Just got from an online auction an interesting and actually decent sounding mando, but the general style is new to me. My suspicion is Mexican.
Pear shaped, flat top and back, solid wood, looks like rosewood on the sides, but lots of woods look like that. 14” scale, no marker dots, oval hole,plain bridge, zero fret,crappy tuners open slot head. No maker’s name or evidence of one. Strings look fairly old. Actually came with colored ribbons tied to the head! The distinctive feature is that it’s 3 1/4” thick! Means anything to you folks?
Just got the thing and put light gauge strings on. Loud as a banjo, with ridiculous sustain, almost needs a damper pedal like a piano.
So what is it, and why is it so powerful? I have never played a “quality” mando, so can’t compare.
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