APC 555 Braguinha

I got this as a Braguinha, and I also thought it wasn't a made by APC, but that's the joy of buying online. Though it said Excelsior in the advert, nothing on the actual Cavaquinho say this. It says its an Antonio Carvalho model 555, (which in the APC website is listed as a Braguinha; however since it was made in mainland Portugal and is steel strung I will say its a Lisboa style Cavaquinho unless I get a different definition of a Braguinha - I'll just have to go to Madeira to get a proper one!)

It is quite narrow and small for a Soprano Ukulele sized instrument, but the the Lisboa Cavaquinho is suppose to be. It has a solid spruce top and a Peruvian walnut, (nogal), back and sides. I think the walnut is very pretty but then I think walnut always looks a pretty wood. It doesn't have the lovely pine smell of the APC 103 though, (well it wouldn't but it smells ok). Sadly though, like my other Antonio Carvalho Cavaquinhos the intonation up the fretboard is a bit slapdash meaning you have to compromise a bit or it ends up sounding out of tune for certain chords.

Also like the other Antonio Carvalho, the strings it came with were crap! The gauge of 3 of them was the same so to try and tune it you get uneven tension and it makes the intonation even worse. I have replaced them with some D'Addario cavaquinho strings and this solves most of the problems, (steel strings are still hard on my soft fingers though).

I have had this a while now and with all the research I have done I have become even less sure of the difference between a Lisboa style Cavaquinho and a Braguinha? The Museum of the Cavaquinho doesn't give any clear definition and even includes this model in its list of examples of a Braguinha! Therefore I have decided from now on to call this a Braguinha too, (unless I ever find a sensible definition of a Braguinha; and location or nationality of the manufacturer doesn't, to my mind, count).