1880s Bay State (Haynes) Rosewood B/S Parlor Guitar

This gorgeous Bay State guitar (made by Haynes in Boston) must have been fairly early in the production run because it has some features that are unusual. First, it has no serial number stamped in the headstock -- second the headstock is curved at the top -- third, the bracing is slightly different in cut and layout than the usual ladder-style I'm used to from these -- and fourth, its tuners could have been made anywhere between 1860 and 1890, but are likely 1880s machines.

It's spruce over Brazilian rosewood and, as it arrived here, it had been strung with extra-light steel. Someone had done a bunch of work to it, to, and the setup was passable with the instrument surviving comfortably. The thing is, though, that these were intended for gut (modern: nylon) strings and as such, they sound a lot better if you use something similar as you get much more bass presence back and the tone isn't "choked" or "snappy" and is instead rich and pretty. We restrung it with nylon after a bunch of glorified setup and fretwork and boy-howdy does it sound fuller and sweeter.

Ancel suffered a bit on this one to get it to rights, but now that it's running correctly, it really is quite a good small-body, couch-potato, fingerpicking-friendly sort-of character.

Repairs included: a fret level/dress, saddle adjustments, bridge adjustments, new strings, pickup removal, setup work.

• Weight: 3 lbs 2 oz
• Scale length: 24 5/8"
• Nut width: 1 7/8"
• Neck shape: big V
• Board radius: somewhere between 7" and 8"
• Body width: 13"
• Body depth: 4 1/8"
• Top wood: solid spruce
• Back & sides wood: solid Brazilian rosewood
• Bracing type: ladder
• Bridge: ebony
• Fretboard: ebony
• Neck wood: mahogany
• Action height at 12th fret: 3/32” bass to just over 1/16" treble (fast, spot-on)
• String gauges: medium-tension nylon
• Neck relief: straight
• Fret style: medium-lower

Condition notes: it's overall pretty clean, though there are some oddities. First-off, someone seems to have capped the original fretboard with a thicker slab of a ebony. It makes the neck a little heftier than most Bay States, but it still handles nicely. For whatever reason, when that board was fit over the existing (thin) fretboard, it seems like the previous repairman actually re-used the original frets. Odd! There are a few hairline cracks -- one in the sides near the endpin -- and there's a chip out o the headstock's top edge on the front (pictured). Please check the photos for other details. Oh -- and the endpin hole (widened for a jack) was filled and an endpin installed.

It comes with: a very nice hard case.

Consignor tag: MM