Electric bouzouki

[Christ Kacoyannakis]

Just finished this electric bouzouki. Master grade curly maple carved top, mahogany body (weight relieved), ABS plastic back support covered with master grade curly maple veneer (this places the instrument in the same position as an acoustic bouzouki), master grade curly maple neck with truss rod and carbon fiber, abalone purfling and koa binding. This instrument has a bolt on neck with a micro adjust set screw to adjust the string height.

[Barry Daniels]

Christ, you will need to resize those pictures to about 900 pixels wide and high, and post them here again. I had to delete the original photos because they were huge.

[Christ Kacoyannakis]

I am working on that right now. Sorry about that.

[Barry Daniels]

No problem.

[Bob Gramann]

Nice. Neat idea. How does it sound?

[Christ Kacoyannakis]

The pickup is pretty hot, being active, so it should be loud enough. I don't really use an amp for playing, and I just have a little Roland Cube I bought to mess around with. It sound good out of that, but somebody who plays professionally will get a much better sound of it with the right settings and effects.

[Clay Schaeffer]

Cool!

[Mark Wybierala]

Absolutely beautiful. What type of trussrod did you decide to use? I really appreciate your decisions in design.

[Christ Kacoyannakis]

I used a two way truss rod from Mark Blanchard. It is similar to the Allied Lutherie two-way truss rod with Allen head adjuster. To be honest, I have had Allen head adjusters strip out, and the only solution is to remove the fretboard and replace it. Although I did give the owner a ball-head wrench. I now tell owners that they should only use the strait head wrench that comes with the rod. The regular rod with a big brass nut would require removal of too much wood at the nut of a bouzouki, which has a very narrow neck.

[Mark Wybierala]

I like using dual adjustable trussrods. I've experienced a few instances of getting backbow when using Titebond to attach a fretboard which I don't completely understand and I suppose its one of those things that may or may not happen depending on how the guitar gods are feeling. I like using Titebond. Single action trussrods are just so cheap and easy to make.
With the dual action trussrods that I've used, it seems as though one could make them removable if they were diligent about cleaning up the squeeze-out when attaching the fretboard but I've never tried it.
I've seen a couple of bouzoukis from the home countries without trussrods with necks that have gone south.

[Peter Wilcox]

With the dual action trussrods that I've used, it seems as though one could make them removable if they were diligent about cleaning up the squeeze-out when attaching the fretboard but I've never tried it.

I cover the truss rod and channel with 3/4" masking tape before I spread the glue on the neck, then remove the tape (with its glue) leaving 1/4" bare wood on either side to absorb the squeeze out. I do this to avoid gluing the truss rod into the channel so it can move as needed, and I suppose this would allow removal of the rod if you cut the channel all the way through to the head stock. I only cut the channel to the end of the fret board, then drill access into the head stock from there. I'm not sure why - I guess I feel better if the truss rod is held securely in position and can't fall out.

[Mark Wybierala]

With a long thin neck like that, a dual adjustment trussrod is the only option I suppose. Its a beautiful instrument and it would be awesome to see the reaction of a classically trained bouzouki player operating it. Some years ago I made a double neck solid body instrument -- mandolin / bouzouki patterned after a Gibson SG and sold it to a semi profession Greek fella with great skills. I wish I knew where he was so I could see what he's done with the instrument.

[Christ Kacoyannakis]

I would love to see that too. Do you remember his name, or location? The Greek bouzouki community is pretty tight.

[Mark Wybierala]

The Greek Orthodox Church runs the annual Greek festival in Trenton NJ. Lots of wonderful things to eat. I may stop by there and ask about him because he performs there every year.

[Teresa Wiggins]

It's beautiful! Well done.