Evaluating the Pre-war style Trichordo
An underdog luthier creates a small masterpiece!
Good omens brought the pre-war style, trichordo bouzouki, finally safe and secure yesterday evening.
It took the talented luthier Stelios Tsilimigkas, ( https://steliostsilimigkas.wixsite.com/luthier),almost 6 months for its completion.
Stelios had wrapped carefully and meticulously the foam case with bubble wrap, and had added foam sheets inside the case between the padding and the instrument's bowl back, the soundboard, and the neck.
A strudel exterior cardboard box was added to the packing set up at the end, for extra security.
An absolutely professional packing which reveals from first look the attention to detail and the care that this luthier takes for his musical instruments.
Opening the case, is followed as always by a small tachycardia shock, until the confirmation that everything was intact and in place without any damage.
Part 1:Construction, materials, finish.
My first impression by this prewar's materials, size, and proportions, is that this trichordo bouzouki is a small masterpiece.
The size of the bowl, the width of the neck, the size of the petite head-stock and the absolutely stunning combination of old woods which it carries, classify it as on of the most beautiful three course string instruments I've ever grasped in my hands.
The soundboard's centerpiece is dominated by the ebony beautiful rosette, and the circular decorative filets of apple woods and curly maple
The old, pre-war ,scallop-shape, tailpiece shines like a star, by the recent "nickeling" process which the luthier applied.
A very thin, simple, but exceptionally-symmetrical bridge (made by ebony wood and natural bone) "sits " perfectly on the small curvature of the soundboard.
The unique, burl mulberry wood staves, with their deep yellow-amber color, have been precisely cut by the luthier.
Probably one of the most impressive mulberry bowls I have ever seen on a trichordo bouzouki.
The creation of the tall, and unique, capping strip (kollatza), in combination with the narrow side capping strips( parapetia), is one of luthier's signature shapes.
For the creation of the neck, the luthier used a very old, reddish-color, mahogany wood with beautiful grains.The combination of an old curly maple wood ( which the luthier placed at the sides of the neck), with the old mahogany, creates an elevated aesthetic result.
Finally, the instrument ends on one of the most petite head-stocks, carrying the negative mirror-shape of the wooden rossette's flower theme, creating this way, the head-stock's hanging hole.
1.Construction
The bouzouki has a very light, but very strong construction at the same time. What really grabbed my attention was the thin, light weight neck ( I can almost wrap around twice my hands). The smooth shape and finish in the back of the neck, in combination with the perfectly filled frets, and the low action, allows the left hand to move freely and fast
The head-stock has a very beautiful and delicate construction. I have said it many times in the past ( during the evaluation for other trichordo bouzouki instruments), but this one is the thinnest, and most petite head-stock I ever seen in a bouzouki.
The bridge is another delicate and beautiful part of this instrument. Extremely thin, but with a great grasp on the sound board. The natural bone with a small dimension on the width, but with a more than double dimension on height , creates the illusion to the eye that the bone "sits and hovers" over the ebony bridge.
The soundboard has been perfectly sanded inside-out to a thickness able to reproduce a great sound without loosing the durability.Traces of bear claw are present.
The ebony rosette beautifully cut by hand, sits perfectly inside the sound-hole.
Finally the bowl, one of my favorite parts, created with lot of attention to detail by, clean perfectly-cut staves of a unique old, burl mulberry wood.
2.Materials
The use of beautiful, natural treated, old woods makes an absolutely obvious statement on this bouzouki.
The balanced way which shades of the woods were used for the creation of this instrument, reveals the highly aesthetic levels which luthier possesses.
3.Finish
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This is the section where luthier, brings all his attention, all his passion, to create a small masterpiece!
From the mulberry back bowl, to the sound board, to the sound-hole's rosette, to the petite neck, and tailpiece, everything is being cut, constructed, sanded, fitted and polished, perfectly.
A small, and slightly noticeable asymmetry on the construction of the bowl's lower outer shape ( at the point where the capping strip connects to the side strips), and the placement of the peripheral binding (purfling) strips, states that the instrument was created by the bare hands of a passionate string-instrument maker, carrying small imperfections.
The following days, I will record a sound sample of the instrument, which I will post with my final review on the sound.
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