Petros Hanikian's 1960s professional bouzouki

June 25, 2021

Petros Hanikian's 1960s professional bouzouki

Custom made for the famous Armenian-American musician and composer John Bilezikjian!

It’s every hard-core collector’s Achilles heel, one item which will become a favorite find, not so much due to its collectable value, as due to the story behind it, and its rarity.

For many years now and for some odd reason, Petros (Hanikian) Xanikian’s musical instruments had become my secret obsession during long research .

The luthier ( an apprentice of the master luthier Onnik Tsakirian ) from 1960s to 1980s, constructed a limited number of beautiful musical instruments with powerful, crystal sound. He also collaborated for some years with the master luthier Zozef Terzivasian , supplying Zozef’s workshop with his own bouzouki creations.

Petros (Hanikian) Xanikian may not be included among the most famous Greek master luthiers of bouzouki creation, his name though, will always be remembered and be discussed among hardcore collectors .

Few years ago, during one of my long night research sprees, I came across this beautiful four course bouzouki.

Being a three course bouzouki player, I gave no much attention, at first . But something inside me was telling me to contact the seller, and find more information regarding this bouzouki.

From the photographs provided by the owner ,was unclear who the luthier of the musical instrument was. The ad was referring to a Greek Armenian luthier … and we all know where my mind went at first.

To my surprise, when the owner sent me a photo of the label, I realized that the bouzouki was the creation of Petros Xanikian !

The label also revealed that the bouzouki was created at the beginning of luthier's career, somewhere between 1965-1970

The last name of the owner/seller sounded also familiar ( an Armenian last name ) but I could not pin point where I had seen or read before that last name.

Talking with the owner a bit longer, I finally realized that the bouzouki was custom made and hand picked from Athens Greece by the famous oud player, musician, and composer John Bilezikjian.

The seller was no other than the son of the famous musician, Johnny Bilezikjian

John Bilezikjian. 1948-2015

“John Bilezikjian (February 1, 1948 – January 19, 2015) was an Armenian-American musician and composer born in Los Angeles.

Most renowned as an oud master ,he also played the violin, mandolin and dumbek. He was also a traditional and contemporary singer singing in Armenian, but also in Turkish, Assyrian/Syriac, English and known for his contributions to world music as a solo act and in collaborations with renowned artists.

He established his own record company, Dantz Records in Laguna Hills, California making many recordings, and appearing in tens of film soundtracks.( Wikipedia ) "

John Bilezikjian's guest star appearance at the Three's Company American sitcom

The bouzouki was in unplayable condition, due to a small wrap on the neck. It also desperately needed few micro-cosmetic repairs on the pickguard decoration.

Without knowing the final sound which the musical instrument would produced , I trusted my gut feelings and purchased it.

I mainly trusted the fact that Petros Hanikian had previously created beautifully sounded bouzoukia , and the fact that this one was a hand pick by one of the most famous American-Armenian musicians .

How wrong I could have gone ?

After a small and excellent restoration work, performed by my friend Jake Wildwood, ( at Jake Wildood country guitar doctor) receiving and playing for first time this Hanikian bouzouki verified that the musical instrument was a professional top grade bouzouki with a timbre and playability as close as an instrument can get to the Zozef Terzivasian master creations !