Harmony Stella

Also known as: Stella, Stella Harmony, Stella Guitars

Stella was a guitar brand originally founded around 1899 by the Oscar Schmidt Company in New Jersey, producing affordable stringed instruments noted for their tone and accessibility. The Stella, Sovereign, and La Scala brands were acquired by the Harmony Company of Chicago in 1939, and Harmony went on to build student-grade Stella flat-tops alongside its mid-tier Sovereign line. From the late 1...

7 Products · Used by 20 Artists

Harmony Stella H912 12-String Acoustic Steel-string Acoustic Guitars

5.0 (4)

3 artists using

Harmony Stella Steel-string Acoustic Guitars

3.5 (10)

9 artists using

Harmony Stella H929 Acoustic Guitar Steel-string Acoustic Guitars

4.0 (6)

5 artists using

Harmony Stella 12 String Acoustic Steel-string Acoustic Guitars

4.0 (2)

1 artist using

Harmony Stella H927 Parlor Guitar 1963-1970 Uncategorized

4.5 (3)

Harmony Stella H933 Steel-string Acoustic Guitars

4.0 (1)

1 artist using

Harmony Stella H928 Parlor Guitar 1956-1957 Steel-string Acoustic Guitars

2 artists using

Harmony-era Stella acoustics like the H929, H927, H931, and the larger H1141 Grand Concert were typically built with poplar necks, dyed maple or birch fingerboards, and bodies of solid birch, mahogany, or spruce. Their ladder-braced construction produced a dry, woody tone closely associated with prewar blues and folk recordings. Earlier Oscar Schmidt-built Stellas were famously played by Lead Belly, Charley Patton, and Blind Willie McTell, while later Harmony-era examples were widely owned by beginners, folk players, and country blues musicians such as Doc Watson.

Harmony reacquired the Stella name in 2023, reuniting the two brands for the first time since the early 1970s. The Stella line is administered alongside the modern Harmony Guitars catalog out of Kalamazoo, Michigan.

Harmony Stella has 7 products cataloged on Equipboard, including Steel-string Acoustic Guitars. Their gear is featured by 20 artists, with the strongest followings in Rock, Folk, World, & Country, and Pop. Notable users include Lead Belly, Kurt Cobain, and Billie Joe Armstrong.