1920s Puglisi Reale Bandonian-style Mandolin

Instruments like these were slightly common in the '20s and '30s but I've never seen an Italian-made version before. Usually this type of "wooden-headed resonator banjo" design was seen on American-made tenor and plectrum banjo-like instruments or DeWick bandonians. The idea is to push pure volume forward and so these usually have a thin, lightly-braced top mounted to a banjo rim-like sides and then mated to a "zither-banjo-style" resonator. Tone is midsy and punchy with a good zip and that's exactly what this has.

I've worked on a few Puglisi bowlback mandolins and I knew from experience that they're built on the ultra-light side and usually have structural issues. Dear gods, this one definitely did. It required a bunch of "shoring-up" to get it stable and happy. Now that it's done, though, it plays well and has a crisp, zingy, bowlback-like snap to it that works great for tremolo playing. Due to the nature of the repairs, though, volume compared to "as-original" is a little lowered, but having the instrument survive under tension seemed a little more important. It's still pretty loud, too.

Repairs included: a neck reset with hidden bolt reinforcement, re-angle of the fretboard extension to eliminate a ski jump problem (I actually had to set it into the top a little), fret level/dress, side dots addition, brace reglue under the top, and an install of a very thin, violin-style soundpost connecting the single top brace's center point to the resonator back. This last bit is perhaps controversial but necessary to ensure survivability of the instrument's top as the top had sunken considerably and the loose main brace was too thin to support tension from the strings.

Top wood: solid spruce

Back & sides wood: maple, mahogany, etc.

Bracing type: single ladder

Bridge: ebonized maple with bone saddle (comp'd)

Fretboard: ebonized maple

Neck wood: maple 2-piece

Action height at 12th fret: 1/16" overall (fast)
String gauges: 32w, 20w, 13, 9 (GHS A240 set)

Neck shape: medium C/V

Board radius: flat

Neck relief: just a hair of relief

Fret style: low/small, copper-like

Scale length: 13 1/16"

Nut width: 1"

Body width: 9 1/2"

Body depth: 2 1/2"

Weight: 1 lb 12 oz