Can you help me identify?

[newmandolinin619]

12 string mandolin. Is it a mandriola or a tricordia? Can I and should I remove the 4 strings to make it an 8? Completely new just bought beginners book and all. Just want some sort of idea what kind this is. There is no information on the mandolin itself

[newmandolinin619]

[pheffernan]

Could it be a bandurria? How did you acquire it?

[SRNassif]

Could be a Spanish Laúd. Do you know where it is made?

[MikeEdgerton]

It appears to be a mandriola. There are variations in tuning depending on where it comes from. We have some experts on world instruments that should pipe in at some point. Just removing strings will make the fretboard a bit wider than you might like. Is this something someone gifted to you?

The tricordia appears to be the same instrument with a possibility of different tuning.

[Ray(T)]

Haven’t the silghtest idea of what it is but someone posted this link a while back which you might find usefull - https://www.atlasofpluckedinstruments.com/index.htm - I think it’s worth repeating.

[MikeEdgerton]

If anyone has trouble viewing the images this instrument has four courses of 3 strings in unison. That should limit your search a bit.

[newmandolinin619]

So I told my sister that I was super interested in learning the mandolin, I’m into the style of Martie Maguire of Dixie Chicks & Court Yard Hounds on her mandolin. I knew an electric acoustic mandolin certainly wasn’t the right one to start with, but my sister bought it for my
for Xmas as a gift and she bought it off OfferUp. It was described as a mandolin with twelve strings. I don’t truly care so much as I can learn one method universally. I bought a beginners book that is coming from Amazon tomorrow and I just don’t want it to not be something that would accommodate this particular model.

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Thanks for your help. Should I take a closeup of any part of this? Would that be helpful?

[newmandolinin619]

Could it be a bandurria? How did you acquire it?

So I got it from my sister as an Xmas gift and she acquired it from OfferUp from
a native of Long Beach, CA. It was described as a 12 string mandolin. While I thought perhaps a Mexican/Latin American variation (if those exist) could be it, I became so confused once I looked into the beginners books. There are none for twelve strings. Wondering if this will make it difficult.

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[newmandolinin619]

Could be a Spanish Laúd. Do you know where it is made?

I unfortunately don’t. There’s no identification on it and my sister bought if off OfferUp where I live which is just at the border of California and Mexico. If they exist, perhaps it’s Latin American of some sort?

[newmandolinin619]

Haven’t the silghtest idea of what it is but someone posted this link a while back which you might find usefull - https://www.atlasofpluckedinstruments.com/index.htm - I think it’s worth repeating.

I’ll check it out thanks!

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[newmandolinin619]

If anyone has trouble viewing the images this instrument has four courses of 3 strings in unison. That should limit your search a bit.

Thanks, Mike. Are there parts I should take clearer pictures of that could
make identification easier?

[newmandolinin619]

It appears to be a mandriola. There are variations in tuning depending on where it comes from. We have some experts on world instruments that should pipe in at some point. Just removing strings will make the fretboard a bit wider than you might like. Is this something someone gifted to you?

The tricordia appears to be the same instrument with a possibility of different tuning.

Thanks for this information. I was gifted it by my sister for
Christmas. She bought if off of offerup and it was described as a 12 string mandolin. Thank you for the information about the chords. I will keep it at 12.

[Jim Garber]

Definitely not a bandurria (six pairs of strings and wider neck. I believe that this was made in Paracho, Mexico. Here are similar ones, though with maple back woods.

[Mark Gunter]

Unfortunately for you and your sister, that instrument was labeled incorrectly as "mandolin" - while it may be a cool instrument, it is nothing that anyone here would suggest that a person wanting to learn mandolin should start with. You'll be better off acquiring a mandolin to learn to play mandolin with. There are some pretty inexpensive entry level mandolins available these days.

[Jim Garber]

Unfortunately for you and your sister, that instrument was labeled incorrectly as "mandolin" - while it may be a cool instrument, it is nothing that anyone here would suggest that a person wanting to learn mandolin should start with. You'll be better off acquiring a mandolin to learn to play mandolin with. There are some pretty inexpensive entry level mandolins available these days.

I do agree that it is not ideal but it is usually tuned like a mandolin but with octave strings in the triple courses. So really not too far off from the mandolin family.

[allenhopkins]

However, making it sound like the Dixie Chicks won't be easy...