HASCAL HAILE

Luthier Hascal Haile built mostly classical guitars in his Kentucky home basement shop between the late 1960s and the time of his death in 1986. Haile was a furniture maker for much of his life, but he had always been a musician and decided to build instruments full-time beginning in the late 1960s. Haile built guitars for many artists including Waylon Jennings, Roy Clark, and Bobby Goldsboro, but his most famous customer was Chet Atkins. Haile actually built Atkins' prototype for the now-famous Gibson solidbody classical guitar. Haile was still building instruments when he passed away in 1986. Haile's classicals are quite valuable today often bringing over $5,000.