Giannini GBSM3 EL Brazil Series Mandolin (Electric) Review

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(More customer reviews)I just received this mandolin (bandolim) tonight, so these are first impressions. The instrument I received was not a Giannini GBSM3 EL (Electric) as listed, but a GBSM3 X (Non-electric). I am in the process of exchanging or returning it, but will make a few observations on the instrument at hand. Overall, for the price I paid, this instrument is a good beater or starter mandolin. The woods are very pretty (sitka spruce top, Bolivian rosewood back and sides, lovely binding and inlay), and the fit and finish are well above what one would usually find at this price. Its intonation is pretty good and it sounds fairly loud, resonant, and ringing. The Devon tuners seem cheap but they work OK. The string hooks on the tailpiece are sharp and indeed one of the E strings broke at the loop end before I had brought it all the way up to pitch (It broke at C#). The strings are very light gauge, 10-14-23-30. The action (string height) is a little high, but OK with such light strings. The mandolin has a zero fret about ¼ inch from the nut. The string slots in the nut are all deeply cut without regard to string diameter, but the presence of the zero fret keeps this from negatively affecting intonation. However, the string slots in the nut are improperly spaced, so that the string pairs are difficult to fret. The strings in each pair are not close enough together and the spacing between pairs is too close. The scale length from the nut to the bridge when the bridge is properly placed is 13.5 inches. The ends of the frets are smoothly finished on the E string side, but not on the G string side, and indeed the latter are sharp and jagged enough to catch one's skin. The neck is shallow and very comfortable to my small hand. The bridge is rosewood with a fixed metal saddle. Both the fretboard and the bridge are slightly radiused. The problems mentioned are correctable and this could be a very nice inexpensive mandolin with a new nut, new bridge, finished fret ends, and possibly a new tailpiece.

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Mandolin with solid Sitka Spruce top and Pau-Ferro/Morado back and sides. Supplied with Giannini bag.

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Giannini GWNE18 CT EL Study Series Student Cutaway Guitar (Acoustic-Electric) Review

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(More customer reviews)I lived in Brazil for awhile and was under the impression that these guitars were good quality, so when I got back I ordered this one. I know it is at the cheaper end of their guitars but I was extremely disappointed. The action was unplayability high for me, the wood was rough in some places, and the finish had already started pealing on the neck. I have a cheap classical acoustic I bought for [...] bucks and it feels and sounds better than this one. I didn't plug it in, I just took it out of the box played it for about 15 minutes and stuck it back in and returned it. There are much better options in the price range, trust me.

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Student nylon, full size, cutaway classical body style with 3 band preamp. Solid Sitka Spruce top with Pau Ferro/Morado back and sides. Comfortable 1 7/8 inch (48mm) neck.

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Giannini GWNFLE/7 Performance Series Thin Body Cutaway Guitar (Acoustic-Electric, Nylon, 7 String) Review

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(More customer reviews)I've had a few different Giannini seven-strings. I bought
them because I wanted to familiarize myself with playing
7-string because I am a guitar builder and I wanted to
understand the design issues involved.
These are not particularly refined guitars. The finish is
put on too thick, choking the acoustic sound. The finish
of the frets is not great either, though as a builder I
tuned-up the guitar and tweaked-it with an hour or so of
work. The frets were level enough but they were not well
crowned so I had to correct that and polish them with 400-grit
wet/dry paper. That's good enough.
The guitar is not all that thrilling acoustically but when
plugged-in it packs a powerful bottom-end wallop!
People would be looking around wondering where the bass player
was. I used this guitar in ensemble settings and mostly
played lively bass lines on it. I used a thumb pick because
the thick strings would wear-down my thumbnail fast... and
I have very thick and tough nails.
The guitar was well-enough made that it accepted a "transparent"
setup with very acceptable sound quality. In other words,
I dropped the action down real low and the guitar still sounded
okay.
The fretboard is wide and fairly flat. If you have small hands
you'll struggle with it. I have medium-large hands with a good
reach and disciplined classical fingering habits, so I adapted
pretty quick to the fingerboard. The neck is wide, thick
and too thick for my taste. I would prefer a flat-backed neck
with less depth, which is an eccentric preference and not the
sort of neck you'll be familiar with unless you know guitar
builders - it's not the sort of design the mass-market of players
would like.. I'm ok with the width of the neck.
The guitar has a truss-rod in the neck. It's a heavy guitar
and the weight is balanced. The neck and peghead have a lot
more mass than a six-string classic, but the build of the
soundbox is heavy too.
Not especially responsive. Not a big problem in the feedback
department either.
Overall very acceptable for performing but not a refined
instrument for a discerning player.

