Name: Bay State Style 18 HUB Parlor Guitar
Instrument type: Size 0 steel string acoustic guitar
Make: Bay State (Haynes)
Model: Style 18 HUB
Serial number: 18 17090
Manufacture date: 1896
Purchase date: Early 1990s
Case: HSC not original (Like new condition)
Build:
- Solid wood. Spruce top, Mahogany sides and back. Ebony fretboard, nut, and bridge.
- Finish Natural, with a darker stain on the top.
- Overall length: 37"
- Scale: 24 5/8"
- Nut: 1 7/8"
- Body: 17 1/4"
- Upper bout: 8"
- Waist: 6 1/2"
- Lower bout: 11 1/4"
- Depth at LB: 3 3/4"
- Weight: 2 pounds 4 ounces
Condition
- Good overall. The finish is remarkably good given the guitar is around 125 years old.
- The neck is straight and has been reset.
- The frets have been reset and shaped as needed.
- There are two patched cracks in the back of the lower bout.
- There are three patched cracks in the top below the sound hole.
- There are gouges in the top from pick action since there is no pickguard.
- There are three holes in the bottom where a tailpiece used to be mounted.
- The bridge is not original but is in very good condition.
- The tuners are original and all work well.
- Strings installed - Phosphor Bronze Light
Features
- Wide fretboard, 1 7/8" at the nut, great for fingerstyle.
- Neck is thin, traditional V shaped.
- Split headstock / classic tuners
- Sound is very good, even across the strings, good volume for a parlor.
- Very light and easy to play and hold.
- Playability good.
History
- Bay State was the brand name of high end acoustic guitars created by the John C. Haynes Company, which was founded in 1865 in Boston, Massachusetts. Production of Bay State guitars started about 1888 and ceased around 1900. The Haynes Company was sold to Vega Banjo Co in 1905.
- Bay State guitars from that era are known for their fine wood and intricate inlays and bridges although Bay State also constructed plain unadorned instruments. All guitars were gut string since steel strings were not widely known or used until the 1920’s. It was also an era before truss rods or any kind of neck reinforcements
- The importance and historical significance of the John C. Haynes Company and its parent company, the Oliver Ditson Co., on the development of musical tastes and expectations of the American people in all things "guitar" should not be underestimated. They were arguably the first manufacturer of stringed instruments producing significant numbers for the general population (C.F. Martin and Co., while established in 1833, did not start producing large numbers of instruments until the 1890’s, and it appears their total production from 1833 to 1900 was around 10,000 guitars. This compares to approximately 30,000 guitars produced by the Haynes company from 1865 to 1903).
- From Bay State History - baystateguitar.com/Documents/History.html
Note: The demo video is not for this particular guitar but is for a very similar one.
