Luiz Malagoli notifies me that Malagoli Elétronica Ltd., located in São Paulo, has been operating in Brazil since 1965. Technically, these instruments are cavaquinhos—sort of a Brazilian ukulele—not mandolins. The acoustic cavaquinho has a built-in pickup with a 2-band EQ, while the Strat and Les Paul models are cavacos maciços elétricos (solidbody electric cavaquinhos). Normally they're tuned DGBD, but what's to stop you from tuning them in fifths? After all, the scale length is 34.5 cm—just a hair under you standard mandolin scale. My Portuguese ain't so good, but there's some more info at the Malagoli Web site. Oh, and the company also sells pickups.