Mandolin-banjo
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The mandolin-banjo is a hybrid instrument, combining a banjo body with the neck and tuning of a mandolin. It is a soprano banjo. It has been independently invented in more than one country, variously
Two styles of mandolin-banjo, showing a large and small head, with a full size, four-string banjo (bottom)
L-R - Banjo-mandolin, standard mandolin, 3-course mandolin, Tenor mandola
A banjolin with single strings like a violin and a mandolin fretboard
A Vega mandolin-banjo c. 1920 with four pairs of strings
Mandolin
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A mandolin is a stringed musical instrument in the lute family and is generally plucked with a pick. It most commonly has four courses of doubled strings tuned in unison, thus giving a total of eight
Mandolin-banjo
…The mandolin-banjo is a hybrid instrument, combining a banjo body with the neck and tuning of a mandolin. It is a soprano banjo. It has been independently invented in more than one country, variously being called mandolin-banjo, banjo-mandolin, banjolin…
Neapolitan mandolin
In 1787, Luigi Bassi played the role of Don Giovanni in Mozart's opera, serenading a woman with a mandolin. This used to be the common picture of the mandolin, an obscure instrument of romance in the hands of a Spanish nobleman
Clockwise from top left: 1920 Gibson F-4 mandolin; 1917 Gibson H-2 mandola; 1929 Gibson mando-bass; and 1924 Gibson K-4 mandocello from Gregg Miner's collection
Piccolo mandolin