Mando-cello
Alternate name(s)
- Mandocello
- Mandolin
Maker
Vega Company
Date1920 ca.
Place MadeBoston, Massachusetts, United States, North America
ModelVega Lute Mandocello Style 403 / cylinder back
Serial No.37744
SignedPrinted on oval paper label the center with black background and white lettering: GUITARS·MANDOLINS·ZITHERS·BANDURRIAS / -·- VEGA -·- / [VCo. Logo] / THE VEGA CO. BOSTON, MASS.U.S.A.
Branded on neck block and brace above soundhole: PAT. NOV 4 1913 / THE VEGA COMarkingsStamped into top of head: 377 44DescriptionStringing: eight steel stringsSoundboard: one-piece, quarter-cut spruce: wide grain
Back: one-piece mahogany with pressed longitudinal arching
Ribs: four-piece mahogany
Head: mahogany veneered with rosewood on face; integral with neck
Neck: mahogany; integral with head
Heel cap: none; integral with back
Binding: ivoroid; trim on top comprised of five-ply alternating light and black hardwood strips
Fretboard: ebony; 21 nickel-silver frets under top three strings; 20 nickel-silver frets under lowest string; mother-of-pearl dots behind 5th, 7th, 10th, and 12th frets
Nut: bone
Bridge: ebony
Tailpiece: nickel-plated brass string holder with scalloped cover; attached with three blued steel domed, slot-head screws into lower rib and block
Tuners: two pairs of worm-gear tuners with floral-embossed, nickel-plated steel plates, nickel-plated steel rollers and ivoroid heads
Rosette: oval soundhole bound with ivoroid; rosette comprised of light and black hardwood herringbone inlay surrounded on each side by red and black hardwood checkerboard inlay
Pick guard: imitation-tortoise-shell celluloid with festooned inner and lower edges
Lacquer: golden with craquelure
Linings: kerfed light hardwood
Neck block: mahogany
End block: mahogany with beveled edges
Top bracing: four lateral spruce braces with dramatically tapered ends, one above soundhole, three below soundhole; spruce graft along center joint
Back bracing: three lateral spruce braces with tapered ends, one opposite soundhole, two in lower bouts
DimensionsTotal mandocello length: 987 mm (38-29/32″)
Back length: 509 mm (20-1/32″)
Upper bout width: 191 mm (7-1/2″)
Center bout width: 183 mm (7-7/32″)
Lower bout width: 363 mm (14-9/32″)
Rib height (including edging) at heel: 71 mm (2-13/16″)
Rib height, at lower bout: 59 mm (2-11/32″)
Rib height, at bottom: 83 mm (3-9/32″)
Head length: 164 mm (6-15/32″)
Head width, top: 78 mm (3-3/32″)
Head width, bottom: 65 mm (2-9/16″)
Neck length (nut to ribs): 329 mm (12-31/32″)
Neck width, nut: 39 mm (1-17/32″)
Neck width, heel: 52 mm (2-1/16″)
Soundhole height: 61 mm (2-13/32″)
Soundhole width: 89 mm (3-1/2″)
Vibrating string length (nut to bridge edge): 660 mm (26″)
Published ReferencesAppears in the film short Hula Heaven, 1937.
Anthony Lis, “The Peabody Instruments,” B. M. G. No. 868, Winter 2012, pp. 100-101.
Credit LineEddie Peabody Collection. Gift of George Peabody, 2012
Object number14654
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