Old arch top, ID help please

[awm]

Hello to all. first time poster here. Very nice site/forum.
My 12 year old son was just given his late great grandmothers guitar. He plays guitar and banjo, and this old one still sounds pretty good. We have been trying to figure out what kind and how old it is. We think it may be from the 40s or 50s. It's missing its pick guard. It resembles a Harmony or a Silvertone but not exactly. No name anywhere, but the numbers G55 260 and a red S 40 are stamped inside. Any help would be greatly appreiciated. here are some pictures.

[ighut]

[awm]

ighut, thank you for your response. No case with the guitar. The tail piece is steel, but it looks to be stamped steel. It possibly could have been replaced at some point. There is an extra hole on the bottom, but I thougt it may have been for a sling post ??? As for the nut at the top, it is a dark wood. The top is not cracked. looks like dirt ( I haven't cleaned it at all) it is very dusty. And yes, It certainly looks as if it has played alot Cowboy chords. Here are some more pictures of it. Hope they help.

[ighut]

You're correct, the bottom hole is for a strap plug. If you look around at some shops you should be able to find one, hopefully the same wood color. Looks to be a fairly well constructed from the pictures. A rough guess might be 30's or 40's, check out this Rex. Similar tailpiece, odd tiger maple look to the finish and the lack of ornate binding and such gives the impression that it's something like that, made by either Kay or Harmony as you already were thinking. Most archtops prior to that seem to tend toward trapeze tailpieces and these stamped metal ones were the lower end Rex/Kay/Harmony entry types closer to the 40's. I'm sure everyone would like 15 minutes with it.

[awm]

I think we have a match ! or very close. I didn't think it was quite that old, but it must be 30s or 40s. Thats the first tail piece I've seen that's the same. The fret makings are also very similar, and also the knotty maple look.
My son and I are going to do a mild restoration on it. (mainly just cleaning and polishing) and some new strings.
Thank you for your help and for the link. Andy M. in PA

[ighut]

Don't clean it too much. A worn looking fingerboard is more a badge of honor than something that needs to be fixed, try some lemon oil on it. Light cleaning with damp cloth and then a non-silicone based polish, never Pledge. People will say it doesn't matter to let silicone based ones soak into the wood, but just assume it hasn't been used on it before and don't use it. It doesn't need to be an expensive specialty one, go to the hardware store, Guardsman makes a couple.
As nice as a shiny, new looking piece may be, it should also look it's age. I've always been drawn to something that looks like it's been played a lot. Lesser guitars seldom have that look.