Great thread! I suppose you know the brilliant website Fetish guitars? Vintage and bizarre Guitars of the Sixties | FetishGuitars

Tons of info there. I think that more research is needed into Italian amps, as there are many weird and little known brands.

In general, Italian guitars remind me of German guitars of the same time. Both countries had a skilled workforce that had made mandolins, guitars and violins for a long time. They could make good cheap instruments quite easily (it's interesting to compare those guitars to Japanese ones from the 60s, which were far worse in luthierie terms, as Japan did not have that sort of tradition. Eventually Japanese makers caught up and made wonderful stuff, but if you compare an early Teisco guitar with an EKO or Framus, the differences are huge).