1950s Gypsy Mystery F Hole

This attractive, well preserved Gypsy F hole model guitar was probably produced in Sicily sometime in the 1950s by Carmelo Catania.The city of Catania has a long history of stringed instrument making which spawned a whole host of legendary Franco-Italian luthiers such as DiMauro, Oliveri, Anastasio, etc. While many of these skilled craftsman emigrated to Paris, some stayed and continued to produce and innovate numerous jazz guitar models. Carmelo Catania had the largest, and most successful workshop in Catania, producing a host of jazz and other models which were sold across Europe. His jazz guitars often featured white, screwed on plastic pickguards, twin fingerboard dots, and fanciful headstock designs; all elements present in this instrument.

This small bodied instrument posses a throaty, authoritative tone and a campy, playful look. It's short 650mm scale and narrow 15 3/8" body make it small enough to function as a travel guitar while still retaining the power and tonal breadth you'd expect of a full size Gypsy guitar. While the neck is clearly mahogany, the top, back, and sides are difficult to determine. Hardware includes the original three-on-a-plate tuners (which turn backwards) and a nickel tailpiece which was most certainly added later. The original glued down flatop style bridge was replaced by a the floating Gypsy style bridge which necessitated the addition of a tailpiece. Aesthetically, this instrument is nothing short of a charmer, with a reddish brown finish, bound F holes, body, and headstock as well as a Grecian theater mask inlay on the headstock.

The condition of this instrument is excellent. It has new frets and generally has very little signs of wear. It has a handful of small scratches and digns and there is some mild finish checking on the body. It plays very easily with low, 2.8mm action.

The sound of this instrument is unique and satisfying, with a midrange focus that allows for clean rhythm work and snappy single line passages. In fact, there isn't really anything to compare it to as it has a sonic personality all its own: part Selmer, part archtop, part Sicilian fantasy. If you're looking for something truly different, this is it!

Here's a chance to own a guitar with great vintage mojo that is not just a great sounding instrument, but a fashion statement as well!

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