Portuguese type mando

[Alekos]

Hi friends, is there anyone who plays portuguese mandolin? They aren't seen so oft.. beside that, many people mistake them with irish mandolins. An example can be seen here. (http://www.aganmusic.com/catalog/item/661918/283902.htm) Any ideas?

Notice: a great overview about types of mandos can be found here (http://www.mandolin-player.com/instruments/mandolin-family.html).

[Martin Jonas]

Hi friends, is there anyone who plays portuguese mandolin? They aren't seen so oft.. beside that, many people mistake them with irish mandolins. An example can be seen here. (http://www.aganmusic.com/catalog/item/661918/283902.htm) Any ideas?
Yes, I have one: it's a German-built Majestic mandolin from the 1920s or 1930s, inherited from my grandfather. It's very similar to the one you linked to, except that the soundhole is round, not oval, and the maple strips on the back are all the same colour, not alternating. It's all solid wood, and a very light instrument.

My Majestic plays very nice, with a rich, guitar-like sound and good volume. Not quite right for bluegrass, but very good for Irish tunes. No idea how that compares to the new Strunals in the Portuguese style.

Martin

[Martin Jonas]

Yes, I have one: it's a German-built Majestic mandolin from the 1920s or 1930s, inherited from my grandfather. #It's very similar to the one you linked to, except that the soundhole is round, not oval, and the maple strips on the back are all the same colour, not alternating. #It's all solid wood, and a very light instrument.

My Majestic plays very nice, with a rich, guitar-like sound and good volume.
I've just remembered that I have an mp3 on the web with the sound of the Majestic Portuguese-type (and my poor playing of it). It's at the Mandolin Project web site here (http://www.mandolinproject.150m.com/sallyg.html) -- the MP3 with the number 8 and my name against it. The first half of the file is me playing Sally Goodin on a Washburn M3-SW, the second half exactly the same on the Majestic.

Martin

[Jeff_Stallard]

Yes, I have a Troubadour Josquin Portuguese mando, and it wasn't long before I fell in love with it. The shorter scale...the deeper body...the smaller soundhole...the sound...it's like it was made for me. A and F styles?! Pffftt!! Those are for chumps! Give me the P style! http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif

[Keith Miller]

my first mando was a Portugese style german made, oval sound hole very light weight and sounded good until the table sank !still hangs on the wall though, sentimental value.

[Lusoceltibero]

Hi, i really dont know were the portuguese style is defined!! But i guess the sellers just say a mandolin is portuguese style when the tuners are ortogonal to the common ones!!!
I have to say this: i'm Portuguese and i live in Portugal, i play bandolim (mandolin in portuguese) and the one in the link is a very rare and old style from this country, actualy i never saw one like that except in durty corners of constructers workplaces! You can see the common portuguese style mandolin and more trad string instruments on this site http://www.juliopereira.pt/index.htm
or just tipe word BANDOLIM in google and clik on pictures (dont confuse with brazilian mandolin it spels the same way)

By the way i am looking for a oportunity to get summer-classes of bluegrass! I would like to improve my tecnique! i play irish trad for some years. Any information i apreciate a lot.

Thank you
Luis

[Martin Jonas]

Luis,

Thanks for the info. As far as I can tell, "Portuguese style" mandolins in the sense used in this thread have only a tenuous link to Portugal. These days, all the makers building to this type of design seem to be in the Balkans, but historically, I think it was most prevalent in pre-WWII Germany (that's where mine is from). The German builders of that period called their mandolins "Portuguese" to differentiate them from "Italian" ones, i.e. bowlbacks, and because they had some similarity to earlier Portuguese flatback designs. The need for flatback mandolins came out of the "Wandervogel" youth movement of the early 1900s, a very popular romantic movement centred around cross-country walking and folk singing, usually simultaneously. They wanted to have a mandolin that can be played when walking, similar to a guitar, which is difficult with the more awkward bowlback. These mandolins were never intended for concert use, and were relatively cheap and plentiful, but they do make a nice noise if you get a good example.

Martin