François Demont, a sound engineer who works in French television, has a passion for something very American. It isn't baseball. It isn't apple pie (although we did not discuss apple pie). Demont is an enthusiast for all instruments from the Harmony Guitar Company.

"When I was young I had a dream: to be a rock star. Of course it was a secret dream so it couldn't work. I suppose I'm not the only one with this background. I needed a guitar, a red electric one. I first bought an acoustic and a book. It was a good book (from the French Marcel Dadi, a great picker, emule of Chet Atkins), so I learned some good basics. But some of my friends learned quicker, I was upset with that, and soon my guitar was living in the corner of the room. I told you, a common story!"

When he grew up Demont realized his aim really wasn't to be professional musician. He just wanted to play for fun.

"And that's what I'm still doing today, I play for fun." he says.

In October 2004 he started a website, The Harmony Database, dedicated to Harmony Instruments. At the time, online, there were three basic sources for information on Harmony. One was from a collector, Bill Arnold whose site had pictures of each model in his collection. The other was from Chris and Jim Calhoun which was more extensive from a history standpoint, and even had a Harmony demo CD.

"Then there was the discussion board built by Bill Garrison, a friendly and helpful place. I learned a lot from all these places, but I was surprised by the lack of detailed and verified information. You could read that Harmony had built the great Cremona acoustic archtops, but nobody had any idea of how many models existed, or was able to produce any photo of one--not to mention any low end models produced before the sixties." says Demont.

His site aimed to be, and is, more comprehensive.

"Today my site has a detailed record for 683 different guitars made by Harmony. If we talk Harmony branded instruments only, my site should be called 'partially exhaustive,' " he says. "Not many instruments are missing from the mid-fifties to the end of production in 1975. This covers most of what is easy to find today, and every electric from the "golden age". It's another story for the pre-war period, many instruments are there, but many are still missing, I badly need more documentation. Now if we include instruments made by Harmony and sold under other brands, often by catalog distributors (Sears, Wards), the site will remain incomplete for the rest of my life."

Demont says he finds it incredible how many instruments the company produced (at one point they were the largest guitar maker in the world).

"Someone reported that at one point in the forties, the same instrument was sold under more than forty brands," says Demont. "Every other week I can add to my web database a newly discovered brand of Harmony-made guitars."

Among the brands Harmony-made guitars were sold as include; Fender, Gretsch, Montgomery Wards, Sears and Roebuck, Opus, Paramount etc.

Response from visitors to the site has been enthusiastic.

"Every Harmony fan was very happy to find, at last, some details about their beloved model. I still often receive thanks 'for helping me to find what was my granddad's guitar, I was searching for years,'" says Demont. "Today the site is often quoted as reference by sellers in eBay auctions, and frequented by buyers looking for their dream guitar."

More to come with Demont on specific models he loves and misconceptions about the Harmony brand.