House of Stathopoulo bouzouki 1922 for sale
A beautiful West Coast story from 1960 !
In my research to find information regarding A/I Stathopoulos bouzouki instruments, I stumbled on an authentic HOUSE OF STATHOPOULOS bouzouki, made in February 1922.
Owner of this rare bouzouki, is the famous, old school, bouzouki player and rebetiko enthusiast, from the West Coast, Paul Kakouris. ( http://www.bouzouki.org)
Paul, or Pavlos, (as he likes to be called with his Greek name), is a great bouzouki player and a passionate bouzouki collector, who dedicated his whole life around the bouzouki and the traditional Greek music.
His first bouzouki, which he found in 1960, in a junk store of Los Angeles, was no other than the House of Stathopoulo 1922 bouzouki:
"I had been playing mandolin since I was 5 years old. Bouzouki was rare in the 40's in the USA.
I listened to recordings of the old masters and would try to get the tunes down but I knew the sound was really different. In 1951 I took my first trip to Greece at age 14.
That's when I saw a bouzouki for the first time. I say with great pride that I saw Tsitsanis and Papaioanou playing bouzouki.
I fell in love with the culture and of course the bouzouki. At that time it was not socially acceptable to play bouzouki. The connection with the subculture, REBETIKA, hashish dens, and the lower working class in those days and long before, was the reason my mom would not allow me to bring a bouzouki back to the USA.
About 1957 bouzouki players began appearing in California. There are sites on the net to find historical info. I looked for a very long time to find a bouzouki locally until one day I stopped to browse at a large junk store in south Los Angeles and there I saw high on a shelf covered in a heavy layer of dust my first bouzouki. Made in New York City in Feb. 1922.by the House of Stathopoulos. I still have it." -Paul Kakouris
The House of Stathopoulo bouzouki has been fully restored by Gari Hegedus. Analytically Pavlos informed me that Gari:
-Removed old fingerboard for neck realignment.
-Inserted carbon fiber rod in neck.
-Added rosewood fingerboard shim before replacing the original fingerboard on top.
-New frets. Touched up nut. New strings
-Refinished the neck to conceal old repairs and enhance appearance.
-New tuners to match original look.
-Removed old finish on bowl and applied new finish.
-Removed old white plastic pick-guard on face.
-Cleaned up face and touched up old repairs.
-New walnut rosette and pick guard to match original designs by Stathopoulos.
-French polished the face
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HOUSE OF STATHOPOULOS bouzouki, 1922
In my research to find information regarding A/I Stathopoulos bouzouki instruments, I stumbled on an authentic HOUSE OF STATHOPOULOS bouzouki, made in February 1922.
Owner of this rare bouzouki, is the famous, old school, bouzouki player and rebetiko enthusiast, from the West Coast, Paul Kakouris. ( http://www.bouzouki.org)
Paul, or Pavlos, (as he likes to be called with his Greek name), is a great bouzouki player and a passionate bouzouki collector, who dedicated his whole life around the bouzouki and the traditional Greek music.
His first bouzouki, which he found in 1960, in a junk store of Los Angeles, was no other than the House of Stathopoulo 1922 bouzouki:
"I had been playing mandolin since I was 5 years old. Bouzouki was rare in the 40's in the USA.
I listened to recordings of the old masters and would try to get the tunes down but I knew the sound was really different. In 1951 I took my first trip to Greece at age 14.
That's when I saw a bouzouki for the first time. I say with great pride that I saw Tsitsanis and Papaioanou playing bouzouki.
I fell in love with the culture and of course the bouzouki. At that time it was not socially acceptable to play bouzouki. The connection with the subculture, REBETIKA, hashish dens, and the lower working class in those days and long before, was the reason my mom would not allow me to bring a bouzouki back to the USA.
About 1957 bouzouki players began appearing in California. There are sites on the net to find historical info. I looked for a very long time to find a bouzouki locally until one day I stopped to browse at a large junk store in south Los Angeles and there I saw high on a shelf covered in a heavy layer of dust my first bouzouki. Made in New York City in Feb. 1922.by the House of Stathopoulos. I still have it." -Paul Kakouris
Speaking with Pavlos through email last week, I found out that he had decided to sell his unique Stathopoulos bouzouki.
Being an enthusiast of the Stathopoulos family myself, I asked his permission to post in this blog, some photos from this rare bouzouki instrument up for sale, with some more information.
The House of Stathopoulo bouzouki has been fully restored by Gari Hegedus. Analytically Pavlos informed me that Gari:
-Removed old fingerboard for neck realignment.
-Inserted carbon fiber rod in neck.
-Added rosewood fingerboard shim before replacing the original fingerboard on top.
-New frets. Touched up nut. New strings
-Refinished the neck to conceal old repairs and enhance appearance.
-New tuners to match original look.
-Removed old finish on bowl and applied new finish.
-Removed old white plastic pick-guard on face.
-Cleaned up face and touched up old repairs.
-New walnut rosette and pick guard to match original designs by Stathopoulos.
-French polished the face
Specs
Scale Length: 648 mm
Nut Width: 29
12th Fret Width: 38
Body Width: 232
Body Length: 367
Body Depth: 152
Original String setup: 8
For more information regarding this Stathopoulos bouzouki up for sale, you can contact directly Paul at:
I hope it will find a great home!
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