Says Miller, But what Is It??

[nightrain51]

I Need Help identifying A Neck through “Miller” Strat Type.
This is intersting. What is it?
It belongs to a friend of mine given to be for a quick set up, and check up since it hasn’t been used for quite some time. The nut is brass so are the saddles. Pulling off the back cover I see the trem block is stamped MIJ. What makes it so interesting is the neck through body. I want to say the body and neck are maple. I’m guessing from the info given to me is it’s from late 70 to 80ish time. The input jack was lose, I replaced it. I just tuned it, and plugged it up. It’s got a vintage tone to it. It plays pretty sweet.
If anybody has some more info on these, I would like to hear back from you. It’s a nice guitar not to mention a bit of a deviation from the everyday “Strat”
Thanks[IMG][/IMG]

[phantomman]

Well the "Miller" decal looks to me like the trademarked beer company logo -- I don't think it came on the guitar originally. The body's "wings" appear to be ash but the neck and laminated fretboard look like maple.

Pretty cool actually.

[Don]

That's a neat guitar. Traditional, yet very un-traditional!

[nightrain51]

Yes its cool,
I cant find info on this. Im leaning towards someone built this guitar. They did a good job,no doubt. But why didnt they use a nitro finish?. Then again its a production guitar. After i make myself stop playing it , i want to pull off the pick gaurd off to see what i can see.

[Skip]

I'll tell you what it is. It's a cool looking guitar, that is what it is. I'm thinking someone with some excellent joinery skills put that guitar together... thus the neck through, the beautiful exposed grain and natural finish...

[elicross]

+1

I'd bet it's homemade, or custom-made by a luthier -- either way, by somebody with some good skills and great taste. The Miller decal does look just like the beer company's logo, so it's probably a one-off "waterslide" made for this guitar. Maybe the original owner's name is Miller, and he thought it would be cool to put his name on this thing in the shape of the beer logo.

I agree it looks like the through-neck is maple (with strips of rosewood, or is that mahogany?) and the body wings are some very pretty ash.

Whatever the story is behind this thing, it's a beauty. I'd love to know how it sounds and plays.

[the_best_of_fools]

Maybe it came free with a case of 24...

tbof