Born in Pieve di Cento in 1873, Carletti dealt with antiques and furniture restoration during his youth, and then approached violin making by making the acquaintance of Raffaele Fiorini, and also benefiting from the influence of Augusto Pollastri and Ettore Soffritti.
Later on, he collaborated with the musician and luthier Luigi Mozzani, with whom he opened a string instruments making course and manufacture in Pieve di Cento. In 1927 this activity was moved to Bologna and Carletti was also active in that city assisted by his sons Natale, Orfeo, Nullo and his nephew Genuzio. Finally, he also made instruments for the Bisiach's atelier in Milan.
His style is based on a Stradivari model and is closely connected to the Bologna and Ferrara schools of this period, for instance in the very narrow channeling of the plates and the ribbon-shaped edge. The scroll is his most personalized part, with a very narrow peg box, especially in the lower part, and a deep throat; the volute is deeply carved, generously sized and ends in the upper part of the eye. He often used materials such as local maple and poplar and a brownish-red varnish of fine consistency. He died in Pieve di Cento in 1941.
