the body so long scale strings could be used successfully. This was important at the time as short scale strings were not that easy to find.
Championed in the UK by Muff Winwood with the Spencer Davis Group and Ronnie Lane of the Small Faces it has rightfully become an icon of the sixties. In 1969 it evolved into the H-22/1 with a twin cutaway body. The Harmony Company was finally wound up in 1975 but recently a reissue has emerged that is actually somewhat better constructed - and it's still relatively cheap.
“A unique octave bass fuzz with a built-in, 2-voice ring modulator”: The Maestro BB-1 Brassmaster is a super-rare bass octave fuzz from the ‘70s that sounds great on guitar, sells for $2,000+, and Behringer just made a $69 clone of it
“Meticulously crafted analogue and digital circuits all curated from the ground up for bass-centric tonal expansion”: Fender unveils the Bassman effects line – 5 pedalboard essentials for bassists
