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MOCH'S BOUZOUKI INFO
Some of Moch's Bouzoukis

The Bouzouki is a Greek long-necked lute, now also found in Ireland as the "Irish Bouzouki". Up to the 19th-century the Greek bouzouki was indistinguishable from the Turkish  saz with its carved wood resonator, movable gut  frets and wooden tuning-pegs. By the end of the 20th century it was exclusively round backed,  with fixed metal frets and metal machine tuning-heads. In contrast, the modern Turkish Saz has retained its movable frets and violin like tuning pegs.

The  instrument has three or four double courses of metal strings tuned  e–b–e' and d–g–b–e'  respectively and is played with a plectrum. The version with four courses of  strings has developed since World War II. 

In Greece, during the first half of the 20th century the bouzouki was used  principally for playing Rebetika music. Traditionally the  bouzouki with three courses was thought to be unsuitable for playing chords  while four course version opened up the possibility of playing Western-style chords.

In the late 1960s traditional Irish musicians such as Johnny Moynihan and Donal Lunny who were involved in the folk revival in Ireland adopted the bouzouki, tuning it more like a fiddle but an octave lower. In a similar manner they adopted the “Irish” Tenor banjo from America also tuning it GDAE like the fiddle. This made it easier to play standard fiddle tunes in their standard keys.

Bands such as Sweeney's Men, Planxty and the Bothy band were among the first groups to use the instrument in Irish music,  initially to accompany traditional folk songs and later to  provide accompaniment for traditional Irish dance music. The tuning of the Instrument was g’d’a’d’ or g’d’a’e’, an octave below the mandolin and fiddle. Some players use octave strings on the 2 lower courses like a 12 string guitar. There are other tunings that are not as common.

Irish Bouzouki players prefer either short scale instruments or long scale instruments as a matter of preference. The short scale instruments are easier to use for melody playing, while the long scale instruments, because of the ability to use lighter strings, have a fuller sound for use in chordal accompaniment. The longest scale instrument being made as a production model is the imported Trinity College Irish Bouzouki. Modern Irish Bouzoukis are built with a flat back, instead of the traditional round back. Mandocellos can also be used as long neck Bouzoukis simply by changing the string gauges and tuning.

IRISH BOUZOUKI LINKS FOR INFO ON HISTORY, TUNINGS, PLAYING, AND MAKERS.

Han's Bouzouki page
Good Article on Bouzoukis !
Good History of the Irish Bouzouki
Chris Smith's article on improvising on the Bouzouki
Bob Gramann VA Bouzouki Builder
Irish Bouzouki Net

Irish Bouzouki Notes

Scale
Instrument
Neck Width at nut
680 mm
26.8 in.
Trinity College Bouzouki
1 3/16 "
660 mm
25.98 in
Gramann Bouzouki
1 10/16 "
660 mm
Fylde Long Neck Bouzouki
660 mm
Hathawy Long Bouz
650 mm
25.5 in
Sobell Long Bouzouki
655 mm
25.5 in
Davy Stuart "Bass Bouzouki"
638 mm
25.1 in
Gibson Mandocello
1 8/16 "
650 mm
Sobell Bouzouki
629 mm
24.7 in
Fylde Octavius Bouz
610 mm
24.0 in
Flatiron Bouzouki
595 mm
Fylde Cittern
23.5 in
Weber Sage Bouzouki
1 3/8"
590 mm
23.2 in
Hathaway short Bouz
558 mm
22 in.
James Jones Bouzouki (Va)
533 mm
21 in
Regal Octophone
532 mm
Fylde Mandola
519 mm
20.4 in
Trinity College Octave Mando
432 mm
17 in
Trinity College Mandola

 SCALE LENGTHS

LONG SCALE c.   650-680mm SHORT SCALE c. 610-640mm

STRINGS

D’Addario Octave Mano string sets are; 46/32/22/12

D’Addario Bouzouki sets are: 40/28/16/11

 

Paul Hathaway a builder, on his web site recommends:

For long scale ie 660mm= 42w/28w/20p/12p

For short scale, ie 590mm=44w/28w/20p/12p

updated 12/6/11