This was the first Fleta I had ever seen and I had some pleasant surprises.  I know that many players and makers just love his guitars but my experience was limited to the Courtnall plan and was far from positive.  My first guitar was made using a Hauser plan and guidance from a violin maker and although it is no great shakes it is the guitar I still use today to bang around on.  I then made a few guitars using the Fleta plan with nine fans, thick top and the extra diagonal bar.  I tried cedar and spruce but I never got a result I was happy with. 

For a long time now whenever someone mentions Fleta I always thought of that plan so I was happy to be proven wrong at the Barcelona Museum of Music when I visited earlier this year.  Firstly I was very impressed by the sound of this guitar, and secondly the bracing and the thicknesses were completely different from that plan I mentioned.  Not surprising really, we see all sorts of variation and experiments among the better makers.  One thing I found very interesting is the very thick upper bout compared to the lower bout.  This is something that my teacher Rolf Eichinger did on his guitars but he had never credited anyone with the idea, perhaps he thought of it on his own and came to the same conclusions as Mr. Fleta.  I doubt it though, given the huge number of historical instruments that had passed through his hands.   I am sure that he saw this if it is indeed common to find in Fleta’s guitars. 

The right side (labelled agudos) is the treble side not that it matters in this case.