Evaluating my A/I Stathopoulos bouzouki

Part II. Sound!





As I had promised, I recorded a very quick sample of my bouzouki sound, which I am posting together with my final review on  Giannis Tsoulogiannis' A/I Stathopoulos bouzouki. I used my I phone for this recording. I apologize since some of its sound quality is been lost due to the sound compression.


Also, due to the long overseas trip ( from December 9th  until  January 6th ) the instrument underwent through dramatic changes in pressure, humidity and temperature. It will take couple of weeks, until the sound reaches the quality levels which the bouzouki had before leaving luthier's workshop.

The first day I received the instrument its sound appeared to be dull, metallic, and flat (due to the above mentioned  parameters), which led me to the wrong conclusions regarding its clarity , sustain, and sound quality.

It took two more days, until the sound  began to open up and  become clear, vibrant, and mature, highlighting its future potentials.

To evaluate the A/I Stathopoulos bouzouki sound, I though  to compare it with the sound of my Politiko bouzouki which I  dearly love.

For this reason and for a  fair comparison, I recorded with the same telephone, at the same spot in my house, the same sound sample.

The only significant difference between the two instruments is that, my Politiko bouzouki wears 3 months old strings, which definitely alters somehow and reduces its sound quality.

Also,  the A/I Stathopoulos bouzouki hasn't reached yet its best sound quality and maturity, as it is only 2 months old bouzouki construction.

Comparing treble and mid

Politiko



A/I Stathopoulos



Comparing the strings of Mourgana

Politiko



A/I Stathopoulos


Evaluation of Sound comparison

I would say that the Politiko bouzouki produces a more sweet, treble sound, and a more deep mid sound, keeping initially  its power inside the bowl , and through oscillation with the bowl, transforming  it to a deep, mature sound with great sustain( mostly mids and bass), before releasing it out to the environment, from the sound hole.

The A/I Stathopoulos bouzouki produces a more dry, loud, exuberant, bright sound throughout the whole length of the  fret-board. Contrary to the PolitikoA/I Stathopoulos bouzouki doesn't keep the sound oscillation inside the bowl, rather transporting it loudly almost immediately through the sound-hole, to the environment.

Conclusion

Both of the bouzouki instruments possess a great sound quality, "colored" with  unique characteristics due to their unique construction, as the beautiful saz-taboura timbre of the Politiko LA strings, and the full-bright sound of Stathopoulos  strings.

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