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7-String Acoustic-electric cutaway, nylon with Giannini 4 band preamp. Solid Red Cedar top, Pau-Ferro/Morado back and sides, gold plated machine heads and reinforced neck with adjustable truss rod. Supplied with Giannini gig bag.

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Giannini GWNC4/7 Asturias Handcrafted Series Classical Guitar (Acoustic, Nylon, 7-String) Review

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(More customer reviews)I owned this guitar for several years and very recently parted with it. I mainly play jazz, funk, soul and classical music but choro has been a big part of my life for over a decade. I became fascinated by the 7-string violão and wanted to get one. Most of the recommendations I got from friends and other pros were to go with a custom guitar built by a Brazilian luthier, which start around US$3,500. Not wanting to go quite that far, I eventually found the Giannini line being sold at a Florida importer/retailer (Guitar Plaza) and ordered this one. I didn't have much luck with the first one. It sustained some structural damage in shipping and one of the top braces had come loose. I was quickly shipped another one and that one arrived unscathed.
The craftsmanship was okay. There was some visible glue squeeze-out on the inside. The braces were finished very roughly. Some of the binding didn't line up. The mosaic strip down the back was the worst of it. The top was some very nice cedar. The fingerboard was also some very nice jet black ebony and was quite thick. There was a problem with the high E string rolling over the edge of the fingerboard due to the nut being cut wrong. I made another out of bone and it was no longer an issue. There was also a problem with the pickup. I suspect that since B-Band does not make a dedicated 7-string under-saddle transducer (UST), Giannini just puts in a regular 6-string one. This resulted in the high E string being practically inaudible while the other strings were picked up fine. I tried adjusting it and then the low B would disappear. I never did fix the issue since I rarely played amplified but it could be a real problem for someone wanting to regularly perform amplified.
While it was a bit rough around the edges and there was a problem with the pickup, it did manage to produce a decent tone and moderate volume. It does make sense for those who want to test the waters before jumping up to a custom violão but for those who already have their chops, I'd look elsewhere.

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Handcrafted all-solid 7-string classical nylon. Solid Red Cedar top, solid Mahogany back and sides, Ebony fingerboard, black and gold plated machine heads with pearled buttons and reinforced neck with adjustable truss rod. Supplied with Giannini hard case

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Giannini GWNC1/7-EL Sevilha Classical Guitar (Acoustic-Electric, Nylon, 7-String) Review

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(More customer reviews)I just got this wonderful instrument. A SEVEN STRINGS CLASSICAL GUITAR!!!, with electronic amplifier built-in!. I love it.
The strings are very nice spaced from each other, so that the neck doesn't look wide and still you can play the different strings easily. Also doing 7 string bar chords is not difficult and do not require much strength. I am already playing songs with this
guitar using the seventh string with the deep sound of an A one octave lower than
the 5th string.
This kind of guitar is quite difficult or expensive to get, and here I got it for the price of a common guitar. The sound is very good for me and it came with a very nice gig bag. I thanks Giannini por putting these kind of guitars at the reach of everybody.
I think seven string classical guitars will be common in the near future.

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7-String acoustic-electric classical nylon with Giannini 4 band preamp. Solid Red Cedar top, Pau-Ferro/Morado back and sides, gold plated machine heads and reinforced neck with adjustable truss rod. Supplied with Giannini gig bag.

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