Any idea what this guitar is?

michaelN

There’s only one photo available on this.

the tailpiece says ‘S’ as in Saga, but from the placements of dots on fretboard and the pearl design rosette, it can’t quite be identified if the tailpiece has been added on so it might very well not be a Cigano nor a Gitane

spatzo

It looks like a Patenotte 251 with some modifications

pdg

The long single-piece bridge (no separate "moustache" pieces) is consistent with Patenotte.

michaelN

Patenotte? Is that a good thing?

ChrisMartin

I disagree with Patenotte.

The curve of the cutaway, which often has subtle differences is always a good way to try to match a guitar. In this case the horn is more rounded than any Patenotte I have seen. One piece bridges have been common in the past on cheap Chinese copies, as have abalone inlays around the soundhole (which I think I can see there?). Also many of them came with rubbish tailpieces which might explain the Saga type replacement.

Not that I am saying that is what it is, as some of them can be hard to identify too, but we can rule out Patenotte.

On the other hand, a tenth fret dot marker and a pretty (although redundant) fingerboard extension add some authenticity.

B25Gib

Zoom in on the photo and notice the low E string is Much closer to the A string. Whether or not it has "jumped" out of the bridge slot OR Not, considering the distance to edge of fretboard indicates a possible neck misalignment to body.

stuology

It looks to me like an early version of one of those cheap guitars you can get on Alibaba. I remember when they first started popping up they didn’t always have labels. Either that or possibly a self build.

I wouldn’t spend more than a couple of hundred without knowing more about it.

croth

https://www.djangobooks.com/forum/discussion/comment/112486#Comment_112486

Agreed. Notice also how the fretboard inlays are not centered between the g and d strings. Often a sign of a neck misalignment.

Bones

Actually, the strings should not be evenly spaced apart (not equal centerline distance). They should have equal spaces BETWEEN them.

wim

^ I've heard that before, but never understood the reasoning. Surely it would be more comfortable for the player if the center of mass of each string was equally spaced apart?

Bones

Wim, IDK that's just what I recall reading in Bob Bennedetto's book when I was a total newbee and first started building archtops. I still have the book somewhere but not sure where.

Also, what could be going on in the picture is the bridge has just slid off to one side. I doubt the neck isn't aligned as it is pretty easy to get it spot on before gluing. Neck alignment is one of the least stressful part of luthiery for me. But you do need really accurate jigs.

That said, it does look like the low E has jumped out of it's little indentation on the bridge but really hard to tell from a picture.