2020 Ennio Giovanetti "1936 Fleta" SP/CSAR

This 2020 Ennio Giovanetti "1936 Fleta" is a classical guitar with a spruce top and CSA rosewood back and sides, made in Italy and inspired by the 1936 Ignacio Fleta built after Fleta's restoration of Tárrega's Torres.

Torres, Fleta and Giovanetti

This instrument is a reaffirmation of the great tradition of guitar making that began with Antonio de Torres, the founder of the modern Spanish guitar. For this instrument, Ennio found inspiration in the 1936 Ignacio Fleta, which itself was inspired by one of the most iconic Antonio de Torres guitars – now known as "FE 17", built in 1864 and famously owned by Francisco Tárrega, who considered it the favorite of the three Torres he would own in his lifetime.

The Details of the 1936 Fleta

The 1936 Fleta was built while Fleta was doing restoration work on FE 17, and while many of its structural details are heavily influenced by Torres, the decorative work is entirely Fleta: the carved head, the thick purflings of full herringbone on the top (including the inner and outer sections of the rosette) and the half-herringbone purflings throughout the back and sides give that instrument a bold, unique and daring look.

It is precisely these details – head carving, purflings and rosette – that Ennio built into this guitar, which was intended for display at the 2020 Roma Expo Guitars (REG), which had to be canceled.

A Variation on a Timeless Theme

Ennio chose different materials (CSA rosewood for back and sides, not maple), and the structure of the guitar is his own, full-sized design. The result is therefore in the same spirit as Fleta's "Torres inspiration": this is no replica, but rather an indelibly inspired collaboration between the luthier and a predecessor. As Fleta did with Torres, so Ennio has done with Fleta – creating a variation on a timeless theme. More on the backstory of this guitar.

Ennio Giovanetti: From Violin Making to the Guitar

Italian luthier Ennio Giovanetti studied violin making in Milan but eventually turned his attention to the construction of concert classical guitars, after discovering the special, subtle qualities of timbre and expression unique to the guitar. He set out on a journey to discover the secrets of the craft through the work of Torres, Hauser, García and Simplicio as his primary role models. He also learned to incorporate the work of the great violin makers, past and present, in an attempt to build the most "musical" instrument possible.

A Workshop near Piacenza

He has been building professionally since 1998 and works in his workshop in Sariano di Gropparello, near Piacenza.