Part of the enjoyment of building mandolins is the research that goes into a recreating an historic instrument. I certainly learned a lot about the historic development of the mandolin while building this mandolino. I also learned that there are a lot of conflicting opinions out there!
Most of the articles I read tend to agree that the term “mandolino” describes a 6 course instrument that descended from the lute. The first ones had a fretboard that was level with the soundboard, six strings, and side-facing pegs similar to a violin. These were generally called “Milanese”. Later, a raised fretboard was introduced, but with the same 6 string configuration. These were generally referred to as “Lombardic”. The main distinction from the mandolin is the tuning in 4th’s rather than 5th’s like the contemporary mandolin family.
The Lute Society of America simply refers to this style as “Mandolino”, as the smallest of the lute family.
My example would probably best be described as Milanese. It is made of curly walnut with a Sitka spruce top, and geared tuners. I have it tuned dGCEAD (low to high) with a 330mm scale.
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