The 1439 was eclipsed in hollowbody popularity by
the 1446 and the 1454, but it's a fine guitar from our friends at Harmony, based
on their 'Rocket' H56. Even with an exclusive debut as the only hollowbody
electric offered in the '66 Wish Book, the 1439 was soon gone from Sears'
shelves.
Click for full view
The 1439 has always been kind of a puzzle to me, at
least as far as why we don't see more of them. Offered at the same time as the
'Chris Isaak'
1446 and the triple-pickup
1454,
it was priced at way less than $100, had great looks and pretty good specs. A
snazzy cursive logo'd pickguard and a 'true vibrato' tailpiece (the same whammy
was mounted on the 1477) in the mix made this a pretty attractive axe. Maybe its
brief window of availability is the key to its scarcity.
Introduced:
Wish Book 1966 at $84.95
as the 57N1439L
Retired:
1967 at $84.95
as the 57A1439L