Anyone able to identify this guitar?

Joshl-m

Anyone able to help me identify this guitar? Just showed up on Marketplace for about $1100 canadian. Really curious about it but not a lot of info in the ad.

Thanks!

guitarmike

No idea about the maker’s name but it could be a decent guitar after a neck reset.

There seem to be no strings angle from the bridge to the tailpiece...

Joshl-m

There was this pic of the back as well. Not sure if I want to get into something needing a neck reset though. I have ways too many other projects that aren't getting enough attention

crookedpinky

The overall shape - especially the soundhole and the cutaway - remind of Henri Miller guitars. I'm not saying it is, just that it could be. Here's a picture of one of them.

juanderer

My first thought was Henri Miller, too, but 🤷‍♂️

Joshl-m

It definitely looks like that could be it

jonpowl

Here is another one, inside and out: https://www.strangeguitarworks.com/gypsy-jazz-restoration/

Joshl-m

Wow thats great! I wouldn't have thought it would be a total flat neck joint.

ChrisMartin

As already said by crookedpinky and juanderer, my first reaction was Henri Miller.

If so, they usually sell for about half that in France. I think I read a long time ago that Jazz Cutaway Hot was just another retail brand, possibly bought in and given a label for a particular shop. The example in the repair shop in the link supplied by jonpowl may not even be a Miller, possibly made elsewhere? As for the original post by joshl-m I would not recommend spending that much on it, particularly when you add in the potential cost of a neck reset, and it also looks like there might be more to fix; that crack on the upper bout near, and parallel to, the neck could mean the top has sunk and split where it is glued to the heel block? I would estimate a good one as a $500 guitar.

As I have said before, I have a curious interest in the who, what and when of these fictitious brands like Sonora and Jose Sanchez, so have always filed any evidence and photos that shows up. Here are some more 'Jazz Cutaway Hot'.

ChrisMartin

And some Millers, all of which sold in Europe for between $200 and $500 depending on the ornamentation, a trait of Henri Miller guitars, from very plain to highly decorated.

crookedpinky

That's an interesting link to the restoration. I have an Anastasio on my refurbishing bench at the moment and it too has the flat heel joint to the neck block - i.e. no dovetail or other locking mechanism.

Fascinating that the origins of these instruments are lost in time and mired in myths.