Secrets in the "House of Stathopoulos"
Tetrachordo origin!
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My tertrachordo bouzouki: Created by Giannis Tsoulogiannis
My quest to find information, regarding the specific time that the first four course (tetrachordo) bouzouki appeared, brought me in front of the "House of Stathopoulo's" doorsteps, and the beginning of the 20th century.
During my trip to Greece this year, and my visit to Giannis Tsoulogiannis hometown, the luthier had confided, that A. Stathopoulos originally had constructed, four course bouzoukia at the early 1900s.
The A.Stathopoulos catalog, gives no information regarding the tuning of these four course bouzoukia, creating an even bigger mystery regarding the tetrachordo origin. Some researchers speak for a tetrachordo (8 strings) bouzouki tuned as a trichordo ( 6 strings) with extra unison strings. Some others, speak for a completely different instrument, tuned as a four course bouzouki, but with a completely different tuning than the one, the virtuoso Hiotis, established at the early 1950s.
There is perhaps no coincidence that, A. Stathopoulos had experimented and built a tetrachordo bouzouki in the early 20 century, since he was a maker creating bouzoukia influenced by mandolins, living in a country where western tunings were the most popular!
Unfortunately, looking at the US patents of the early 1900s , I was not able to find a tetrachordo bouzouki patent applied from the A.Stathopoulos.
The following links, are all the regulated patents applied by the House of Stathopoulos and Epiphone, which I was able to find through my research.
The research continues!
.
My tertrachordo bouzouki: Created by Giannis Tsoulogiannis
My quest to find information, regarding the specific time that the first four course (tetrachordo) bouzouki appeared, brought me in front of the "House of Stathopoulo's" doorsteps, and the beginning of the 20th century.
During my trip to Greece this year, and my visit to Giannis Tsoulogiannis hometown, the luthier had confided, that A. Stathopoulos originally had constructed, four course bouzoukia at the early 1900s.
The A.Stathopoulos catalog, gives no information regarding the tuning of these four course bouzoukia, creating an even bigger mystery regarding the tetrachordo origin. Some researchers speak for a tetrachordo (8 strings) bouzouki tuned as a trichordo ( 6 strings) with extra unison strings. Some others, speak for a completely different instrument, tuned as a four course bouzouki, but with a completely different tuning than the one, the virtuoso Hiotis, established at the early 1950s.
There is perhaps no coincidence that, A. Stathopoulos had experimented and built a tetrachordo bouzouki in the early 20 century, since he was a maker creating bouzoukia influenced by mandolins, living in a country where western tunings were the most popular!
Unfortunately, looking at the US patents of the early 1900s , I was not able to find a tetrachordo bouzouki patent applied from the A.Stathopoulos.
The following links, are all the regulated patents applied by the House of Stathopoulos and Epiphone, which I was able to find through my research.
The research continues!
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