Paul: My favorite enigma in the history of stringed musical instruments is when did the fret first appear?
According to history I believe they say that a Moorish instrument called the rebab came probably from north Africa to southern Spain which soon became a rebec. BUT, I have a photo of a piece of pottery from the Acadian culture, just after Babylonian culture, (circa 1500 BC) that clearly shows FRETS on the stringed instrument. The neck & fingerboard, however, go back the dawn of civilization, Sumerian culture, 2500 BC…
