Fabio Zontini - 2023 No.299 Papier Maché

About the luthier

Fabio Zontini, born in Milan in 1971, completed his training at the Civica Scuola di Liuteria di Milano, graduating in 1996 with a diploma as Master Luthier Restorer. Over the course of his career, he has built more than 250 instruments, drawing deeply on the lineage of historical guitar making. His approach is rooted in close study of seminal figures such as Antonio de Torres, Hermann Hauser I, Pietro Gallinotti, Francisco Simplicio, and Louis Panormo. In 2007, Zontini undertook a focused examination of several original Torres guitars housed at the Museum of Music in Barcelona, including the 1859 instrument built for Miguel Llobet and the distinctive papier mâché FE14 model of 1862 — both of which have informed his own meticulous reproductions.

About the guitar

This 2023 instrument by Fabio Zontini is a faithful recreation of the Antonio de Torres FE14 model, famously built with papier mâché back and sides — an experimental material Torres employed in 1862. Zontini began his work on this replica series in 2005, carefully modelling the structure, dimensions, and acoustic behaviour on the original instrument. The result is an exceptionally light guitar with a voice of striking intimacy and lyrical subtlety. With its lowered air resonance and low body mass, the instrument offers remarkable immediacy of response and an unusually nuanced decay profile. Particularly suited to the delicate phrasing and tonal inflections of the Spanish Romantic repertoire, this guitar captures the poetic character and refined tonal shading associated with Torres’s more idiosyncratic work.

Condition

This guitar is in excellent condition, showing only minimal signs of playing wear. There are no cracks, repairs, or structural issues.