Henri Cartier-Bresson Guild

[fronobulax]

Single pickup, no block inlays, (venitian? not sure) cutaway, harp tailpiece... could be a Starfire I. The absence of chesterfield logo bothers me though.

Chesterfield didn't become common until 1957. Most higher end Guilds before that had a G shield, while the lower end models had nothing. There is a headstock pictured on p26 of Hans' book that is very similar to the one in the photo. To speculate further it has a lot in common with the Savoy X-150 (p55) except the text there seems to suggest that the G shield and the harp tail piece were introduced at the same time.

 

[SFIV1967]

...it has a lot in common with the Savoy X-150...

The X-150 has block fingerboard inlays. Also look at the very round cutout. The guitar in the photo is a Slim Jim T-100 from 1960 I'd say. I know it does not have a Chesterfield but it already has the harp tailpiece, according to Hans book the harp tailpiece on the single pickup T-100 was established roughly 1960 and if the date of the picture is 1960 that would fit. It also shows the metal knobs that only the M-65 3/4 had, so a few things are odd on that guitar.
Ralf

 

[Sleeko]

I DO like black and white photos . . .