Giannini GBSM3 EL Brazil Series Mandolin (Electric) Review

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(More customer reviews)I just received this mandolin (bandolim) tonight, so these are first impressions. The instrument I received was not a Giannini GBSM3 EL (Electric) as listed, but a GBSM3 X (Non-electric). I am in the process of exchanging or returning it, but will make a few observations on the instrument at hand. Overall, for the price I paid, this instrument is a good beater or starter mandolin. The woods are very pretty (sitka spruce top, Bolivian rosewood back and sides, lovely binding and inlay), and the fit and finish are well above what one would usually find at this price. Its intonation is pretty good and it sounds fairly loud, resonant, and ringing. The Devon tuners seem cheap but they work OK. The string hooks on the tailpiece are sharp and indeed one of the E strings broke at the loop end before I had brought it all the way up to pitch (It broke at C#). The strings are very light gauge, 10-14-23-30. The action (string height) is a little high, but OK with such light strings. The mandolin has a zero fret about ¼ inch from the nut. The string slots in the nut are all deeply cut without regard to string diameter, but the presence of the zero fret keeps this from negatively affecting intonation. However, the string slots in the nut are improperly spaced, so that the string pairs are difficult to fret. The strings in each pair are not close enough together and the spacing between pairs is too close. The scale length from the nut to the bridge when the bridge is properly placed is 13.5 inches. The ends of the frets are smoothly finished on the E string side, but not on the G string side, and indeed the latter are sharp and jagged enough to catch one's skin. The neck is shallow and very comfortable to my small hand. The bridge is rosewood with a fixed metal saddle. Both the fretboard and the bridge are slightly radiused. The problems mentioned are correctable and this could be a very nice inexpensive mandolin with a new nut, new bridge, finished fret ends, and possibly a new tailpiece.

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Mandolin with solid Sitka Spruce top and Pau-Ferro/Morado back and sides. Supplied with Giannini bag.

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