Laurael, it doesn't have any of the usual stylistic tip-offs that would indicate that it was made by Gibson. But it's definitely a decent quality guitar, and would definitely be worth repairing. I'm pretty certain that Hayden was a music distributorship, and those companies often had a number of different vendors making guitars for them.
The back and sides are almost certainly Brazilian rosewood.
Given the body style of the guitar, it's possible that it was originally intended to be strung with gut strings, not steel - gut strings were tied in a knot at the end and inserted into the bridge, where a pin was pressed in on top of them to hold them in place. So while I think this guitar was probably intended for steel strings, it'll depend on how it's braced underneath the top to that to be made clear either way.
Be sure to take the guitar to someone with extensive experience with vintage guitars so they can verify that one way or the other. If it's braced for gut and you string it with steel the added tension can rip the guitar apart, so it's imperative that you find that out before you restring it.
First, of course, you need to get the guitar put back together and fully functional! Since they're not in the photographs I assume that the missing pieces of the headstock have long since disappeared. If they're tucked in the case pocket, be sure to show them to the person you give the job of restoring the guitar to. In a best of all worlds' scenario the original pieces can be reglued and the guitar restored simply and quickly.
But if those pieces no longer exist, they'll obviously need to be replaced. As will the tuning gears.
So what you're looking at is a major restoration. It might turn out that the entire neck will need to be replaced, but hopefully that won't be necessary.
It's not going to be cheap to return this guitar to its original playing condition, and you need to understand that going in. Depending on what needs to be done, I can see where this will cost you somewhere between $750 and $1500. You might get away with spending less, and I hope you do, but I would rather you be shocked right now by these numbers in my post than totally flabbergasted when you talk to someone with the skill set needed to do the work.
Because it'll be a lot of work.
I hope that made sense, and I hope that I haven't extinguished your enthusiasm for the project. Because it's really worth doing.
Hope this helps.
Wade Hampton Miller
|