Clarissa guitars are named after the daughter of one of the Polverini Brothers. The factory was in Castelfidardo a small town near Ancona.
The playability of the instruments sold in the UK was dependent upon who imported them . The original importer and marketing Company John E Dodds Ltd made the final adjustments and setups prior to them being shipped to the retail shops. Every instrument without exception was checked and set up so that they would play straight away without any further adjustment by the retailer.They sold well and got the attention of many good musicians . This activity also got the attention of a competitor Roberto Brandoni from Castelfidardo and a relative of the manufacturers of the guitars. The instruments that were imported by Brandoni were not worked on in the uK prior to them being sold and as a result a large quantity of guitars were dumped at little money. This explains the large differences found in both quality and asking prices in shops today. Readers may be interested to know that in France the Clarissa which was pre checked and ajusted are much sort after and have a small collector qudos about them.