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![]() photo: Gruhn Guitars ![]()
Vega
The Vega company is probably best known today for its vintage banjos,
but it also made a variety of mandolins (including the famous "cylinder-back"
model), and was either the third or fourth major manufacturer to
produce an electric one. According to renowned guitar collector
Scott Chinery, Vega introduced its electric mandolin in 1936, the
same year as the Gibson EM150. Vega electrics
are quite rare, and the company experimented with different body
styles, as well as several types and configurations of pickups,
as you can see from the photos here. The black mandolin below features
a Rickenbacker-style horseshoe pickup and is one of 100 that were
sold with matching amps. Below that, the mandolin on the left is
definitely a Vega, and while the pickup might be a factory installation,
surely those chickenhead knobs are later replacements. The one with
no soundholes on the right was represented to me as a 1955 Vega,
but like Montresor I have my doubts. See Scott Chinery's book
The Chinery Collection for yet another photo.
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