Evaluating the Politiko Version II
2.Sound !
As I had promised, I recorded a very quick sample of Politiko Version II sound, which I am posting together with my final review on Andreas Dellios unique creation.
I had to be very careful on this evaluation, as I wanted as much as possible to give a fair, honest and unbiased review.
I must played in my head over an over again dozens of times the recordings of the two instruments ( Politiko version1- VS - Politiko version2 ) which I had in my files, trying to decode their similarities and their unique differences.
Apart from the unique and "perfect" construction which the Politiko bouzouki Version I also carried, (made by the talented luthier Tasos Theodorakis), the beautiful saz-taboura timbre of that Politiko LA strings, will always remain engraved in my mind.
The similarities
Both versions timbre is a complexion of sound produced by different instruments together:
-The Politiko version 1, made by Tasos Theodorakis , is a complexion between the sound of a sweet trichordo bouzouki, a husky voice of a tzoura, and a hissing, cloudy, oriental sound of a tampoura.
It is very difficult to explain the combination of a flooded but the same time bright, full of chap sound that this instrument produces, especially at the middle and low (bass) tones . At the high notes, the sound becomes more sweet and bright.
-The Politiko version 2, made by Andreas Dellios , is a complexion between the sound of a sweet trichordo bouzouki or a mandolin, a husky voice of a tzoura, and a dry voice of an ukulele.
Its sound is dry, bright and vibrant as the tzouras would produce, but unexpectedly sweet due to the bouzouki scale of 67 cm, and at some frequencies with the unique timbre mix of an ukulele, and a mandolin.
The differences
To understand the differences we must first examine their unique construction
Comparing two instruments which I do not possess at the same time , would be impossible, but thanks to technology I was able to line them side by side in one photo take
The volume of the Politiko Version 1 bowl is substantially larger than the Version 2
The sound hole on the Politiko Version 1, much smaller than the Version 2
As I had promised, I recorded a very quick sample of Politiko Version II sound, which I am posting together with my final review on Andreas Dellios unique creation.
I had to be very careful on this evaluation, as I wanted as much as possible to give a fair, honest and unbiased review.
I must played in my head over an over again dozens of times the recordings of the two instruments ( Politiko version1- VS - Politiko version2 ) which I had in my files, trying to decode their similarities and their unique differences.
Apart from the unique and "perfect" construction which the Politiko bouzouki Version I also carried, (made by the talented luthier Tasos Theodorakis), the beautiful saz-taboura timbre of that Politiko LA strings, will always remain engraved in my mind.
The similarities
Both versions timbre is a complexion of sound produced by different instruments together:
-The Politiko version 1, made by Tasos Theodorakis , is a complexion between the sound of a sweet trichordo bouzouki, a husky voice of a tzoura, and a hissing, cloudy, oriental sound of a tampoura.
It is very difficult to explain the combination of a flooded but the same time bright, full of chap sound that this instrument produces, especially at the middle and low (bass) tones . At the high notes, the sound becomes more sweet and bright.
-The Politiko version 2, made by Andreas Dellios , is a complexion between the sound of a sweet trichordo bouzouki or a mandolin, a husky voice of a tzoura, and a dry voice of an ukulele.
Its sound is dry, bright and vibrant as the tzouras would produce, but unexpectedly sweet due to the bouzouki scale of 67 cm, and at some frequencies with the unique timbre mix of an ukulele, and a mandolin.
The differences
To understand the differences we must first examine their unique construction
Comparing two instruments which I do not possess at the same time , would be impossible, but thanks to technology I was able to line them side by side in one photo take
The sound hole on the Politiko Version 1, much smaller than the Version 2
From the profile, someone can easily note that in the Politko Version 1, the tone after produced by the vibration of the string, gets through the sound-hole inside the deep resonator and travels towards the back, into a much deeper point of the bowl, accumulating much more power and depth in sound quality, before returns back trying to exit the small sound hole.
I think this is the reason for which very accurately Tasos Theodorakis creates a small side hole, to release the part of the accumulated power produced inside the bowl, which can not escape all at once from the small sound-hole, and this way "saves" the instrument from a flooded unpleasant sound
The effect described above, creates in my opinion the deep, husky, cloudy oriental timbre.
In the Politiko Version 2, the luthier Andreas Dellios is mastering a different effect of sound quality
The bowl , in his construction , is sharply narrow at front but deep in the back (not as much as Tasos Theodorakis version 1) with a larger diameter sound hole comparing to the one in version 1
The tone, after produced by the vibration of the string, gets immediately through the sound-hole inside the resonator and travels very fast towards the back, into the deeper point of the bowl, (having aquired depth in sound quality ) 'hits' the wood and returns immediately and fast back , to the front escaping easily from the bigger sound hole.
This is why the sound timbre in this Politiko, is more dry, more bright, and vibrant.
The above explanation is a person observation
Without been a luthier, the whole sound investigation between the two instruments explained above , may be completely incorrect
I am inviting the two luthiers of the Politiko versions , to comment on this post with their technical explanation and feedback.
To me, both of the instruments possess a very unique and excellent sound quality
Sample from Politkio Version 2
Recorded with iPhone
The instrument hasn't reached yet its best sound quality and maturity.
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