Pasquale Vinaccia | |
|---|---|
 Pasquale Vinaccia, luthier and creator of the Neapolitan Mandolin. | |
| Born | 20 July 1806 Italy |
| Died | c. 1882 Italy |
| Occupation | Luthier |
| Known for | creating the "Neapolitan Mandolin" |
Pasquale Vinaccia (1806—c. 1882) was an Italian luthier, appointed instrument-maker for the Queen of Italy, and maternal grandfather to Carlo Munier.[1][2][3] In 1835 he improved the mandolin, creating a version of the instrument that used steel wires for strings, known today as the "Neapolitan Mandolin."[3][4][2] His use of steel strings has become the dominant way of stringing mandolins.
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Philip J. Bone (1914). The guitar and mandolin, Biographies of celebrated players and composers for these instruments. London: Schott and Company. pp. 220–221.
Pasquale Vinaccia of Naples, the perfector of the modern Italian mandolin. The name of Vinaccia is emblazoned amongst the most exhalted of the world's stringed instrument makers, and it was the inventive genius of this member of the family — born July 20, 1806 in Naples, and died there in 1882 — that gave the instrument its steel strings and consequent machine head, who extended the compass of its fingerboard and enlarged and improved the tonal capabilities and qualities of the instrument.
- ^ a b "Information on Pasquale Vinaccia, violin maker in Naples, Italy". amati.com. Archived from the original on 27 June 2015. Retrieved 26 June 2015.
- ^ a b "The Bickford mandolin method". Retrieved 21 December 2014.
For the perfected form of the Neapolitan mandolin we are indebted entirely to the inventive genius of Pasquale Vinaccia (1806-1882), who gave us every point of difference between the antique and the modern forms. It was he who remodeled and extended the fingerboard; introduced wire strings and substituted the machine head.
- ^ Sparks, Paul (1995). The Classical Mandolin. Oxford: Clarendon Press. pp. 115–117. ISBN 978-0-19-517337-6.