1960s Del Vecchio Dinamico Resonator Mandolin

Overview: If Del Vecchio resonator guitars are somewhat rare, you can think how hard it is to find their mandolins! This Brazilian-made instrument has all of the features of their guitars -- a "biscuit" cone setup, ply-rosewood bodies, curvy fretboards, fabric-backed soundhole cuts, and a style completely their own. They're deco-looking yet have a bit of a '50s-modern presence, too. I love the almost "gypsy-jazz" look of the slotted headstock on this guy.

Interesting features: While it's not a lot louder than an acoustic mandolin of similar size, it has a bit more punch and cut in its own specific frequency band. It's also pretty weather-stable, too, as the "soundboard" is aluminum and won't expand and contract like a normal flatback mandolin. Also -- I mean -- It's just cool.

Repairs included: Manny did a great job on this and it's now dialed-in and playing spot-on. He recut the saddle slot wider, fit a new, fully-compensated rosewood saddle, replaced a weirdly-ineffective original tailpiece with a parts-bin one that looks appropriate, leveled/dressed the frets, added side dots, cleaned it up, and set it up.

• Weight: 2 lbs 1 oz
• Scale length: 13 1/2"
• Nut width: 1 5/16"
• Neck shape: medium C/V
• Board radius: ~6"
• Body width: 9 3/8"
• Body depth: 3 3/8"
• Body: ply Brazilian rosewood
• Cone type: single/biscuit-style
• Bridge: rosewood w/rosewood comp'd saddle
• Fretboard: rosewood
• Neck wood: mahogany
• Action height at 12th fret: 1/16" overall (fast, spot-on)
• String gauges: 34w-10 lights
• Neck relief: straight
• Fret style: smaller/lower

Condition notes: It's in great shape with only some minor discoloration here and there to the finish and average nicks, dings, and scratches all over for its age. The finish has weather-checked a bit as expected and the clearcoat has yellowed and lightened as it aged. The tailpiece is a replacement and one of the metal soundhole rings is missing. It has its original cone under the hood.

It comes with: It's got an old chip case.

Consignor tag: NLJH