Ennio Giovanetti – 2020 “1936 Ignacio Fleta”

Description

Ennio Giovanetti has been building guitars since 1998 in his workshop in Sariano di Gropparello, near Piacenza (Italy). He studied guitar making in Milan with Enrico Bottelli, where he had the opportunity to get to know many guitars by Antonio de Torres, Simplicio, Garcia, and many others. His guitars are built in the traditional way but are well recognizable by their own elements. Behind the tie block, for example, a part of the bridge is excavated to optimize the angle of the strings and thus promote vibrations.

This very special guitar is a copy of a guitar built by the Spanish luthier Ignacio Fleta in 1936. As you can see at first glance, the design is very far from the later Fleta’s that we know from guitarists such as John Williams, Andrés Segovia and Maria Luisa Anido, etc. This guitar was inspired by the very famous Antonio de Torres (FE 17) which belonged Francisco Tarréga. Ignacio Fleta had the opportunity to repair it in the 1930s and made a few copies of it. He remained faithful to his own aesthetic for the exterior decoration, and today Ennio Giovannetti presents us a copy of the copy, once again reviewed according to modern standards.

A set of very dark Brazilian rosewood (CITES certified) was selected to build this guitar. The very tight and dark grain recalls the quality of wood that Ignacio Fleta had access to in the 1930s. The spruce top, with richly decorated outlines, has a superb honey colour. A final detail that is particularly valuable to us is the mechanics inspired by those of the time, with a chiselled silver plate, made by Alessi Tuning Machines.

The sound of this guitar is inspiring. The basses are bold with a deep resonance and a strong Spanish tone. As for the trebles, they are very smooth with a slightly vintage character. In this guitar, one will find the pleasure of playing early 20th century Spanish guitars, with the volume and energy of a guitar of our time.