Guitar

This instrument although reminiscent of the elegant and ancient cittern was designed to facilitate the repertoire of the increasingly popular six-string guitar. The Fabricatore family manufactured visually desirable instruments and kept at the forefront of musical innovation. As the lyre-guitar is merely a guitar in lyre form, so this instrument is a guitar in cittern form.

Gennaro Fabricatore and his family were involved both in mass-production and also of small scale manufacture. The smaller label used on this instrument indicates that this guitar was made by Gennaro Fabricatore himself. (Daniel Wheeldon 5/3/16)

Technical description: Six-string guitar. Two-piece pine top with ebony wbwbwbwbwb binding; sound hole diameter 66.25 mm with matching binding, rosewood bridge (either altered or replaced); one-piece maple back with ebony binding; neck with ebony veneer (with rosewood patches); rosewood veneered fingerboard with 15 brass frets (numbers 10 and 15 missing); headstock (not original) with ebonized veneer and six worm and gear tuners (not original). (Daniel Wheeldon 5/3/16)