Giuseppe Vinaccia

Giuseppe Vinaccia

This mandolin has no label nor any brandmarks but the sound,

the way it has been built and the trim alongside the soundboard

are quite convincing. The form of the scratchplate is identical to

an instrument that was put up for an auction at Bonhams.

In fact a more simple instrument but even these instruments

are worth their money. It has everything to do with refinement

of tone. Probably a Giuseppe Vinaccia mandolin as some 

elements are pointing in that direction. Identical scratch plates,

the extra co bring alongside the soundhole, wood choice,

especially of the soundboard and inlay of the edges.

Judge for yourself with a genuine Guiseppe Vinaccia

put up for auction at Catawiki here beyond.

Twee Vinaccia mandolins where you can study the bowl.

And the typical "bulb" near the neck joint.

The way the neck has been attached to the body.

The sound hole can be studied here: The rings around

the sound hole as well as its' inner layer of wood in

the sound hole itself is quite convincing.

On the mandolin here above a bt mor simple endcap 

has been mounted.

Most Vinaccia have a specific curve in the bowl,

resulting in a kind of bulb near the neck mounting.

One can conclude here that the head has been

repaired in the past. The tuners are alike but

they do on various mandolins as there were

extern suppliers of parts for most mandolin

makers.

A quite often used head form but very often found 

on the Vinaccia family mandolins.

The inlay of the edges can be studied here as well 

as the rings around the sound hole.

The "bulb" near the neck mounting can be looked at.

A hand signed label in this mandolin. As there were

befriended luthiers that worked for each other it can

occur that some instruments in stock still had no

label at all.

Quite remarkable is the choice of wood on this mandolin and

the one here above. As the soundboard almost never were 

treated or varnished the bare wood is always visible.

The colour of the wood on both mandolins is identical

which is no surprise as most luthiers hold a fairly big

amount of wood in stock they selected themselves.