The original Gittler guitars, sometimes called the Fishbone models, are minimalist instruments made from stainless steel. Gittler made exactly 60 when living in New York. The patent for this design was filed on December 3rd 1976, although Gittler had been working on prototypes throught the 1970s.

Forty of them were sold through the mail, and the remaining 20 from Gittler's apartment on the Lower East Side, where Andy Summers (the Police guitarist) bought his.

The guitar has 6 strings, each with its own pickup. The steel frets give the instrument a sitar-like feel. The original New York versions came without pre-amp section, the individual pickups' signals were led into single cables, plugged into a mixing box or each separately amplified. The innovative tuners, placed behind the bridge, were echoed in later designs by Ned Steinberg. Gittler later accused his New York machinist of allowing Steinberg priviledged access to his designs and manufactuing processes.

You can seen an example in the collection of The Museum of Modern Art, MOMA.