The journey of an old mulberry tree

And an underdog luthier!

As the construction of the GuiZouk (Kitharo-bouzouko) is at a standstill, (due to the long delay on delivery of the half rounded mother of pearl, -white sea-shells,  this time from UK), the journey of an old Greek mulberry tree will soon start.

Unlike all the expensive, hard to find,  exotic woods, which all of us pretty much pursue for our musical instrument construction, the sound qualities of the Greek mulberry wood, makes it in my opinion the most excellent representative for the bowl creation of a pre-war bouzouki. 

Apart form the sound qualities which the mulberry wood produces, the beautiful grain formation (chrysalis) on some mulberry woods, in combination with its amber color, makes it as my most favorite choice for bouzouki's  bowl construction.    

From time to time I have also mentioned in this blog, names of "underdog" luthiers, who have piqued my attention and interest,  by their bouzouki creations,  and their unparalleled passion in traditional Greek lutherie.

The personal term "underdog" refers to amateur  luthiers who possess great skills in instrument making.

They are not your common, famous, professional, Greek names of Athens, usually will read about in forums and articles.

They are rather the low profile, gifted, talented and inspirational bouzouki makers, who create small miracles every time they transform, with their bare hands and the help of few tools , woods into sounds and harmonies !

One of them, and a good cyber friend of mine for few years, is Stelios Tsilimigkas ( https://steliostsilimigkas.wixsite.com/luthier) .

Stelios was born in Athens in 1983.

From 2003 to 2007,  he studied in the department of Sound and Music Technology of the Ionian Islands.

 Since 2008 he has began his study and research of the pre-war urban musical culture and started to work on the construction of musical instruments next to Thanassis Giannopoulos.

He is working professionally for a few years over instrument making and he specializes in the construction of pre-war bouzouki and paralleling instruments such as "tzouras", "baglamas" and "miso-bouzouko".

Together with Stelios we will travel during the next six months, in the construction and creation of a special pre-war style bouzouki, using Greek mulberry wood for the creation of the bowl, AAA German spruce for the creation of the sound board,  maple, ebony, apple tree, and burl walnut woods for the creation of wooden decorative elements and marquetry, a hand carved wooden round rosette covering the sound-hole, ebony wood for the creation of the fret board, and a very old mahogany wood for the formation of the neck.

Stelios sent me today few photographs, showcasing the beautiful, amber-color, mulberry old wood which he will use for the creation of the bowl

Stay tuned!