Way off topic -- Bouzouki

[Haole Jim]

[color=#004000]Admittedly way off topic...

...a continual craving for a Greek Bouzouki has not gone away, and recent viewings of "My Big Fat Greek Wedding" and "My Life In Ruins"[ and listening to some Greek CDs are not diminishing the craving for the tinkling, unique sound.

Anyone have one, play one, know much about them?

Thank you in advance./color]

[connie_mack]

they are used quite often now in irish music(bothy band/70's...go figure). assuming the tuning my friend was using is standard to the greek music, it's tuned like a violin. just really big....like a tenor banjo.....

if you have any experience with the fiddle, it's not a big jump.

dick dale's sound reminds me of the bouzouki. probably got the feel from the oud judging from his lebanese background. bouzouki, oud, surf guitar, spanish guitar. it's all the same...right...?

[JimPage]

There used to be a young man in one of our monthly acoustic jams who played one of those. It seems to me that he was originally a mandolin player, and this instrument was tuned and played in a similar fashion.

In a room with 15 acoustic guitars, that bouzouki had a very pleasant and distinctive voice, and added a charm to what we played.

I never played the thing, but if I remember correctly, the body was about the size of a small parlor guitar and it had a long, thinnish neck. He had his custom made by a local (Northern Virginia) luthier and the price was very reasonable.

It was an attractive instrument all the way around.

--Jim

[connie_mack]

a mandolin is a fiddle with frets...played with a pick instead of a bow...so, yes. tuned the same.

[Haole Jim]

Thank you for your thoughts. The self-education on bouzouki says there are basically 2 types, the traditional pear-ish-backed Greek, with from 15 to 60 bent staves making up the back...

...and the Celtic / Irish which tends to be flat-backed and made more or less like a guitar. Either three or four pairs of strings, the first two in unison tuning, the third and fouth in octaves, like a 12-string.

Fender marketed an octave mandolin and bouzouki (slightly different scale lengths) for a couple years. 'Played an out of the box one and it was wretched-sounding and playing. Plywood, made in Korea. Built-in pickup. And almost $500 street price.

[Haole Jim]

Update...

...well before beginning this thread, 'had been studying websites and exotic instrument suppliers and even found a couple Greek folks to chat with about bouzoukis.

And just purchased a bouzouki, after 3+ decades of being interested to various levels at varied times, but not committed until the "screw it, 'gonna do it" moment this past weekend.

It arrived a couple days ago from Greece by way of California and is really a gob of fun. Tuning is CFAD, think guitar 5th string 3rd fret being lowest open string, D on 2nd string 3rd fret being highest open string. C and F are octave pairs, A and D are unison.

[Veenture]

Good for you Jim I'd like to try one out some day...(as well as a Mosrite doubleneck!)
Why not let's go back to 1962 and hear The Shadows play "All Day" ...on their...Bouzouki's !
.

[Haole Jim]

Wow!

Thank you, Veenture. That was amazingly hip and made it sound like aces on guitars could just pick up and play bouzouki. At least Hank and Bruce. Not this picker, yet. Which album was that piece on?

Thank you for posting!

And should you get to Greece, since you are about s close to there as Chicago is to New York...'was warned do not buy a bouzouki from a street vendor. They sound awful and play awful, and worse, fall apart in very short order. Apparently there are "tourist" bouzoukis and "player" ones. Opa!

[Veenture]

Which album was that piece on?

Single version: "All Day" / "Dance On!" (mono, 1962). The stereo version of "All Day" appeared on their LP "Somethin' Else" (1969). A "Japanese" version showed up on their 1966 LP "Thunderbirds Are Go!". Thanks for the bouzouki buying-tip

[Nokie Van Reinhardt]

A big fan of rembetika music here (Greek on my father's side). I've always been fascinated by the Bouzouki and in fact had a couple of Great-Uncles that played. There's also a three course Bouzouki (trichordo, the four course is tetrachordo) tuned Ddaadd.